Category Archives: media

media, Phish news

Phish and JEMP Records to release “Japan Relief”: Field of Heaven, Fuji Rock Festival, Japan 7/31/99

Leave a comment

From Phish and  JEMP Records:

In response to the recent earthquake and tsunami that the people of the northeastern part of Japan have endured JEMP Records is releasing “7/31/99, Field of Heaven, Fuji Rock Festival, Niigata, JAPAN” as benefit CD at & download at Phish Dry Goods and livephish.com to benefit Peace Winds America http://peacewindsamerica.org. 100% of the funds Peace Winds America collects for disaster relief will go to support operations through their sister organization, Peace Winds Japan. Relief operations began March 15th and are currently underway in Miuyagi Prefecture, where Peace Winds is on the ground providing food, clothing, medicines and temporary shelter to survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.

7/31/99 was recorded by Paul Languedoc and mastered by Fred Kevorkian. We’d like to thank Fred and the folks at Nugs.net and Music Today for donating their efforts to this cause.

The expected release date of the download at livephish.com will be April 15th. The expected ship date of the CD from Phish Dry Goods (drygoods.phish.com) will be May 10th. Click Here to pre-order

About the show:

Immediately following their 1999 U.S. summer tour, Phish traveled abroad for their first ever shows in Japan. Fuji Rock Festival took place on multiple stages and the festival had specially designed the “Field Of Heaven” stage for Phish to play three consecutive nights of complete, two-set headline shows.

This release features Phish’s entire show from July 31, 1999 – the middle, Saturday night as well as “What’s The Use?” from their soundcheck on July 29th. The July 31st show crackled with energy, intermingling classic and new material with an exploratory vibe that meshed with the atmosphere of respect and beauty.

Set one had many high points including standout performances of “My Friend, My Friend”, “Back On The Train”, “Limb By Limb” and “Character Zero”. Set two started in the stratosphere with a “2001” > “David Bowie” opener that proved the most experimental music played at Fuji Rock transposed against the gentle beauty of “Wading In The Velvet Sea”. Set two also featured one of the all-time great renditions of “Prince Caspian”, a smoking “Fluffhead” and mystical “Simple”. The encore provided a chance for friend and fellow musician Nawang Khechog to address the crowd about Tibetan human rights and perform with Fish on vacuum for a meditative jam with Fish and with the whole band on flute for a special “Brian And Robert”. Japan proved a perfect host for Phish, the Field Of Heaven has survived ever since as part of Fuji Rock Festival and Phish has maintained a strong connection with Japan, weaving Japanese lyrics into “The Meatstick” as recently as New Year’s Eve 2010-2011.

In the past, charitable downloads at LivePhish.com have raised over $100,000 for four non-profits: the Harbor House of New Jersey (The Headphones Jam), the New Orleans Musician’s Clinic, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Fund (Katrina Relief) and the American Red Cross (Haiti Relief). Additionally, the Mockingbird Foundation receives funding on an on-going basis from the proceeds at LivePhish.com.

media

The Melody of Motion: Following Phish and Widespread Panic, by Carl Cole

2 Comments

Buy The Melody of Motion: Following Phish and Widespread Panic as a Hardcover, Paperback or E-book at lulu.com

Book Review

               This book takes me back to the start of my journey with Phish in the late 1990s. The Melody of Motion: Following Phish and Widespread Panic is a very fun read and the pages turned rapidly as the story got more complex and developed with easy relatable characters. The main character of the book, Melody, “had arrived at the everyday parade” at Oswego in 1999 and provided the backdrop for an accurate telling of the bonds forged between fans of Phish by the characters sharing their stories with each other. In the first 50 pages, even the casual fan can quickly identify with any of the well-thought out and elaborate personalities, capturing the Phish vibe and how it relates to their individual lives. The characters of Melody, Nathan, Phil, Lucy, Kale and Jessica are powerfully correlative as to what a microcosm of the Phish community looks like from the inside out. This glimpse of one group of friends is connotated by Cole with attention to detail of the lot, so much so that you can visualize Oswego’s life on the runway, falling in love on tour, the tribulations of Phish tour, all captured in a slow-building glorious payoff.

               Melody’s character brings to mind girls from years past who hopped on Phish tour, found the vibe they were looking for and took it not just to heart but made it one with themselves. Her youth and beauty are well written and accurately captures the many aspects of Phish, both on and off tour: falling in love, back stories each fan has, and most importantly (and impressively), the relationships built spontaneously that last years, coupled with the feeling we get when the music begins. The Melody of Motion dissects the differences between Phish and Widespread Panic very simply and clearly, citing the firsthand knowledge of someone who appreciated and understood the intricacies of both bands, rather than a fan of one band with a fleeting knowledge of the other.

              One of the significant highlights in the book is a first-hand account of the shock Widespread Panic fans received in April of 2002 when it was revealed that Mikey Houser, the namesake of the band, was diagnosed with and dying of pancreatic cancer. Shared clearly and with great detail is the police crackdown at Oak Mountain in Pelham, Alabama in April of 2001 and again in Memphis in November of 2002. The first Bonnaroo’s heat is felt through a blistering retelling, coupled with attending to medical needs while at a festival and falling off tour due to frustration. Panic’s summer 2002 tour with the loss of Mikey, the moment of candles at Fiddler’s Green, pregnancy and marriage are all breached and evoke powerful emotions for even the most casual, if not skeptical Widespread Panic fan.

                Life as we know it happened in between the 1.0 and 2.0 incarnations of Phish, and likewise between the 2.0 and 3.0 Phish eras, as well as the McConnell years of Widespread Panic and the break the band took in 2004-2005. A remarkable gesture by the band – free tickets given to Widespread tour regulars for the final show before hiatus on 12/31/03 in Atlanta, is shared and shows a generous nature of the Panic community. With both bands on break for a few years, life off of tour during that time showed many growing up; those young kids who met at Oswego and fell in love over Phish, they grew up too.

              New Years Eve 2009 in Denver saw once fractured and divided relationships that were strong enough to withstand not seeing someone for years at a time, showing that capturing the same feeling that you get from Phish shows is attainable from Widespread shows (yes, it’s true). What has been brought together again is broken prior summer 2009 when Phish reunited and the characters find themselves back with each other, bringing life full circle with Phish playing the soundtrack to this new chapter of their lives. Finding meaning in every song as it is played, the reuniting of friends and a band, and growing up at Red Rocks in 2009, the main character, Melody, finds what she has been looking for. Ten years removed from Phish and seven years since her last tour, she finds what she has been looking for with a little help from her friends and Phish. Although some may not agree with the lifestyles and choices that the characters make in the book, they are well developed and taken from real life, easily identifiable to any number of fans. Melody is an amalgamation of girls and friends I have known on tour over the past decade or more. This is a must read for any phan who has spent any amount of time on tour or amongst the Phish and Widespread Panic communities.

              Finding meaning in phish again, meaning in life, identifying with lyrics in ways they never had before, this is what Phish does to and for the 30-something crowd looking for answers to the next step of their lives. Reading the book was painful at times, only in the sense that Carl’s words were eerily reminiscent of what had transpired in my life and that of many friends Phish returned two years ago. Cole captures the scene perfectly, saying “Since the dawn of civilization there have been traveling gypsies making a circuit through the sedentary people. As usual, those stable people were baffled, excited, and a little scared by the nomads who roamed the countryside.”  

            This book is PhanArt Recommended, PhanArt Approved. It is a great read and a fantastic story.

             Carl Cole has spent the last 15 years sporadically and spontaneously involved in the tour scene of Phish and Widespread Panic. He sometimes made a living quasi-legally vending food in the parking lots. He was also a protege’ of Daniel Quinn, bestselling author of Ishmael, publishing a weekly column on Ishmael.com. Carl first saw Phish and Widespread Panic in the spring of 1997, having  seen well over 100 Panic concerts, 50 Phish shows, and lived countless other musical adventures.

Buy The Melody of Motion: Following Phish and Widespread Panic as a Hardcover, Paperback or E-book at lulu.com

media

If Phish Songs 3.0 were a rating scale……

6 Comments

If Phish songs in the 3.0 era were a rating scale from 1-10, with 1 being the worst, 10 being the best, we think it might look something like this:

1. Time Turns Elastic

2. Let me Lie

3. Grind

4. Sugar Shack

5. Hartford Psycho Kicculus

6. Worcester Hood

7. Miami Tweezer

8. Greek Cities

9. Camden Chalkdust

10. 7 Below -> Ghost

What would your Scale from 1-10 be?

media

‘The Open Source Phish Code’ by Benjy Eisen (Excerpt from PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish)

Leave a comment

In celebration of PhanArt’s 2nd Anniversary of being published, this week we are sharing excerpts from select articles written exclusively for PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish. To read more of this article and other great reviews of the Phish community and unique style of art, pick up the book here

An excerpt from ‘The Open Source Phish Code’ by Benjy Eisen, writer for jambands.com and many other fine publications, originally published in PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish (2009, Allegra)

Unless you know how to see in Technicolor, I admit, it may seem a little thin: For much of my 20s, I followed around a rock band. Thousands of others did too. We spent entire summers traveling all over the country to watch the same band play night after night. When we weren’t at the concerts, we spent our time collecting recordings of the concerts, discussing the concerts (past and present), and preparing for the next batch of concerts. It’s okay, you can think it — it sounds shallow. Like we missed the mark. But we didn’t.

You see, we didn’t merely follow a band around the country; sometimes we led them. Sometimes we led each other, sometimes we fed each other, and always we fed off of each other. Phish was always fond of acknowledging from the stage that tours took more than just the four musicians. You see, when you stepped into a Phish show, you stepped into a different dimension — one in which you became a creative, artistic, free participant. An active participant. You engaged while also being engaged.

Other concerts go something like this: You meet up with your friends, have dinner somewhere near the arena, pay $10 to park, drink a few beers, go inside, dawdle during the opening band, find your seats, watch the concert and go home.

Phish shows weren’t like that. At Phish shows, you were expected to do more. It was in the contract. Part of the deal, you see. Part of the appeal, you see. And if you toured with the band, forget it — you were in deep!

Between 1993 and 2004, I saw somewhere around 150 Phish shows, stretched over 11 years, 25 states, and two countries. I spent the best nights of my life with Phish and I have a hell of a lot to show for it. Most of it is intangible — it’s in my eyes, the way I walk, the manner in which I carry myself, even in my sigh. But physically, apart from a box full of ticket stubs and photographs, I have artwork in myriad forms picked up along the way. The art — whether primitive or skilled — serves as a concrete reminder of all that is divine in my life. They’re sacred objects. I have a silk-screened t-shirt bought on 7/5/94 in Ottawa, Canada from a guy who reminded me of a cartoon drug dealer. The shirt no longer fits, but I look at it and remember getting lost in French-speaking Canada on the way to the show.

To read more, check out the book here

media

‘Inaugural Ball’ by Amy Pedatella (Excerpt from PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish)

Leave a comment

In celebration of PhanArt’s 2nd Anniversary of being published, this week we are sharing excerpts from select articles written exclusively for PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish. To read more of this article and other great reviews of the Phish community and unique style of art, pick up the book here

An excerpt from ‘Inaugural Ball’ by Amy Pedatella, originally published in PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish (2009, Allegra)

The year was 1996 and I was quickly becoming a Phish fan. As winter ended, the band made the announcement that they would be hosting a weekend festival in northern New York. The show was slated to be called The Clifford Ball and scheduled for the end of summer, without hesitation I was “in” and anxiously awaited ticket sales. Talking this phenomenon up with my friends, I found two eager participants. We purchased our tickets, made preliminary preparations and awaited mid-August.

Submitted by Noah Phence for PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish

Apparently my friends were not as into Phish as I was, and purchased H.O.R.D.E. Tour tickets for the Friday of that same weekend. Wanting to forgo the H.O.R.D.E I was unable to find any takers for their tickets. I was left no choice but to attend the show at Randall’s Island, New York with them and immediately following travel directly to The Ball. Halfway through the Spin Doctors set, my friend decided to pass out and land in First-Aid after ingesting who knows what?

Always the optimist I thought, ‘she’ll shake it off.’ This is the point when my other friend at the show decided to piss in my Cheerios and pull the plug on the whole operation, taking our other friend home.

The H.O.R.D.E. was had, the hour was zero, and I found myself under the Triborough Bridge with three Clifford Ball tickets, a station wagon and nobody up for the mission. I had to beg and plead with anyone who will listen in a futile attempt to gain candidates. I had no choice but to go it alone. My rather straightedge brother had been at the H.O.R.D.E. also and got wind of my antics. Being the supportive older brother that he is, my brother refused to let me travel alone and decided to join me. He and I had seen Phish about three weeks prior in Rome, Italy, as part of an audience of less than 200 as they opened for Santana. He would have liked people to believe that he was going to escort me, but I knew better. He had experienced

To read more, check out the book here

media

‘Hippies Understand Capitalism’ by Dan Greenhaus (excerpt from PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish)

Leave a comment

In celebration of PhanArt’s 2nd Anniversary of being published, this week we are sharing excerpts from select articles written exclusively for PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish. To read more of this article and other great reviews of the Phish community and unique style of art, pick up the book here

An excerpt from ‘Hippies Understand Capitalism‘ by Dan Greenhaus, originally published in PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish (2009, Allegra)

Capitalism. It is the central theme that underpins just about everything in our country. Standing in stark contrast to other social systems such as communism and socialism, capitalism manages to bring out the most ingenious concepts and products, as the lure of a potentially unlimited payday will forever lead humans to push further and further, and reach higher and higher.

Capitalism, and the concepts of supply and demand and free markets, exist all around us. Once can find these ideas in many places, whether in its purest form (as most would assert) by way of the stock market, or at the local deli, toy store or, a little more surprisingly if you’ve never been there, the lot before a Phish show. The latter might be a surprise to some people who, when queried about the idea of a “hippie,” would sooner imagine a dreadlocked stoner smoking too much pot while following a band around the country than a businessman earning a living pursuing a passion the likes of which most people would, and could, never understand.

But when one looks closer, what they’ll find along the famed “Shakedown Street” is the economic incarnation of Capitalism in a pure form. People sell goods priced at a level pursuant to the demand in the marketplace set before them, with the underlying intention of earning a profit. In “The Wealth of Nations,” Adam Smith portended that the essence of a “trade” was the person obtaining an item felt that item obtained was of equal or greater value than whatever they may be relinquishing the right to in exchange for the item. It is that underlying concept that pulsates through the lot, and through the subconscious of that same dreadlocked hippie, regardless of whether he realizes it or not. It’s the lifeblood of the mini-society that has been built up around both The Grateful Dead and more recently, Phish and as such, a case could be made that the communities, much like our country, could not exist without it.

To read more, check out the book here

media

It’s the Two year Anniversary of PhanArt!

4 Comments

Two years ago this week, PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish held its book kickoff at Revolution Hall in Troy, NY (RIP). Featuring music from The McLovins and The Flow, the long awaited arrival of PhanArt, a comprehensive collection of the art made by fans over the first 20 years of Phish was finally here. Over the course of the week we will be excerpting articles from the book that discuss the Phish community, art scene, and events throughout Phish history.

Featuring art from Ryan Kerrigan, Tripp, AJ Masthay, Jason Lees, Isadora Bullock, and dozens of other artists over the years, this 400+ page full-color coffee-table book is a walk down memory lane that is unlike any other book in that it is made up of the art of the FANS. Because of the Fans, Phish is a stronger band with a large community encompassing it.

To celebrate our 2nd year, we are offering for one week only the book at it’s original cost of $60 – this is a limited time offer and will last until Sunday night. Pick up the book while it is in it’s second printing and READ The F$%&ing Book!


All net profits from the sale of PhanArt will benefit The Mockingbird Foundation which supports music education throughout the country.

Read some reviews of PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish

“I always love reading lot tales, its all part of the Phish experience, even stories from the road. Thats why PhanArt is so damn cool, cause it fully captures that aspect of Phish.” –Sam Davis of Dogoneblog

“It’s an amazing book that clearly took a tremendous amount of effort to create. Great job Pete!”- Prof. Robert J. Thompson, Director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture, S.I. Newhouse School of Communications,Syracuse University

“Get that book. I love it. So much” – Kim Mancini

“I really like it, fun to look at all the art, really brings back some memories” – Baltimoeron77

“This is really a must have for anybody who ever appreciated the lot scene” – Ryan Kerrigan, artist“We have ours and it’s awesome!!!! Everyone get a copy of PhanArt!” – Taraleigh, The Healthy Hippie

“Love this book, great conversation pieces in it, great memories form seeing this stuff on lot are conjured up, and you are contributing to a good cause. So worth buying this book.”- Mark Hanzsche – Phan since ’94

“Think its a great book, I got #233!!! I leave it on my coffee table and my friends love it. They love going through and remembering what “lot” stuff we’ve seen or have from Stickers, t-shirts, and posters. Good Stuff!!!” – Dan “Danimal” Viall

media

I’ll tell you about Donald Driver….

Leave a comment

I’ll tell you about Donald Driver
who lives inside Green Bay.
Catches touchdown passes, mostly on Sundays.
He’s moving to the open field and he’s thinkin’ ’bout this catch
and hoping when he gets there, he won’t be second best

Keeps his eyes open, most of the game
Catches touchdown passes, mostly on Sundays
Adds to Cheesehead History with each and every play
The Packers will beat the Steelers Sunday and ‘I’m goin’ to Disney Land’ is what Driver will say

Like that Sunday when they beat Chicago
24 to 10
Bit of a rout if you ask me
But Cutler got sacked so it was in the can

They were moving through the rounds
And thinking bout the next
And hoping when they get there
Donald Driver will be the best

He keeps his routes open,
most of the day,
adds to his touchdowns,
every time he plays.
When he runs a post pattern
To throw, you don’t have to wait

Ill tell you about Donald Driver,
Who lives inside Green Bay

We’re going with Green Bay over Pittsburgh, 28-24

(revised from an original, author unknown)