Phish

Phish was an American rock band most noted for jamming and improvisation. The band's four members performed together for 21 years until their breakup in August 2004. Although the group received little radio play or MTV exposure, Phish developed a large following by word of mouth. more...

Phish's music had elements of many genres, including rock, jazz, bluegrass, country, heavy metal, reggae, folk, ska, pop, blues, progressive rock, show tunes, classical, acoustic, barber shop quartet, and calypso. The band performed 226 originals (of the 234 they penned) and 394 covers, a total of 620 songs. Each Phish concert was different in terms of the songs included and the order in which they appeared, and (for many songs) in the way in which they were performed. Most of their songs were never played the same way twice. Along with Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead and The Beatles, Phish were one of the first bands to have an Internet newsgroup - Phish.net - launched in 1991.

History of the band

The beginning (1983-1992)

Phish was formed in 1983 at the University of Vermont by guitarists Trey Anastasio and Jeff Holdsworth, bassist Mike Gordon, and drummer Jon Fishman. Before they were known as Phish, they were first billed as "Blackwood Convention" and played an ROTC Halloween Dance, Sunday, October 30, 1983, in the basement of the ROTC dormitory. They performed "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress," and other notable cover songs. Their second gig, and their first billed as Phish, was November 3, in the basement of Slade Hall at UVM. In the fall of 1984, the band was joined by a full-time percussionist, Marc Daubert, who left the band in early 1985. In September of that year, Page McConnell joined on keyboards. One year later, in 1986, Holdsworth left the group after graduation, thus solidifying the band's classic lineup of Anastasio/McConnell/Gordon/Fishman, which remained unchanged for the rest of their career.

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