Phish Breathes

You can laugh all you want only because people don't expect me to be a Phish fan. I actually think they are pretty damn good. For a four piece band they actually can play pretty good. Trey's guitar playing is spot on at times and Page's keyboard playing is better then most keyboard players out there. Same goes for the rhythm section. Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman are pretty good section on their own. Every once in a while I like their music. I have seen them a total of twenty times and each time was a bit different and was exciting to hear what new world they were going to go into. Their quirky covers were another fun adventures. Some nights they would do Led Zeppelin or the music for 2001. It was music that was exhausting, but fun.

The fun part of Phish is their fans. They are die hard. I have friends who have seen them more then I have, and will tell you each night was a new experience. I would take them over a lot of bands out there and if they went back to smaller shows I would go to see them in a heartbeat. Each adventure they would mix everything in their bag of tricks and make it sound fresh and new to me and countless others. I really think they play each night to someone who just started to be a Phish fan and that is okay by me.




My first Phish concerts started in 1992. I went along with a friend to see them in New York City. The night was magical at Madison Square Garden. They played for about three hours and it was draw dropping on what they would do each night. I went to back to back nights and no song was repeated nor was there a moment of no excitement. Each night that I saw them I noticed they really knew what they had planned out for us. My friend would turn to me excited telling me that it was great to hear this song live or that song live. It was at that moment that I loved what they did. I did not follow them, but I would get a ticket when they played close. I joined their mailing list. I would get a good crack at tickets and send in my money order and hope for the best. I got some good seats at every show. Then another friend would call me and tell me that I should go in with him. This included at one point twelve of us going to a Phish show. It was fun to enjoy the culture of Phish as well as the show. The friends I knew and still know are still into Phish. I still go every once in a while.

What I like about Phish is they make sure their fans are their for them. They do these festivals or even better they do Halloween shows where they play an album in it's entirety. In 1994 I was honored to see them do the Beatles White Album. They studied it very well. It was great to hear a wonderfully gifted set of musicians play the Beatles. Two years later I saw them do the Talking Heads. Each time I saw them I knew they had something there. It was fun to hear them go through song after song. Each moment was great.



When it cam to figure out what album by Phish I liked this is when it became tough. All their albums have something to exciting. They have a great song that is the hook or they have these really great instrumental breaks that are just well done. I decided to pick a Phish album that was part of my early life. I remember when the album came out. I was excited because it was new and because I was going to see them many times during this tour. I was seeing a lot of King Crimson at the time and I needed another band to see too. I was doing a lot of shows then and needed something less Progressive Rock and more like Phish.

The music on the album is not jammy like other Phish albums, The music is got well crafted Phish songs that really show to an average fan that they can make good music. Each song has a great little slice of their great musicianship. If you know Phish and just think another Grateful Dead then you don't have a full picture. Grateful Dead mixed a lot of Blues, Jazz, Folk, Bluegrass and anything they could think of. Phish is fusion and fun. It's wonderful to hear some great music. Enjoy!! I am sure this will convert you!