Phish.net

Aside from a brief tease by Trey on 3/7/92 and a soundcheck appearance on 8/10/97, Alexander Courage’s original Star Trek theme has been publicly explored only once. Appropriately enough, Page performed an encore version of the world-famous music on his newly acquired theremin following the first sets of a four-night stint at Red Rocks on 8/4/96. The theremin, which first came to widespread public awareness on the soundtrack to such films as The Day the Earth Stood Still and in the Beach Boys’ classic “Good Vibrations,” was a groundbreaking invention in the music world. Played without actually touching the instrument itself, the performer alters pitch and volume by increasing or decreasing the distance between hands and apparatus. To find out more about this unique instrument, check out the unusual and highly entertaining documentary Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey, which features interviews with Brian Wilson, Robert Moog, and the inventor of the instrument, Leon Theremin himself.