Phish is anything but 'Dead' band June 30, 1994 - The Ottawa Citizen by Lynn Saxberg And don't call fans 'Phishheads' The cluster of fans who follow the Vermont-based band Phish will descend on Ottawa in the next few days in anticipation of the band's performance at the Ottawa Congress Centre on Tuesday. The phenomenon is a lot like a small-scale version of the Grateful Dead's following of Deadheads -- neo-hippies in vans travelling the continent to see their favorite band. Just don't call them Phishheads, advises Phish bassist Mike Gordon. "I guess I'm not supposed to call them Phishheads. That sort of connotates Deadheads, he says. Though Phish avoids being tagged a "Dead band, there are similarities, most notably in both bands' approach to their live shows. Both groups make every concert different, never using the same set list and never playing a song exactly the same way twice. Spontanaeity is what keeps it interesting for audiences night after night. "It's important to plan some things out, to have a basis or structure to start from (in concert), Gordon says. "But the fruit of it is that spontanaeity -- it ends up being a real celebration of life. Anyone who's seen any of the sold-out Phish shows in Montreal or Toronto in the past two years will understand. The quartet delivers exuberant, lengthy concerts, highlighted by the band members' amazing instrumental abilities and a palpable sense of fun, with on-stage antics that include trampoline bouncing and vacuum-cleaner soloing. Gordon uses a metaphor from Carlos Santana to describe the scene: "It's like Carlos talking about the music already existing, sort of hovering in the air. What he said was the audience is a bed of flowers, music is the water and we're the hose. The best thing we can do is get out of the way and let it flow. Phish's problem in the past has always been capturing that live energy on album. With the latest Paul Fox-produced disc, Hoist -- the most accessible, song-oriented album of the band's five-disc career -- the difficulties were overcome. "The main difference (with this album) was that we waited until it was time to record before we learned the songs. We hadn't played the songs live, with the exception of one or two of them. "It's significant because after playing songs on stage for a long time and making arrangements that are longer and that feed off the crowd energy, then to take those songs and record them in a studio is always a let-down. This way, the best versions of the songs to date would be recorded on tape for the album. Phish -- which also includes guitarist Trey Anastasio, keyboardist Page McConnell and drummer Jon Fishman -- also made its first video for the song Down With Disease , as well as a 25-minute video called Tracking, about the making of Hoist . It will be available through the band's mailing list in about two months, Gordon says. Tickets for Tuesday's Phish show are $ 20, on sale in advance at TicketMaster outlets, Shake Records and Records On Wheels. For phone orders, call 755-1111. Surcharges are applied to TicketMaster purchases. The first of two sets starts at 8 p.m. sharp.