Phish is breaking up

yep, just read it. i actually listened to a whole album of their for the first time today, and then i read they're breaking up. sorry dave w and piper. i didn't mean to.

 

You need to be careful with that kind of power Wydd.

 

from www.phish.com:

AN ANNOUNCEMENT FROM TREY 05.25.04
Last Friday night, I got together with Mike, Page and Fish to talk openly about the strong feelings I've been having that Phish has run its course and that we should end it now while it's still on a high note. Once we started talking, it quickly became apparent that the other guys' feelings, while not all the same as mine, were similar in many ways -- most importantly, that we all love and respect Phish and the Phish audience far too much to stand by and allow it to drag on beyond the point of vibrancy and health. We don't want to become caricatures of ourselves, or worse yet, a nostalgia act. By the end of the meeting, we realized that after almost twenty-one years together we were faced with the opportunity to graciously step away in unison, as a group, united in our friendship and our feelings of gratitude.

So Coventry will be the final Phish show. We are proud and thrilled that it will be in our home state of Vermont. We're also excited for the June and August shows, our last tour together. For the sake of clarity, I should say that this is not like the hiatus, which was our last attempt to revitalize ourselves. We're done. It's been an amazing and incredible journey. We thank you all for the love and support that you've shown us.

-- Trey Anastasio

 

they really haven't been that good in a while, so long

 

I always thought that String Cheese Incident was the better post-Dead band.

 

Who cares, the Dead sucked too.

 

There are going to be a lot of stinky teenagers with nothing to do this summer.

 

I only paid attention to them in 1990-91.

I saw them play a free show on the quad at Colorado College, Earth day, 1990. Maybe 100 people.

I had seen them once before, at an on campus club with about 150 people, packed. I knew he was good. But when I saw him play guitar at that show, with Pike's Peak as the backdrop, I knew he was going to go on to MUCH better things than free gigs to 100 people and living out of a van. And a REALLY nice guy. Easily the nicest 'star' I've ever met. Before I started recording them, he approached me after every show and just thanked me for coming and talked. Being 18, that was really memorable. Also, when I was only 19, they made sure I got into the 21 and up clubs. They made sure by giving me backstage passes.

I hope nothing but the best for the guy.

Another Anastasio story - after they were big time, maybe '95 or so, they were playing the Fox in Atlanta. It was sold out. A buddy of mine, who was barely 20 at the time, had just gotten off a pay phone to find out that he couldn't get tickets. Waiting in line for the phone - Anastasio. He gave my friend tickets and passes for the whole run.

So - I can't argue that their fans turned really shitty, the crowds were huge and nasty, and arenas suck. But those guys deserve every good thing they ever got.

 

WHO CARES

They suck anyway!!

 

I was at that run. I've got a show from that run. I listened to it the other day, and realized that why they are breaking up. Its been a while since I've heard them play with any kind of energy like that. Probably their peak creatively was 95.

Mike was very generous and nice like that too. I was lucky enough to see them before they got really big, playing at the Electric Ballroom in Knoxville when it was cold and wet. The soundboard blew, and they played on anyway. I talked to Mike in between sets, he was very unassuming and we had a normal conversation. I met him again in Boone the next year before a show. Very nice guy.

I got to see them one final time in Vegas this year. Played two solid sets, it was indoors, much better than the last show I saw last year in Atlanta which was lifeless.

Trey will keep on with TAB. The music is fresher for him, and he can always shake things up when things get stale.