Phish : Fun Improv - Rock!

Time to talk a little bit about one on my favorite bands, and an important influence on my teenage years: PHISH!

First, a little backround info:

Phish is an influential American rock band noted for their live shows, especially the extended jam sessions and musical improvisation. The band was formed in 1983 in Vermont. The band's four members performed together for the better part of 21 years until their breakup in August 2004. Their music has elements of a wide variety of genres. Each Phish concert was original in terms of the songs included, the order in which they appeared, and the way in which they were performed: most of their songs were never played the same way twice. Although the group received little radio play or MTV exposure, Phish developed a large following by word of mouth and the exchange of live recordings.

Continual rumors of a reunion keep being fueled, like on February 7, 2007, while in an interview at the 92nd Street Y moderated by Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone magazine, Trey was asked if there are plans for a Phish reunion in the future. To the audience’s delight, he said that if he were to find himself onstage with his three former bandmates, “I would be the happiest person in the world.” One can only hope.

<sup>Discography:

Studio Recordings</sup>

1986 The White Tape
1987 The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday
1988 Junta
1991 A Picture of Nectar
1991 Lawn Boy
1993 Rift
1994 Hoist
1996 Billy Breathes
1998 The Story of the Ghost
2000 Farmhouse
2000 The Siket Disc
2002 Round Room
2004 Undermind

Traditional Live Recording Releases

1995 A Live One
1997 Slip, Stitch & Pass
1999 Hampton Comes Alive
2005 New Year's Eve 1995 - Live at Madison Square Garden
2006 Phish: Live in Brooklyn
2006 Colorado '88

Plus the Live Phish Series (Beginning in late 2001, the Live Phish Series chronicled complete shows picked by the band from their 21-year career. The official series ended after they released twenty complete live concerts, though seven more shows have been released since 2004.).

LEGAL BOOTLEGS

Because Phish's reputation was so grounded in their live performances, concert recordings are commonly-traded commodities. Official soundboard recordings can be purchased through the Live Phish website, while legal bootlegs produced by tapers with boom microphones from the audience are frequently traded on any number of music messageboards.

Phish fans have been noted for their extensive collections of fan-taped concert recordings, where owning recordings of entire tours and years is widespread.

The driving force behind Phish was the popularity of their concerts. Each one a production unto itself, the band would constantly change set lists, details, and add their own antics. With many fans flocking to the venues hours before they opened, the concert was the centerpiece of an event that included a temporary community in the parking lot, complete with "Shakedown Street": at times a garment district, art district, food court, or pharmacy. For many, one concert was simply a prelude to the next as the community followed the band around the country.



I gotta say, for most of High School, though I didn't show it, I thought of myself as and Earthy Crunchy Neo-Hippie. Sad, maybe, but it was true but due to a great coincidence I became a Phishhead, which I kind of remain to this very day. The three things that cause this were simple: A little independent record store opened near my house (for like 6 months before going under, I finally bought a CD player, and Phish played an awesome show near my house. When I was searching for a CD to buy as my very first to try out this fabulous new technology, Phish's A Live One caught my eye. My friend I an had played a bit of the bands music to me before, and it had interested me a little but I had not had time to digest it on my own, so I figured no time like the present! I took it home, listened to it through, and by the time I got to the 10/9/94 version of "The Squirming Coil" (still one of my favorite versions of a favorite song, 12 years later), I was forever hooked. By an awesome coincidence, the band played a short show in Lowell right around that time, and after getting a first taste of them live, I knew I had to see them again. After that I saw them several times the remaining two years of HS (Highlights being 8/16 & 8/17 1996 in Plattsburg, NY; New Years Eve 1996 in Boston, and 11/29/97 in Worcester, which was a tad after I graduated but close enough. I seem to remember a couple of Hartford Connecticut shows as well).

After high school I didn't get to go to shows as often but I maintained the love for the band, and with the rise of the mp3, I have amassed quite the collection of their work. To this day, it is one of my favorite things in the world to do, to play one of their great jams, and kick back, smoke a cigar and get lost in the music. I recommend it for anyone.

Jam On!

TomC