Crowd Hooked On Quartet's Feel-Good Sound December 6, 1997 - Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) By John Soeder No one band can ever hope to take the place of the Grateful Dead, which broke up after Jerry Garcia died in 1995, but Phish goes a long way toward filling the void. Performing last night at the Cleveland State University Convocation Center, the Burlington, Vt., quartet drew a capacity crowd of 13,000 fans - or "phans," in the official parlance of "The Phishing Manual," a thick book of Phish arcana published last year by Hyperion. Imagine that - a band so complex it comes with its own user's guide. The audience danced along jubilantly to the quirky, feel-good songs of epic length that are Phish's stock in trade. There were more than a few displaced Deadheads in attendance, judging from all the tie-dyed T-shirts. The most obvious point of comparison between Phish and the Dead was the music, which was heavy on improvisation and extended jams. Phish proved to be the more adventurous of the two groups. Not to speak ill of the Dead, but Phish often veered off into complicated jazz detours that Garcia & Co. never would have attempted. Phish also dabbled in everything from funk to reggae. Formed in 1983, Phish has released eight albums, although the group has always come across better onstage than in the studio. Its latest album, "Slip Stitch and Pass" (Elektra), captures the band in all its live glory earlier this year at a club in Germany. The setting was less intimate on this particular occasion, but Phish knows how to work a big crowd, too. In August, the band played before a 62,000-strong throng at a festival in Maine. At deadline, Phish had played over two hours last night. The first half of the show included well-received renditions of "Wilson," a fractured fairy tale that turned into a crowd singalong, the country-flavored ditty "Runaway Jim" and the hard-rocking "Character Zero." Many numbers went on for 10 minutes or more. Nonetheless, only rarely did these displays of virtuosity cross that thin line between showmanship and showing off. Masterful use of dynamics and no shortage of intricate interplay kept the proceedings from becoming monotonous. Following a 45-minute intermission (yes, even the break was long), Phish turned in an equally strong second set. Among the highlights was a spirited version of the aptly titled "Bouncing Around the Room." Guitarist Trey Anastasio handled most of the singing, although keyboardist Page McConnell, bassist Mike Gordon and drummer Jon Fishman (who wore a dress) also chimed in with vocals from time to time. Some musicians share a special chemistry; these guys seem to have developed a highly refined sense of telepathy. They played off each other instinctively and effortlessly. It was as if each song were a maze, with the hirsute members of Phish scurrying along twisting musical passages with no end in sight, like laboratory rats in search of an elusive piece of cheese. They didn't stop until they had exhausted the rhythmic and melodic possibilities of every tune. Article © 1997 Plain Dealer Publishing Co.