Just one Phish in the sea March 19, 1993 - Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA) By Cathy Maestri Touring band famous for going against tide Phish When: 8 p.m. today Where: Greek Amphitheatre at the University of Redlands, 1200 E. Colton Ave., Redlands Tickets: $ 17 Information: (909) 335-4046 or 793-2121, Ext. 2332 It's not that Phish sounds like the Grateful Dead that gets the two bands compared so often; it's just, well, everything else. Each has a free-form approach to music, an unconventional style and a reputation for long, ever-changing live shows that are never enough for their faithful followers. In fact, the Phish-heads came long before the records for the Vermont foursome. They've been playing together for 10 years - it's only recently that anyone has started paying attention to the experimental band that could sell out halls across the country without so much as a record deal. "We've been doing this for so long and it's felt very natural, and nobody cared about Phish one iota," said singer/songwriter Trey Anastasio. "Suddenly, people seem to care . . . it's a strange feeling. " With Anastasio on guitar, Mike Gordon on bass, keyboard player Page McConnell and drummer Jon "Tubbs" Fishman, they didn't even aim for a record deal when they formed the band. "We always used to get together a lot and play for the sheer fun of it," Anastasio said. "Our focus was always playing live. " Any money they got went into sound equipment, a roadie and finally a van. "It just kind of kept building up to where we were a touring band. " Phish did several national tours without a record deal. "I don't think I even realized it was strange until the record companies started approaching us and saying 'this is strange. ' " The band put out a cassette-only recording, "Junta," in 1989. "That was just at gigs, so you had to see the band," he said. "It was basically all word-of-mouth. " After signing Phish, Elektra has re-released "Junta" on CD. They've done two other albums for the label, "A Picture of Nectar" and the new "Rift. " It reflects the band's widely varied tastes. "I like a lot of different kinds of music - I guess you can probably tell from the records. " There are eccentric, virtuosic bits of bluegrass, reggae, fusion jazz and progressive rock that appeal to the post-Dead generation. The eclectic side really shows up in the band's legendary live shows. The repertoire for the current tour includes 100 different songs. And then there's the stuff they start to play as they go along. They'll mix in bluegrass tunes, Jimi Hendrix covers, "Highway to Hell" and "Satin Doll" or "Low Rider" and "Owner of a Lonely Heart. " Perhaps a spontaneous "Spooky. " And some barbershop quartet numbers. "We're trying to be as free-form as possible," Anastasio said. Fishman even plays the vacuum-cleaner tube. "Anything goes - that's the basic idea. " And the marathon 3 1/2-hour shows are different every night. "That's the reason that you have those people from Toronto who were in Florida for the shows. " For example, on a three-night stand in Atlanta, they didn't play anything twice. "It's better - you've got to be spontaneous," Anastasio said. They wouldn't dare repeat themselves because someone would be sure to notice. There are lots of bootleg tapes floating around as well as a Phishnet computer network. "All that means to me is one thing - you can't do the same thing twice or everyone is going to know," he said. "It's sort of a kick in the butt. That's the way I'd rather have it. "