DVD Review: Phish - Live in Brooklyn

DVD Reviews

By Jeff Swindoll Jul 27, 2006, 12:40 GMT

The band Phish has been favorably compared to the Grateful Dead, though not musically but in the devotion of their fans. Phish decided to call it quits in 2004 and this concert marked the beginning of the end for the group.

I’ll have to admit that I had never heard of Phish. So let me give a rundown of the information that I was able to gather from the internet. Phish came to be in 1983 when Vermont college chums Trey Anastasio, Jeff Holdsworth, Mike Gordon, and Jon Fishman formed a band. Jeff Holdsworth left the group in 1986 and Page McConnell joined the group. Phish has the distinction of being one of the first bands to have a Usenet group (started in 1992). In 1992 they were signed to Elektra Records. In 1993 Phish began headlining major amphitheaters. In 1995 their fan base was infused with Grateful Dead fans looking for a home since the Dead had a decrease in concerts with the death of Jerry Garcia. In 1997 Ben & Jerry named Phish Food after them and donated proceeds from it to one of the band’s charities. Rolling Stone called them one of the most important bands of the 90s. It was announced in 2004 that the summer tour would be their last and the band would be breaking up. Phish: Live in Brooklyn was recorded on June 17, 2004 at Keyspan Park at Coney Island, New York and is from that last summer tour.

Phish was known for the popularity of its concerts and the sense of community that formed there (though it sounded like a lot of that community was selling their wares in the parking lot). Phish was also known for its concert jams that would occasionally include over 20 minute jams on some songs. The songs included on this two disc set are ‘A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing’, ‘Dinner and a Movie’, ‘The Curtain With’, “Sample in a Jar’, ‘Moma Dance’, ‘Free’, ‘Nothing’, ‘Maze’, ‘Frankenstein’, ’46 Days’, ‘Possum’, ‘The Oh Kee Pah Ceremony’, ‘Suzy Greenberg’, ‘Axilla I’, ‘2001’, ‘Birds of a Feather’, ‘Kung’, ‘Mike’s Song’, ‘I am Hydrogen’, ‘Weekapaug Groove’, and ‘The Divided Sky.’Live in Brooklyn is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include about 30 minutes of extra concert footage. These include excerpts from the soundcheck, backstage footage, and three full songs from the following night’s show. The songs are ‘Taste’, ‘Bug’, and ‘Tweezer Reprise.’ I enjoyed the near 4 hour concert and the band. It’s somewhat sad to discover that they are not active anymore (though some members have mentioned in interviews that a reunion is not out of the question). I’m sure fans of Phish (called Phishheads) will be happy to finally have this concert on DVD.

Since this was one of their last concerts, I was somewhat disappointed that more extras might not have been put together. However, I’m sure that he DVD runs less than the price of admission to a concert but you’ll have to provide the $70 sweatshirt yourself.Phish - Live in Brooklyn is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information. The CD soundtrack to the concert is also available at Amazon. Visit the music database for more information and a complete track listing.

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Jeff SwindollJul 27th, 2006 - 23:49:33

Apologies to Phishheads,
I heard today that Phish's concert T-shirts only ran $40. Mea Culpa. I only used $70 because I read an article about a band that is currently touring that had sweatshirts at those rates. It was meant in the deepest sarcasm ;).

Hmmmmm, anybody reading these reviews willing to pay for a 'I read Jeff's reviews' shirt? I'd only charge $20 a pop. A helluva deal in the current market mentioned above ;).

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