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Is it Phish for a Moment?



Just thought I'd interrupt the poll results with an interesting,
current-day, oddity . . .

As some of you may know, Phish is touring at the moment.  I haven't really
gotten into them myself, but there are devotees out there who rival
Deadheads in their enthusiasm for the band.  In many ways, Phish is what
the Dead would've been had they started out in the 1990's -- they share the
same penchant for experimentation, are highly taper-friendly (they were
among the first of the new crop to permit "taping sections" for their
fans), and are a far better live act than on studio releases (this is what
I'm told; I've never heard any of their albums).   Like the Dead, they are
extremely talented musicians and love covering other people's songs.

In any event, one of their traditions is to do a bizarre show on Halloween,
full of cover songs and featuring a cover of an entire ALBUM in their
second set (another habit they picked up from the Dead is that of playing
three- or four-hour shows).  Last year was a very credible version of the
Beatles' "White Album," which featured the only live version of "Revolution
9" I've ever heard of . . . this was sandwiched in the midst of two
90-minute sets of their own material, all of which opened with a cover of
Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein".

Last night, at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago, the first set opened with a
cover of ZZ Top's "Jesus Just Left Chicago."  Okay, nice tie-in.

However, the second set opened with a tape-recording of waves crashing
against the shore . . . . what followed was the entire Quadrophenia album,
complete with the tapes used by the Who, a complete horn section, etc.  The
older people in the arena went nuts; the younger fans were scratching their
heads, thinking that it sounded vaguely familiar but assuming that it was
new, unreleased Phish material.

All of this is from a first-hand account from a friend of mine; I wasn't
able to make it there last night (I could shoot myself now, though).  Just
thought that there'd be some fans on the list who'd be interested in
hearing about it . . . if there's sufficient interest, I'll tree out a copy
of the analog when I get it in a week or two.  I know two people that were
taping on DAT in the taper's section (one being the guy who told me about
it), so I don't anticipate it being a problem to snag a copy.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled debate on drug usage, Pete's brand
preferences, and reissues . . .

Andy DeMotte