Phish Plays Last New York Show June 20, 2004 - The New York Sun By A.L. Gordon Phish's appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight marks the band's last-ever performance in New York state - its members have announced that Phish will break up after its current tour ends in August. The 21-yearold jam band from Vermont kicked off its final tour with four shows at Coney Island and Saratoga Performing Arts Center over the weekend. Friday night at Coney Island's KeySpan Park, the rapper Jay-Z appeared on stage, performing two of his own songs while Phish played backup. The crowd roared in applause for the hometown boy while knocking back cans of Coors Light and Budweiser. That night's show ended a half an hour earlier than Thursday's had, to the dismay of fans. Luckily, Relix magazine and its publisher, Steve Bernstein,kept a crowd grooving at an after-party at the Surf Avenue pub Peggy O'Neill's. Attendees included producer Peter Shapiro,former owner of the Wetlands Preserve nightclub. Saturday evening at Saratoga, the riffs were the same but the beer choices were broader: A tent offered Magic Hat and Newcastle along with Molson and Sam Adams. At the food court, concertgoers filled up on gourmet burritos and chicken Caesar salads. As the concert let out, vendors in the acres of parking lots sold quesadillas and noodles from the trunks of their cars, channeling the subculture of the Grateful Dead (whose fans, like Phish's, also traveled from concert to concert, compulsively recording set lists and trading live recordings). Jeff and Tracy Torregrossa hosted the "it" after-party on Saturday at their house on Lake Cossayuna. Miss Torregrossa lived in the same dorm as the band members at University of Vermont. In 1988, she paid them a mere $375 to play at her lakeside home. Miss Torregrossa applauded the band's decision to stop playing: "Everybody changes; it's been 20 years," she said. Perhaps work and family commitments tied up most of the band's first fans, now in their 30s and 40s, who once gathered at gigs on college quads, not in stadiums. The concerts in Brooklyn and upstate both drew a hippie-yuppie crowd, mostly in their teens and 20s. Some Phish fans have banded together to raise money for charity based on their interest in the band. The fans, including David Steinberg,have founded the Mockingbird Foundation, which supports music education programs around the 1151 1686 1225 1696world. Sources of funding include sales of a book published by the foundation, "The Phish Companion," as well as support from the band itself: starting in 2004, the net proceeds of concert downloads at the band Web site LivePhish.com go to the foundation. So far that amount has added up to more than $100,000. Article Copyright © 2004 New York Sun