Devoted 'Phish-Heads' Keep Dead Issue Alive December 6, 1994 - The San Diego Union by J. Freedom Welcome to the Drop Dead Zone, the officially unofficial Grateful Dead chatter box, where the guest speaker du jour is Page McConnell. The question in question: Is Phish Dead Again? In other words, is Phish -- the rock-country-jazz-folk-blues outfit from Vermont -- the next Grateful Dead, the second coming of the long-running psychedelic '60s group that hasn't actually left the playing field yet? "Well, I don't particularly think that there is ever going to be a `next Grateful Dead,' " says McConnell, who performs two sold-out concerts with Phish tomorrow and Thursday at downtown's Spreckels Theatre. "But that's just my personal opinion." Of course, McConnell's opinion counts immensely here, considering that he's the keyboardist for Phish, the four-man band that has been hailed by many as the Next Dead. The origins of the Dead comparisons are almost as sketchy as the reasons they ever were made in the first place. McConnell himself doesn't know a whole lot about the whos, wheres, whens and whys of the whole Phish-is-Dead phenomena. But that doesn't mean he has no theories. "It's hard to say where exactly the comparisons started, but I think it has to do with the fact that we're a live band and with our fan base," he says, rather unconvincingly. "It has very little to do with the music, as far as I'm concerned, although we are both sort of improvising bands. "Musically, there are just many differences between (Phish and the Dead)." Where the Dead's sound is a loose, experimental blend of psychedelic electric rock, folk and country bluegrass, Phish grabs slices of electric rock, folk and country bluegrass, then tosses them into a blender with a heavy dose of jazz and a twisted, heaping scoop of salty humor. The end result is probably closer to Frank Zappa than the Dead. Still, Phish -- which released its fifth and most accessible album, "Hoist," earlier this year -- has managed to attract an ever-growing legion of devoted, Deadhead-like fans (called Phish-Heads). Go to a typically sold-out Phish show and you'll see a sea of Birkenstock-and-tie-dye-clad neo-hippies twirling around. (On "Down With Disease," off "Hoist," McConnell actually gives an apparent nod to the Phish-Heads, singing: A thousand barefoot children outside dancing on my lawn.) You'll also likely see some part-time Deadheads, as many Phish-Heads have been known to double as Deadheads -- and vice versa. And following in the most prominent tradition of hard-core Deadheads, some Phish-Heads even travel in Phish's footsteps, attending every stateside concert on the band's itinerary. This devoted fandom, McConnell says, is definitely due to Phish's live-show prowess. "We've made albums and enjoyed doing that, but the reason people know about us is the live show," he says. "That's really where we've made a name for ourselves. "I think people like that, A, we really have a good time and genuinely enjoy ourselves; and, B, we like to challenge ourselves. I think people like to see us challenge ourselves, stretching, pushing our limitations, and maybe even falling on our faces if that's what happens. As long as we actually really try to push our limits." Similarly, Phish's lyrics often push limits, and on the band's early albums ("Junta," "Lawn Boy") many of the words don't seem to mean anything. "On the last two albums -- `Rift' and `Hoist' -- the lyrics are a little more tangible and a little more accessible," McConnell says. "If they're not about something, at least they purport to be. But, yes, on some of the earlier albums, the lyrics were more fantasy-oriented. "Since I'm not the lyricist of the band, I'd end up singing these lyrics and end up thinking, `What the hell are they about?' And they weren't necessarily about anything. They're about what you want them to be about, I guess. "At that time in our life, that's what we were doing, what we were coming up with. But now, after the band has grown and matured a little bit, we tend to enjoy actually singing about things a little bit more than we used to." One other thing of note, where Phish-Heads are concerned: McConnell isn't quite sure he'd be a Phish-Head if he wasn't in Phish. But then, he is in Phish, so . . . "Hmmm; I don't know if I'd be a Phish-Head," he says. "I guess I'd enjoy the shows. Yeah. They're a great band. "Actually, I don't think I'm the sort of person that would follow the band around. But there are aspects of this music that would intrigue me. I think." DATEBOOK Phish 8 p.m. tomorrow and Thursday, Spreckels Theatre, 121 Broadway, downtown. Sold out.220-TIXS.