Concert simulcast is a fun game of Phish

Kirk Baird

Monday, Aug. 16, 2004 | 8:20 a.m.

It wasn't the Las Vegas vacation Melissa Kubik and Amy Whynman dreamed of.

After all, you don't usually travel more than 2,500 miles from Orange County, N.Y., to sit in a movie theater for 12 hours.

Then again, legendary jam band Phish has never called it quits before, and simulcast its final two concerts during the weekend in 50-plus movie theaters nationwide.

In front of 60,000 rabid fans -- not to mention thousands more in sold-out theaters -- Phish concluded its nearly 21-year run with a two-day concert festival in Coventry, Vt.

For Kubik and Whynman, their decision to forgo gambling Saturday and Sunday to venture to Regal Cinemas Village Square 18 (the only theater in Las Vegas to offer the high-definition simulcast) was easy.

It also wasn't a disappointment.

"This will probably be the highlight of our vacation," said Whynman, 25.

It's easy to see why.

Ranging from epic spacey jams to playfully improvised ditties of thank-yous to behind-the-scene employees of the band, the quartet -- Trey Anastasio, guitar and lead vocals; Mike Gordon, bass and vocals; Page McConnell, keyboards, piano and vocals; Jon Fishman, drums and vocals -- turned in a mostly stellar performance on Sunday.

Phish began the concert at 3 p.m. Pacific time and plowed through five hours of music divided into three sets and two intermissions, plus an encore, just as it did the night before.

But it was the final show that sparked the most emotion, with the bandmembers -- especially Anastasio -- choking back tears on more than one occasion.

Twice during the opening of "Wading in the Velvet Sea," for example, Page simply was too overcome by sentiment to sing. Eventually, Anastasio chimed in with vocals to help get him through it.

While the crowd's excited response at Coventry was predictable, it was amazing to see how enthusiastically fans in the nearly sold-out theater reacted.

They danced in the aisles. They cheered. They sang along. They blew bubbles. They even tossed glowsticks and the occasional beach ball, a tradition of Phish concerts.

At times, the onscreen fans and those in the theater merged.

Plus, with skillful camera work from the film crew, theater-goers enjoyed the kinds of close-ups and intimate views of the band onstage even those fans in the front row miss.

And, save for the occasional audio glitch -- no doubt the perils of a live simulcast -- the DTS surround sound in the theater certainly offered a more complete aural experience than a front wall of speakers.

It was enough to make Whynman and Kubik, who have seen 30 Phish concerts between them, feel like they weren't missing out on the Coventry experience.

"We've got comfortable seats, air-conditioning and we've got clean bathrooms," Kubik, 24, said. "And the way it's set up with people dancing and tossing glowsticks, it's just like being there."

Perhaps the only aspect of the concert absent in the theater was mud. Lots and lots of mud -- the result of several days' rain in Vermont.

But all it took was an overhead camera shot of the Coventry crowd sitting on layers of plastic tarps or sloshing through brownish goop to realize even sticky theater floors are preferable to mud.

As for the songs, the band adroitly marched through one jam to another, showcasing the musicianship that made Phish one of the biggest touring acts in the world: from the searing guitar work of Anastasio and the funky bass grooves of Gordon, to the psychedelic keyboard flourishes of McConnell and rock-steady drumming of Fishman.

Just before the final set, one fan in particular was impressed with what he had seen and heard.

"The first set will go down as legendary, it was phenomenal," said Stan Robertson, 33, of Las Vegas. "I'll have to see what they roll out for the last set."

If there was a weak point to the show, though, it was the final set. At only an hour, it felt short in comparison to the two-hour first set and 90-minute second set.

Perhaps the band was physically and/or emotionally drained. Nevertheless, some fan favorites, such as the oft-requested "Fluffhead," (which, according to one Phish-centric Web site, hasn't been played since Sept. 29, 2000) were notably absent.

Considering how fan friendly Phish is, and the fact that this was the band's final chance to play fan-favorites, the omission of these songs is somewhat of a disappointment.

All but the most cynical Phish fan, however, would have difficulty coming up with a more fitting closing number than "The Curtain With."

As Anastasio told the crowd, "The Curtain With" is one of the first songs he wrote for Phish as it began and one he felt was appropriate to end the band.

Featuring a chorus of "Please, we have no regrets," the song also rather poignantly encapsulated the group's decision to call it quits.

Even after the song faded to a close 30 minutes later, however, many fans refused to believe the band was no more.

They cheered. They stood and clapped. They cheered some more -- anything to get Phish to come out one last time.

The band didn't.

Following a few minutes of crowd shots, the theater lights brightened, the onscreen credits rolled, and the show -- and Phish -- officially came to an end.