Dave Thompson - Go Phish

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Burlington, Page McConnell once mused of Phishs hometown, lends itself to having a great music scene. Because its an isolated town way up there, there are no other places to go for entertainment. Cycles of bands pop up, become popular, and then fall off for a while, and then other groups of bands get together and therell be another scene.

Trey Anastasio agreed. Vermont has everything to do with who we are. Simplicity and slowness. And cold. People here are in no rush to get anywhere.

That is certainly true of Phish, just as it is true of their fans, the devoted army that media convention has irredeemably christened Phish Heads, and whose very existence ensures that no retelling of this incredible bands story could be complete without them. This book is no exception; it is through the vast repository of oral law which surrounds Phish that the unwritten history of thirteen years of performing can be told.

It is, in the words of the old clich, a journey into the heart of rock n roll, and an exploration of the mechanics of a modern rock phenomenon. Because it is Phish, however, it is also an explanation of how those mechanics can be bypassed.

They have never, for instance, fit into any kind of scene; even their much publicized alliance with the H.O.R.D.E. traveling circus owes more to other peoples perceptions of the group than to any concrete affirmation, and this is as true today, when Phish are exploding across international stages, as it was in the mid-1980s, when their appeal remained purely local. Even when a Vermont scene did look to be emerging, Phish remained gleefully out of the loop. There was this upheaval of Burlington bands, where suddenly Burlington was going to be the next Athens, Georgia, recalls Trey. We were just ignored by everyone. They had this big festival which featured all the local bands, and we werent invited.

There are other examples of Phishs independence. As the music industry tightens its grip on every aspect of merchandising, with bootleg manufacturers being busted almost weekly, Phish encourage their fans to tape every concert they play.

It doesnt appear to have hurt them any. The groups official albums have between them sold over a million copies, but there are more than five hundred live cassettes in circulation, traveling the vast Phish underground network. Maybe the band are, as one of their record company executives recently insisted, cutting their own throat; but as Phish themselves replied, At least its us holding the razor.

As one tries to establish oneself in this industry, its easy to get influenced, keyboard player Page McConnell says. Different people want to get you to do different things. Its a business to most people [and] in the push and pull, youre bound to bend a little bit. But weve started to take everything back. Its our career. Were only going to do what makes us happy.

It is this uncompromising stance, a refusal to toe the record-company line and rehearse their ad-libs to the point of routine staleness, which sets Phish so far apart from their peerswhich has always been the bands strongest card.

Phish know their audience, and they understand them. Phish Heads are not the kind of people who attend one gig every tour, and then go home to play the album over cocktails. They are devoted and demanding, and they are not alone in their mania. At every show, countless armies of Phish Heads have traveled cross-country to be there, and the group repay this loyalty by ensuring that ticket prices never even hint at the exorbitant sums commanded by other touring bandsprices seldom exceed $25 in fact; a truly magnanimous gesture given the size of Phishs onstage set up and offstage entourage.

Too many fans follow us to every show. Page McConnell reiterates the loyalty which has done so much to establish Phish. They couldnt afford it if we charged real ticket prices.

This altruism permeates every aspect of Phishs public persona. Theyre a performing group, McConnells research scientist father says. They dont read critiques, dont care about gold and platinum records. They want to have fun.

The Phish Heads, of course, are only one of the sources for this biography. Without the eyes and ears of an enormous cast of phriends, phans, and phellow travelers, the decades worth of work and play which has brought Phish to their present plateau of success could never have been completed. I would like to take this opportunity, then, to thank everybody who shared their time and memories with me, in person, by telephone, or over the Internetyou know who you are.

Shell, Carl, and Tiffany (is it an i or a y ?), in particular, deserve an especial vote of gratitude; so, for gifting the world with such a magnificent work of reference, does the staff of, and contributors to, The Pharmers Almanac: The UnoPHicial Guide to the Band (Pharmers Almanac, 1996). Dean Budnicks similarly structured The Phishing ManualA Compendium to the Music of Phish (Hyperion, 1996) was also a valuable resource.

Several magazines kept the Phish phaith strong, and were of immense assistance during my researches: Relix, Duprees Diamond News, and Unbroken Chain lead the pack, but I should also acknowledge Rolling Stone, Gallery of Sound Gazette, Bass Player magazine, Goldmine, Live! Music Review, The New Yorker, Entertainment Weekly, and the Boston Globe. And then, of course, theres Phishs own Doniac Schvice newsletter, and the Phish Net. Beth and Rick at the Landing in Seattle get a massive round of applause; and, for other favors great and small, further thanks to Anchorite Man; Bateerz, Scary, and Baby Bats; Shawn Brice, Tony DiMaggio; Karen Domerski; Drum Tobacco; Barb East; Ella; Bill Glahn and all at Live! Music Review; the Gremlins who live in the furnace; K-Mart (not the store); Kiss the Stone for keeping music live; ace designer Scott Levine; Alex Mulcahey and Gallery of Sound Gazette; Geoff Monmouth; Tony Nolan; Oedipus; Orifice; Saul Penman and his amazing bathing costume (huh?); Jane Regina; Doug Rotondo; Snarleyyow; Spiny Norman; Sprocket; and the ultra-mysterious Dame Gaiety Tomcat.

My editor, Greg Cohn, and agent, Madeleine Morel; Gaye and Tim; Jo-Ann Greene; Brian Gross; Chris Nickson; Brian Perera; all of whom, without whom And finally, Amy, who now knows more about Phish than she ever thought she needed to.

Nobody seemed to be quite sure what was happening. Around the corners of the room, a few uniformed buzzcuts sank beers and postured, while the girls theyd attracted fluttered impatiently toward the dance floor.

In the half-darkness of his hideaway, the disc jockey played some loud Michael Jackson, and Wanna Be Startin Something came bouncing off the walls. Onstage, the four guys whod been chopping through a distinctly restless Marvin Gaye cover blinked uncertainly at one another and wondered where theyd gone wrong.

Near the front, a girl whooped support; everyone looked, but theyd seen her already, the only person in the whole damned room whod even tried to dance to the rickety music, and as the musicians put down their instruments and wandered off the stage, a dull thump administered the coup de grace to their concert. It was the sound of a hockey stick disentangling itself from the mass of duct tape which once held it in place, and falling off the stage.