Phish video guerrillas get sophisticated
I’ve been searching around YouTube recently for videos of Phish because you can’t really get a feel for this band unless you see them live.
It’s hard to argue against the fact that Phish fans are some of the most loyal fans in all of music. Heck, even Travis McCoy from the pop group Gym Class Heroes went to a show this tour and said on his Twitter account, “Most devoted fans I’ve ever seen…My hat is off to these guys yo.” Not that this means too much coming from a pop dude like this but nonetheless, however annoying you may find them, they’re going to stick by their band through thick and thin.
And with loyalty comes dedication to capturing the moments every Phish fan craves and looks forward to talking about with friends and family members even if their friends would rather they keep their enthusiastic stories to themselves. In the past, this dedication was usually in the form of taped recordings. Phish allows a certain amount of tapers to record each show and in return these tapers trade and share their recordings with the community. In fact, many professional marketers see this as one of the most powerful techniques in marketing – to give your information away for free. David Meerman Scott writes in his book, World Wide Rave, “do you market like Led Zeppelin or the Grateful Dead.” Of course he’s referring to the same type of freedom the Dead gave their fans in recording that Phish gives to theirs. This creates what they call a “long tail” effect. For example, even thought Phish went without playing a single live show or releasing any album for almost 5 years, they still had kids in high school that followed and listened to all their live music that was floating around the internet and from being past down from big brother or sister.
But video is slowly but surely taking on a more prominent role in the Phish world. Many are bringing in cameras that are capable of recording high quality shots. I’m guessing many have the HD Flip cameras. They then post to YouTube to share to the world.
An even more hardcore sharing technique is live streaming of the shows through ones iPhone or other mobile device. Sites like Ustream can have upwards to 2 even 3,000 viewers at once during a live show. And often times these streams are choppy and have poor sound quality yet the fans will continue listening so as to feel like they’re a part of the experiencing taking place at that very moment. One of the more popular channels is the Hood Stream channel.
For me, these clear and crisp videos are remarkable and I look forward to sifting through to find some great jams. Here are some of these amazing video guerrillas at work.
Phish @ Madison Square Garden, NY, NY 12-2-09 “Peaches en Regalia (Frank Zappa cover)”
Phish @ Portland, ME 11/29/09 “Mike’s Song”
Phish @ Albany, NY Compilation Video
Review of Phish 3.0 – Summer 2009
Phish - Comcast Theatre, Hartford, CT - 8-14-09 - Photo by Dave Vann © Phish 2009
Ah yes, the ever loving Phish heads and their plans to take over the music world by convincing every living soul that Phish is the gateway to complete and total consciousness. I will admit, when I was 16 and saw my first Phish show at the Spectrum in Philadelphia in 1996 I was set on adopting this mission. But as someone who has grown both musically and professionally, I’ve come to realize that Phish is just one of many bands that elicit these feelings of joy.
Unfortunately for many, this realization has yet to set in. But I digress and will confidently say Phish is one heck of a good time when they’re on their game. The fist pumping, funk shaking, groove making sounds can fill an arena of 30,000 quite nicely and it would be hard for any music critic to not get swept up in the energy that ensues.
As an old Phish head who after these past two shows in August (Hartford and Saratoga) has seen 52 shows, I have a strong platform to provide a quick look at their sound and where it stands today compared to years past.
What appears to have changed the most for me is the identity of the show. From what I’ve heard and experienced the focus has turned to the identity of the song. Whether this is on purpose or not, clearly the shows themselves don’t seem to be all that different accept for a few surprises here and there. I had a couple of friends who went from Darien, NY then to Hartford, CT and finally Saratoga Springs. For them, the song selections and line up was very similar to Darien (except the wild and wacky Harpua at the end). I’ve heard this same argument from other individuals who went to more then two shows back to back. If you want to go to a show where you hear the same music over and over again you’d go to one of those “indie” shows we hear so much about (disclaimer: I go to lots of indie shows). But of course, this isn’t the reason you trek out to see Phish. You go to be privy to a unique experience.
Mention the word “bomb factory” to an old Phish head and they’ll know exactly what you mean (Download from livephish.com). Today this identity appears to be unhinged. It could be that the band is just getting their kinks figured out and eventually the crazy flows will return to their original form.
Some people may love the first set monsters they’ve been pumping out this tour. I for one would have been satisfied if they stopped with “David Bowie” at Saratoga but instead they kept it going with “Cavern,” “Possum”, “Ocelot” (new song) and finally “Antelope”. To me, this is over doing it. Perhaps they are trying to avoid the fans from complaining about the lack of classic tunes being played. Maybe they’re not worried about the flow any more. Maybe they just want to play what they want when they want. I personally don’t believe this to be true. For one, Trey Anastasio is way too anal of a person to let something like the flow of a show go without a thought. In the end, the identity issue is more then how tight they perform each song but about how connected they become to each show.
Saying my piece on what I miss, I will say that when it comes to playing their classics, they’ve done their homework. One song that stands out as the all encompassing come back song has to be “Stash”. From the first one I heard at Fenway, to the amazing 20 minute long excursion they busted out at Red Rocks to the straight up tension building killer at Hartford, their ability to transcend the original components of this song to their peak capacity is enough to keep me coming back for more. If it helps to add to this songs cred, in 1998 it came in at 73 in Guitar World Magazines Readers’ choice for greatest solo of all-time.
Does this mean I’ll travel 1,000 of miles to see them in Indio, California for their Halloween throwdown? Probably not. If I haven’t made the trip out there for Coachella yet I doubt I’ll make an exception for ganga goo balls.
As for my compadres out in the music blog world that look upon Phish with a smirk and a smile, keep in mind that this isn’t about the amazing studio and production outputs by Phish. It’s not about how well they translate from studio to stage (in fact, it’s quite the opposite). The Phish thing is more about letting go and getting caught up in a moment. But like with any band, it’s not going to groove with everyone.
If you’re going to give Phish a shot next time they’re around, go out of your way to get as close to the stage as possible, get the VIP treatment, stay out of the way of the bouncing hippies and focus on the rock jams in front of you. Barring any major disasters, I guarantee you’ll enjoy the show.
Download & Listen to “Stash” from the Comcast Theatre @ Hartford, CT:
Download & Listen
Thank you to Mr. Miner for the “Stash” download.
Phish @ Fenway Park – 5/31/09
If you told me five years ago that I would pay money to go see another Phish show I would have told you to go fly a kite. The last performance I saw up in northern Vermont was considered at the time to be the last Phish show ever. From the horrendous weather and muddy fields to the sloppy performance on stage, it was an experience I would like to forget. To me, I viewed this last show as closure. Kind of like a break up between two lovers because, in reality, Phish truly was my first musical love. Yeah, I had been into metal for a short time (Pantera, Sepultura), was obsessed with Nirvana and even went through a little Bob Marley phase like any normal adolescent. But it was Phish that grabbed my attention for over six years and fifty plus live shows.
Since I started to turn away from Phish around 2001 / 02, I began broadening my musical tastes. It started with Wilco, then Stephen Malkmus (& the Jicks), which eventually turned into my obsession for Pavement. Electronic music grabbed my attention and in walked Hot Chip followed shortly by LCD Soundsystem. Now it’s Grizzly Bear, Bon Iver and Deerhunter that visit me often through the iPod. In other words, I’ve evolved. And the biggest difference between these bands and Phish is that their musicianship far exceeds that of the foursome from Vermont. Not that each member of Phish isn’t musically talented. In fact, some of them are remarkably talented and can play several genres of music (rock, jazz, bluegrass). The problem is together as a band they don’t stretch a lot of boundaries in the studio. Most of their talent is left out on the playing field – the live stage.
When I first heard Phish was returning I wasn’t completely surprised. I also wasn’t completely ecstatic thinking I’d go to a show. Having been in the scene, I know how crazy the fans can be and it would surely be a circus at all the first few shows. But when they announced they’d be playing Fenway Park, which is a hop skip and jump from my current abode in Cambridge, I couldn’t pass it up. As I walked up to the park this past Sunday, I saw the sea of dreadlocks, crazy sunglasses, wacky head bands and your typical bug eyed hippy and thought to myself, “I wonder if it’s too late to turn back”. But I met up with my close friends and started to feel that old feeling I use to get when I was about to embark on a live Phish experience. It all starts with your friends and as I think more about it, a lot of what Phish is about is the experiences you share with friends.
My Fenway Review -
By now, most people remotely interested in the band are aware of the songs they played and those of you who don’t like Phish don’t care what they played so I’ll spare you the play by play.
Most reviews coming out give praise to the band, and rightly so. As Phish shows go, this was a top notch performance. The show brought out a few emotions. As expected, there was the sense of nostalgia. But what I didn’t necessarily expect was how much I would enjoy it. Since I stopped seeing Phish, I’ve rarely made trips to large venues. The main reason is there aren’t too many bands out there that can move a crowd of 30,000 like Phish can.
From the “Stash” to the rare “Destiny Unbound” (last performance was in Long Island back in 2003, but before then it hadn’t been played since 1991. The common belief in why the song was shelved was that it sounded too much like the Grateful Dead. For die hard Phish fans, being at a show when they break out a tune that’s been in hiding for a long period of time is like being touched by the hand of God). As they finished off the first set with a climatic version of “Character Zero”, I was starting to remember what all the fuss was about when I was just a young and stupid teenager traveling all over the country.
During the first set break I looked around and saw familiar faces, sparked conversations with strangers discussing our past shows, how we thought the show was going or argued with a Mets fan how the Phillies are going to once again take the NL East. There’s no question that this sense of community was a huge part of why I became a Phish head to begin with. I’m happy to see this community is still thriving, even if it is tainted with a few bad apples here and there.
I do struggle with their new songs. I think a big reason for this is how much my musical tastes have changed. I also don’t like it when Trey tries to sing like a pop star. There are moments in “Time Turns Elastic”, their new 13 minute long epic, where I feel like I’m at a musical. In fact, this song could work perfectly in the musical Tommy. If this were the case, I’d rather here the Tommy song “Sparks” (listen to “Time Turns Elastic” at myspace.com/phish). Towards the end of the song, which turned out to be a 17 minute long adventure, they did manage to pull out a pretty rocking jam. I know, I bet some of you are probably cringing at the thought of standing there listening to a song that long.
They capped off the night perfectly with a killer “You Enjoy Myself” and if you thought the seventeen minute long “Time Turns Elastic” was ridiculous, get a load of the length of this one – 22 minutes!! Oh, BOY!!! From the beautiful appregio at the beginning, to the climatic jam (watch this section in the video below), to the trampolines that Trey and Mike (bass) jump on in unison as they groove along to the song, this truly is the quintessential Phish song.
Phish at Fenway – You Enjoy Myself from hip2besquare.net on Vimeo.
They left us like they did at the end of the first set with our jaws ajar. They played “Cavern”, “Good Times Bade Times” (Led Zeppelin cover) and “Tweezer Reprise”. Those of you who frequent Red Sox games may have heard the house DJ play “Tweezer Reprise” on occasion.
There will always be a special place in my musical explorations for a Phish show. No matter how old I am, I know that if there’s a Phish show around the corner I’ll most likely be there. I probably won’t be hopping in the car to drive from town to town catching ten shows in a row like the old days, but at least I’ll have my chances to meet up with friends, share a beer in the parking lot, look over at my buddy and high five him as they break into a rousing rendition of “You Enjoy Myself” or “Fluffhead”.
Now, on to tonight’s Grizzly Bear show where I look forward to continuing to broaden my horizons and expanding my passion for the glorious thing we call music.
About Editor
Name: Luke "Kip" Owen
Location: Boston, MA
Contact: kippy[AT]hip2besquare[DOT]net
Twitter: twitter.com/kipdog
Youtube: youtube.com/kipdog
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