An Tostal plays on with the innovative sounds of Phish April 25,1990 - Notre Dame Observer by Rich Pagen This year's An Tostal brings with it something completely new and exciting. Phish, a quartet based in Burlington, Vermont, will be performing on Wednesday, April 25 at 4pm at Fieldhouse Mall. The four performers began playing together over five years ago and have developed an "indescribable" sound. Their repertoire now consists of a wide variety of musical styles as diverse as jazz and R&B to funk and calypso. They have covered songs from Duke Ellington to the Allman Brothers, although their performances consist mainly of their own pieces. They are rapidly becoming a household name in the Northeast, where their increasing popularity has resulted in successful dates in a number of clubs, such as six consecutive sell-outs in Boston's Paradise Rock Club. During the spring, they have traveled through the Midwest and out to Colorado and will now stop in South Bend to give ND a dosage of their unique brand of music. Phish is comprised of guitarist and principle song writer, Trey Anastasio, Page McConnell on keyboards, Mike Gordon on bass, and Jon (Phish) Fishman on drums, trombone, and vacuum cleaner. Those four have spent almost every spare moment during the past five years playing together. They now live together in Burlington practicing five to six hours a day. Because of their determination and long hours, their performances are extremely tight and they demonstrate an exceptional ability to improvise. The interesting lyrics to Phish's songs are as much a part of their personalities as the music itself. The lyrics are seldom serious and are usually bizarre in nature. ("The tires are the things on your car that make contact with the road") Many of the songs are linked together by an epic written by Anastasio about an army colonel who travels through a doorway into a mystical world called Gamehenge. The song "Wilson" tells of a plot to overthrow the evil king of Gamehenge. Another song "AC/DC Bag" describes the evil king's robot executioner. Anastasio began writing songs in the fourth grade. Two of his oldest songs. "Golgi Apparatus" and "Makisupa Policeman" were written by Anastasio when he was 12 years old. The wild originality of the lyrics and the magic of the music result in a combination that has earned Phish much deserved respect as a talented high energy band. Dont miss them! © 1992 Notre Dame Observer