Overheard: Live In Concert

There are a few things that make a Phish show unique. It is an experience, from the moment you get to the parking lot to when you return to your car, truck or bus. It is very communal. The audience becomes part of the show, part of the experience. I don’t remember exactly when it happened, I think it was during Reba or Harry Hood, it started to rain glow sticks and glow rings. I was sitting on the upper level and was able to watch as the glow sticks and glow rings spun through the air and descended to the audience below.

There is one thing that sets a Phish show apart from any other band I have ever seen, and that is the light show. Chris Kuroda, often referred to as CK5, the five for the 5th member of the band, is Phish’s lighting designer and a master improviser. Kuroda is jamming and improvising right along with the band. No lighting cue or sequence is ever programmed. If the band is jamming, Chris is right there with them and the second they come out of the jam he is there too.

This probably doesn’t sound all that impressive on screen and words cannot do it justice. Watching clips on YouTube or DVD’s of live shows can give you an idea but nothing can match the experience of a live Phish show. The band, the lights, and the audience all jamming together.

On June 28th 1995 I saw my first Phish show. It was at Jones Beach. I’ve seen them many times since but never again at Jones Beach until tonight. It was a was a little surreal to be returning to Jones Beach 14 years, to the month of my first Phish show to see Phish. I can’t wait to see what Thursday and Friday will bring.