Phish Tails in Footsteps of Dead August 13, 1996 - Chicago Tribune by Rick Reger From its fans perspective, Phish's sold-out show at Alpine Valley on Saturday night left no doubt that the New England quartet has assumed the Grateful Dead's mantle as trippy jam-rock shamen. A reported crowd of 35,000, mostly decked out in vintage hippie regalia, boisterously bestowed its adulation on the group, which reciprocated by giving that crowd exactly what it wanted. Phish filled its two-set, 3 1/2 hour show with staples such as "Fluffhead", "Fee", and "Wilson" along with unrecorded tunes, which its fanatical fans immediately recognized and sang along with en masse. But the Dead-like tone of the evening was set right from the start. Over the bouncing, bouyant rhythms of drummer Jon Fishman and bassist Mike Gordon, guitarist Trey Anastasio unfurled glass-filament leads with the ringing clarity that was the trademark of Jerry Garcia. Pianist Page McConnell filled in the sonic space with the kind of thick, syncopated harmonic clusters that distinguished Keith Godchaux's work with the Dead in the early '70s. And, like the Dead, Phish amply indulged its penchant for using songs as springboards for long, billowing jams bound for destinations unknown. The band's fluid musicianship kept those jams, at least during the first set, energetic and fairly interesting. And Phish flashed an almost telepathic tightness that allowed all four members to shift a rhythmic accent by half a beat with miraculous unity. To its credit, Phish did more than simply re-create the Dead's sound. The band also enhanced is set with Little Feat-style, Southern-fried funk, bits of reggae, and dizzying instrumentals whose metric and harmonic complexity recalled the work of brainy '70s prog-rockers such as Gentle Giant and Henry Cow. But Phish's lengthy performance also highlighted its glaring weaknesses. As with all jamming bands, some of Phish's extended improvisations lost direction long before they ran out of steam. This was especially true in the second set, where songs such as "Harry Hood" were marred by windy, flaccid soloing. Even more problematic was the consistently shallow expressive quality of Phish's music. The band's songs and instrumentals never emitted anything more than a whimsical, good-time vibe. Over the course of three hours, there were no moments of melancholy, anger, or introspection, just flashy giddy, fun. As a result, the music which Phish and its fans like to think of as surreal simply became unreal. This was especially evident during the ill-advised cover of the Beatles "A Day in the Life". Phish rendered the tune pallid and inane by supplanting its essential eeriness with a rhapsodic pop feel. While Phish's performance boasted some fine moments, it also confirmed the band's artistic irrevelance. Phish basically treads in the footsteps of previous bands rather than staking out its old stylistic turf. What made the Dead great was that it carved out an unprecedented and unique sound in the rock landscape. Phish, however, like some tidal effluvium, simply has rushed in to fill the niche the Dead have left behind. © 1996 Chicago Tribune Inc.