Hook, Line, Sinker December 8, 1995 - The Buffalo News by Jim Santella PHISH REELS IN ITS FANS WITH A GENTLER MESSAGE PLAYING TO a crowd of devoted fans dressed in tie-dyed shirts and flowing skirts, Phish was as cosmic as the Vedic Upanishads. Like the metaphysical treatise that deals with man's relation to the universe, its lyrics are cryptic and indulgent. Yet like a fine Escher print, the lyrics are highly detailed and self-referential. Thursday, the Niagara Falls Convention Center was packed with Jerry's kids -- Garcia that is. Led by Bard College graduate Trey Anastasio's dexterous improvising, Phish is definitely teetering on the edge of break-out popularity with a style that is reminiscent of the Dead. The vibe was cool, the apparel was hippy commune and the mood gentle. The only thing missing was a 35-minute version of "Dark Star." Actually, Phish is more fun than the Grateful Dead was. Although the band's functional lyrics are fairly pretensious, leaning toward comic book heroism, its sense of humor, dynamics and pure musicianship are irrepressible. Dancing at a Phish concert is ecstatic - a cleansing rite designed to clear the mind and body and free the spirit. Many of the women tripping the light fantastic looked like whirling porcelain dervishes, their dresses billowing out as they spun around endlessly during long improvisatory sections of music. If you're familiar with Phish's epic "Gamehenge," then songs like "AC/DC Bag" and "Possum" will be recognizable as part of the large suite that is principally held together by Anastasio's pristine improvisations wrapped around arena rock riffs. For the uninitiated, the music is an exceedingly listenable melange of blues and rock that makes one forget about lyrics like "Put your money where your mouth is" or "Get this show on the road" or "I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours." The words are often more banal than profound, but what makes the whole experience worthwhile is Phish's fun-loving musicianship and wry sense of humor. Like the Dead, the band has a community of fans who follow it from city to city accumulating fan publications, collecting play lists, taping its music and keeping some of the innocence of the 1960s alive. Phish fans could be confused with the creatures "Peaceable Kingdom." The sound on "Slave to the Traffic" was crystal clear, a near phenomenal feat considering the canyon-like acoustics that plague most bands that perform in the Niagara Falls Convention Center. During "Bouncing Around the Room," the band's Simon and Garfunkle-sweet harmonies were full and crisp, giving the insistent title phrase a mantra-like ring of redemption. All four members of Phish sing. They proved it with when they applied eclectic barber-shop harmonies to an a cappella version of that turn-of-the-century favorite, "Hello My Baby." But, it was the extended jam on "Possum" that ended the first of two 70-minute sets that cranked up the excitement level. Page McConnell started with a tour-de-force piano solo that lead into bassist Mike Gordon's vocal followed by an Anastasio guitar solo built on a rock-solid riff that had the structural integrity of the pyramids. For a brief few hours, the music, the fans and Phish functioned like an alternative gentle society much at odds with the alienation and information-overload crises that plague our modern world. Phish's music may not make a political or even a social difference, but it does remind one that angst is not the only emotion that rock can convey. Phish - Rockers from Vermont. Thursday in the Niagara Falls Convention Center, Niagara Falls.