Phish
Encyclopedia
Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation
, extended jams
, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont
in 1983 (with the current line up solidifying in 1985), the band's four members – Trey Anastasio
(guitars, lead vocals), Mike Gordon
(bass, vocals), Jon Fishman
(drums, percussion, vocals), and Page McConnell
(keyboards, vocals) – performed together for over 20 years before breaking up in August 2004. They reunited March 2009 at the Hampton Coliseum
in , and have since resumed performing regularly.
Phish's music blends elements of a wide variety of genres, including rock
, jazz
, progressive rock
, psychedelic rock
, hard rock
, funk
, folk
, bluegrass
, reggae
, country
, blues
, avant garde, barbershop quartet and classical
. Each of their concerts is original in terms of the songs performed, the order they appear in, and in the way they are performed.
Although the band has received little radio play or mainstream exposure, Phish—much like the band it is most often compared to, the Grateful Dead
—has developed a large and dedicated following by word of mouth, the exchange of live recordings by trading tapes with other fans and selling over 8 million albums and DVDs in the United States. Rolling Stone
stated that the band helped to "...spawn a new wave of bands oriented around group improvisation and superextended grooves."
and Jeff Holdsworth
, bassist Mike Gordon
and drummer Jon Fishman
. For their first gig, at Harris-Millis Cafeteria (a location students fondly call "The Grundle") at the University of Vermont on Dec. 2, 1983, the band was billed as "Blackwood Convention". The band was joined by percussion
ist Marc Daubert
in the fall of 1984, a time during which they promoted themselves as playing Grateful Dead
songs. Daubert left the band early in 1985, and Page McConnell
then joined the group on keyboards
and made his debut on Sept. 26, 1985 at a show for WRUV Radio in Burlington. Holdsworth left the group after graduation in 1986, solidifying the band's lineup of "Trey, Page, Mike, and Fish" — the lineup to this day.
Following a prank at UVM with his friend and former bandmate Steve Pollak, and — 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
. Phish distributed at least six different experimental self-titled cassettes during this era, including The White Tape
. 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 under the title 'Phish' in August 1998.
The band's identity with its "hometown" of Burlington Vermont is evident in their actions. 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 has built exclusively for the two, and his designs and traditional wood choices have given Phish a unique instrumental identity. Also during the late 1980's, Phish played regularly at Nectar's restaurant and bar in Burlington. As a tribute to the owner, in 1992 the album "A Picture of Nectar" named for the song), featured a large orange with Nectar's photo superimposed subtly within the orange.
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.
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. The band attributes the sessions to Anastasio, who discovered the concept in the films A Man Called Horse and Modern Primitives. 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.
. 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.
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," 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 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-trampoline
s while playing their instruments.
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
.
packaged as a concept album
and with heavy promotion from Elektra including artwork by David Welker
. In 1994, the band released Hoist
. To promote the album, the band made their only video for MTV
, "Down With Disease
", airing in June of that year. Foreshadowing their future tradition of festivals
, Phish coupled camping with their Summer tour finale at Sugarbush North
in in July 1994, that show eventually being released as Live Phish Volume 2
. On Halloween
of that year, the group promised to don a fan-selected "musical costume" by playing an entire album from another band. After an extensive mail-based poll, Phish performed The Beatles
' self-titled album
— as the second of their three sets at the Glens Falls Civic Center
in upstate New York. For their 1994 New Years Run, Phish played two sold out shows at Madison Square Garden
and Boston Garden
, which were their debuts at both venues. Following the death of Grateful Dead
frontman Jerry Garcia
in the summer of 1995 and the appearance of "Down With Disease" on Beavis and Butthead, the band experienced a surge in the growth of their fan base and an increased awareness in popular culture.
In their tradition of playing a well-known album by another band for Halloween, Phish contracted a full horn section
for their performance of The Who's
Quadrophenia
in 1995. Their first live album — A Live One
— which was released during the summer of 1995 became Phish's first RIAA certified gold album in November 1995.
Phish retreated to their Vermont recording studio and recorded hours and hours of improvisations, sometimes overlaying them on one another, and included some of the result on the second half of Billy Breathes
, which they released in the fall of 1996. Alongside traditional rock-based crescendo
s, the album has more acoustic guitar than their previous records, and was regarded by the band and some fans as their crowning studio achievement. The album's first single, "Free", peaked at #24 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart and #11 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks
chart, becoming the band's most successful chart single of their career.
By 1997 jams were becoming so long that several sets contained only four songs; their improvisational ventures were developing into a new funk
-inspired jamming style. Vermont-based ice cream
conglomerate Ben & Jerry's
launched "Phish Food" that year and proceeds from the flavor are donated to the Lake Champlain Initiative. Part of Phish's new non-profit foundation, The WaterWheel Foundation
was also composed of two other now-defunct branches: The Touring Branch and the Vermont Giving Program.
2000 saw no Halloween show, no summer festival and no new full-band compositions: May's Farmhouse
contained material dating from 1997 and original material from Trey's 1999 solo acoustic/electric club tour. That summer, the band announced that they would take their first "extended time-out" following their upcoming fall tour. During the tour's last concert on October 7, 2000 at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View
, California
, they played a regular show and left without saying a word as The Beatles
' Let It Be
played over the sound system.
2002 concert at Madison Square Garden. They also recorded Round Room
in only three days. In their return concert, McConnell's brother was introduced as actor Tom Hanks
. The impostor
sang a line of the song "Wilson," prompting several media outlets to report that the actor had "jammed with Phish."
At the end of the 2003 summer tour, Phish held their first summer festival in four years, returning to Limestone for It. The festival drew crowds of over 60,000 fans, once again making Limestone one of the largest cities in Maine for a weekend. In December, the band celebrated its 20th anniversary with a four show mini-tour culminating at Boston
's Fleet Center
. During the Albany date on this tour, Phish invited founding member Jeff Holdsworth onstage for the first time since 1986.
In order to avoid the exhaustion and pitfalls of previous years' high-paced touring, Phish played sporadically after the reunion, with tours lasting about two weeks. After an April 2004 run of shows in Las Vegas
, Anastasio announced on the band's website that the band was breaking up after a small summer tour.
Their final album (at the time), Undermind, was released in late spring. In the summer of 2004, the band jammed with rapper Jay-Z
at one show, shot a video called "Live in Brooklyn" for broadcast in movie theaters, and performed a seven-song set atop the marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theater
during The Late Show with David Letterman to fans who had gathered on the street, a move reminiscent of The Beatles
' final performance on the rooftop of the Apple building in London.
Their final show of 2004 — Coventry — was named for the town in Vermont
that hosted the event. 100,000 people were expected to attend. After a week of rain that prompted fears of a sinking stage, Gordon announced on local radio that no more cars would be allowed in, though only about 20,000 people had arrived. Many concert-goers parked their vehicles on roadsides and hiked to the site; an estimated 65,000 attended the emotional finale.
Phish received the Jammys
Lifetime Achievement Award on May 7, 2008 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden.
After performing three songs together at the September 2008 wedding of their former tour road manager, Phish announced that they would perform three reunion shows on March 6, 7, and 8, 2009 at the Hampton Coliseum
in Hampton, Virginia
.
, and headlined Bonnaroo 2009
in June with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Beastie Boys
, and Nine Inch Nails
. During their first set of the second day, Phish was joined by Springsteen
on guitar for "Mustang Sally", "Bobby Jean", and "Glory Days". 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
.
Phish's fourteenth studio album, Joy
, produced by Steve Lillywhite
, was released September 8, 2009. A single from the album, "Time Turns Elastic", was released on iTunes
in late May. The band played nine of the ten tracks throughout the course of the first leg of their summer tour, starting with "Ocelot" and then "Time Turns Elastic" on the first night of the tour. 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
. Confirming several rumors, the band announced that Festival 8 would take place in . Festival 8 featured the band covering the Rolling Stones album "Exile on Main St.
" as their traditional "musical costume", and also featured the band's first full acoustic
set on Sunday, just after noon. Footage from Festival 8 was released in April 2010 as a 3D movie titled "Phish 3D".
In March 2010, Trey Anastasio was asked to pay tribute to Genesis
, one of his favorite bands, upon being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In addition to Anastasio's speech, Phish appeared and performed two Genesis songs, "Watcher of the Skies
" and "No Reply At All
". Genesis did not perform. On May 13, 2010, Phish played the Rolling Stones "Loving Cup" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The band was introduced by Keith Richards
. In the late Spring and Summer of 2010, the band completed a two-legged, 29-show tour. The August Alpine Valley shows has been released as a DVD and CD.
On October 8, 2010, the band played at the Austin City Limits Music Festival
. They then began a Fall tour, which highlights many indoor arenas that they had played in the early years of their career. These stops include Broomfield, CO, Utica, NY, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, Manchester, NH, and Providence, RI. They concluded the Fall tour with 3 nights in Atlantic City including a Halloween show featuring the "musical costume" Waiting For Columbus
originally by the band Little Feat
. For their 2010 New Years Run, the band played the DCU Center
in Worcester
, MA on December 27 and 28, and Madison Square Garden
on December 30, December 31, and for the first time ever, performed on New Years Day, January 1, 2011. On March 31, 2011, the band announced Super Ball IX, a 3-day festival that was held in Watkins Glen, NY on the weekend of July 1. On September 6, the band announced that it would be playing a show in Essex Junction, Vermont, their first show in the state since Coventry in '04. The show was held on Sept. 14, and the more than $1.2M in proceeds were donated to VT flood victim relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene
. The band's next performances are scheduled to be at Madison Square Garden
on December 28, 29, 30, and 31, 2011, making it the second New Years show in a row, and prompting fans to use the term "NYEMSG" to indicate New Years Eve at Madison Square Garden.
Former members
During their break-up, members of Phish maintained various solo projects. Trey continued his solo career with his own band
and performed with Oysterhead
in June 2006. Gordon played with Leo Kottke
and the Benevento/Russo Duo
. At Rothbury
in 2006, he played with his newest project, Ramble Dove
, which is the name of the country outfit he fronted in his directorial feature Outside Out
, and also joined Grateful Dead
drummers Mickey Hart
and Bill Kreutzmann
along with Steve Kimock
and Jen Durkin as the Rhythm Devils
. Anastasio and Gordon toured as a four-piece with the Benevento/Russo Duo in the summer of 2006. McConnell debuted his new solo project at a festival in September 2006 held by jam band moe.
and released his self-titled debut
on April 17, 2007. Fishman has performed occasional shows with the Everyone Orchestra, The Village and the Yonder Mountain String Band
, but had, for the most part, retired from the music business.
, funk
, reggae
, hard rock
and various "acoustic" genres, such as folk
and bluegrass
. Some Phish songs use different vocal approaches, such as a cappella
(unaccompanied) sections of barbershop quartet-style vocal harmonies.
Some of their original compositions (such as "Theme from the Bottom") tend towards a psychedelic rock
and bluegrass fusion, with more rock, jazz and funk
elements than the Grateful Dead
and other earlier jam bands like Pink Floyd
. Their more ambitious, epic compositions (such as "You Enjoy Myself
" and "Guyute") are often said to resemble classical music in a rock setting, much like the music of one of their heroes, Frank Zappa
.
Because Phish's reputation is so grounded in their live performances, concert recordings are commonly-traded commodities. Official soundboard recordings can be purchased through the Live Phish website. Legal field recording
s produced by tapers
with boom microphones from the audience in compliance with Phish's tape trading policy are frequently traded on any number of music message boards. Although technically not allowed, live videos of Phish shows are also traded by fans and are tolerated as long as it is for non-profit, personal use. Phish fans have been noted for their extensive collections of fan-taped concert recordings; owning recordings of entire tours and years is widespread.
), appeared in Rock Bands Bonnaroo song pack, along with other songs by artists playing at the Bonnaroo Festival that year. A Phish "Live Track Pack" for Guitar Hero World Tour
became available on June 25, 2009. Recordings of "Sample in a Jar" (December 1, 1994 at Salem Armory), "Down With Disease" (December 1, 1995 at Hersheypark Arena
) and "Chalk Dust Torture" (November 16, 1994, Hill Auditorium, University of Michigan
, , as released on A Live One
) have been released, compatible with Xbox 360
, PS3, and Wii
. On August 19, 2010, it was confirmed that Llama would be a playable song in Rock Band 3
, released on October 26, 2010.
Musical improvisation
Musical improvisation is the creative activity of immediate musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous response to other musicians...
, extended jams
Jam session
Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...
, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...
in 1983 (with the current line up solidifying in 1985), the band's four members – Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio is an American guitarist, composer, and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish...
(guitars, lead vocals), Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon is a bass guitar player and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish. Gordon is also an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano, guitar, harmonica and percussion...
(bass, vocals), Jon Fishman
Jon Fishman
Jon Fishman is an American drummer best known for his work with the band Phish. He is credited with co-writing 19 Phish originals, 8 of them as a solo credit....
(drums, percussion, vocals), and Page McConnell
Page McConnell
Page Samuel McConnell is an American multi-instrumentalist most noted for his work as a songwriter and keyboardist with the American rock band Phish....
(keyboards, vocals) – performed together for over 20 years before breaking up in August 2004. They reunited March 2009 at the Hampton Coliseum
Hampton Coliseum
The Hampton Coliseum is a multi-use cultural, entertainment and sports arena in Hampton, Virginia. Construction on the arena began on May 24, 1968 and the venue opened in 1970 as the first large multi-purpose arena in the Hampton Roads region and the state of Virginia, opening a year prior to...
in , and have since resumed performing regularly.
Phish's music blends elements of a wide variety of genres, including rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
, hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, avant garde, barbershop quartet and classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
. Each of their concerts is original in terms of the songs performed, the order they appear in, and in the way they are performed.
Although the band has received little radio play or mainstream exposure, Phish—much like the band it is most often compared to, the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
—has developed a large and dedicated following by word of mouth, the exchange of live recordings by trading tapes with other fans and selling over 8 million albums and DVDs in the United States. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
stated that the band helped to "...spawn a new wave of bands oriented around group improvisation and superextended grooves."
Formative years: 1983–1988
Phish was formed at The University of Vermont in 1983 by guitarists Trey AnastasioTrey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio is an American guitarist, composer, and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish...
and Jeff Holdsworth
Jeff Holdsworth
Jeff Holdsworth was a founding member of the rock band Phish. He was their first leader, singing lead vocals and playing guitar. He co-founded the band in the fall of 1983 with Trey Anastasio while living in the Redstone campus dormitories of the University of Vermont...
, bassist Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon is a bass guitar player and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish. Gordon is also an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano, guitar, harmonica and percussion...
and drummer Jon Fishman
Jon Fishman
Jon Fishman is an American drummer best known for his work with the band Phish. He is credited with co-writing 19 Phish originals, 8 of them as a solo credit....
. For their first gig, at Harris-Millis Cafeteria (a location students fondly call "The Grundle") at the University of Vermont on Dec. 2, 1983, the band was billed as "Blackwood Convention". The band was joined by percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
ist Marc Daubert
Marc Daubert
Marc Daubert was the percussionist for the rock band Phish for a brief time in their early history, joining the band in September 1984 and leaving the band in February 1985....
in the fall of 1984, a time during which they promoted themselves as playing Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
songs. Daubert left the band early in 1985, and Page McConnell
Page McConnell
Page Samuel McConnell is an American multi-instrumentalist most noted for his work as a songwriter and keyboardist with the American rock band Phish....
then joined the group on keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
and made his debut on Sept. 26, 1985 at a show for WRUV Radio in Burlington. Holdsworth left the group after graduation in 1986, solidifying the band's lineup of "Trey, Page, Mike, and Fish" — the lineup to this day.
Following a prank at UVM with his friend and former bandmate Steve Pollak, and — also known as "The Dude of Life
The Dude of Life
Steve Pollak, best known by his stage name The Dude of Life, is a musician and lyricist, who has co-written numerous Phish songs, including "Suzy Greenberg", "Fluffhead", "Slave to the Traffic Light", "Run like an Antelope", "Sanity", "Crimes of the Mind", "Dinner and a Movie", and most recently,...
" — 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
Goddard College
Goddard College is a private, liberal arts college located in Plainfield, Vermont, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Goddard College currently operates on an intensive low-residency model...
, a small school in the hills of Plainfield
Plainfield, Vermont
Plainfield is a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,286 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Plainfield is located at ....
, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
. Phish distributed at least six different experimental self-titled cassettes during this era, including The White Tape
Phish (album)
Phish is a self-produced album released by the American rock band Phish on cassette in 1986. Often cited as the first Phish "album", The White Tape was originally a collection of original material that the band used as a demo/sample tape for venues, and was sometimes labelled "Phish" or simply...
. 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 under the title 'Phish' in August 1998.
The band's identity with its "hometown" of Burlington Vermont is evident in their actions. By 1985, the group had encountered Burlington
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
luthier
Luthier
A luthier is someone who makes or repairs lutes and other string instruments. In the United States, the term is used interchangeably with a term for the specialty of each maker, such as violinmaker, guitar maker, lute maker, etc...
Paul Languedoc
Paul Languedoc
Paul Languedoc was the soundman for rock group Phish prior to the band's breakup in 2004. As the band's chief sound engineer and house mixer, he recorded their double-CD A Live One, and all 27 volumes of the Live Phish Series. He also built guitars and basses for Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon. A...
, 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 has built exclusively for the two, and his designs and traditional wood choices have given Phish a unique instrumental identity. Also during the late 1980's, Phish played regularly at Nectar's restaurant and bar in Burlington. As a tribute to the owner, in 1992 the album "A Picture of Nectar" named for the song), featured a large orange with Nectar's photo superimposed subtly within the orange.
As his senior project, Anastasio penned The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday
The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday
The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday was written as the senior thesis study by Trey Anastasio, the guitarist and lead vocalist of the American rock band Phish...
, 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
Gamehendge
Gamehendge is the fictional setting for a number of songs by the rock band Phish. Most of the songs can be traced back to The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday , the senior thesis of guitarist and primary vocalist Trey Anastasio, written while he attended Goddard College in 1987...
— 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.
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. The band attributes the sessions to Anastasio, who discovered the concept in the films A Man Called Horse and Modern Primitives. The product of one of these sessions was included in the band's first mass-released recording, a double album called Junta
Junta (album)
Junta is the first official studio release from the American rock band Phish. The album was independently recorded and released on tape in 1988, and did not appear in stores officially until May 8, 1989. The album was re-released by Elektra Records on October 26, 1992...
, later that year.
Rise to fame: 1989-1992
On January 26, 1989, Phish played the Paradise Rock Club in BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. 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.
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," 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
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
theme song, the audience would yell, "D'oh!
D'oh!
"D'oh!" is a catchphrase used by the fictional character Homer Simpson, from the long-running American animated sitcom The Simpsons . It is typically used when Homer injures himself, realizes that he has done something stupid, or when something bad has happened or is about to happen to him...
" in imitation of 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
You Enjoy Myself
You Enjoy Myself, commonly abbreviated to "YEM" is a Phish song written by Trey Anastasio. It is the band's most frequently played song, having been featured —as of August 2011— at about 36% of their 1,496 shows. The song is also one of the oldest in Phish's catalog, having been first performed...
" involved Gordon and Anastasio performing synchronized maneuvers on mini-trampoline
Trampoline
A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched over a steel frame using many coiled springs. People bounce on trampolines for recreational and competitive purposes....
s while playing their instruments.
Phish, along with Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
and The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, was one of the first bands to have a Usenet
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
newsgroup, rec.music.phish, which launched in 1991. Aware of the band's growing popularity, Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
signed them that year. The following year A Picture of Nectar
A Picture of Nectar
A Picture of Nectar is the third official studio album and first on a major-label by the American rock band Phish, released on February 12, 1992, through Elektra Records...
was complete: their first major studio release, enjoying far more extensive production than either 1988's Junta
Junta (album)
Junta is the first official studio release from the American rock band Phish. The album was independently recorded and released on tape in 1988, and did not appear in stores officially until May 8, 1989. The album was re-released by Elektra Records on October 26, 1992...
or 1990s Lawn Boy
Lawn Boy
Lawn Boy is Phish's second official studio album, released on September 21, 1990, on the Absolute A Go Go Records and Rough Trade labels. Vinyl LPs of the original Absolute A Go Go release are still known to circulate...
. These albums were eventually re-released on Elektra, as well.
The first annual H.O.R.D.E.
H.O.R.D.E.
Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere or H.O.R.D.E. Festival was a touring summer rock music festival originated by the musical group Blues Traveler in 1992. In addition to travelling headliners, the festival gave exposure to bands, charities, and organizations from the local area of the...
festival in 1992 provided Phish with their first national tour of major amphitheaters. The lineup, among others, included Phish, Blues Traveler
Blues Traveler
Blues Traveler is a rock band, formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. The band has been influenced by a variety of genres, including blues-rock, psychedelic rock, folk rock, soul, and Southern rock...
, The Spin Doctors, and Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Todd Nance, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guitarist Jimmy Herring...
. That summer, the band toured Europe with the Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes were an American alternative rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, initially active between 1980 and 1987 and again from 1988 to 2009...
and later toured Europe and the U.S. with Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
.
Peak of success: 1993–2000
Phish began headlining major amphitheaters in the summer of 1993. That year, the group released RiftRift (album)
Rift is the fourth official studio album by the American rock band Phish. It is the band's second concept album, the first being The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday in 1987, which has never been officially released. Rifts songs convey the experience of a man dreaming about the rift in his...
packaged as a concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
and with heavy promotion from Elektra including artwork by David Welker
David Welker
David Welker is a New York City based artist.Graduating from Syracuse University in 1986 he has since lived and worked in downtown Manhattan as a recluse. His artwork on the cover of the 1993 Elektra release Rift,by the rock band Phish, was listed as one of the top ten album covers of all time by...
. In 1994, the band released Hoist
Hoist (album)
Hoist is the fifth official studio album by the American rock band Phish, released on March 29, 1994, by Elektra Records. At the time of its release, Hoist was Phish's best selling album to date....
. To promote the album, the band made their only video for MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, "Down With Disease
Down With Disease
"Down with Disease" is a song by the band Phish that appeared on their 1994 album Hoist. The song was written by Phish lead singer Trey Anastasio and the band's frequent songwriter, Tom Marshall; its lyrics were based on a bout with infectious mononucleosis suffered by Marshall."Down with Disease"...
", airing in June of that year. Foreshadowing their future tradition of festivals
Phish festivals
Starting in 1996, American jam band Phish has hosted a series of festivals.-The Clifford Ball:The Clifford Ball was the first of nine weekend-long festivals hosted by Phish throughout their career. The event took place on August 16 and 17, 1996, on the site of a former Air Force base in...
, Phish coupled camping with their Summer tour finale at Sugarbush North
Sugarbush Resort
Sugarbush Resort is a ski resort located in the Mad River Valley in Warren, Vermont. It is one of the largest ski resorts in New England. The resort encompasses more than 4000 acres total, 578 acres skiable, 53 miles of trails, and 16 ski lifts...
in in July 1994, that show eventually being released as Live Phish Volume 2
Live Phish Volume 2
Live Phish Vol. 2 was recorded live on July 16, 1994 and was released on September 18, 2001 as part of the Live Phish Series. The show was performed on the side of a ski slope at the Sugarbush Resort in the town of North Fayston, located in Phish's home state of Vermont. It was the final concert of...
. On Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
of that year, the group promised to don a fan-selected "musical costume" by playing an entire album from another band. After an extensive mail-based poll, Phish performed The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' self-titled album
The Beatles (album)
The Beatles is the ninth official album by the English rock group The Beatles, a double album released in 1968. It is also commonly known as "The White Album" as it has no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed on its plain white sleeve.The album was written and recorded during a...
— as the second of their three sets at the Glens Falls Civic Center
Glens Falls Civic Center
Glens Falls Civic Center is a 4,806-seat multi-purpose arena, located in downtown Glens Falls, New York, that currently serves as the home of the Adirondack Phantoms, of the AHL. Built in 1979, it was originally the home of the Adirondack Red Wings, AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings.On June...
in upstate New York. For their 1994 New Years Run, Phish played two sold out shows at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
and Boston Garden
Boston Garden
The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928 as "Boston Madison Square Garden" and outlived its original namesake by some 30 years...
, which were their debuts at both venues. Following the death of Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
frontman Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
in the summer of 1995 and the appearance of "Down With Disease" on Beavis and Butthead, the band experienced a surge in the growth of their fan base and an increased awareness in popular culture.
In their tradition of playing a well-known album by another band for Halloween, Phish contracted a full horn section
Horn section
In music, a horn section can refer to several groups of musicians. It can refer to the musicians in a symphony orchestra who play the horn . In a British-style brass band it refers to the tenor horn players. In popular music, it can also refer to a small group of wind instrumentalists who augment a...
for their performance of The Who's
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who. Released on 19 October 1973 by Track and Polydor in the UK, and Track and MCA in the US, it is a double album, and the group's second rock opera...
in 1995. Their first live album — A Live One
A Live One
A Live One is a live album by the American rock band Phish, released on June 27, 1995, by Elektra Records. The album was the Phish's first official live release, and the band's only "traditional" live album, wherein songs from several different shows are compiled into one composite "set"...
— which was released during the summer of 1995 became Phish's first RIAA certified gold album in November 1995.
Phish retreated to their Vermont recording studio and recorded hours and hours of improvisations, sometimes overlaying them on one another, and included some of the result on the second half of Billy Breathes
Billy Breathes
Billy Breathes is the sixth official studio album by American rock band Phish. It remains one of the most popular Phish albums, and is credited with connecting the band to a more mainstream audience beyond its strong cult following...
, which they released in the fall of 1996. Alongside traditional rock-based crescendo
Crescendo
-In music:*Crescendo, a passage of music during which the volume gradually increases, see Dynamics * Crescendo , a Liverpool-based electronic pop band* "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue", one of Duke Ellington's longer-form compositions...
s, the album has more acoustic guitar than their previous records, and was regarded by the band and some fans as their crowning studio achievement. The album's first single, "Free", peaked at #24 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart and #11 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock Tracks
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...
chart, becoming the band's most successful chart single of their career.
By 1997 jams were becoming so long that several sets contained only four songs; their improvisational ventures were developing into a new funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
-inspired jamming style. Vermont-based ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
conglomerate Ben & Jerry's
Ben & Jerry's
Ben & Jerry's is an American ice cream company, a division of the British-Dutch Unilever conglomerate, that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet, and ice cream novelty products, manufactured by Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings, Inc., headquartered in South Burlington, Vermont, United...
launched "Phish Food" that year and proceeds from the flavor are donated to the Lake Champlain Initiative. Part of Phish's new non-profit foundation, The WaterWheel Foundation
The WaterWheel Foundation
The WaterWheel Foundation was created by Phish in 1997 to oversee their charitable activities. Initially, the Foundation included The Touring Division, The Giving Program, and the Lake Champlain Initiative....
was also composed of two other now-defunct branches: The Touring Branch and the Vermont Giving Program.
2000 saw no Halloween show, no summer festival and no new full-band compositions: May's Farmhouse
Farmhouse (album)
Farmhouse is the eighth official studio album by the American rock band Phish. The tracks were recorded at The Barn, frontman Trey Anastasio's studio in Vermont. The album was released on May 16, 2000, by Elektra Records...
contained material dating from 1997 and original material from Trey's 1999 solo acoustic/electric club tour. That summer, the band announced that they would take their first "extended time-out" following their upcoming fall tour. During the tour's last concert on October 7, 2000 at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View
Mountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, they played a regular show and left without saying a word as The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' Let It Be
Let It Be (song)
"Let It Be" is a song by The Beatles, released in March 1970 as a single, and as the title track of their album Let It Be. It was written by Paul McCartney, but credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was their final single before McCartney announced his departure from the band...
played over the sound system.
Wilderness years: 2001-2008
Over two years after the hiatus began, Phish announced that they were getting back on the road with a New Year's EveNew Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
2002 concert at Madison Square Garden. They also recorded Round Room
Round Room
Round Room is the ninth official studio album by the American rock band Phish, released on December 10, 2002, by Elektra Records. The album was recorded and released in the lead up to Phish's reunion concert on New Year's Eve 2002 at Madison Square Garden, which marked the end of the band's...
in only three days. In their return concert, McConnell's brother was introduced as actor Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
. The impostor
Impostor
An impostor or imposter is a person who pretends to be somebody else, often to try to gain financial or social advantages through social engineering, but just as often for purposes of espionage or law enforcement....
sang a line of the song "Wilson," prompting several media outlets to report that the actor had "jammed with Phish."
At the end of the 2003 summer tour, Phish held their first summer festival in four years, returning to Limestone for It. The festival drew crowds of over 60,000 fans, once again making Limestone one of the largest cities in Maine for a weekend. In December, the band celebrated its 20th anniversary with a four show mini-tour culminating at Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
's Fleet Center
TD Banknorth Garden
TD Garden is a multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts. It is named after its sponsor, TD Bank, N.A. and is often simply referred to by local Bostonians as, The Garden, The Fleet Center, or the traditional Boston Garden...
. During the Albany date on this tour, Phish invited founding member Jeff Holdsworth onstage for the first time since 1986.
In order to avoid the exhaustion and pitfalls of previous years' high-paced touring, Phish played sporadically after the reunion, with tours lasting about two weeks. After an April 2004 run of shows in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, Anastasio announced on the band's website that the band was breaking up after a small summer tour.
Their final album (at the time), Undermind, was released in late spring. In the summer of 2004, the band jammed with rapper Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
at one show, shot a video called "Live in Brooklyn" for broadcast in movie theaters, and performed a seven-song set atop the marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theater
Ed Sullivan Theater
The Ed Sullivan Theater, located at 1697-1699 Broadway between West 53rd and West 54th, in Manhattan, is a venerable radio and television studio in New York City...
during The Late Show with David Letterman to fans who had gathered on the street, a move reminiscent of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' final performance on the rooftop of the Apple building in London.
Their final show of 2004 — Coventry — was named for the town in Vermont
Coventry, Vermont
Coventry is a town in Orleans County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,014 at the 2000 census.-Local government:A waste system company paid the town about $800,000 in "tipping fees" in 2009. This allows the town property tax rate to be zero...
that hosted the event. 100,000 people were expected to attend. After a week of rain that prompted fears of a sinking stage, Gordon announced on local radio that no more cars would be allowed in, though only about 20,000 people had arrived. Many concert-goers parked their vehicles on roadsides and hiked to the site; an estimated 65,000 attended the emotional finale.
Phish received the Jammys
Jammys
The Jammy Award are an awards show for bands typically called jam bands and other artists associated with live, improvisational music. The Jammys are sponsored by Relix magazine, Jambands.com, and promoter Peter Shapiro...
Lifetime Achievement Award on May 7, 2008 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden.
After performing three songs together at the September 2008 wedding of their former tour road manager, Phish announced that they would perform three reunion shows on March 6, 7, and 8, 2009 at the Hampton Coliseum
Hampton Coliseum
The Hampton Coliseum is a multi-use cultural, entertainment and sports arena in Hampton, Virginia. Construction on the arena began on May 24, 1968 and the venue opened in 1970 as the first large multi-purpose arena in the Hampton Roads region and the state of Virginia, opening a year prior to...
in Hampton, Virginia
Hampton, Virginia
Hampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts...
.
Reemergence: 2009–present
Following the reunion weekend, the band played thirteen shows of a summer tour, including an inaugural concert at Fenway ParkFenway Park
Fenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at 4 Yawkey Way, it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912, and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use. It is one of two "classic"...
, and headlined Bonnaroo 2009
2009 Bonnaroo Music Festival
The 2009 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival was held June 11–14, 2009 at a farm in Manchester, Tennessee, . There were roughly 75,000 people in attendance....
in June with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
, and Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
. During their first set of the second day, Phish was joined by Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
on guitar for "Mustang Sally", "Bobby Jean", and "Glory Days". Twelve additional dates in July and August were announced as a Late Summer Tour, including four nights at Red Rocks
Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Red Rocks Amphitheatre is a rock structure near Morrison, Colorado, where concerts are given in the open-air amphitheatre. There is a large, tilted, disc-shaped rock behind the stage, a huge vertical rock angled outwards from stage right, several large outcrops angled outwards from stage left and a...
, two nights at The Gorge
The Gorge Amphitheatre
The Gorge Amphitheatre is a 20,000+ seat concert venue, located above the Columbia River in George, Washington. It offers lawn-terrace seating and concert-friendly weather....
, a stop in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, and several nights in the Northeast
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
.
Phish's fourteenth studio album, Joy
Joy (Phish album)
Joy is the eleventh official studio album by the American rock band Phish, released on September 8, 2009, on the band's own label, JEMP Records...
, produced by Steve Lillywhite
Steve Lillywhite
Steve Lillywhite is an English Grammy Award winning record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited for working on over 500 records and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including XTC, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Dave Matthews Band, U2, Peter Gabriel,...
, was released September 8, 2009. A single from the album, "Time Turns Elastic", was released on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
in late May. The band played nine of the ten tracks throughout the course of the first leg of their summer tour, starting with "Ocelot" and then "Time Turns Elastic" on the first night of the tour. 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
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Confirming several rumors, the band announced that Festival 8 would take place in . Festival 8 featured the band covering the Rolling Stones album "Exile on Main St.
Exile on Main St.
Exile on Main St. is the tenth British and 12th American studio album by English rock band The Rolling Stones. Released as a double LP in May 1972, it draws on many genres including rock and roll, blues, soul, R&B, gospel and country. The release of Exile on Main St. met with mixed reviews, but is...
" as their traditional "musical costume", and also featured the band's first full acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
set on Sunday, just after noon. Footage from Festival 8 was released in April 2010 as a 3D movie titled "Phish 3D".
In March 2010, Trey Anastasio was asked to pay tribute to Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
, one of his favorite bands, upon being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In addition to Anastasio's speech, Phish appeared and performed two Genesis songs, "Watcher of the Skies
Watcher of the Skies
Watcher of the Skies is the first track on Genesis' 1972 album Foxtrot. The title is borrowed from John Keats' 1817 poem "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer":Then felt I like some watcher of the skiesWhen a new planet swims into his ken;...
" and "No Reply At All
No Reply at All
"No Reply at All" is a song by British band Genesis, from their 1981 album Abacab.-Structure:This song, like Phil Collins' solo track "I Missed Again" , makes prominent use of a horn section, arranged by Tom Tom 84 "No Reply at All" is a song by British band Genesis, from their 1981 album...
". Genesis did not perform. On May 13, 2010, Phish played the Rolling Stones "Loving Cup" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The band was introduced by Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
. In the late Spring and Summer of 2010, the band completed a two-legged, 29-show tour. The August Alpine Valley shows has been released as a DVD and CD.
On October 8, 2010, the band played at the Austin City Limits Music Festival
Austin City Limits Music Festival
The Austin City Limits Music Festival is an annual three-day American music festival that takes place in Austin, Texas at the city's central public park, Zilker Park...
. They then began a Fall tour, which highlights many indoor arenas that they had played in the early years of their career. These stops include Broomfield, CO, Utica, NY, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, Manchester, NH, and Providence, RI. They concluded the Fall tour with 3 nights in Atlantic City including a Halloween show featuring the "musical costume" Waiting For Columbus
Waiting for Columbus
Waiting for Columbus is the first live album by the Southern roots-rock band, Little Feat. The album was recorded during seven performances in 1977. The first four shows were held at the Rainbow Theatre in London on August 1-4, 1977. The final three shows were recorded in George Washington...
originally by the band Little Feat
Little Feat
Little Feat is an American rock band formed by singer-songwriter, lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles....
. For their 2010 New Years Run, the band played the DCU Center
DCU Center
The DCU Center is an indoor arena and convention center complex, located in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts....
in Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
, MA on December 27 and 28, and Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
on December 30, December 31, and for the first time ever, performed on New Years Day, January 1, 2011. On March 31, 2011, the band announced Super Ball IX, a 3-day festival that was held in Watkins Glen, NY on the weekend of July 1. On September 6, the band announced that it would be playing a show in Essex Junction, Vermont, their first show in the state since Coventry in '04. The show was held on Sept. 14, and the more than $1.2M in proceeds were donated to VT flood victim relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene
Hurricane Irene (2011)
Hurricane Irene was a large and powerful Atlantic hurricane that left extensive flood and wind damage along its path through the Caribbean, the United States East Coast and as far north as Atlantic Canada in 2011...
. The band's next performances are scheduled to be at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
on December 28, 29, 30, and 31, 2011, making it the second New Years show in a row, and prompting fans to use the term "NYEMSG" to indicate New Years Eve at Madison Square Garden.
Discography
- PhishPhish (album)Phish is a self-produced album released by the American rock band Phish on cassette in 1986. Often cited as the first Phish "album", The White Tape was originally a collection of original material that the band used as a demo/sample tape for venues, and was sometimes labelled "Phish" or simply...
(1986) - The Man Who Stepped into YesterdayThe Man Who Stepped into YesterdayThe Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday was written as the senior thesis study by Trey Anastasio, the guitarist and lead vocalist of the American rock band Phish...
(1987) - JuntaJunta (album)Junta is the first official studio release from the American rock band Phish. The album was independently recorded and released on tape in 1988, and did not appear in stores officially until May 8, 1989. The album was re-released by Elektra Records on October 26, 1992...
(1989) - Lawn BoyLawn BoyLawn Boy is Phish's second official studio album, released on September 21, 1990, on the Absolute A Go Go Records and Rough Trade labels. Vinyl LPs of the original Absolute A Go Go release are still known to circulate...
(1990) - A Picture of NectarA Picture of NectarA Picture of Nectar is the third official studio album and first on a major-label by the American rock band Phish, released on February 12, 1992, through Elektra Records...
(1992) - RiftRift (album)Rift is the fourth official studio album by the American rock band Phish. It is the band's second concept album, the first being The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday in 1987, which has never been officially released. Rifts songs convey the experience of a man dreaming about the rift in his...
(1993) - HoistHoist (album)Hoist is the fifth official studio album by the American rock band Phish, released on March 29, 1994, by Elektra Records. At the time of its release, Hoist was Phish's best selling album to date....
(1994) - Billy BreathesBilly BreathesBilly Breathes is the sixth official studio album by American rock band Phish. It remains one of the most popular Phish albums, and is credited with connecting the band to a more mainstream audience beyond its strong cult following...
(1996) - The Story of the GhostThe Story of the GhostThe Story of the Ghost is the seventh official studio album by the American rock band Phish. It was released by Elektra Records on October 27, 1998.Much of the album originated during large-scale improvisation sessions...
(1998) - The Siket DiscThe Siket DiscThe Siket Disc is a 1999/2000 release from the American band Phish....
(1999) - FarmhouseFarmhouse (album)Farmhouse is the eighth official studio album by the American rock band Phish. The tracks were recorded at The Barn, frontman Trey Anastasio's studio in Vermont. The album was released on May 16, 2000, by Elektra Records...
(2000) - Round RoomRound RoomRound Room is the ninth official studio album by the American rock band Phish, released on December 10, 2002, by Elektra Records. The album was recorded and released in the lead up to Phish's reunion concert on New Year's Eve 2002 at Madison Square Garden, which marked the end of the band's...
(2002) - Undermind (2004)
- JoyJoy (Phish album)Joy is the eleventh official studio album by the American rock band Phish, released on September 8, 2009, on the band's own label, JEMP Records...
(2009)
Band members
- Trey AnastasioTrey AnastasioTrey Anastasio is an American guitarist, composer, and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish...
– guitar, lead vocals (1983-present) - Jon FishmanJon FishmanJon Fishman is an American drummer best known for his work with the band Phish. He is credited with co-writing 19 Phish originals, 8 of them as a solo credit....
– drums, percussion, vocals (1983-present) - Mike GordonMike GordonMike Gordon is a bass guitar player and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish. Gordon is also an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano, guitar, harmonica and percussion...
– bass, vocals (1983-present) - Page McConnellPage McConnellPage Samuel McConnell is an American multi-instrumentalist most noted for his work as a songwriter and keyboardist with the American rock band Phish....
– keyboards, vocals (1985-present)
Former members
- Jeff HoldsworthJeff HoldsworthJeff Holdsworth was a founding member of the rock band Phish. He was their first leader, singing lead vocals and playing guitar. He co-founded the band in the fall of 1983 with Trey Anastasio while living in the Redstone campus dormitories of the University of Vermont...
– guitar (1983-1986) - Marc DaubertMarc DaubertMarc Daubert was the percussionist for the rock band Phish for a brief time in their early history, joining the band in September 1984 and leaving the band in February 1985....
– percussion (1984-1985)
Solo work
The members of Phish have worked on various musical side projects. Anastasio continued the solo career he'd begun in 1998, formed the group Oysterhead, and began conducting an orchestral composition with the Vermont Youth Orchestra. Gordon made an album with acoustic guitar legend Leo Kottke and two films before launching his own solo career. Fishman alternated between Jazz Mandolin Project and his band Pork Tornado, while McConnell formed the trio Vida Blue.During their break-up, members of Phish maintained various solo projects. Trey continued his solo career with his own band
Trey Anastasio (band)
Since 1998, Trey Anastasio, best known from Phish, has toured and recorded with several backup bands, including several side-projects organized and led by the guitarist and composer. While active, his bands did not officially have a name. Fans commonly referred to them as Trey Anastasio Band, or...
and performed with Oysterhead
Oysterhead
Oysterhead is an alternative rock supergroup featuring bassist Les Claypool of Primus, guitarist Trey Anastasio of Phish and drummer Stewart Copeland of The Police, with all three providing vocals...
in June 2006. Gordon played with Leo Kottke
Leo Kottke
Leo Kottke is an acoustic guitarist. He is widely known for his innovative fingerpicking style, which draws on influences from blues, jazz, and folk music, and his syncopated, polyphonic melodies...
and the Benevento/Russo Duo
Benevento/Russo Duo
The Benevento/Russo Duo is an alternative jazz/rock band from New York City, featuring Marco Benevento on keyboard instruments and Joe Russo on drums.-History:Benevento and Russo met while in junior high school in New Jersey...
. At Rothbury
Rothbury
Rothbury is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England. It is located on the River Coquet, northwest of Morpeth and north-northwest of Newcastle upon Tyne...
in 2006, he played with his newest project, Ramble Dove
Ramble dove
Ramble Dove is a Burlington, Vermont-based supergroup comprising key members of that scene, instigated by Brett R. Hughes which includes Phish bassist Mike Gordon. The band, which was born out of Hughes' weekly Radio Bean honky tonk jam sessions , performs honky-tonk and vintage country music...
, which is the name of the country outfit he fronted in his directorial feature Outside Out
Outside Out
Outside Out is the first full-length feature film from Phish bassist Mike Gordon. It premiered in theaters in early 2001 and starred Jimi Stout, Col. Bruce Hampton, Ashley Scott Shamp, Gordon, and others....
, and also joined Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
drummers Mickey Hart
Mickey Hart
Mickey Hart is an American percussionist and musicologist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band the Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 to February 1971, and from October 1974 to August 1995...
and Bill Kreutzmann
Bill Kreutzmann
Bill Kreutzmann is an American drummer who played with the rock band the Grateful Dead for their entire thirty-year career...
along with Steve Kimock
Steve Kimock
-External links:** at the Internet Archive's live music archive* at the Internet Archive's live music archive* at Internet Archive's live music archive*, San Francisco, April 3, 1999*, Unofficial Fan Forum...
and Jen Durkin as the Rhythm Devils
Rhythm Devils
The Rhythm Devils are a band led by founding Grateful Dead drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart.-Grateful Dead:The Rhythm Devils had their origins as an informal but frequent fixture in the Grateful Dead concert repertoire...
. Anastasio and Gordon toured as a four-piece with the Benevento/Russo Duo in the summer of 2006. McConnell debuted his new solo project at a festival in September 2006 held by jam band moe.
Moe.
moe. is an American jam band, formed at the University at Buffalo in 1989. The band members are: Rob Derhak , Al Schnier , Chuck Garvey , Vinnie Amico , and Jim Loughlin ....
and released his self-titled debut
Page McConnell (album)
Page McConnell is the self-titled debut album from Phish keyboardist Page McConnell. It was recorded over a two-year period following the break-up of Phish. The album was produced by Bryce Goggin and Jared Slomoff...
on April 17, 2007. Fishman has performed occasional shows with the Everyone Orchestra, The Village and the Yonder Mountain String Band
Yonder Mountain String Band
The Yonder Mountain String Band is an American progressive bluegrass group from Nederland, Colorado. Composed of Dave Johnston, Jeff Austin, Ben Kaufmann, and Adam Aijala, the band has released five studio albums and several live recordings to date.- History :The band's history stretches back to...
, but had, for the most part, retired from the music business.
Music
The music of Phish is "oriented around group improvisation and superextended grooves" that draw on a range of rock-oriented influences, including psychedelic rockPsychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
and various "acoustic" genres, such as folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
. Some Phish songs use different vocal approaches, such as a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
(unaccompanied) sections of barbershop quartet-style vocal harmonies.
Some of their original compositions (such as "Theme from the Bottom") tend towards a psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
and bluegrass fusion, with more rock, jazz and funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
elements than the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
and other earlier jam bands like Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
. Their more ambitious, epic compositions (such as "You Enjoy Myself
You Enjoy Myself
You Enjoy Myself, commonly abbreviated to "YEM" is a Phish song written by Trey Anastasio. It is the band's most frequently played song, having been featured —as of August 2011— at about 36% of their 1,496 shows. The song is also one of the oldest in Phish's catalog, having been first performed...
" and "Guyute") are often said to resemble classical music in a rock setting, much like the music of one of their heroes, Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
.
Live performances
The driving force behind Phish is the popularity of their concerts and the fan culture surrounding the event. Each a production unto itself, the band is known to consistently change set lists and details, as well as the addition of their own antics to ensure that no two shows are ever the same. With fans flocking to venues hours before they open, the concert is the centerpiece of an event that includes a temporary community in the parking lot, complete with "Shakedown Street": at times a garment district, art district, food court, or pharmacy. For many, one concert is simply a prelude to the next as the community follows the band around the country.Because Phish's reputation is so grounded in their live performances, concert recordings are commonly-traded commodities. Official soundboard recordings can be purchased through the Live Phish website. Legal field recording
Field recording
Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside of a recording studio. The recording is typically recorded in the same channel format as the desired result, for instance, stereo recording equipment will yield a stereo product...
s produced by tapers
Taper (concert)
A Taper is a person who records musical events often from standing microphones in the audience for the benefit of the musical group's fanbase. Such taping was popularized in the late 1960s and early 1970s by fans of the Grateful Dead. Audio recording was allowed at shows and fans would share their...
with boom microphones from the audience in compliance with Phish's tape trading policy are frequently traded on any number of music message boards. Although technically not allowed, live videos of Phish shows are also traded by fans and are tolerated as long as it is for non-profit, personal use. Phish fans have been noted for their extensive collections of fan-taped concert recordings; owning recordings of entire tours and years is widespread.
In other media
Phish began appearing in video games in 2009. Their song "Wilson" (December 30, 1994 at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY as released on A Live OneA Live One
A Live One is a live album by the American rock band Phish, released on June 27, 1995, by Elektra Records. The album was the Phish's first official live release, and the band's only "traditional" live album, wherein songs from several different shows are compiled into one composite "set"...
), appeared in Rock Bands Bonnaroo song pack, along with other songs by artists playing at the Bonnaroo Festival that year. A Phish "Live Track Pack" for Guitar Hero World Tour
Guitar Hero World Tour
Guitar Hero World Tour is a music video game developed by Neversoft and published by RedOctane and Activision. It is the fourth main entry in the Guitar Hero series...
became available on June 25, 2009. Recordings of "Sample in a Jar" (December 1, 1994 at Salem Armory), "Down With Disease" (December 1, 1995 at Hersheypark Arena
Hersheypark Arena
Hersheypark Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena, located in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The arena has a seating capacity, for hockey, of 7,286 people and in excess of 8,000, including standing room...
) and "Chalk Dust Torture" (November 16, 1994, Hill Auditorium, University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, , as released on A Live One
A Live One
A Live One is a live album by the American rock band Phish, released on June 27, 1995, by Elektra Records. The album was the Phish's first official live release, and the band's only "traditional" live album, wherein songs from several different shows are compiled into one composite "set"...
) have been released, compatible with Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, PS3, and Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
. On August 19, 2010, it was confirmed that Llama would be a playable song in Rock Band 3
Rock Band 3
Rock Band 3 is a music video game, developed by Harmonix Music Systems. The game was initially published and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts, respectively, with Mad Catz taking over both roles a year later. It is the third main game in the Rock Band series...
, released on October 26, 2010.