From UVM to Jay-Z

From UVM to Jay-Z
August 8, 2004 - Boston Globe
By Steve Morse

1983: Trey Anastasio, Jon "Fish" Fishman, and Mike Gordon team up at the University of Vermont. They get a bass player in Jeff Holdsworth and perform their first gig as Phish in the basement of Slade Hall in 1984.
1985: Keyboardist Page McConnell joins the band. In 1986, Holdsworth quits. Line up is set.
1987: Band records demos at Euphoria Studios in Massachusetts.
1989: For first show at the Paradise, Phish rents venue when club managers don't think they'll sell enough tickets. That night, 650 fans fill club to capacity. Two hundred more wait outside.
1990: Phish.net, a small group of computer-savvy fans, takes shape.
1993: Phish sets up taping areas for fans at its shows, just as the Grateful Dead did years before.
1994: Band launches national tour. During Halloween show, Phish performs "The White Album" by the Beatles in its entirety, kicking off a tradition that will later include performances of the Who's "Quadrophenia" and the Talking Heads' "Remain in Light." Phish makes its first appearance on David Letterman. On New Year's Eve at the Boston Garden, the band flies over the crowd in a giant hot dog.
1995: New Year's gig held at Madison Square Garden in New York.
1997: Ben & Jerry's unveils a new flavor, Phish Food, 10 years after the release of Cherry Garcia, named for Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia. Also this year, a Phish show called The Great Went in Limestone, Maine, draws 62,000 fans.
1999: Two night New Year's Eve concert at Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation draws tens of thousands of fans, an event some fans see as the band's musical high-water mark. The jams stretch from midnight to dawn.
2000: Band goes on hiatus of undetermined length
2001: Phish members perform three songs at a friend's wedding.
2002: Animated band members pop up on April 7 episode of "The Simpsons." In August, Phish announces it will end its hiatus. A New Year's Eve show at Madison Square Garden and sold-out tour ensues.
2003: Phish makes the cover of Rolling Stone.
2004: Anastasio announces in May via website that Phish has run its course and will break up after final shows Aug. 14-15 in Coventry, Vermont. On June 18, Phish jams with rapper Jay-Z at the band's final New York City show.

Article Copyright � 2004 Boston Globe