Here is my query: select * from (select *, 3956 * 2 * ASIN(SQRT(POWER(SIN(RADIANS(45.5200077 - lat)/ 2), 2) + COS(RADIANS(45.5200077)) * COS(RADIANS(lat)) * POWER(SIN(RADIANS(-122.6942014 - lng)/2),2))) AS distance from stops order by distance, route asc) as p group by route, dir order by distance asc limit 10 This works fine at the command line and in PHPMyAdmin. I'm using Dbslayer to connect to MySQL via my JavaScript backend, and the request is returning a 1064 error. Here is the encoded DBSlayer request string: http://localhost:9090/db?{%22SQL%22:%22select%20*%20from%20%28select%20*,%203956%20*%202%20*%20ASIN%28SQRT%28POWER%28SIN%28RADIANS%2845.5200077%20-%20lat%29/%202%29,%202%29%20+%20COS%28RADIANS%2845.5200077%29%29%20*%20COS%28RADIANS%28lat%29%29%20*%20POWER%28SIN%28RADIANS%28-122.6942014%20-%20lng%29/2%29,2%29%29%29%20AS%20distance%20from%20%60stops%60%20order%20by%20%60distance%60,%20%60route%60%20asc%29%20as%20p%20group%20by%20%60route%60,%20%60dir%60%20order%20by%20%60distance%60%20asc%20limit%2010%22} And the response: {"MYSQL_ERRNO" : 1064 , "MYSQL_ERROR" : "You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '(RADIANS(45.5200077)) * COS(RADIANS(lat)) * POWER(SIN(RADIANS(-122.6942014 - lng' at line 1" , "SERVER" : "trimet"} Thanks!