PHISH Hampton Comes Alive January 16, 2000 - Boston Herald By Kevin Convey Album Review - Hampton Comes Alive This Vermont-based jam-band quartet has made audacity a regular feature of its career - tackling end-to-end concert renditions of "Quadrophenia" and "Dark Side of the Moon," for example. So this monumental six-disc, five-hour-plus set documenting two shows in Hampton, Va., in November 1998 should come as no surprise. The idea is to back up the fan nostrum asserting that the band's magic really happens on stage, not in the studio. And to a certain degree, "Hampton" achieves that. On cut after cut, Phish unwinds compelling improvisational passages that occasionally scale lofty heights usually attained only by jazz bands. The problem for non-Phish-heads is that you have to climb through a lot of dross to reach those peaks. Sometimes this band seems to specialize in weak songs and even weaker singing. But Phish doesn't really have to prove anything to anybody, since only members of its rabid fan base are going to listen carefully to an album (to say nothing of paying $69.97 for it) that requires almost an entire work day to get through. If you can think of something you'd rather do with your time, then "Hampton Comes Alive" isn't for you. Review © 2000 Boston Herald