Blues legend B.B. King joins Phish.. February 26, 2003 - New Jersey Star-Ledger By Jay Lustig ..in surprise intergenerational jam session Since forming almost 20 years ago, the jam band Phish has tried to create an anything-can-happen vibe in its concerts. Monday night, anything really did happen. B.B. King made a surprise appearance at the band's sold-out show at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, and it was much more than a cameo. For nearly an hour, the 77-year-old bluesman and the four members of Phish, who are in their late 30s, improvised their way through three blues classics: a fast, swinging "Every Day I Have the Blues," the darker, moodier "The Thrill Is Gone," and a funky, mid-tempo "Rock Me Baby." Phish frontman Trey Anastasio beefed up the blues bite in his guitar playing, and sang duet vocals on "Rock Me Baby." King, dressed in a gray jacket that seemed more appropriate for a business meeting than a jam-band concert, stayed seated throughout the mini-set, but still played to the crowd by pumping his arm and shaking his shoulders. The two men -- guitar heroes of different generations -- hugged after they finished playing together. The rollicking "Every Day I Have the Blues," which included a call-and-response segment led by King, was the most successful number, though all three developed along similar lines. They opened strong and had explosive endings, but also featured long middle sections where the musicians deconstructed the tunes, turning down the volume and slowing the tempo as the two guitarists and, less frequently, keyboardist Page McConnell, traded solos. Phish's current tour follows a hiatus of more than two years, during which Anastasio, McConnell, bassist Mike Gordon and drummer Jon Fishman worked on various side projects. It began at Madison Square Garden on New Year's Eve and ends on Saturday in Greensboro, N.C., though the band will be back on the road this summer. Aside from the King collaboration, which took place at the end of the show's first set, it was a typical Phish show, though a bit on the mellow side. The band has a new album, "Round Room," but played only two numbers from it. One of these, "All of These Dreams" -- melodically reminiscent of the country death ballad "Long Black Veil," but far more benign, lyrically -- was sweet and gentle. So were "Farmhouse" and a cover of the traditional folk-blues tune "Corrina Corrina." "Down With Disease," "Wolfman's Brother" and "Halley's Comet" were more muscular, but only on "Chalkdust Torture," which closed the second set, did the band rock out as hard as it can. The jam section of "Twist Around" represented the evening's most spacy extreme, while Anastasio's elegantly swirling guitar lines made the "Harry Hood" jam a dazzling high point. The show proved that these musicians are picking up where they left off two years ago, and their fans are right there with them. Many are following the band from show to show and, in a tradition originated by Grateful Dead fans decades ago, forming something of a traveling community in the process. A bazaar of scruffy Phish fans selling tie-dye T-shirts, veggie burritos and drug paraphernalia -- trying, in some cases, to scrape up enough money to be able to go to the next show -- sprung up in the chilly Meadowlands parking lot Monday afternoon. There is one new twist this time around, though. Within 48 hours of each show, the band is offering online downloads of unedited soundboard recordings. It's an innovation that makes sense for everyone involved. Phish fans, after all, have always been eager to get their hands on as many concert recordings as possible. The band, reacting to the widespread availability of bootlegs, has already released a 16-volume series of live CDs. More information on the downloads is available at the Web site, http://livephish.com. Copyright © 2003 New Jersey Star-Ledger