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

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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

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

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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

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

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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