A rap on Phish at The Haunt, Ithaca, N.Y. - 10/1/90
Catfish John
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. :-)
===================================================== Catfish ================
| jo...@uhura.rochester.edu |
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|"I'm so happy to have you here, |
| Keeps me grinning from ear to ear..." |
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