Phish

Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, exploration of music across genres, and dedicated fan base.[2] Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983, the band's four members performed together for over 20 years until an official breakup in August 2004. The band reunited in 2009 for three shows at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia as well as a full summer tour.

Their music blends elements of a wide variety of genres,[3] including rock, jazz, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, funk, bluegrass, reggae, country, blues, and classical. Each of their concerts is original in terms of the songs performed, the order in which they appear, and the way in which they are performed.

Although the band has received little radio play or mainstream exposure, it has developed a large and dedicated following by word of mouth, the exchange of live recordings and selling over 8 million albums and DVDs in the United States.[4][5] Rolling Stone stated that the band helped to "...spawn a new wave of bands oriented around group improvisation and superextended grooves,"[6] calling them "the most important band of the Nineties."

Phish was formed at The University of Vermont in 1983 by guitarists Trey Anastasio and Jeff Holdsworth, bassist Mike Gordon and drummer Jon Fishman. For their first gig, at a Halloween dance in the basement of the ROTC dormitory, the band was billed as "Blackwood Convention", a reference to a bidding convention in contract bridge. Their second gig — and their first billed as "Phish" — was November 3 in the basement of Slade Hall at UVM,[7] though another source gives the date as December 2.[8] The band was joined by percussionist Marc Daubert in the fall of 1984;[9] he left the band early in 1985,[10] and Page McConnell joined on keyboards in September. Holdsworth left the group after graduation in 1986, solidifying the band's lineup of "Trey, Page, Mike, and Fish" — the lineup that has remained to this day.[10]

Following a prank at UVM with his friend and former bandmate Steve Pollak — also known as "The Dude of Life" — Anastasio decided to leave the college. With the encouragement of McConnell (who received $50 for each transferee), Anastasio and Fishman relocated in mid-1986 to Goddard College, a small school in the hills of Plainfield, Vermont.[10] Phish distributed at least six different experimental self-titled cassettes during this era, including The White Tape.[11] This first studio recording was circulated in two variations: the first, mixed in a dorm room as late as 1985, received a higher distribution than the second studio remix of the original four tracks, circa 1987. The older version was officially released as The White Tape in 1998.[12]

By 1985, the group had encountered Burlington, Vermont luthier Paul Languedoc, who would eventually design two guitars for Anastasio and two basses for Gordon. In October 1986, he began working as their sound engineer. Since then, Languedoc built exclusively for the two, and his designs and traditional wood choices have given Phish a unique instrumental identity.[13] Recently, however, Languedoc has begun crafting guitars on custom order and, on a very limited basis, to the general public through local music shops.

As his senior project, Anastasio penned The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday, a nine-song concept album that would become their second studio experiment. Recorded between 1987 and 1988, it was submitted in July of that year, accompanied by a written thesis. Elements of the story — known as Gamehendge — grew to include an additional eight songs. The band performed the suite in concert on five occasions: in 1988, 1991, 1993, and twice in 1994 without replicating the song list.[14]

Beginning in the spring of 1988, the band began practicing in earnest, sometimes locking themselves in a room and jamming for hours on end. Dubbed "Okipa Ceremonies" (also spelled Oh Kee Pa), one such jam took place at Anastasio's apartment, and a second was at Paul Languedoc's house in August 1989.[15] The band attributes the sessions to Anastasio, who discovered the concept in the films A Man Called Horse and Modern Primitives.[16] The product of one of these sessions was included in the band's first mass-released recording, a double album called Junta, later that year.

On January 26, 1989, Phish played the Paradise Rock Club in Boston. The owners of the club had never heard of Phish and refused to book them, so the band rented the club for the night. The show sold out due to the caravan of fans that had traveled to see the band.[17]

By late 1990, Phish's concerts were becoming more and more intricate, often making a consistent effort to involve the audience in the performance. In a special "secret language,"[18] the audience would react in a certain manner based on a particular musical cue from the band. For instance, if Anastasio "teased" a motif from The Simpsons theme song, the audience would yell, "D'oh!" in imitation of PhishSimpsonsCue002.ogg Homer Simpson. (help·info) In 1992, Phish introduced collaboration between audience and band called the "Big Ball Jam" in which each band member would throw a large beach ball into the audience and play a note each time his ball was hit. In so doing, the audience was helping to create an original composition.

In an experiment known as "The Rotation Jam", each member would switch instruments with the musician on his left. On occasion, a performance of "You Enjoy Myself" involved Gordon and Anastasio performing synchronized maneuvers on mini-trampolines while playing their instruments.[19]

Phish, along with Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead and The Beatles, was one of the first bands to have a Usenet newsgroup, rec.music.phish, which launched in 1991. Aware of the band's growing popularity, Elektra Records signed them that year. The following year A Picture of Nectar was complete: their first major studio release, enjoying far more extensive production than either 1988's Junta or 1990s Lawn Boy. These albums were eventually re-released on Elektra, as well.

The first annual H.O.R.D.E. festival in 1992 provided Phish with their first national tour of major amphitheaters. The lineup, among others, included Phish, Blues Traveler, The Spin Doctors, and Widespread Panic. That summer, the band toured Europe with the Violent Femmes and later toured Europe and the U.S. with Carlos Santana.

Following the reunion weekend, the band played thirteen shows of a summer tour,[42] including an inaugural concert at Fenway Park,[43] and headlined Bonnaroo 2009 in June with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Beastie Boys, and Nine Inch Nails.[44] During their first set of the second day, Phish was joined by Springsteen on guitar for "Mustang Sally", "Bobby Jean", and "Glory Days".[45] Twelve additional dates in July and August were announced as a Late Summer Tour, including four nights at Red Rocks, two nights at The Gorge, a stop in Chicago, and several nights in the Northeast.[46]

The rumor regarding the collaboration with Lillywhite became fact as they worked together on Phish's fourteenth studio album, Joy,[47] which is slated for release July 28, 2009.[48] A single from the album, "Time Turns Elastic", was released on iTunes in late May.[49] The band played nine of the ten tracks throughout the course of the first leg of their summer tour, starting with "Ocelot" on the first night of the tour.[50] The band announced a "save-the-date" for a three-day festival on October 30 & 31 and November 1. Phish.com contained an animated map of the United States, and individual states were slowly removed from the map, leaving California.[51] Confirming several rumors,[52] the band announced that Festival 8 will take place in Indio, California. The band plans to perform eight sets over the three nights, including a new musical costume on Halloween.[53]

Phish entered the foray of video games via Rock Band in 2009. Included in the Bonnaroo song pack is Phish's "Wilson" from their Friday night set: the first of their songs to appear in the game.[54] A Phish "Live Track Pack" for Guitar Hero World Tour became available on June 25th, 2009 for download for Guitar Hero World Tour.[55] Recordings of "Sample in a Jar" (December 1, 1994 at Salem Armory, Salem, Oregon), "Down With Disease" (December 1, 1995 at Hersheypark Arena, Hershey, Pennsylvania) and "Chalk Dust Torture" (November 16, 1994, Hill Auditorium, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, as released on A Live One) have been released, compatible with X Box 360, PS3, and Wii.

(From Wikipedia) http://www.myspace.com/phish