The Chameleon Posted August 31, 2010 Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 (edited) So not to get too sappy but I just came off tour and saw 6 shows on this tour in both legs. What struck me is that Phish is now playing as good as I've ever seen them. (My and my first show was in '93 when I was a teenager and to date I've probably seen 80+. So I have a little perspective.) And I cannot imagine another band I would commit that much time, interest or money following. What keeps me coming back is the same thing that kept me coming back for the Grateful Dead when they were around. Lots of improv., huge repitore, melodic playing and the feeling you never know what could happen next not, to mention the festival like vibe in the parking lot and the kindred spirits that followed these bands. However both Phish and the Grateful Dead are/were from different era. Phish started in '83 and the Dead in '65. During those years, there was a vital and strong college/university scene and niche local scenes were they played constantly in each bands early years which led to the groundswell of popularity they both enjoyed. Phish was also fortunate to be a part of the H.O.R.D.E. festival for a couple years (1992-1993 ) which gained them national exposure. The Dead had similar massive performance opportunities early in their career (Monterey, Woodstock, Watkins Glen etc.). My point is that today everything is corporate controlled from the venues to the tickets, to festivals themselves. There are no tours like H.O.R.D.E. anymore. Therefore there is no mas introduction for new bands to play in local markets. There is no radio play whatsoever due to Clear Channel owning evry radio station and the fact that DJs to not program any music period. They just announce while stations hire a programming service out of LA or somehwere which is out of touch with any local scene. The college/University music scene that once was a vibrate, hip, cool and vanguard is now totally corporately controlled, contrived and listening to Lady Gaga and they will forget about her in like a year.. Record companies are dead or dying, and that isn't all bad, as record companies were basically loan sharks anyways. But now there is such a glut of music product on the internet of all types, due to the ability to produce and promote your own music cheap, everything is very scattered and lots of amazing bands go unnoticed and unsupported. The internet is a sea of information that bands who do it themselves drown in and rarely get noticed. In the mean-time were are not promoting, distributing or fostering quality musicians that will give us our next Phish or produce our next "Dark Side of the Moon". Not because they are not out there but there is no central focused means of delivering this type of music anymore. The people who do control the mass media that could promote such artists (and once did) choose not to as they are not looking for something significant or long lasting they are looking for the next quick disposable return and then on to the next flavor of the month. This has been going on since the 80's but is now reaching a critical point. So what are your thoughts? Sorry for my rant. Edited August 31, 2010 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PassedOutGuy Posted August 31, 2010 Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 pops popcorn and waits for Booche's response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basher Posted August 31, 2010 Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 Where to start? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AD Posted August 31, 2010 Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 Zeus / The Slip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau. Posted August 31, 2010 Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 Can there be another band like Phish in this day and age? I remember hearing folks say/ask basically the same thing about the Grateful Dead while on tour in 87/88. As I'm sure it was asked in the 70s.Anything is possible. :2cents: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StoneMtn Posted August 31, 2010 Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 I remember hearing folks say/ask basically the same thing about the Grateful Dead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwa. Posted August 31, 2010 Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 It's all subjective. I certainly don't agree with the choices AD put in his post above but that doesn't mean that they aren't to him.Umphrey's live shows do it for me. Something new around every corner and the anticipation that you mentioned. The melodies and precision of their music captures that emotion for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AD Posted August 31, 2010 Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 I certainly don't agree with the choices AD put in his post above Agreed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bONES Posted August 31, 2010 Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 noyesmaybe?what was the question?:bonghit: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradm Posted August 31, 2010 Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 Can there be another band like Phish in this day and age? Sure Aloha, Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chameleon Posted August 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 (edited) I agree the Slip and Umphryree's are great and talented bands and I have enjoyed thier shows and music but do we really see those type of band filling the Greek theater and going on amphitheater and stadium tours? Will we be listening to thier songs in 25yrs?I guess my thinking is I am not sure how it is possible to reach as many people as a Phish or Grateful Dead did playing thier style of music given the changes in the music industry.Totally hope I am wrong. Edited August 31, 2010 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayr Posted August 31, 2010 Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 Phish came along at the perfect exact moment to unknowingly embrace the tape trading culture that was massive at the time. Without that I don't think they would be where they are. The same way the McLovins (not comparing the two musically) are playing huge festivals and blowing up after a year because they decided one day to put up a YEM for the hell of it on youtube. The next big thing will only come about by means of talent and a carefully executed random turn of unexpected events. That being said, it could be going right now for all I know. Would I have recognized what Phish would become later if I saw them in 1988? Don't know. All imo of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
localcrew Posted August 31, 2010 Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 I wonder about new bands due to the glut you mention-it's all up to fate and destiny. It seems to me that there are a few bands to compare to them now such as Moe etc....I don't think anyone needs to replace phish for quite a while as they are so young....I think the Dead however were a once in a century (millenium) phenomenon. With their historical and social significance still unrivaled and their individual and collective genius....I don't know that we'll see that again.While phish is a great band with huge talent I don't think it's hard to imagine a group coming along to rival them....there already are bands to rival them. They're kind of like frank Zappa meets the dead without the crass individual genius of Frank or the prophetic literature of Hunter and seemingly preordained spiritual magic that sometimes arises throughout history.They have their trip and are very grateful for it I'm sure. I can see another band coming down the pike though with as much up their sleeve. Acceptance and popularity are the thing though......a band gets to a tipping point where they get exponentially more popular just because they're already popular. It almost overwhelmed the Dead scene where there were more people there to see what was going on than there were people who made things go on by the end.....the Dead are another story though..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phorbesie Posted August 31, 2010 Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 ICP baby!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianphan Posted August 31, 2010 Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 Yes, it can and will happen again, but you (us / we) might not get it. And it won't be the same. Phish is not GD. Trey / Marshal have never been the songwriter that Jerry was. But that wasn't important to me when I fell in love with Phish. It was an escape, it represented a rejection of the social norms that I was pushing at University.phorbesie threw out ICP. I don't get their music but they represent the same escape to a different group of people. There are plenty of bands that have rabid fans that can fill arenas. Pearl Jam, Tool, Widspread Panic, Radiohead, all of whom have been evolving and pushing their own boundaries over the years.Will there be another "Jam Band" as big as phish or the Grateful Dead? Probably. Will we dig it? Maybe. Will it change someones life. Absolutely.It's a love of the feeling that music gives us that ties this board together, and I'm sure ya'll agree that countless generations will be as confused as we were and they'll sit back and listen to the music play, and it will all make sense, if only for a moment. So i'm gonna crack another Carlsberg and let the music show me yet another reason to be happy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AD Posted September 1, 2010 Report Share Posted September 1, 2010 I haven't listened to or seen Phish since the Bonnaroo where they performed. Even that was unexpected. I've moved on while not forgetting the amazing ride that the journey into and out of Phish provided. If other bands can get into the same mindset in other fans, awesome. I don't see it happening for me as life and priorities have changed, but absolutely it will happen for other people with other bands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chameleon Posted September 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2010 Yes, it can and will happen again, but you (us / we) might not get it. And it won't be the same. Phish is not GD. Trey / Marshal have never been the songwriter that Jerry was. But that wasn't important to me when I fell in love with Phish. It was an escape, it represented a rejection of the social norms that I was pushing at University.phorbesie threw out ICP. I don't get their music but they represent the same escape to a different group of people. There are plenty of bands that have rabid fans that can fill arenas. Pearl Jam, Tool, Widspread Panic, Radiohead, all of whom have been evolving and pushing their own boundaries over the years.Will there be another "Jam Band" as big as phish or the Grateful Dead? Probably. Will we dig it? Maybe. Will it change someones life. Absolutely.It's a love of the feeling that music gives us that ties this board together, and I'm sure ya'll agree that countless generations will be as confused as we were and they'll sit back and listen to the music play, and it will all make sense, if only for a moment. So i'm gonna crack another Carlsberg and let the music show me yet another reason to be happy...I agree with your sentiment but every one of those bands you mentioned started around or before Phish so they too are in the same boat in terms of mass popularity in the social conciousness that can allow for regular touring on a large scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoMack Posted September 1, 2010 Report Share Posted September 1, 2010 The next big thing will only come about by means of talent and a carefully executed random turn of unexpected events. Best line of the thread.But seriously, the answer is no, there cannot be another band like Phish. At least in terms of the scene / experience that goes along with the concert (and that you refer to above).I saw a lot of Phish shows from fall 1995 - 1998. That is when phish blew up and got huge. (hmmm... I wonder why, what happened to force 1000s of hippies to go on phish tour who had probably gone to a show here and there before that hmmmm).Phish has peaked in terms of popularity, probably in 2000. They got bigger when the dead were gone but they never ever ever came even remotely close to the popularity of the Dead in terms of scene or in terms of fans, tickets anything period. SCI was arguably "another band like Phish" for the same reason phish got big. Phish quit, wookies were lost. SCI won. But fizzled out quick.After rambling, the definitive answer is, No. There can never be another band like the Grateful Dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hal Johnson Posted September 1, 2010 Report Share Posted September 1, 2010 The whole landscape of the music industry has changed, so, to me, its hard to see how something like Phish could ever happen again. But who really knows, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YearsAlongTheSea Posted September 1, 2010 Report Share Posted September 1, 2010 I think the culprit is the slow decay of a nomadic musical fanbase. Names have been dropped of bands that can fill arenas and sustain a fanbase, but that tends to be due to larger, more localized fanbases, as opposed to a subculture of people willing to follow bands around the country in the fashion that the GD and Phish inspired. I think it would be shortsighted to say there won't be another band that has the same amount of draw and longevity over their career, but it's going to involve a slightly different cultural niche and as many have already said, it may not appeal or make sense to us.I can think of a lot of bands that could have pulled it off, The Disco Biscuits being one. But it seems like there is so much music out there that listeners today are becoming slightly ADD, and making the kind of commitment Phish and GD fans did is going to be a little less likely as a result... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave-O Posted September 1, 2010 Report Share Posted September 1, 2010 ICP baby!!I know this was meant as a joke, but I think it's actually the closest thing in terms of a huge cult following today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phishtaper Posted September 1, 2010 Report Share Posted September 1, 2010 But seriously, the answer is noagreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timouse Posted September 1, 2010 Report Share Posted September 1, 2010 ICP baby!!I know this was meant as a joke' date=' but I think it's actually the closest thing in terms of a huge cult following today.[/quote']agreed. as much as juggalos (?) are bizzare, replace the face paint with dreads, the black clothes with guatemalan gear and tye dye, change the music to something a bit lighter, and you could be in the lot of a dead or phish show."no gym teacher could get so many young people to dress alike."- jello biafra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booche Posted September 1, 2010 Report Share Posted September 1, 2010 Fucking magnets, how do they work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Wish Posted September 1, 2010 Report Share Posted September 1, 2010 I don't see it happening for me as life and priorities have changed, but absolutely it will happen for other people with other bands. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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