Crowd is the real show at Phish concert August 18, 1996 - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel By Nick Carter The king is gone but he's not forgotten, this is the story of Jerry Garcia? Yes, Johnny Rotten usually completes this Neil Young lyric. But his story is yet to be completed, as Rotten and the Sex Pistols come to town next week. The real king, at least in spirit Saturday night at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, was the late Garcia, who's aura enshrouded both the band and crowd for a concert by the Grateful Dead-inspired rockers Phish. And for the many who haven't a clue as to what or who is a Phish, it's a Vermont quartet that's for the most part unknown to mainstream radio or rock crowds but tremendously check that, religiously popular among college kids and younger disciples of the Grateful Dead. Like their progenitors, Phish infuses its eclectic and endlessly noodling jazz-rock jams with musical bits that range from folk to calypso, jazz to Junkanoo. Despite modest record sales, the band has become one of the biggest concert draws of the last few summers, selling out 30,000-plus venues wherever it plays. And though its improvisational nature and musical adventurism in these days of staid and corporate rock are refreshing, the real show at a Phish concert is the crowd. What's it like? Imagine every inch of Alpine Valley, from the seats down front to the most distant reaches of the lawn, packed shoulder to shoulder with more than 40,000 summer-vacationing, suburban neo-hippies, up and dancing in their own musical orbit. "It's like we finally were delivered the real gurus of Generation X," said 19-year-old Theresa Bassett of suburban Chicago. "The press always says Nirvana's the voice of our generation, but we're not as negative as they want people to believe. Phish speaks more for me and the people I know that are my age." Well, that's a tall order for any band to fill. So how does Phish live up to its appointed role? To start, it covers lots of turf: Along with the musical ground mentioned earlier, it also mixes in odd improvisational bursts, stoner-inspired jingles with cartoonish lyrics. It also has unusual taste in cover material, playing during any given show, say, an entire side of the Beatles' White Album before sliding back into its trademark jams. A lot of this came into play Saturday, with the tune "Sticker" a reference to the increasing ubiquity of Phish bumper stickers sparking the faithful that much more. Later, guitarist Trey Anastasio joked with some fans up front before kicking off the band into yet another instrumental that seemed to blend the free jazz of Sun Ra with the open-ended, more improvisational parts of a Blues Traveler show. But the main thing you learn after attending a Phish concert is that it's really more than just that: It's an experience as much for the eyes as the ears. © 1996 Journal Sentinel Inc.