One of the more iconic scenes in Bittersweet Motel — which some folks love but others have bashed as the years ticked away for generally making Phish look like assholes and their fans even worse — might be a bit of sweet ole’ Hollywood magic.
Or a lie.
Or a prank.
You know the one.
Wait wait wait wait wait wait — do the right thing and…
Trey Anastasio and Brad Sands are on a beach somewhere in Europe talking about how the band would take photos with their fans, but “cut their heads off” by turning the camera ever so slightly towards the ground.
It was an anecdote director Todd Phillips helpfully illustrated by doing just that while filming the moments those photos were taken.
Like this:
I’m no lawyer, but for whatever reason, the whole thing is on YouTube. Click here to be taken straight to the beach.
For years, the story was legend — but the photos never surfaced. Sure, it was the 90s, and who knows what happened to all that film.
Perhaps it was tossed before the spoof was unveiled?
But questions remained!
Were Trey and Brad, pranksters to their cores, merely punking their documentarian? Was the esteemed creator of such timeless films such as Road Trip, Old School, Starsky & Hutch, The Hangover, and, yes, Joker, a fool, or a jokester himself?
A mystery, solved?
Cut to present day.
Fox 5 anchor Steve Lacy was tweeting about Phish earlier today, as he does, and he asked Scott Bernstein on Twitter (via a tweet to @YEMBlog) if those photos ever made it to the internet.
Bernstein hadn’t seen any.
But guess who had?
Cease!
Who?
Who knows!
Cease!
He claims — with ample evidence — that he is Middle Dude With Gray Shorts.
Most importantly, he has a head.
“Treys a liar, but it’s cool,” our boy told Lacy. “They were nice. Saw them at Paradiso that evening.”
You're on the back of the worm!
However, a twist!
Twitter user John F Dougherty claims its not at all a hoax. Hm!
So, here’s where we go from here.
Step one: I’m going to interview our boy Cease for the Jam Sandwich podcast, which, ahem, you can now find on Spotify, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts. Please subscribe and rate it well so I don’t give up. 5 stars appreciated, just don’t hoard them (unless you’re chasing those 12/31 GAs or 100s in the lights).
Step two: Let’s see if we can get in touch with Mr. Dougherty’s sister(s). Maybe they have more visual evidence to back up the head-choppers.
Step three: Let’s get a hold of Phillips and see what gives? He’s not too busy these days. What say you, Todd?
We shall find the bittersweet truth, my friends, on whatever beaches it can be found.
Yours,
Brian (@moneyries)
Correction: This post was updated to reflect the fact that Scott Bernstein did, in fact, reply to Steve Lacy’s tweet. We regret the error.