Phish to fold after Coventry May 25, 2004 - Burlington Free Press By Brent Hallenbeck The big Phish concert in Coventry this summer will be the band's swan song. Trey Anastasio, leader of Vermont's most famous band, announced Tuesday afternoon that the foursome will disband after the Aug. 14-15 shows at the Newport State Airport. He said he spoke Friday night to the other three band members -- Mike Gordon, Paige McConnell and Jon Fishman -- and told them of "the strong feelings I've been having that Phish has run its course and that we should end it now while it's still on a high note." He added, "We don't want to become caricatures of ourselves, or worse yet, a nostalgia act." Anastasio emphasized that, unlike the band's layoff between 2000 and 2002, this is not a temporary breakup to refresh the band. "For the sake of clarity, I should say that this is not like the hiatus, which was our last attempt to revitalize ourselves," Anastasio said. "We're done." The announcement stunned fans of the jam-rock band. Many Phish fans follow the group Grateful Dead-style from show to show. Phish's new CD, "Undermind," is due out June 15, and the band is about to embark on a summer tour that will culminate in Coventry. "It's actually pretty devastating," Joel Lehman, 25, said upon learning the news late Tuesday afternoon. He has attended four huge Phish summer festivals and plans to go to the Coventry shows that could draw 70,000 people, or more now that it's going to be the final chapter in the history of Phish. "I used to look forward to my summers just for that reason. "I guess you could look at it as the omega show, a last big show in their home state," said Lehman, a project coordinator for a data storage company in Chicago. Ashley Petrie, 17, of Shelburne plans to go to the Coventry shows as her first Phish concert experience. She's now thinking of catching some of the other Phish shows this summer before there are no more to be seen. "It is really sad," said Petrie, a junior at Rock Point School in Burlington. "They seem to have a wicked great chemistry." She said there is some good in the breakup. "A lot of bands do kind of fade out," Petrie said. "They're at a good place. I think they'll be remembered more now." Jason Colton, spokesman with Phish's Burlington-based management company, said the band was unavailable for additional comment. Kevin Statesir, Anastasio's brother-in-law and general manager of the recently closed Higher Ground nightclub, declined comment, as did Alex Crothers, a co-owner of the Winooski club where Anastasio and African group Orchestra Baobab were the final performers April 25. Although the announcement caught many off guard, there were signs of change brewing in the band that formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 and has helped define Vermont's national image. Anastasio has focused much of his attention on his solo career and released his latest CD, "Seis de Mayo," this year. He turns 40 on Sept. 30, and in this month's VH1 television special featuring Anastasio, musician Dave Matthews and Orchestra Baobab, he indicated that he was looking for a new direction. "At this stage of my life," Anastasio said in the TV special, "I'm trying to explore areas of music that I think will bring me into my next 40 years." Phish fans are left to discover what they will do with their next few years. "I'm definitely going to need time to figure that out," said Lehman, who is used to spending his summers anticipating the next big Phish show. "My first summer I guess I'll grab my bootleg CDs and listen to them and cry." Article Copyright © 2004 Burlington Free Press