Phish Phries Toronto April 29, 1993 - The Globe and Mail By Alan Niester At the Concert Hall in Toronto on Tuesday night. Call it an acid flashback without the acid. At the back of the over- crowded room, a young girl of 16 or 17, dressed in a peasant skirt, was spinning madly like some sort of whirling dervish. With each spin, the skirt billowed higher, until it resembled some sort of antiquated hoop skirt. All around her were other sixties-styled celebrants, young men with tie-dyes and scruffy beards, girls in baggy overalls and too-loose T- shirts. In one corner, a young man hammered at a bongo drum. In another, a pair dragged on a reefer, suspiciously eyeing passers-by who might have been "narcs, man." Out-takes from the film version of Woodstock? A short hop in Bill and Ted's time-travelling telephone booth? Hardly. This scene from Timothy Leary's memory banks actually took place Tuesday night at the Concert Hall, all of it sparked by a visit from Vermont's neo-hippie band, Phish. Of all the rock bands attempting to recreate the peace, love and vibes scenes of the mid-sixties, Phish is probably the most historically accurate. To call this trippy quartet The Grateful Phish or perhaps Phishsilver Messenger Service wouldn't be too far wrong. Its modus operandi is to stand tall and smile beatifically in front of a psychedelic backdrop while tripping out on 10-and 15-minute jams. But what makes the whole thing so incredibly enjoyable is that these guys are really good at it. The band is led by guitarist Trey Anastasio, who physically resembles Garth Algar in Wayne's World, but whose playing is reminiscent of The Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia. On rambling, free-form musical excursions like Maze and All Things Reconsidered, Anastasio churned out loopy, inventive lead lines of the sort Garcia used to deliver before he got health-conscious. Anastasio's fret work was played off against the organ and piano passages of Page McConnell, a man who brings both classical and jazz influences to the mix. The results were both musically interesting and historically accurate, making for a perfect night out for a crowd intent on making Woodstock more than just an entry in their high school history texts. Article © 1993 The Globe and Mail