Understanding Phish: 001 - Welcome!

 

Phish is weird.

Yup.

It’s just a bunch of hippies getting high.

OK, there certainly are a lot of hippies bu...

Phish sucks.

Well, this is why I created this series of blog posts.  I want to show people what it means to understand Phish.  A lot of people probably thought Steemit sucked the first few weeks before payouts, try to let that lesson show you that some things in life aren’t worth missing out on.

Why Phish?

Music is probably one of the most saturated markets on the planet and it’s extremely hard for talented artists to get exposure.  Phish has one of the biggest followings of any band ever, without having any of the exposure that basically every other successful act has utilized to make their names famous.  They have done this over a period spanning 3 decades and still to this day can sell out a 3-4 night run for New Year’s Eve at Madison Square Garden in New York City in record times.

That’s right.  Pretty much every New Year’s Eve, it’s not Justin Beiber or Taylor Swift or any big pop act playing arguably one the best venues in the world.  It’s Phish, without any radio play of any significance.  Meanwhile, ten’s of thousands more Phish fans gear up at home for every show they can to couch tour.

But what could make people go so crazy as to base significant portions of their lives around a random band from Vermont?

Phish is talented

Have you ever had the perfect meal?  Thanksgiving dinner maybe?  The turkey is juicy and tender, the mashed potatoes fluffy and buttery, the stuffing that’s just a little crisp on the outside, and the gravy that just cascades over everything with all its heartwarming goodness.  Notice how each of these things on their own are really good.  I mean that turkey is delicious and my god that gravy...but when you put them all together, you make the perfect meal.  Phish is that perfect meal.

Each member of Phish brings a lot to the table as individuals, and I mean a lot.  They each have their own personality and charm.  They all sing, even a capella like a barber shop quartet.  They each write songs.  They can play each others instruments and do live occasionally.  But most importantly, what they each do best is compose and improvise with their respective instruments.  They do this in a sort of hive-mind fashion that yields surreal results.

Every Show is Different

You never know what Phish will play or what trick they have up their sleeves.  Even when they play a song you may have seen coming, they play it differently and take it down new roads.  Sometimes they play songs faster or slower, sometimes they change them completely.  There are even incredible special guests sometimes, but they aren’t needed due to Phish’s own ability to perpetually shock and surprise on their own.

Phish Keeps it Fun and Interacts with the Fans

Audience participation has always been a signature Phish move.  During their song “Stash” the crowd claps in unison on the pauses leading up the verse.  During “Wilson”, the crowd is responsible for a big part of the song.  There are teases and cues to do different things.  For example, they sometimes play a tease of the Simpson’s theme song in the middle of jams and everyone yells “D’oh!”.

They are big chess fans, so they would have games of chess with the crowd during shows.  They have even played jams where they play their instruments based solely on however the crowd bounces their colored ball around.

Phish has “glow stick wars” at every show, where fans bring thousands of glow sticks to unleash during peaks of the show.  One of the best ones I was ever a part of was at the 2003 festival, IT.  The night sky was blocked by a sea of never-ending glow sticks that rained down for what felt like an eternity.

Phish allows their fans to record and share their music.  This is a huge part of their success.  “Taper sections” are still at every show.  Early on, before the Internet was ingrained into our everyday lives, tapes of shows were the only way to really find out about Phish.  This word-of-mouth effect drew more and more people over time, until Phish became the iconic band they are today.

If you get to the shows early, you can often find the band meandering around the parking lot.  I have seen them doing this many times, and they are so nice to everyone.  They often even have their kids with them and share in laughs and music with all the fans.  We ran into Mike playing an impromptu jam session in front of the concessions at Magnaball this past year, that @missjessica and I happened to stumble upon.

Lights Out!

Chris Kuroda is their lighting director.  He is the fifth member of the band.  There is no denying this if you have ever been to a show.  It seems silly to think that the lights could have that much of an effect on the music, but it does.  Chris is able to orchestrate his lights in real time around the music, and amazingly creates and conveys a visual landscape that envelopes the senses alongside the music.

These aren’t just lights.  They are art.  The lights live and breathe with the music and keep the crowd focused and centered on what is being created.

Meet the Band:

Trey Anastasio

Jon Fishman

Mike Gordon

Page McConnell

Phish Resources:

http://www.Phish.com 

http://www.Phish.net 

http://www.phantasytour.com

Phish Spreadsheet: Free Shows 

Jam of the Day:

Phish 8/29/14 - Commerce City, CO “Simple”

 

Listen as they take a "simple" song and take it out for a little walk.  Try to listen to each instrument and try to hear as they "talk" to one another and guide the music after the "song" part ends and the jam begins.

I hope I’ve piqued your interest in the best living band on the planet, in my humble opinion.  Stay tuned for the next entry in Understanding Phish as we explore their history, personal stories and experiences, and dig into epic Phish creations you need to explore.

@missjessica and I at Magnaball:

 

-@derekareith