Phish Jams, For a Loose Eclectic Taste April 15, 1994 - Newsday by Richard Gehr PHISH. Phun, not phunky. Wednesday at the Beacon Theater, Broadway at 74th Street. Shows continue through tonight. IN "DEMAND," the 11-minute track that concludes Phish's sleek fifth album, "Hoist" (Elektra), you can hear somebody climb into a car, start the engine and play a tape. It's the middle of a simmering, loose-limbed rock jam reminiscent of, well, Traffic; the driver cranks it up and hits the highway. Cars whoosh by as the music accelerates in texture and intensity until something inevitably must, and does, give. Produced by Paul Fox (10,000 Maniacs, XTC), this bit of audio veriteV - part Pink Floyd, part Firesign Theater - is more or less indicative of Phish, the former Burlington, Vt., bar band that has outgrown its local scene to become a national phenomenon ready to step in when the Grateful Dead gives up the ghost. Less funky but a lot more fun than Blues Traveler or the Spin Doctors - Phish's confreres in free-form, neo-hippie improvisatory rock - the quartet mixes well-honed musical chops with a refreshing sense of humor that treads a subtle line between wit and whimsy. Wednesday at the Beacon (the first of three sold-out shows), musical in-jokes abounded (a Blood, Sweat and Tears riff was cut by a Homer Simpson "Doh!"); drummer Jim Fishman sported a housedress and played Prince's "Purple Rain" on an Electrolux vacuum cleaner. But the gestures smacked more of comedy relief than artistic posing. Willfully trendless, Phish integrates too many influences - from Abba to Zappa - to be dismissed as throwbacks. Actually, most of Phish's two-and-a-half-hour set was devoted to extended jams that took the band into unusual hybrids of various rock styles, jazz, bluegrass and country. Opening the show, the bluegrass-metal of "Buried Alive" gave way to "Poor Heart," a country lament that showcased the group's crafty four-part harmonies. "Stash," "The Divided Sky," "Reba" and the high psychedelia of "David Bowie" all took guitarist Trey Anastasio, keyboardist Page McConnell and bassist Mike Gordon into improvisatory sectors that usually resolved into fiery climaxes. Sometimes Phish bit off more than it can chew. The version of "Take the A Train," a brave attempt to wrestle with genius, sounded like a basement jam. Actually, if Phish could swing, they'd be dangerous. "Julius" and "Sample in a Jar," the two songs they played from "Hoist," proved the group could rock hard, but the show otherwise lacked an edge. However, with a brilliant tutti-frutti light show and backdrop designed by the bassist's mom, Phish has no qualms about operating on the pleasure principle. The nearly note-perfect encore of Led Zeppelin's "Good Times Bad Times" proved that.