Phish
A Live One

I have always had a difficult relationship with live albums, because in a band's discography, a live album often serves to fill creative gaps or fulfill contractual obligations. Added to this is the fact that I have little interest in having live versions that are identical in every way to those recorded in the studio, but with poor audio quality or perhaps with a sax solo instead of a guitar one. Records cost money and spending money on an anonymous record is the last thing on my mind. Many live albums are, in fact, anonymous, played by bands doing just their duty and forgetting that involving people during a concert, in a frenzy, is one thing, while involving them when they are comfortably seated on the couch, put the disc in the player, and hope to recreate the concert experience is quite another.

However, Deep Purple managed to do that, and AC/DC too.

The former were geniuses, while the latter understood that to be credible, a single live album over twenty years could be enough.

What struck me about Deep Purple was precisely their ability to revolutionize studio songs live, giving them new strength, new power, reworking and expanding them with improvisations and rearrangements.

It was precisely starting from Purple that I discovered Phish, when my search for great live rock bands led me to these unknown guys from Vermont. They were described to me as a cross between the Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead, with that subtle Zappa-esque irony.

Delving into the live world of Phish is a daunting task, especially because each of their concerts is followed by an official bootleg of the same. However, this double live album from 1995 is ideal for an introduction to the music of Trey Anastasio & Co., especially because it pertains to the period of their greatest splendor, after masterpieces like Lawn Boy and Picture of Nectar. There are the fiery jams so dear to the Allman Brothers, but less psychedelic than the Grateful Dead, plus there is a progressive attitude inherited from the great bands of the past, one of whom were Yes. It is surprising how the band travels in sync, without a desire for protagonism, but giving space to the ensemble result rather than the single episode. Trey Anastasio is a sublime guitarist, never falling into excesses and leaving space for the piano of Page McConnell and the rhythm section composed of drummer John Fishman and bassist Mike Gordon is precise, imaginative, and able to adapt effortlessly to the improvisations of the two soloists. Blues, Bluegrass, Fusion, Progressive, blend into a unique and unrepeatable sonic amalgam. Describing each individual track would be pointless; here, it’s the whole that matters, it’s a sonic orgy with the lucky audience able to attend their concerts.

Despite having difficulty, for obvious reasons, in recreating the fiery live scenarios on studio albums, Phish's discography is one to be rediscovered and appreciated in its entirety.