Jams With James
Trey
Trey Anastasio
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Phish can be hard to understand for the uninitiated. I think I should begin by explaining who exactly this guy is whose face is plastered all over my page. Trey is the guitarist and lead singer of the popular jam band Phish which formed in 1983 at the University of Vermont. Though some may feel differently, I see Trey as the ringleader and main motivating factor behind Phish's success (despite the fact that the band is named after the drummer John Fishman). Trey is a virtuoso guitar player, composer, god to thousands of unwashed hippies, and in my humble opinion a creative genius.
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While a senior at Goddard College Trey composed his thesis, The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday, a cryptic musical story about a fantastical land called Gamehendge. It can be viewed in it's entirety here. Little did they know what a phenomenon would be set in motion by Trey's whimsical composition. A year later Phish recorded Junta, a landmark album containing many of their most iconic songs. Not long after they were off touring the country, putting on incomparable live shows and slowly building a ravenously dedicated following as hundreds of people abandoned their homes, jobs, and schools in order to follow Trey and his merry band around the country.
2018
But What Have They Done Lately?
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2018 was a year of many ups and downs for Phish and somehow also year of novelty and exciting new developments for a band in it's 35th year. The biggest upset of the year, what may actually be the 2nd worst day in Phish history so far, was a high-profile incident known as "Curveball". And it indeed was a Curveball for many people but not in a positive sense.
Phish have hosted approximately ten music festivals during their career. Phish festivals began with the great Clifford Ball. They peaked with the epic 7+ hour straight new years 1999 set at Big Cypress, the biggest millennium celebration in the world with 95,000 attendees. And they reached an all time low with the mudfest that was Coventry in 2004. A festival that was almost cancelled and ended with Phish breaking up and taking a 5 year hiatus(this is widely regarded as the worst day in Phishtory).
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Since their reunion in 2009, Phish have hosted several successful festivals the best and most recent of which was Magnaball in 2015. The only Phish festival to actually be cancelled was, you guessed it, Curveball. Due to inclement weather conditions and unsafe water thousands of people(including yours truly) arrived in Watkins Glen, NY set up their tents and began preparing themselves for a Phish festival that was not to be. On the first day of the festival shortly after soundcheck was about to begin it was announced on Phish.Net that the event was indeed cancelled without a single note to be played. This was undoubtedly the low point for Phish fans since their 2009 reunion.
Halloween
But What Have They Done Right Lately?
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Despite the tragedy that was Curveball, Phish had a great year in 2018 and many feel that the band is playing the best they have in years. Other than the fantastic New Years run which I will cover later, the highlight of 2018 was their 3 night Halloween run in Las Vegas. Phish has a long history of special Halloween sets.
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They tend to play 3 sets on Halloween with the 2nd set being a cover set of another band's album. In 1994 Phish began this tradition by asking fans to vote for which album they would like to be covered. The first winner was The White Album by the Beatles. After 1995 they began choosing the albums to cover themselves after voting became problematic. Over the years they have also covered albums by The Who, Talking Heads, Velvet Underground, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Little Feat, and more on Halloween.
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On Halloween in 2018, Phish confounded many thousands of people by covering an obscure album by a Scandinavian band known as Kasvot Vaxt. As the second set began the 80s style prog rock began filling the Las Vegas arena as legions of inebriated Phish fans tried frantically to figure out what was happening. Kasvot Vaxt was as unfamiliar to these fans as it is to you or me, and for good reason. The band never existed. That's right, Phish invented a band, made up an album, and then covered it for their Halloween set. This was a first for Phish, or as far as I know any band, and a very creative way to release their new album.
On to Page 2
The Madison Square Garden Run
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Phish has a long history of ringing in the new year with epic shows at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. Beginning in the 90s the band has played their New Years show at MSG and 2018 was no exception. Over the years they have played MSG 60 times, more than almost any band(Right behind Billy Joel and Elton John) and the fans turn out in droves.
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The band showed the world just how much they like playing the venue last year in 2017, when they played "The Bakers Dozen". In the middle of July, the boys played 13 consecutive days at MSG in lieu of a summer tour, selling out each day. There were 26 sets and 267 songs played, without a single repeat. Fans flocked in droves to NYC to enjoy the shows and the donuts, a unique flavor to match each unique set. And then they returned to MSG again in December for their New Years.
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Each New Years Eve they have a surprise in store to ring in the new year with. One year they put a giant boat in MSG, one year they rained hot dogs from the crowd while flying through the air on a hot dog and singing their song "Meatstick", once they feigned firing their drummer out of a cannon through the roof, and in 2011 they released steam as they rose high in the air on individual platforms. 2018 was no exception.
Following an excellent 4 day run at MSG (including especially amazing shows on the 29th and 30th that are now ranked as the best shows of the year on Phish.net) Phish rung in the new year with their song Mercury featuring a troupe of dancers being suspended in air and then segueing into one of their new Kasvot songs "Say it to Me S.A.N.T.O.S." As the clock strikes midnight Trey transitions int Auld Lang Syne as thousands of silver balloons and streamers rain from the ceiling. As they sing "This is what space smells like"(the chorus of Say it To Me Santos) the crowd realizes that inside the balloons are air fresheners that smell like.. space, i guess. You can view the festivities here.
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MSG 2018
Bonnaroo
Phish and Bonnaroo
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Bonnaroo is a music and arts festival, one of the largest in the South East, that is held in Manchester, TN. It's gone through a lot of changes since the halcyon days of the early 2000s when it was a true jam band festival. The festival is a world away from its inception, back when you'd see such headliners as Widespread Panic, Govt Mule, and the Dead instead of the Weekend, Cardi B, or Post Malone.
Despite the fact that the festival is nothing like it was back in 2002 when Trey Anastasio headlined the first Bonnaroo, Phish is returning for 2 days this weekend in Tennessee. Phish have a long storied history of playing on the farm, though it began in 2002 right when Phish had broken up the individual members of the band played a number of shows there between the years of 2002 and 2006. Finally in 2009 Phish reunited and played several respectable sets at Bonnaroo. In 2012 they returned for another jampacked day and now, this weekend, in three days and fifty-eight minutes the band will be returning for 2 more sets and 4 and a half more hours of Phish. Your faithful guide to Phish's current affairs will return with an update after the festivities have commenced. Thank you for reading!
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Bonnaroo Pt 2
Bonnaroo 2019
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Your faithful Phish guide has returned after a long weekend on the farm in Manchester, TN. The weather was mild, the jams were fresh, and the Chads were plentiful this weekend as 90,000+ people descended on Eastern Tennessee in anticipation of the 17th iteration of Bonnaroo. Phish played two spectacular sets and I'll go over them both here.
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On Friday, Phish played a very hot set following a mindblowing show by Childish Gambino on the main stage and preceding a 2am set from trap producer RL Grime. The band matched the high energy of the night as expected, launching into their set with a raging Carini(my camp called this opener somehow) followed by a Down with Disease. They then slowed it down a bit, with Say it to me S.A.N.T.O.S and Mercury, a throwback to New Year's eve. They then slid in a very funky Tweezer, dropped into a 2001 as expected, followed with a surprisingly hot More, and then a Harry Hood that may have been the highlight of the set. All in all, it was the great high energy festival set we'd been hoping for from the band.
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After a Phishless Saturday(we had to make due with amazing sets from Odesza and JRAD instead), time for their Sunday closing show arrived, and it was no slouch either. They turned the sound all the way up on Sunday as evidenced by the fact that my ears are still ringing today. This was truly a spectacular closing show. The band opened with a respectable Set Your Soul Free, slipped the always welcome and beautiful Reba into the first set and closed it out with a very danceable Wolfman's Brother into Cavern. But the night was just beginning. After a break, Phish returned with a tight Mikes Song before segueing into the song my group and I had been praying to see for months, an epic Fluffhead. With my life now complete, I enjoyed the funky Twist>Weekapaug>NMINML>Weekapaug>Twist sandwich the boys bestowed upon us. The cherry on top of this startlingly delicious cake was the Wilson>First Tube encore, complete with Jedi Trey waving his guitar over his head at the inebriated masses while Chris Kuroda(resident Phish light director) gave it all he had. In conclusion, not a bad night and this Phish fan went home satisfied.
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Facebook Assignment
Warning: This Content is Not Phish Related, Read at Your Own Risk​
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1. https://www.facebook.com/ElTacorriendoLenoir/
El Tacorriendo: El Tacorriendo is the taco truck that can often be found in Boone near campus. I first noticed their social media presence on Instagram, where they keep customers updated on the status of their renovations as well as times they will be closed.
Things they do well: They are updating consistently and keeping their customers informed. They do a good job of letting you know where they will be and if they'll be out of commission for a while. Their social media is very active and they have well over a hundred Instagram posts. I think they are as active as they need to be and their tone has the right balance of professionalism and casualness to appeal to their audience.
Things that could be improved: If anything they may be posting too often and lowering the impact of each post because of the volume. They've had a few competition/giveaway promotions on their Instagram and might benefit from having more of those.
2.https://www.facebook.com/phish/ and https://www.instagram.com/mike_gordon/?hl=en
Phish: Phish have fairly active Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages. The tone of their social media is very professional and consists almost entirely of updates about their tour schedule and webcasts. Basically you can expect info on where and when shows will be, as well as some photographs of shows on Instagram, and not much else. As far as the members of the band themselves, only the bassist Mike Gordon can truly be considered to be active on social media. Mike's pages have a much more casual feel than the official Phish page and you can see behind the scenes pics and clips of the band either preparing for shows or relaxing in whatever city they're in that week. You can also find pictures of the shoes and pants Mike's stylist has chosen for him with shocking consistency.
Things they do well: I think it is a good idea to keep their main social media page very professional and focused on the tour and it's schedule. People know that the official page is legitimate and they can trust what they hear from it. The addition of Mike's more casual social media presence helps to balance this out without hurting the image of the official Phish pages. Other keep fans updated regularly and provide some insight on official news.
Things that could be improved: While there are pros to the sparse posting and professionalism of Phish's official page, I think they could benefit from doing more. More frequent postings, maybe some promotions or competitions, possibly some crossposting of especially good Phish memes, and occasionally more casual remarks about Phish and the status of their tours.
3. https://www.facebook.com/GreenKeyNeighborhoods/
Green Key Neighborhoods is a newer real estate investment company based out of Asheville, NC. They have recently rebranded from Lan REI. They got started just a couple years ago and are still working on raising awareness and building a following. They have a social media presence on both Facebook and Instagram where they post about their jobs as well as the state of housing in Westen NC.
Things they do well: Green Key Neighborhoods has a sleek and consistent veneer and a professional tone on their social media. They post relevant and aesthetically pleasing content that will appeal to those looking to purchase housing in Western North Carolina
Things that could improved: As Green Key is just beginning to get their social media plan rolling there is still a lot to improve on. As of right now there are few posts and few followers. There needs to be more consistency and regular posting and they need to find a way to either generate or share relevant content in order to add value to their social media. Green Key needs to determine how important an active social media presence is to their business success and decide whether it is worth putting more money into it and possibly doing some advertising to bring in more regular followers. They also don't have a Twitter page but Im not sure how essential that is to their success as a company.