In 2000, the band released a self-titled LP, compiling what was left of their studio recordings before going radio silent for years.
Seventeen years later, the band made a shocking return to the stage, performing three one-off concerts in Dallas, Houston and Austin. They did the same for two shows in 2019, but nothing more. It was a nostalgia trip, and a chance for old school fans to relive memories. Effectively, Tripping Daisy was no longer a band.
Last year, the band decided to put on a surprise show at the Kessler Theater with just 24 hours notice. That night, something changed.
“Back in the day, we would kind of write songs in front of people,” says frontman Tim DeLaughter. “Wes would start a chord progression and I just kind of made up a melody and lyrics. We did it all on the spot, a lot of times people didn’t realize that’s what we were doing.”
“It was a little risky to put ourselves out there,” says founding bassist Mark Pirro, “not knowing where this jam or song was going to go. More often than not, it would turn into something, and then that somehow would always be a song we would put on a record.”
For the one-offs, the band stuck to the script.
“When we started to do some shows here and there, we weren’t really doing that improvising,” DeLaughter says. “We were just going out there and playing our songs, it just didn’t have that feel for me, personally. I missed that element of Tripping Daisy that was spontaneous.”
During last year's Kessler Theater concert, DeLaughter, Pirro and longtime drummer Bryan Wakeland took the stage, flanked by guitarists Philip Karnats and Dylan Silvers and Nick Earl.. It was a surprise for Dallasites, but an even bigger surprise was in store for the band.
“Dylan kind of threw us a curveball,” says Wakeland. “He did this chord change and we just followed it. Once we got in the groove, it just felt right at home.”
“We just wrote a song right there in front of everyone,” DeLaughter says. “Something spiritually went off for me. I felt a part of me that I hadn’t felt since I was younger. This is what I loved about Tripping Daisy, that element of spontaneity and creating on the spot. I want to do this again, not just play shows here and there. I want to get this band going again. There’s not been a record made, but we are in the process of going in that direction and we’re definitely going to go on tour in 2025.”
Tripping Daisy is back. The officially reunited band's first show comes Saturday, June 29, at the Factory in Deep Ellum. There the band will kick off the show by playing their classic 1994 album, I’m An Elastic Firecracker, from start to finish. Afterward, they’ll dip into other material, deep cuts and, perhaps, some new improvised songs. If you hear a riff you don’t recognize, listen closely. You might end up hearing it on a new record.
Power Tripping
For this upcoming reunion, the band members gave themselves a tight three-week rehearsal schedule.“I was kind of surprised by how easy stuff came back,” Pirro says. “It’s hard to get together. Phil won’t even be coming in till the last week of rehearsal.”
Karnats is set to play guitar for the band in this upcoming show, but he's been rehearsing remotely from his home in Chicago, flying into Dallas the Monday before the show. He’s designed his rehearsal process to slowly phase back into the vibe of the band, softly playing through songs on an acoustic while focusing on listening first. Then, he incorporates the louder sounds one at a time and experiments with FX and his amps.
“It actually feels pretty natural to revisit this stuff,” Karnats says. “It was always approached with the intention of pushing musical boundaries and creating art that was new. It was never to purposely fit into any kind of industry mold.”
There’s a part of Tripping Daisy that is timeless, but their members are getting older.
“We’re different human beings now,” Wakeland says. “I think we’ve advanced as musicians and songwriters since back then.” “We’re still young enough, we ain’t that old yet.”
Pirro echoed his sentiment.
“The hands of time aren’t slowing down or going backwards,” Pirro says. “It’s just awesome to be able to get together and capitalize on the opportunity. There’s been tragedy in this band, when you think of losing Wes and Ben. That was a real wake-up call that life can be short. I’m just glad we can all get together in good health and do something like this.”
Berggren, the founding guitarist of Tripping Daisy, died of a drug overdose in 1999 at the age of 28. Ben Curtis played drums for the band in the late '90s and died in 2013 after a yearlong battle with cancer.
“I think about Wes daily,” DeLaughter says. “It was hard for me to embrace Tripping Daisy without him being there. But everyone else is still in the band, and Wes will always be there in the back of my head. I look over and he’s not there, but I kind of feel him around.”
With Karnats now solidifying the core four-piece, the band members are learning to adjust to their artistic evolution while still sounding like Tripping Daisy.
DeLaughter and Pirro evolved in tandem, maintaining their artistic chemistry with the Polyphonic Spree. Shortly after the Spree's founding in 2000, Wakeland kept time for the group for over a decade. This century, all of DeLaughter’s songwriting has wielded massive, sprawling arrangements — usually with 20+ musicians on stage at a time. His ethereal 2012 side project, Preteen Zenith, was starkly different from Tripping Daisy. A full-time return to Tripping Daisy might require a scaling down of the band’s artistic ambition.
“Most Polyphonic Spree songs are more like pieces or movements,” Pirro says. “It’s not unusual for a short song to be five minutes and for a long song to be 12 or 13 minutes. In rehearsing for this, it’s kind of amazing how fast these songs go by. Chorus, bridge, chorus, chorus. Just like that, it’s over.”
“It can’t help but seep in there,” DeLaughter says, referencing his maximalist songwriting in the Polyphonic Spree. “But at the core, I like to rock. There’s elements that I don’t quite get from the Spree.”
“Tim’s a fantastic songwriter,” Pirro says. “I really believe in his creative process and sense of melody and lyrics. He really likes to live in the moment. Obviously, you have to be rehearsed and prepared for things, but I think too much of that for him is a little stifling. He thrives on that moment-to-moment improvisation.”
Pirro says that he can struggle without the full run of planning that might exist in other bands.
“It’s kind of a yin and yang,” he says. “I want more plans, I think Tim craves pushing the boundaries a little bit.”
Those boundaries will be pushed yet again on June 29 at the Factory (2713 Canton St.) in Deep Ellum.
“I think the old-school fans will be amped up and raring to go,” Karnats says. "Babysitters scheduled, cholesterol meds in check and plenty lubed. For the kids, it’s gonna get psychedelic. Loud and loose. Quiet and tight. Young and old. Weirdos are all the same age.”
