Ran across this video of a Phish concert in Vegas at that Sphere.

First off, the LED ceiling show is badass. I'd love to catch a concert in that place at least once. That or maybe they could IMax a film there..

I watched this whole video. Mainly to watch what they could do with the ceiling. I'm listening to the music, too. Obviously, they are skilled musicians, but whatever this meandering style of prolonged jam session is, it does nothing for my ear.

I note that the hall is filled to capacity, so a shitload of people obviously like it. To me, they have the same vibe as the Grateful Dead. I never cared for them, either. I used to know a good many that loved the Dead. These were among some mutual friends who used to pick Bluegrass. Every single one of the Dead fans were stoners.

Maybe you have to smoke ganja or drop Windowpane to enjoy?

Also, the Sphere...any of you been there? That looks awesome.

Drug's. Lots and lots of drugs

You pretty much said it. They are like the Grateful Dead.  If you didn’t like GD, then you aren’t going to like phish.  

Drugs are common in alot of music but central to GD and phish.

Jam bands. Pass the joint and enjoy the show.

Love Phish. No drugs, still love em. Imax would be a waste. Think bigger. 2 concerts can be playing side by side and you had only one the person right next to you hears the other.
Focused sound.
They do a natural type film there during the day.
Going to see Dead and Co on 4 July!
Woot woot!
https://www.wsj.com/video/series/tech-behind/inside-the-tech-creating-the-las-vegas-sphere-groundbreaking-visuals/9B98CF8E-3177-4E8F-A313-F7F652720F6F

After Jerry Garcia died, some  Dead fans went home, showered, and cleaned up.
Those who didn't became Phish heads.

First album in 1989 and the magic started to disappear with their new music in the late 90’s.

25 years later, they are all around 60 years old and still touring.

Phish Heads...LOL...perfect name (if they are stoners)

Focused sound? Is that the band or the Sphere?

I enjoy a good impromptu bluegrass jam, but i have to be drunk.

Stupid and ridiculous noise made for stupid and ridiculous people.

Never got into the Dead or Phish. I tried. Not my cup of mushroom tea.

Crazy talented but I just can’t get into them. Their music doesn’t speak to me

Hippies and drugs.

Phish’s appeal is in improvisational music. That’s why their fans go crazy for their live shows but are generally indifferent to their albums. They’re immensely talented and are great at it but if you’re not into that sort of thing Phish is not for you.

Personally, I loathe that shit. I’d rather see almost any band in concert than an improvisational one. While I’m at it, fuck jazz too.

I had a similar discussion with a guy who really likes music about “rap”, or whatever it’s called.

When my wife and I caught a bit of the Billy Joel thing a couple weekends ago, I commented that, like him or not, one cannot deny that all of his band are incredibly talented musicians.  I think it’s safe to assume that all of those people have invested a lifetime of practice and dedication to hone their craft.  They are tire musicians and performers.

Then you have some kid who can talk fast and make words rhyme.  

There is no comparison in my mind.  My music loving friend didn’t exactly disagree with me but he did keep going to back to “but they sell out all their shows, tons of people love it, etc etc”

I told him it’s not my fault that these youngsters have have no taste nowadays.  


I have been to a fish show BTW.  It was in Halloween back around 94-95 I think. I don’t remember much of it. They told me I had a good time.

Phish iirc was already a Dead tribute cover band when Jerry died.  The late to the party wanna be dead heads shifted their bus caravans to the Phish and still look for the eternal high.

Worse than ska.

More of a jam band than dead cover band. Phish's music seems to be just a conduit for them to really explore musically.

I love the Dead and really can't stand phish. The dead were more rooted in western music Phish is basically an east coast version of the dead with a goofy playful sound. Great musicians just not my thing. My buddy went to Vegas for two shows. Said the Sphere was meant for Phish.

I like Phish and GD. My taste in music is pretty broad though. Some of the extended live jams can be a bit much for most. I recommend the studio album 'Billy Breathes' by Phish. It gets quite a bit of play in the boat and on road trips.

I can't stomach them or Greatful Dead....

yet for some reason I really like OAR.  Kind of a half ass jam band, that has actual songs. Although, the songs have no point/story.

That.  The Dead were getting old, travelling Deadheads didn't want to get a real job, so they started following Phish around.

(Yes, there are a bunch of wildly successful people---especially in Silicon Valley---who are Deadheads.  Not talking about them, obv.)

pot heads and burnouts.  bro dude

All four members are incredible musicians on their own, and when four incredible musicians play together with decades of musical intimacy it produces a unique sound and experience no one can mimic. They play hundreds of songs that span from blue grass to funk to classical to rock to all points in between and are talented enough to cover anyone else’s music if they so desired. It does take knowing a lot about the band members themselves and having a solid grasp of their songs before one can truly appreciate the music, however it’s obvious to anyone who plays music themselves or studies music that they are indeed incredible musicians. I like Phish because they regularly hit a stride together that takes me out of my element and creates a musical space no other band I’ve ever heard is able to do. Trey is a composer and creates very complicated and unique music and his style on the guitar is unmatched in my opinion. I guess you have to be a bit of a music nerd to really appreciate them.

Yes, there is a drug culture within their fan base, however the majority of the people I see shows with do not do any drugs and some don’t drink. I don’t care for the drug culture or the noodle dancing but it doesn’t hurt my experiences seeing them. Even friends I’ve taken that don’t end up liking their music always say that they put on a kick ass show and that they enjoyed the experience. My personal taste was their ‘95-‘98 tours. Their sound evolves as they use different equipment but those years put out some absolutely beautiful music. If you’re so inclined, check out a few of those YouTube music teacher “listening to Phish for the first time” type videos.

One nerdy aspect I wanted to add. During some of their songs when they go into a long improvised span, if you are a learned musician or intelligent enough musically speaking, you can hear that they are having conversations with one another with their instruments. Sometimes it’s just two of the members at a time and the others are supporting, but there are nuances within the music that sets them apart as truly great.

Give Billy Strings a try, his live shows are amazing. Not all of his songs are long jams, but he has some that last 30 minutes or more. I don’t care for the singing from Phish music but I do like their instrumental jams.

There was a lottery system for tickets to see Phish at the Sphere, a buddy of mine tried to get some, $1500 per ticket.

Well there's that one about that poker game.

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This is my outsider view of them, from first hand impressions from some family that follows them.

Don’t harsh my buzz…

it could be worse op.

wild and crazy guys (but only between 5:30pm-8:00pm weekdays and Saturday mornings)!
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If you don’t like Grateful Dead you won’t like Phish or Widespread Panic or even Dave Matthews Band, at least not in concert.

I enjoy the ‘jam band’ stuff in small doses. You have to be willing to enjoy *that* performance and not be upset that you can’t sing along because they’re singing alternate lyrics or in a weird order and mashing songs together. If you thrive on order and familiarity it won’t be for you.

A jam band for Deadheads that hate the Grateful Dead…

The most important question is “are people still selling veggie burritos at shows”?

(My last show was in ‘98)

People like different things.

I’m not into a bluegrass jam either.  However, the 3-person bluegrass group doing an Ozzie Osborne song really caught my attention.  Banjo, bass, and mandolin version of ‘Momma I’m Coming Home’ has to be heard to really appreciate it.

Went on a road trip with another couple and my wife’s friend played one of their albums.

I wanted to jump out the car while it was moving, and I’m the type who can listen to pretty much anything.

How attractive.

Hiippie shit.

Phish, Wide Spread Panic ect all a bunch of drug filled hippie shows.

You can’t really understand Phish and their popularity rationally.
They have sold like 8.7 million albums and each have a net worth of like 87M dollars.
There are multiple aspects to it.

The people born in the 60s that came of age in the 80s grew up in a culture dominated by late silent gens/early boomers.
And desperately wanted their “own” thing vs continuously having the Beatles and bands popular when they were born constantly rammed down their throats.  And they don’t really like the GD comparisons.  Now they had to start somewhere, and GD, CCR, etc. covers were a part of their start.  

UVM in the 80s/90s was a weird mix of concurrently being a Public Ivy and top ten Playboy party school.  It’s student body had a heavy influx of very affluent WASP and Jewish prep school types that either didn’t quite make the cut for the Ivies, purposefully wanted an outdoorsy cool school location, a place where it was a little easier to coast for a brilliant person than among everyone being brilliant, and in a state littered with multiple progressive little colleges that catered to completing degrees via portfolio, etc. for those that partied too hard, missed too many classes. Etc. and dropped or failed out of UVM.  So they could still finish college and not lose mommy and daddy’s support, lose their pending trust fund, etc.

New England has a subculture of affluent trust fund types don’t carry on the family business, go on to make their own mark, etc.  They get their degree, “work” on their business or foundation which is usually just some hobby or interest write offs, etc.
And pretty much have a nice home, vehicles, life, vacations, etc.  Vermont and its ski areas and outdoor activities are magnets for this type both during college and after.  It is a way of life and freedom and security the vast, vast majority of us will never experience.  

The city and area around UVM and its populace and media etc. Were desperate and longing and so desirous of having its own sound and music scene.  Even painfully more so after the Seattle outbreak.  And pulled out all the stops promoting them.  So, they went from college bar/college gigs, to local gigs, to NE gigs, to national touring in the early 90s.  Pretty much without being heard on the radio, having a record deal, etc.  There was maybe one or two self released albums.  Then a legit record deal recorded locally.  And they adopted web presence etc. very early on.  Then European tours, another album…

They were very dedicated and skilled musicians doing very innovative stuff.  Not really anything I’m interested in but for those dying to be a part of something, and that were interested, it’s a thing.  Keep in mind these are the type of guys that if otherwise oriented would be knocking out their Ph.D.s in astrophysics, engineering solar panels for space probes, or getting  their tier one law degree or MBA after their Ivy League econ degree.  They are not two digit iq “musicians” with mediocre skills who would otherwise be working the counter nightshift at the quickie mart.

There’s basically a handful of strange confluxes that wove into something you can’t really understand, but it be like it do.

GenX people who missed out on GD and want to relive the experience they heard about from their cool uncle

(will admit under pressure I own Phish and Grateful Dead albums)

I like the Grateful Dead style, but never really listened to Phish. Just pulled up a video of them at the Sphere, and I think I could enjoy a show there. It's a seriously impressive venue.


Tool needs to do a residency there. They could put on an insane show.

The Sphere is badass we were there in March, but as for Phish... I'd have to go with lots of drugs to enjoy.

Musical wanking.

No kidding.

I love Jam bands. Grateful Dead, Phish, String Cheese Incident, Keller Williams, Billy Strings, Widespread Panic, moe., Allman Brothers, Umphrey's McGee, Yonder Mountain String Band, etc.

I'm not a druggie. I just love getting lost in free-flowing music. You get caught up in someone else's energy.

Grateful Dead plays a lot of folk music and religious inspired songs. My favorite Dead song is Ripple, which is about developing your own personal relationship with God. We even played it at my daughter's funeral.

Phish refused to play Dead songs long before Jerry died because they didn't want to be called a Dead cover band. They played some covers early on but stopped when they heard the comparison in I think '90 or '91. Jerry died in '95. They didn't play another Dead song until '98.