The Official Phish Appreciation Thread

I have the album Junta, but I don't really like it more then I find it to be okey, i dunno what it is but it certainly hassent clicked yet

Edited by aginor - June 10 2011 at 11:57

Going to see them in San Francisco for the Outside Lands Festival in August

Yes.. gotta get a serving of phish every now and then..

Shouldn't this be title the Ophishal Phish Appreciation Thread? 

It's ridiculous. I blame the media. When i was in high school, i was obscessed with Pink Floyd, and other British prog bands, loved the intricate, elaborate, psychedelic type music like that. Phish was never played for me, to me, i knew not one song. The media back then used to lump them in with Barenaked Ladies, Counting Crows, all the boring, bland music I was just not into back then. Once I got curious enough, and internet access, I discovered how amazing they are, and was just floored as to how I had not discovered them years before that.

I first got into them in 1992, after hearing a friend's copy of "Lawn Boy".  The first two songs (Squirming Coil and Reba) actually sound a lot like Genesis songs (roughly, Dancing With the Moonlit Knight and Harold the Barrel/Firth of Fifth, respectively).  I was floored.  And then they follow those two with a purposely stupid little country tune.  this was the band for me.  I was an obsessed fan for the next six years, and saw them about 20 times during that interval.  I have many live tapes in boxes in a storage closet.  I'll pull one out every now and then.

I stopped going to see them for two reasons: first, my best friend with whom I used to attend all the shows moved out of state; second, it just wasn't the same once they hit big outdoor venues.  I know that sounds bitchy, but it simply wasn't as much fun any more. 

On top of that, they had been gradually moving away from the complex progressive compositions that were their bread and butter up through '93-ish (when "Hoist" came out and signaled a new era for Phish).  Although their early stuff like "You Enjoy Myself" (their most oft-performed piece of all time) still forms the meat of their sets to this day, I've just lost track of their newer material so I'm not as up to speed when listening to live shows (and it does help to be familiar with the songs).

I'm not complaining, or even saying it's not good, it's just that the band has evolved and so have I. Our "sweet spot" was the early to mid 90s, and although I look back in fondness at that time, I realize I can't ever re-live it.  I do still enjoy listening to them now and then, particularly the real early stuff.  The Colorado '88 3 disc set is excellent for that.

HolyMoly wrote: On top of that, they had been gradually moving away from the complex progressive compositions that were their bread and butter up through '93-ish (when "Hoist" came out and signaled a new era for Phish).  Although their early stuff like "You Enjoy Myself" (their most oft-performed piece of all time) still forms the meat of their sets to this day, I've just lost track of their newer material so I'm not as up to speed when listening to live shows (and it does help to be familiar with the songs).

On their most recent album "Joy", they do some different things, and the album features the song "Time Turns Elastic" which is an epic, much like the older ones, featuring long complex instrumental sections, and Zappa-esque guitar riffs. There's even a couple of parts that are completely new for Phish, and make me go "wow, I can't believe this is Phish playing this" (in a good way).

darkshade wrote: HolyMoly wrote: On top of that, they had been gradually moving away from the complex progressive compositions that were their bread and butter up through '93-ish (when "Hoist" came out and signaled a new era for Phish).  Although their early stuff like "You Enjoy Myself" (their most oft-performed piece of all time) still forms the meat of their sets to this day, I've just lost track of their newer material so I'm not as up to speed when listening to live shows (and it does help to be familiar with the songs). On their most recent album "Joy", they do some different things, and the album features the song "Time Turns Elastic" which is an epic, much like the older ones, featuring long complex instrumental sections, and Zappa-esque guitar riffs. There's even a couple of parts that are completely new for Phish, and make me go "wow, I can't believe this is Phish playing this" (in a good way).

Yeah, they never completely lost touch with their "prog" side, even on their newer material.  I think it was the Farmhouse album where they really lost me.  Some good songs (Heavy Things, Bug, First Tube), but just not the same band I fell in love with.  It was more like singer-songwriter roots music stuff, which isn't my bag at all.  But I think since then they've circled back a bit and played more to their strengths.

Ive been recently in a Phish mood (always pops up every so often), and got some new shows from the fall 97 tour 12/07/97, 12/29/97, and 12/30/97. I love this tour, and recently got the boxset that came out a couple months ago from the late November 97 shows.

Besides 97 shows, I'm also a big fan of 94, 95, and 98 shows. But from later tours, I'm a big fan of summer 2011 shows, they were really on a roll last summer, and I can't wait til they come back this summer.

What are your favorite songs? I of course am very much a fan of any of their proggy songs, like You Enjoy Myself, David Bowie, Reba (My absolute favorite), etc. But I also like Llama, Tube, Sand, First Tube, Golgi Apparatus, and Rift. But there's so many, I love most of them.

Their most recent album had a new epic called Time Turns Elastic. Some have mixed feeling about it, but I think it's one of their best songs in a while.

Edited by darkshade - May 10 2012 at 15:02

^ Hey yea, 94 and 95 Phish is them at their peak in terms of performance and energy. I just love the fall 97 shows for the 'cow funk' and the loose jazzy feel, of course the real jazzy Phish comes from the 89-91 eras.

I'd say check out 06/10/2011 for a really great show from recent shows.