Phish Phans Have Phun

Phish is what music would sound like if there was no music business.

They are extremely creative, talented and fan friendly. While it may sound overtly sentimental, it’s safe to say that Phish is like four of your friends playing music on stage (and playing it very well).

That’s why in 1998, Rolling Stone said “Phish has become the most important band of the Nineties.”

Phish is comprised of Trey Anastasio (guitar), Mike Gordon (bass), Jon Fishman (drums) and Page McConnell (keyboards).

They began their career on the campus of the University of Vermont in 1983, and minus an over one year break, stayed together until 2004. Phish has recently announced a reunion tour for the summer of 2009.

Phish will play a hand-full of dates starting with three sold out shows at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia from March 6th to 8th. And they will continue to play shows all through June.

Rumor has it Phish will join the line-up at the Bonnaroo Festival sometime between June 11th and 14th.

Even Phish fans,who go by the name of phans, phriends, phamily, or Phishheads, claim the studio fails to capture the excitement they bring to the stage.

Their superior live performances and their cult-like following have garnered them comparisons to the Grateful Dead.

Both bands have legions of dedicated and loyal fans who often tour with the band by following them from city to city and show to show. They were "going on tour" with the band. Their shows would attract all kinds of people and things to buy and do. It was as if they were traveling circuses or fairs where a small city would be set up at each new show location. Both bands would often times play numerous nights in a row at a given location.

Both bands had liberal policies when it came to fans‘ recording their concerts.

And both bands concentrated on performing live rather than studio recordings and commercial appearances. Attending a live Dead or Phish show was like no other experience.

However, the bands differed in their musical approach. The Grateful Dead’s sound was centered in folk, rock and blues, while Phish’s music followed a jazz aesthetic.

In this era, where recorded music is nearly worthless, their live shows are well-worth the price of a Phish ticket. Not only does one get to see and hear masterful musicians perfecting their craft, they are also treated to a show like no other.

Here are some highlights from past Phish shows:

Late 1990, in an attempt to increase audience participation within their shows, Phish had the crowd verbally react to certain musical cues. For instance, if Anastasio played The Simpsons theme song, the audience would yell, "D'oh!."

In 1992, Phish increased its collaboration with the audience with an experiment called the “Big Ball Jam.” Each member would throw a large beach ball into the crowd and play a note each time his ball was struck by fans.

Other experiments followed, like “The Rotation Jam.” In this jam, each member would switch instruments with the guy on his left. For select performances of “You Enjoy Myself,” Gordon and Anastasio would perform synchronized maneuvers on mini-trampolines.

For Halloween, 1993, Phish began a tradition of playing an entire album from another band at a live show. The first album, selected by fans, was the Beatles’ White Album. Phish has also performed The Who's Quadrophenia, The Velvet Underground’s Loaded and Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon.

During a tour in 1995, Phish challenged their audience to two games of chess. Each show consisted of a pair of moves. Phish and their audience split the two games.

Phish’s first two day festival, called The Clifford Ball, was held at a decommissioned Air Force base in Plattsburgh, New York. Between 70,000 and 80,000 people flocked to Phish's own makeshift city. Organizers added an amusement park, restaurants, a post office, playgrounds, arcades, and a movie theater to the grounds. Phish rode a flatbed truck through the campground and serenaded the audience through the night and early morning.

In 1997, at the festival called the Great Went, Phish and their audience collaborated on a large work of art. At the end of the festival, the mammoth piece of art was burned to the ground.

For the Millennium Celebration, Phish had the largest paid attendance of any concert on the globe. To conclude the festival, Phish played an extended seven-and-a-half hour set that began at midnight and ended at sunrise.

In a move reminiscent of the Beatles’ final performance, Phish performed seven songs atop the Ed Sullivan Theater during The Late Show with David Letterman.

Creative, funny, inventive and downright awesome, Phish plays music the way it’s supposed to be played and the way it’s supposed to be heard… live.