Recommend me some Phish

[geeza]

I want to listen to some Phish (I'm a huge Dead fan), but don't know what's some of their best stuff. What songs should I check out that would be definitive?

[TylerE]

I'd say seek out any live recordings from 1998-2000...basically the equiv. of early '70s Dead in terms of being the point where that band has fully locked in and had a good repetoire, but pre becoming a total institution.

[Phalex]

I don't know about definitive, (I was a deadhead, but just never got totally hooked on Phish) I really like Mikes Song, and the Wolfmans Brother.

[Jon Burnet]

ghost, gotta jiboo, reba, mikes song/i am hydrogen/weakapaug groove, the train song, down with disease.

a live one is a pretty good 2 disk set with some pretty solid moments. other than that check out etree.org and dload a couple shows. i would say 97-00. big cypress was a good show as was this past years shows in knoxville and cinci.

[Southpaw5]

The best Phish is NO Phish...



Try some Cod or Haddock...

[ghiadub]

You enjoy myself, Foam, run like antelope, the entire lawnboy and Junta albums pretty much are thier best stuff IMO.

Note: IMO Phish do not really have much in common with the dead other than the fact that they jam. I really never understood the comparisons.

[jnuts1]

Get Junta, it is the reason i play. it is their first real release & it is chock full of goodness. & yeah the Dead & phish are nothing alike musically except they both jam. but they are different jams for sure

[Bassman316]

Divided Sky

[PSPookie]

For live stuff: Fall tour 1997 was seriously funky -- this was also about the time Mike switched from the Languedoc to the Modulus. Pretty much any of the Live Phish volumes from 1997 through 1999 should be pretty representative, aside from the Halloween shows. IMO, they sound great on their current tour as well.

Studio: My favorites are Lawnboy and Junta

Individual songs: You Enjoy Myself, Run Like an Antelope, Possum, Tweezer, Moma Dance, Divided Sky, Mike's Song, Down With Disease, Bathtub Gin, Maze . . . jeez, there's a ton so I'm not going to bother to list them all.

Get your hands on some quality recordings and you'll be able to figure out if it's for you pretty quickly.

[PSPookie]

Originally Posted by ghiadub

You enjoy myself, Foam, run like antelope, the entire lawnboy and Junta albums pretty much are thier best stuff IMO.

Note: IMO Phish do not really have much in common with the dead other than the fact that they jam. I really never understood the comparisons.

It has more to do with the fanbase than the music.

[Chadwickw]

To the extent that consensus exists on the best era, 1997 is generally held up as the peak of the band's live performances and for bass players its a fun time to listen to the band experiment with funk and to listen as Mike begins to emerge as a confident counterweight to Trey.

Here's some selections form '97:
http://keepitsurreal.com/post/102317...7-content-sbds

But don't stop there--even at their low points (2004, etc.), it's still largely incredible. I'll PM some links to some shows for you.

[4001]

Originally Posted by ghiadub

You enjoy myself, Foam, run like antelope, the entire lawnboy and Junta albums pretty much are thier best stuff IMO.

Note: IMO Phish do not really have much in common with the dead other than the fact that they jam. I really never understood the comparisons.

Hippie wanna-be's and the drugs they ingest at the shows.
The girls at the shows with the long dresses and dirty feet wombat dancing and the whole scene is somewhat comparable.
I've seen Phish two times. The first at Alpine Valley, WI 7/24/99. That was an OK show. They had their moments during a few 'jams' but overall a pretty boring show. The crowd going wild and screaming like little kids at the slightest silly musical passage. I just didn't get it at all. The songs went on way too long and I was a bit bored at the show. The other Phish show I saw was at the Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL on 10/3/99. Hoping it would be a bit better than the Alpine show it was worse. I'll never go again. Mike Gordon is a good bassist but the music is just too bland. And Trey just sucks as a vocalist.

[Floridabwoy]

Oh boy... If you are looking for the Dead in phish, it will not get you there, but phish are the standard that all modern jambands are judged. phish v1 & v2 (untill coventry) were just massive. phish v3 (now). are good but just cannot reach the depths of improv like in the old days. I was lucky enough to see phish many times in the 90's. It was just unreal. I still would pick seeing the dead in '68, '72, '78 or '89 any day, but trey & page are just a whole different beast. You really need to read about the story of Gamehendge or it the lyrics wont make much since to you....

I would pick up the studio albums Rift & Picture of Nectar.

Here is a killer live show, and a purchase.

New Years Eve '93
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=e...622c8a670981c0

Set 1: Llama, Guelah Papyrus, Stash, Ginseng Sullivan, Reba, Peaches en Regalia, I Didn't Know, Run Like an Antelope
Set 2: Tweezer > Halley's Comet > Poor Heart > It's Ice > Fee > Possum, Lawn Boy, You Enjoy Myself
Set 3: Auld Lang Syne > Down with Disease Jam > Split Open and Melt, The Lizards, Sparkle > Suzy Greenberg > Hold Your Head Up > Cracklin' Rosie > Hold Your Head Up, Harry Hood, Tweezer Reprise
Encore: Golgi Apparatus, Amazing Grace



Live Phish Vol. 18: 5/7/94, The Bomb Factory, Dallas, Texas <- Trey is on fire from the first song.

[Floridabwoy]

Originally Posted by 4001

Hippie wanna-be's and the drugs they ingest at the shows.
The girls at the shows with the long dresses and dirty feet wombat dancing and the whole scene is somewhat comparable.
I've seen Phish two times. The first at Alpine Valley, WI 7/24/99. That was an OK show. They had their moments during a few 'jams' but overall a pretty boring show. The crowd going wild and screaming like little kids at the slightest silly musical passage. I just didn't get it at all. The songs went on way too long and I was a bit bored at the show. The other Phish show I saw was at the Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL on 10/3/99. Hoping it would be a bit better than the Alpine show it was worse. I'll never go again. Mike Gordon is a good bassist but the music is just too bland. And Trey just sucks as a vocalist.

Sorry Phish isnt Walls of Jericho.

[5StringBlues]

Originally Posted by geeza

(I'm a huge Dead fan)

You really arent that big man.




Phlounder is always nice.

[RKBassGuyNJ]

Here's my take on it (and I've seen them a LOT of times):

1993-1995 was the best overall live era, IMHO, but 1997 was when "Phunk-Phish" really came into its own with songs like Ghost, Moma Dance, etc. From a bass perspective, this is when Mike really began to show what he could do. If you can find it, the New Year's 1993 (Worcester, MA) was INCREDIBLE - among my favorite live shows ever.

Studio wise, I am a Picture of Nectar ('91 IIRC) junky, but Story of a Ghost ('97 IIRC) is definitely the funkiest. Honestly, you can't really go wrong - every moment has its up and down sides - all a matter of taste.

But, PLEASE, don't think that Phish and the Dead are interchangeable, they probably have more differences than similarities between them - that said, I love them both.

[Floridabwoy]

Originally Posted by RKBassGuyNJ

Here's my take on it (and I've seen them a LOT of times):
If you can find it, the New Year's 1993 (Worcester, MA) was INCREDIBLE - among my favorite live shows ever.

Great mind's think alike! See link above brohiem!

OP... also check out "Divided Sky" really a masterpiece of how amazing phish were at arrangement.

[baba]

Not a Phish fan, but I got Junta when it came out and still dig that one.

I first saw them in 91 with Spin Doctors, Blues Traveler, Aquarium Rescue Unit, and possibly Widespread Panic....I think it was the first Horde Tour. That was a hazy year.

[ragamfn]

A Picture of Nectar, their best stuff

[mgauge]

Originally Posted by Southpaw5

The best Phish is NO Phish...



Try some Cod or Haddock...

+1 All the way