I've been hearing about these guys for about ten years. The people who seemed to listen to them were the same people who worshiped Jerry Garcia like god. I don't like the dead, so I never bothered to listen to Phish.
I've been hearing increased talk about Trey Anastasio on various forums, and other places so I thought I would try to find some of their stuff online.
Man, what a fuckin waste of my time!!!!!!!!
Now they must be doing something right, but I can't figure out what! Most of the songs I found from them were really boring, and the rest of them were stupid covers like "Gettin Jiggy With It" and a bunch of grateful dead covers that I already don't like!
Just because I don't like them certainly doesn't mean they are bad, but I usually have a good instinct about these things and that instinct says they are bad!!
The live stuff that I found sounded like a bad bar band with shitty equipment.
Anyway, can somebody out there explain the appeal of this band because I don't get it for the life of me!!!
Thanks,
Lawrence D.

Some people just don't like the color red, it's that simple.

MH

Laroosco, I wrote a really long post, but it basically boiled down to this:

I know what you mean.


btw, I liked the gratefuldead! I can understand the appeal in theory, but what I actually have heard just did nothing special for me. Oh well!

quote:

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Originally posted by dmt:
I know what you mean.

I can understand the appeal in theory, but what I actually have heard just did nothing special for me.

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Ditto. Trey's a good guitar player but not outstanding or novel to ever warrant a forum thread. I don't buy into the hype.

Maybe there is nothing out there for the millions of dead heads and they are forced to fall back on Phish for lack of nothing better in the 'public' eye.

quote:

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Originally posted by Jim S:

Maybe there is nothing out there for the millions of dead heads and they are forced to fall back on Phish for lack of nothing better in the 'public' eye.

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I think you nailed it my friend!

IMO, they're the kind of band that you probably have to see live before you can begin to really appreciate them. Their studio stuff really doesn't capture the magic of the band. There are tons of live recordings around, but of course even that's not like being in the room. As for their stuff being boring, maybe you need to listen to a few more songs. There are some boring ones, but also a lot of really good ones. And remember, this is a band that the same people go to see over and over again. It seems that a lot of what they do is targeted at that audience, hence the silly covers, etc. That stuff may not be worth it on its own, but in context it can be amusing.

Perhaps Trey isn't the best guitar player but the band works well together. If you really want to hear them playing well find a copy of "A Live One" which was a double disc album from '95 or '96. I think it really represents them at their peak. "Harry Hood" should impress you. Turn it up good and loud.

I had seen Phish live and thought they were ok.
Yeah there is that "Oh crap who do we follow now that the Dead are no longer touring" thing going on with them . But, I think the fact that they know hundreds of cover tunes and do fun gigs that make them followable (if there is such a word) .That gig that the set up in Southern Florida sounded like a blast. Alas, I am too friggin old to want to spend 3 days listening to music so I didn't go but it seems to have gone alot better than Woodstock 47 ( or whatever number they are uyp to with that abortion ). I had heard that the band did a 7 hour set there. That is really kinda cool unto itself.

For this type of thing I think you need to be young , single and have alot of extra time to spend f'ed up on drugs and checking out the scene. The music is ok but the human freak show is really what it's all about I suppose. FREAKS !!!!! Gotta love em. I am a little jelous that I am not that young (too young to know great music) and I really, really wish I had 3 extra days to screw around and accomplish nothing !!!!

I used to be into the whole hippie jam scene in the early 90s and saw Phish, the Dead, Widespread Panic, etc. a bunch of times. Allman Brothers Band too, but they're in a class by themselves IMO. Anyway, I always thought Phish could play, but they were so goofy, silly lyrics, etc., I never got much out of it. Trey's good, you don't play with The Sun Ra Orchestra at New Orleans Jazzfest if you're not, but I'm just not into 15 minute noodle jams anymore (since I quit smoking herb ). My favorite thing about Phish was always their cover tunes, they do a badass version of Edgar Winter's 'Frankenstein', and the bit about doing an entire album (Quadrophenia, White Album, etc.) for their Halloween "costume" show is pretty cool. But man, turn down that compressor, dude!!

Well I'm not a hardcore phish head, although i know a few people who are. I can tolerate them, and I do actually like some of their stuff to a point. First of all, Phish is a LIVE band, no question about it. A phish concert is an experience, the music is just part of it. The lyrics are goofy yes, I assume it helps to be on drugs while you're listening...And yes Trey is very sloppy, but he isn't a bad guitarist by any means (Jimmy Page is sloppy too). I like his phrasing, and he does a good job of playing over the changes in a lot of songs (sure's more interesting than hammering away on the pentatonic). Besides, some of Trey's post-Phish stuff like Oysterhead (with Les Claypool and Stuart Copeland) and his new solo stuff is pretty complicated, and his composition/arranging abilities are really quite impressive. Anyway if you're looking for a few good Phish songs for the uninitiated, here's a few of my favorites: You Enjoy Myself, Mike's Song, Punch You In the Eye, Down with Disease, Stash, Julius. If you can find some good live versions of these songs you just may be impressed by Trey's playing.

String Cheese Incident on the other hand, now there's a damn good jam band! Beats phish any day IMO