84. Fans Phucking with the Band
What is the central theme to this everlasting spoof?
Phish is a band with a sense of humor. They have a long history of pulling pranks and gags on their audience, usually to hilarious effect. Whether it is New Year’s Eve “gags,” Halloween costumes, using setlists to spell out messages, or using doughnut flavors to create a delicious theme to a show, Phish loves to play with the collective consciousness of their audience.
But as they say, turnabout is fair play, and there have been some classic moments where the audience has returned the favor by playing their own tricks on the band.
One of the most widely documented instances of this audience playfulness took place during the 1996 Red Rocks Amphitheater run. Before the first show began, a group of Phish.net fans handed out printouts of a list of creative ideas. One of these was to use the silent moment in “Divided Sky” as a signal for the audience to sit down and “say ahhhhhhhhhhhh” during the typical silence. Another idea was to create a new call-and-response with the band during “You Enjoy Myself (YEM)” in the “Wash Uffitzi drive me to Firenze” section where the audience repeated that line in the space between the typical lyrics. Both were done by fans in attendance, and the band seemed to love it, but neither caught on as tradition.
Another idea on that list over time has become a hallmark occurrence at Phish shows. The instruction sheet explained that during the Phish classic “Harry Hood,” when the band sings “Harry!” the audience should yell a corresponding “Hood!” on the next beat. With any of these gags, no one knew whether they would even work for one night. When Phish finally played “Harry Hood,” each Harry was met with a “Hood!” of increased intensity. Amazingly enough, that tradition continues 20-plus years later.
Some fans still love the chant, some abhor it, but either way, seeing a fan-inspired idea become tradition is pretty incredible.
Another moment of audience-driven antics took place at Dick’s in 2014. Unlike the Red Rocks collaboration that was spread on printed paper, this one was done with the power of the Internet. Rolling Stone magazine was conducting a Reader’s Poll: The 10 Best Phish Songs. People assumed that classics such as “Antelope” or “Tweezer” would take the cake, but that was not to be.
A fan-made flyer handed out at Red Rocks. (Jason Gershuny)
Before all the votes were cast, JamBase editor and longtime Phish phan Scotty Bernstein proposed a different idea on his Phish-focused YEMblog. He asked fans to use this opportunity to promote the return of the long-forgotten and minimally played “Lushington.” When the votes were finally counted, the incredibly obscure “Lushington” won out. Even Rolling Stone thought this was possibly a case of “Phish Phans Phucking with us.”
To this day, Phish has only played “Lushington” eight times, four of which didn’t even contain any lyrics, and they haven’t played it since 1987. It is doubtful that most of the folks who voted for it in the poll would even have recognized it.
Regardless, “Lushington” surprisingly topped the Rolling Stone poll. It is hard not to chuckle when envisioning a new fan curious about all the Phish hoopla using this long-forgotten tune as their entry point.
Phish clearly heard the call for “Lushington” and had a trick of their own in mind. One month after the article came out, they took the opportunity at Dicks in Colorado to spell out the song title with the first letter of each song of the first set. Spelling out messages at Dick’s had become an almost annual tradition, and this year was no different. Fans at the show were anticipating the bust-out following this spelling premonition. But in true prankster form, they chose to follow the final “N” in Lushington by playing “Ha Ha Ha” instead. After this fake-out, it seemed like they had a kiss-and-make-up moment when they brought out Trey Anastasio Band members Jennifer Hartswick and Natalie Cressman on horns for the final song of the set, “Suzy Greenberg.”
The loving relationship between Phish and their fans has always been a two way street. Both sides find ways to show their appreciation for one another, and quite often it is shown with a hint of humor with a splash of love. Within the Phish world, there is nothing wrong with dancing and laughing at the same time.