PHISH
The Greek Theater Los Angeles, CA 9/29/95

Concert Review By Steve Roeser

I've been going to rock concerts since the '70s, and there's a first time
for everything. So, this is the year I found out something about Phish,
the New- England -originated band that has a grassroots following like no
other. I had heard about Phish before 1995, which is to be expected since
they've been around for more than a decade and they now record for a major
label, Elektra. But until around the time that Jerry Garcia passed away, I
had no firsthand experience of this very entertaining group. I know that
they've done some time on previous HORDE tours with Blues Traveler and the
Spin Doctors, and I knew that my niece and nephews in Morristown, New
Jersey dug them, but hardly anything else.

I welcomes the chance to "catch Phish " live for my very first time on their
recent West Coast tour. When they hit L.A. in late September, after having
played San Diego, their Greek show proved to be a hot ticket. The
approximately 7,000-capacity venue was sold out, and the ad in the local
weekly urged those without tickets to please not come. (The ad also warned
fans to be wary of getting burned with counterfeit tickets and the risks
of dealing with scalpers.) Nevertheless, as my lovely friend Kristy and I
walked up the hill to the outdoor theater, she told me we would see a
number of people attempting to "score a miracle," and we did. We passed
this and that person with his/her finger in the air as cars headed toward
the parking area, and if it was their lucky night, they may have ended up
with a free pass to a Phish show.

We already had our tickets, and after having to get "phrisked" on the way
in, we found our seats shortly before the band was prepared to go on. This
was preceded by a brief conversation struck up by the guy to my right, who
told me he had been to see the Neville Brothers the night before, and that
this was his sixth Phish show. He planned to see them at least once more
before they were done with their latest swing through California, and then
he said he's be too broke to go to any more concerts for awhile.

Forgive me, avid Phish followers, but this review will not mention much in the
way of specific original material the band is known for. I had listened to
their studio albums, A Picture of Nectar and Hoist before going to the show,
but as many people know, Phish will often perform a 21/2- to 3-hour show
without touching a large part of what has come out on their albums. Listening
later to their double-CD '95 release, A Live One, I realized that the song
they opened with was probably "Chalkdust Torture," though I couldn't swear to
it. But I was quite impressed with that opening number, seeing as it was
the first thing I'd ever heard Phish perform live.

I could not remember the last time I had been to a large outdoor concert like
that where the audience was so totally into what the band was doing. The
phenomenon of the relationship between Phish and its concert
audience is really something to behold. It was a Friday night after all, and
you could see joints lighting up in the dark (I also stumbles on a hash pipe
in a storage case on the way out of our aisle), but the enthusiasm was real
and overwhelming. Actual it was real overwhelming.

One of the first things I noticed during their opening set (which lasted about
90 minutes, followed by about ahalf-hour intermission) was that the drummer
Fishman was not set up in the back, the way most rock bands
are presented. He was to the right (audience POV), in an equal line with
his other three bandmates, and I took this as a statement that Phish sees itself
as a democratically conceived unit, in which no individual member's importance
supersedes that of the others. Guitarist Trey Anastasio, who writes a great
deal of Phish's music, may be perceived with Garcia-like distinction at this
point, but it might be a mistake to regard him as the band's key member. For
all intents and purposes, these four guys have always been the band, and many
Phish-watchers would surely argue that there is no primary member of the band.
It's what they do as a unit that counts most.

To Fishman's right was bass player Mike Gordon; to Gordon's right, Trey
A., to his right, keyboard player extraordinaire Page McConnell. I didn't
recognize the songs during the first set, though almost everyone
else in the place certainly did and seemed quite pleased, but I liked what I
was hearing. Here were four guys who have now played together for as long
as the Beatles ever did, totally in sync with one another, and
jamming their n--s off. The trampolines came out at one point (as Kristy said
they did for Phish's L.A. Wilton Theater show on a previous tour) and Trey and
Mike bounced as they played--looks easy, but have you ever tried it?--spinning
and turning in time together.

Second set: If memory serves, it opened with Page noodling out the familiar
strains of the "Theme from 2001," and it remained interesting from that point
on. The four of them convened around a mike stand at one point (this might
have been during the first set) for a barbershop quartet rendition of "Sweet
Adeline." Everyone could get a good look at Fishman's "coverall," or whatever
that thing is that he wears. The last time I was in Morristown, Erica said
that Fishman is known to "get naked" during a show (see A Live One booklet),
so I half expected him to whip the thing off and run across the stage before
the show ended, but this didn't happen.

Fishman did come out for his customary turn at the front of the band, with
Anastasio taking over on drums, carrying a piece of paper with some lyrics
on it. Saying something like, "Knowing the lyrics is not the
point," the band then went into a rendition of Aerosmith's "Cryin'" (or
one of those interchangeable ballads of theirs) that was every bit as
squalid as the original. Yes, Fishman did have "Tyler scarves" tied around
his mike stand, and even with the paper in front of him, he still forgot
the lyrics. It was one of the highlights of the evening.

The mention of the Beatles in this little piece might be considered
inapplicable (if not inexplicable) were it not for the fact that Phish
did, in fact, perform the entire White Album during one of their 1994
concerts. This is something I'd like to find out more about, and something
I'd love to hear them do myself. But on this night, we had to settle for a
very faithful cover of "A Day in the Life," with Page doing the Lennon
vocal part, Trey the McCartney. That was a pretty cool thing.

Oh, yes, I enjoyed seeing Phish for the first time. An I look forward to
seeing them again, especially because no two shows of theirs are even
exactly alike, so they say. I know I'll enjoy the band again, even more so
if Kristy comes with me.

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