Da Phunky Phish

With all the hubub about the Phish reunion on the internet recently, I felt compelled to make a post about the boys. Firstly, I'd like to say that I'm really excited about the reunion. I know a lot of people aren't out of control excited, and that it seems like some don't expect that much out of the "reunion". I think though, that there is a dynamic part of the phanbase that is really excited to hear what they have to say, after 5 years apart. Where are they gonna take their songs? Is Trey gonna fire it out like 93-95, are they gonna bust out the funk of of the late 90's, the space of post hiatus? Well, I have said it many times, but I hope they take a totally new turn. Hopefully in the past 5 years they have each grown as musicians in their own way. Phish is, after all, a melting pot of all things good in music, so hopefully each member can bring a new dynamic and they can melt it into something totally different.

That being said, I also hope they practice. Their compositions are very complex and I hope they can still pull off a sick YEM, Bowie, or Slave. Who knows...will we get a Fluffhead? One of my favorite compositions is Reba. The song itself is a goofy tale of a woman mixing all sorts of strange ingredients into a pot and then taking to sell to the butcher, at the "Store-O". The upbeat ridiculousness of the song starkly ends and brings about a new, wild composition of various themes and fuges changing time signatures over and over, before melding into a groovy mixolydian jam which makes the listener float through the waves of Mike Gordon's bass thumps stewing with Fishman's wild snare and climactic cymbals. A few Reba's especially stand out to me and deserve specific discussion.

The Halloween Reba's all hold a special place in my heart. They played Reba on Halloween in 94, 95, 96 and 98 and really, as cliche as Halloween Phish may be, each deserve their own place in Reba history. Each one captures the mood perfectly, and each jam has some of the best and most classic Reba peaks of all time.

The 94 Reba Jam section starts with trey playing a strange effect against mike's funky base, and begins soothing, but aggressive. Trey is laying back from the beginning, but forcing his voice to the forefront, while page drapes the jam with perfect keystrokes. The jam picks up and falls repeatedly into beautiful strokes of Reba highs and lows.

The 98 Reba Jam begins with one of my all time favorite melodies during a Reba Jam, with trey hitting one bad note, and then returning with a little melody that he expounds upon throughout the context of the jam.

I can talk about Reba forever, but I suggest you check some of these out for youself. You can download some great shows on www.phishows.com and www.nugs.net free stash. Enjoy Phish!