Shared on rec.music.gdead by Catfish John on October 2nd, 1990 to a whopping 5x viewers -- thought it should be shared here for posterity:

After hearing various New England Netheads rave about Phish, I decided to travel down to Ithaca last night to catch them. First, my friend Linda & I had a semi-late start, and got out of Rochester around 6:15. We arrived at Doug Moog's place a tad over two hours later. After hanging out for a bit, Doug, David Stern, Linda & I bolted to The Haunt. Upon arriving, there was a solid line to get in. However, the line moved slower than a snail for over 15 minutes, before people were permitted in. I didn't expect to have a bracelet put on me (reminded me of when I was bartending during my college days), but wasn't surprised at a younger crowd. After nabbing some drafts, I primarily spent the first set listening, and rapping with David and Doug. Between sets, Doug had to go home, so David, Linda & I decided to get closer to the stage to really check out Phish for the second set. I also had to nab some Merl Saunders tickets for the Friday gig (now I'm REALLY psyched!:-) as well. I have to say that The Haunt is a very interesting place. I grew up less than 20 minutes from another college town, Geneseo. While the scenes between Ithaca and Geneseo are similar, Ithaca is more "in the middle of nowhere", yet The Haunt is booking some killer upcoming acts (Toots & The Maytals, Albert Collins, Merl). The capacity sign in the bar read 207 people, yet I can bet the place will pack 100 more people if necessary. I was surprised at how small the place was in general. For the record, Geneseo does get some acts on occasion on the SUNY Geneseo campus, but not often (acts I've seen there: Chuck Mangione in 1979, James Taylor in 1984, and Ray Charles in 1984). As for Phish, I had read over postings and email a number of positive things about them. What was weird about this show is that I felt like I was at my first Dead show (in 1983). I didn't know any of the material, whereas at my first Dead show, I knew the material but didn't have "it", but caught it later that night. In the case of last night, I was dancing, yet I felt left out when I saw many people "bouncing". No, not in a negative way, but I felt more like a casual observer for a psychology class rather than part of the crowd (I wonder if Rebecca Adams has ever felt like this for her classes at Dead shows?). I clearly remembered Andrew Shalit's description of Phish: a cross between The Allman Brothers and Robert Fripp, with a tad of Bozo The Clown thrown in. On only one song did Phish really refer to the influence of the Allman. A number of jams last night reminded me of two things. First, the oddball, offbeat jams reminded me of some quirky Frank Zappa jams from various years of his career. Other influences I heard included Captain Beefheart, the Dead, various roots-reggae, and Chuck Berryesque rock & roll. Lyrically, it was tough for me to listen to the messages conveyed due to the muddy mix. What I did hear sounded rather offbeat, reminding me of eclectic artists like NRBQ, Captain Beefheart, early Traffic, and of course, Frank Zappa. On the negative-but-not-really-negative side, Phish also suffers from the same problem I see at many Max Creek gigs. While ther jams are energetic and engaging, the sounds and tone of the jams are nearly the same. While Phish has a unique sound, they sometimes succumb to the bar band syndrome, as does Max Creek. However, like a good Creek gig, Phish is a quartet of tight musicians who obviously play off each other very well. If anything, I enjoyed the instrumentals more than the majority of the songs played; probably because I didn't have any muddy-sounding lyrics to decipher. However, I do give Phish credit for playing shows on original material alone. That is not an easy task, and the band plays their originals confidently. The guitarist in particular seemed to feed off the energy and enthusiasm of the mostly-college-kids crowd. Nonetheless, it's clear that Phish-heads are very devoted followers as they sang and bounced along to certain tunes in the same vein that many of us would sing along (at least to myself;-) to China->Rider or Scarlet->Fire. If anything, David, Linda & I (and Doug in the first set) had to generally try to follow songs we never heard before. I went to this gig with a completely open mind, as I am a lover of live music in general. The acoustics of the Haunt was that of a typical bar: muddy in some spots. Vocals are inaudible at times. However, the energy is what counts, and Phish has plenty of that. For local (Rochester) purposes, I would like to see Phish play some gigs at The Warehouse, as they definitely have the stuff to expand their following in the Rochester area (then to Buffalo). Of course, the fact that The Haunt was crowded up front probably fuels my opinion for the band to play larger placed. However, even though the band sticks to its repetoire of original material, I also think Phish would benefit from inserting a few covers. No, not the obvious covers of songs every bar band does, but covers of different tunes where Phish can rearrange the material and fit it to their sound. So...would I travel to Ithaca to catch Phish again?? If I have the opportunity to learn their material, I probably would on a Friday night (and if there was nothing going on in the Rochester area). I did have a lot of fun last night...good music and nice people.:-) I think David said it best when we both commented on the gig last night. We both tried to be Phish-heads, but we're not there...yet. I'd certainly catch Phish if/when they are in the Rochester area. However, when I reflect on the gig itself, I kept thinking of the Creek on a good night, and that is what Phish specifically is. The admission price ($7) was worth it, and Phish is energetic and tight. However, if both Phish and Max Creek are ever going to catapult themselves into the "big time", IMHO, they need to open up their sound more, and utilize different sounds on each tune. The one thing I did like about Phish's sound is that the keyboardist used different, unique textures, and didn't utilize the sounds and tones that can reduce good music to "bar band" status. However, on a number of occasions, Phish gets the "each tune sounds the same" syndrome. Nonetheless, Phish is an upcoming band with plenty of ambition, good chops, and a backlog of originals. It will be interesting to see where Phish takes those assets a few years from now. Final note: special thank yous to Doug Moog and David Stern for their hospitality, good company, and good karma. See you guys this Friday for the Merl gig. :-)

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