Grateful fan says farewell to Phish August 10, 2004 - Boston Herald By Eli Golden Editor's note: Legendary Vermont jam band Phish recently decided to call it quits, and will wrap up its long, strange trip with shows at the Tweeter Center tonight and tomorrow night, followed this weekend by its final festival in Coventry, Vt. All are sold out. Instead of pontificating about the demise of Phish ourselves, we asked an actual Phish fan, teen correspondent Eli Golden, to say farewell for us. However, we still have a few squares in the office pool on the date of the first Phish reunion concert, if you're interested. Dear Trey Anastasio, Jonathan Fishman, Page McConnell and Michael Gordon, A couple of months ago I read an article saying you four were calling it quits after more than 20 years together. At first I was depressed. Now, all I can say is thanks. Thank you on so many levels. It has been a long and entertaining ride and one that has certainly changed my life as well as hundreds of thousands of others around me. See, you were the first band that I really loved and made me truly listen to music. Without you, I would not have fallen in love with the beautiful improv of Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk and the complexity of other jazz performers. I have been playing jazz drums for about five years now and it is, in part, thanks to you. Through your music, I gained a better understanding of the world. Your music expanded my vision of nature and all that's around me. It all started about six years ago, at a time when I listened to music, but only on the radio. My sister introduced me to you guys by playing the ``Junta'' CD. I have to admit that at first, I hated it. Your songs were too long, there weren't enough words, and it just got boring after a while. But my sister insisted that I keep listening, so I played your record over and over again. And soon I found myself singing Trey's guitar solo to ``YEM'' and Page's crazy piano in ``Foam.'' I was doing something I never had done before: sing along to music instead of words. For the first time in my life, I truly listened to music. From there I moved on to your other CDs, including ``Picture of Nectar,'' ``Lawn Boy,'' ``Rift.'' As I listened I grew more and more fond of not only Phish but music in general. Last year, I had the amazing experience of a Phish show when I camped out at the IT festival in Maine. Your remarkable jams and impromptu songs further proved to me that you were the real thing. You guys were doing what you loved and loved what you were doing. You were not playing for the money or the fame, but for the music and the fans. Phish is not about four people gathering together to make music, but it is a community of people all over the world, people who have never met each other nor have anything in common gathering together as one through music. So after 20 years of music, let me just say thank you from the bottom of my heart. Words do not express how much you affected me. Thank you, Eli Golden Article Copyright © 2004 Boston Herald