Phish: The final encore

AN ANNOUNCEMENT FROM TREY ANASTASIO 05.25.04

Last Friday night, I got together with Mike, Page and Fish to talk openly about the strong feelings I've been having that Phish has run its course and that we should end it now while it's still on a high note. Once we started talking, it quickly became apparent that the other guys' feelings, while not all the same as mine, were similar in many ways -- most importantly, that we all love and respect Phish and the Phish audience far too much to stand by and allow it to drag on beyond the point of vibrancy and health. We don't want to become caricatures of ourselves, or worse yet, a nostalgia act. By the end of the meeting, we realized that after almost twenty-one years together we were faced with the opportunity to graciously step away in unison, as a group, united in our friendship and our feelings of gratitude.

So Coventry will be the final Phish show. We are proud and thrilled that it will be in our home state of Vermont. We're also excited for the June and August shows, our last tour together. For the sake of clarity, I should say that this is not like the hiatus, which was our last attempt to revitalize ourselves. We're done. It's been an amazing and incredible journey. We thank you all for the love and support that you've shown us.

-- Trey Anastasio

If only I wasn't too lazy to drive 7 hours to see it.

I bet they'll get back together... AGAIN.

Trey Anastasio has emerged as *the star* of Phish and is doing well with his side projects. Most of them are from wealthy families and may be millionaires themselves by now. They don't need the money. The back catalog of live material is enough to keep the money coming in well into their old age.

"We'd rather just be charactures of the Dead"

;-)