Phish • The Documentary • 1983–1987, a new fan-made Phish documentary, offers a look back on the band’s formation with a curated selection of live clips, recordings, and interviews covering Phish’s first five years as a band.
As Phish continues its #Phish40 40th anniversary celebration, this new film—like the band’s temperamental time machine—takes fans back four decades to when Trey Anastasio, Jon Fishman, Mike Gordon, and founding guitarist Jeff Holdsworth were just four long-haired college kids playing parties for their friends.
Highlights of the film include audio from Phish’s first show at Nectar’s, an early cover of the Grateful Dead‘s “Fire on the Mountain” from 1983, the first known version of “David Bowie”, and early versions of several tunes that remain fan favorites including “Dinner and a Movie”, “Punch You in the Eye”, “Fluffhead”, “You Enjoy Myself”, “Divided Sky”, and “Big Black Furry Creature From Mars”, plus old gems like “Lushington”, “The Chase”, and “Skippy the Wonder Mouse”. The most engaging parts of the documentary, however, are the clips that show more personal details about the band members and their relationship with each other and their (still growing) community of friends-turned-fans.
For instance, Trey gives an amusing description of the first time he saw Jon Fishman wandering around the library after their freshman orientation: “It was kind of like love at first sight. … This guy goes by with a tie-dye down to like his knees … and big huge hair and these ill-fitting Coke bottle classes and this ridiculous look on his face, and I was just like, ‘Oh my God, who is that guy?’”
Phish • The Documentary • 1983–1987 was compiled by The ReadIcculus Channel, which has been consistently posting rare gems from the band’s early days. “The ReadIcculus Channel was something I just thought up because I wanted to dive deep in to the Phish rabbit hole—a documentary type of channel,” its creator, Mike Kilbride, told Live For Live Music.
“For me, it all started on 12/31/91. I was 17 years old and had no idea who Phish was. I heard the hype, so I decided to go and spend New Year’s Eve with a band that I had never even heard. I had not even heard one song at that point. It blew my 17-year-old mind. I was a guitar player and that show changed the whole way that I looked at music.
“The ’90s were a magical time. I’ve seen it all. This incredibly talented bar band going to bigger and bigger venues. Now they can do 13 sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden and not repeat one song! Amazing.”
Kilbride added that he will continue to post new videos (“Never miss a Sunday post”) and plans to release another documentary covering 1988–1991 soon. Subscribe to The ReadIcculus Channel to be notified about new content.
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Phish • The Documentary • 1983–1987
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