Circles Around The Sun & Mikaela Davis Welcome Mike & Tessa Gordon In San Francisco

Circles Around The Sun brought a four-show run through California with longtime collaborator Mikaela Davis to The Independent in San Francisco on Saturday night. The instrumental quartet and the harpist/singer-songwriter were joined by Phish bassist Mike Gordon and his vocalist daughter Tessa Gordon for a song during the penultimate concert of the brief excursion.

CATS — guitarist John Lee Shannon, keyboardist Adam MacDougall, drummer Mark Levy and bassist Dan Horne — went it alone for the first set. The four-piece focused on tracks from their 2020 self-titled LP, namely “Detroit Dos,” “Money’s No Option” and “Landline Memories,” before closing the frame with “Away Team” off 2023’s Language.

Mikaela Davis and Circles Around The Sun released the collaborative After Sunrise EP last April. Davis teamed with the four-piece for the second set and encore at each show of the California run. All four cuts from the EP were played as part of the second set in San Francisco.

Mike and Tessa Gordon added to “After Sunrise,” the title track from the EP. Originally recorded by Sérgio Mendes & Brasil ’66, Neto Carvalho Sebastiao and Neves Oscar Castro co-wrote “After Sunrise.” Davis sang the version on the collaborative EP, which was the first time vocals appeared on a CATS recording. Mikaela and Tessa harmonized on the cover at The Independent.

“Tessa killed it on vocals, that was so fun,” Mikaela Davis commented of the surprise sit-in on Instagram. Dan Horne moved to percussion while Mike played bass on “After Sunrise.”

CATS and Davis also performed the title track and “Third Sunrise Over Gliese 667” from Language and “Babyman” off the quartet’s self-titled LP in addition to After Sunrise. The five musicians looked to 2018’s Let It Wander for the evening’s “One For Chuck” encore.

Watch a pair of audience-captured clips featuring Mike and Tessa performing with CATS and Davis below: