A Phish Story December 26, 1995 - The Boston Herald by Dean Johnson Band squirms at being labeled a successor to Grateful Dead Now that the Grateful Dead has officially called it quits, many rock fans are looking for a replacement. And the name that comes up perhaps more than any other is Phish, the quirky, Vermont-based quartet. Certainly there are similarities, particularly among the bands' fans. The faithful followers of Phish caravan from show to show, much like Deadheads. But becoming the next Grateful Dead, which recently disbanded following the death of lead guitarist Jerry Garcia, isn't a Phish wish. "The worst thing for your career is to be considered godlike by your fans," said bassist Mike Gordon. "First, it's impossible to live with those expectations, and the flip side is you can't go wrong anymore. Jerry had that problem. Whatever you do is godlike, so you don't have the inspiration to be better, because in a way you don't have to." Phish seems perched on the brink of mainstream acceptance. The band is playing two probable sell-outs at the Centrum Thursday and Friday and has sold-out Madison Square Garden on New Year's Eve. Its latest album, "A Live One," a concert double-CD that nicely captures the band's wildly eclectic musical tastes and penchant for jamming, has already achieved gold sales status. But the impact is relative, said Gordon. "The thing is, with a double album you only need to sell 250,000 copies to go gold," he said. "So we've basically just reached the same core of fans. We thought it was a little bit of a cheesy way to get a gold album, but we'll take it. "Our next album will be a 10-CD set," he joked, "so we'll only have to sell 50,000 copies to go gold." Along with Gordon, Phish includes guitarist-songwriter Trey Anastasio, keyboardist Page McConnell and drummer Jon Fishman, all in their early 30s. The group has been together more than a decade and has attracted a devoted following because of its unpredictable concerts punctuated with unlikely cover songs, plenty of improvisation and original tunes peppered with offbeat characters and musical influences. "As soon as Jerry died, we knew there would be a lot of talk about us taking the Dead's place," Gordon said. "It does make sense at a simple level, because we subscribe to a similar philosophy, we attract a similar crowd, we like to jam for a long time, put on a different show every night, do two sets a night and allow people to tape our shows. There are a lot of things similar, and it would be pathetic to deny the Dead's influence on Phish in some ways. "But on a deeper level, it doesn't make sense. People who absolutely loved the Dead for what they were wouldn't necessarily like us. We don't offer the same thing. The Dead reached deep into American culture and started in a very deep place, and then they grew," he added. "Their wild jamming was more Zenlike than ours is, in that it was not a conscious thing." So Gordon suggests that rock fans let Phish be Phish, and let go of the Grateful Dead. "If you really like a band a lot, then you have the same kind of emotional attachment to it that you have for a person," he said, crediting bandmate Anastasio for the thought. "When someone you love dies, you don't go out and get another one of those people. If Kathy dies, you don't say that Amy is now going to be the new Kathy. "But in music, sometimes people try that. It just doesn't make sense, though, and we want to just keep on doing what we want rather than worry about expectations." Phish at the Centrum in Worcester on Thursday and Friday nights. Tickets: $ 19.50. Call: 931-2000.