out of water
ok. forget iraq and GW and prisons and environmental degradation and Wal-Mart and toxic candy and obese america and shitty crap rock and MTV and the Swan and all that other trivial nonsense.
phish broke up
i know a lot of people are going to sell their souls now, to get to Vermont, the last festival/shows, but i’m not. i *will* try to get tix for the June 17 theater-simulcast though, which will be fun for a last hurrah. after the four shows i saw last year, after that last Shoreline show, i think i was done with Phish. i was CERTAINLY done with the whole *scene*, that’s for sure. i was done with that a long time ago, and after a couple dozen train wreck jamband festivals and shows, i kept far far away from all that, excepting Phish. Phish i made efforts to keep up with and see, long after the jamband scene floated out of my peripheral vision.
the only other jamband i’ve been to see ( i do not count MMW as a jamband) is Particle, because their disco-funk-blues really impressed me at first. but even them, that last show in March – it wasn’t satisfying. i think the scene is really pushing the limits on what’s good, original, creative music and what’s filler for a community that needs to be entertained.
but now – i’m in a whole new place, musically, and culturally. we’ve got BURNING MAN to attend to in late August, and i dare say that the BM community and scene is way more creative, intriguing, and spiritually fulfilling for me than Phish ever was. these past few years in SF have opened my eyes to music and communities way beyond what i knew when i first started listening to Phish back in ’94-’95. i mean, i NEVER see chicks in hot pants and fishnets with only body paint for a top at phish shows, and those are regular at parties around here. 
seriously though: i’m glad they’re hanging up their hats while they’re ahead. i’m glad they’re not going to beat a dead horse just for ticket sales if their hearts aren’t in it anymore. i’m glad they’re not going to keep going on and on like The Dead, who should have stopped long before Jerry died. as Trey said: “Phish has run its course and that we should end it now while it’s still on a high note….we all love and respect Phish and the Phish audience far too much to stand by and allow it to drag on beyond the point of vibrancy and health.”
i think it’s a very dignified thing to do, and i’m proud of them for doing it. i raise my glass to the Boys from Vermont:
thank you. be well. rock on.
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Well hey now, I’m a boy from Vermont but I know you’re not talking about me.
There is something to be said for quitting when you’re on top. Before the inevitable slide into commercial crassness and bleating attention seeking.
So who are you listening to these days that’s making your foot tap and hips swivel?
Amy, I am *really* sad about this. The Joy of live Phish, for me, is not easily replicated. I don’t give a shit about ‘the scene’ per se, but when those house lights go down–you know that electric feeling?–I know there’s no place on earth I’d rather be. I’ll be at the Last Show in Vermont, but I miss them already.
oh, i know that for many people out there this is really incredibly sad news. i feel for you, J, and for my good friends all over the world who are in shock and pain today over this announcement, and i’m not trying to belittle the effect of this band.
for many Phish is so much more than a band, and it was for me for a long time. i cannot imagine where my life would be had Phish not been there to bring me all the wonderful friends I have – Allie, Sarah, Tara, Doug, Phil, Jen, Amy S., Mike, Shannon, Liz, Ellen, only to name a few of those i met *specifically* because of Phish. i can thank the band for almost all of my friends in CA. i think the saddest part of this for me is not that i may never see the band again, but that i’m afraid my network of people from coast to coast who stick together because of this band is going to slowly fall apart.
the music – well, i honestly can say i don’t really care that much about not seeing it again. i know i may be in the minority there, but it’s true. there ARE places on earth i’d rather be than at a Phish show, you know? and like i said – i’m glad they’ve come to a peaceful conclusion and made a conscious decision to go out gracefully, and that we’ll all remember all the GREAT and wonderful times we and the band had together.
(why do i feel like i just wrote a eulogy?)
geez. i don’t think i could imagine the moment when they walk off the stage for the last time together.
i respect their decision, too. the first time i heard jerry wailing like a dying cat during some 90′s show, and comparing it to another 80′s show, i remember thinking, those guys needed to call it quits long, long, long before.
i remember listening to many of phish’s shows from the mid-90′s and thinking that they had SO MUCH ROLLICKING ENERGY — so much more than what they’ve been serving us the past couple of years.
i didn’t start seeing them until pretty late (like ’97, i think); but, yeah, those were the days. hee hee… ah, nostalgia.
yeah i’m pretty sad about this….
its funny how many relationships i have through phish.. but i know they will still be there when phish is gone…
i was at the first phish festival… and i will be at the last.. i have for sure seen the best years of phish.. and i don’t think it was the recent years… but i will enjoy being at the last show with all my friends that i met all through phish….
Ok, I’ve heard of Phish, I have a sense of the scene, but I know nothing beyond that. What is the best album to give a spin to get the best side of what y’all love about the band? And, another question… if I strongly dislike the Grateful Dead’s music, is there even a chance I would like Phish’s?
The only thing is Amy, look at the way the note was written by “Trey Anastasio”. Chris said today he’s never seen a Phish note that didn’t come from “Trey, Mike, Page & Fish” and today Trey told us on his own. That tells me its not PHISH who wanted to stop, but Trey himself. I’m very psyched if he has decided not to fall into the same trap as Jerry, but this is such a weird thing to announce and completely unexpected!
Argh. Not a fun day for this girl…. especially since I was SO psyched at the possibility of seeing the boys at the Greek!
(your note about meeting all of your friends above was great though
Pretty devastating news for me. Phish has been apart of my life everyday for the past 11 years. Although I’m not into their music as I once was, my musical horizons have expanded (to many of their influences). I still catch Phish as they swing threw my town and am active on the Internet boards. They opened my eyes up to an entire new world, musically and beyond. I’ve met so many fantastic and intelligent people through Phish. Many of my close college friends, who I’m still friends with today I met originally b/c of Phish. A sad day indeed. Well every good thing has to end, another chapter on my life has closed. As the saying goes “its better to burn out then to fade away.”
On a sidenote, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the cover of “Undermind” strongly resembles the cover of “Let It Be”.
Emily – i am also not a Dead fan, and i love Phish. To me Phish is much more on the Talking Heads/neo-rock category than the Dead. Much, MUCH goofier. The Dead were more of a bluegrass/blues band.
my two personally favorite albums are Junta and Rift. I recommend either.
Junta is classic Phish, IMO. Rift is that ubiquitous “concept” album most great rock bands seem to put out once in their lives. Both great, but give a much different view.
In terms of covering the spectrum, I still think Hoist has that blend of all that is Phish — the fun energy tunes (Julius, DwD, Sample), the classics (Wolfman’s Brother, Scent of a Mule, Axilla), the bluegrass (If I Could), the “out there” phish (Demand, Riker’s), and even the beautiful songs (Lifeboy).
As how I feel, it is numbing. For many of the reasons Amy listed, mostly the connection to my friends and the fact I may not see some people for along time, those people I’d *always* run into at show…..
(reprinted with permission)
Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 09:51:31 -0700
From: Phil Pierre
Regarding Phish: You’ve gotten what you paid for. And you got off cheap.
Regardless of how much you paid – to Phish Inc.
directly, to the scene, in your relationships, with
your health or soul – you’re in on the bargain of the century. You bought the stock at .01 a share, and have sold it at 1,000.00 per. Perhaps you don’t know this . . .
Now, the incidental fringe benefits are not to be
overlooked, nor disrespected: friends, lovers,
spouses, self-knowledge, expanded compassion, honed capitalist skills, an amazing cd collection, travel, adversity defeats and victories, saturation, blessed emotional retarding to the joyous child-like levels, and of course, lots and lots and lots of really freakin’ amazing music.
But. Allow me to remind you of the Great Intangible…. I cannot describe it. I cannot relate it to a particular show, or to my or your favorite YEM or Tube or Divided Sky. It is beyond definition, beyond grasp, beyond description, and beyond value. But not – never ever ever – beyond perception. Here it is: It is preceeded by that moment, as you wait for the lights to go down – you know it will be any second now, and its killing you in the bestest possible way, as if you were 6 years old at 5am on Christmas Morn… In what surely is the most tremendous understatement in the history of human language, you consciously or
unconsciously feel and think: “All is right. There is no where in the universe I would rather be right now.”
Then, the Great Inarticulable – you can hear it RIGHT NOW, as loud as if you were in the moment, as real as its ever been, capable of literally raising the hair on the back of your neck, and hardening your nipples, at *this very second*. See if you got what you paid for all these years, and then some. Right now, quiet
your head for a second, close your eyes, and imagine:
The lights go down. The crowds roars, to the point of physical and aural immersion, and the energy – The Magic – fills your very DNA.
Did you hear it? If you’re one of the lucky ones, The Magic resonates so clearly in memory that it is as real for you at your desk right now that it ever was in any venue you’ve visited. And if so, you got so much more than you ever bargained for. Congratulations on your fine, fine, unintended purchase. It carries a lifetime satisfaction guaranteed warranty.
oh – and Phil: i know who you are.
You know who I am? How is that possible? I myself am just barely beginning to get a handle on who I am . . .
that’s pretty awesome! thanks amy & phil for putting the words on paper.
i did get goosebumps & i won’t forget those times. they may blend together & get fuzzy around the edges, but that moment is what brought me back time & again….
Amy –
“you’re not upset enough”
“stop acting like you’re too cool to be upset”
(sorry being snarky, lol…)
:mwah!:
Phish?