Phish Reunion   

Four years ago, I didn't think it would happen but now I am pretty sure it will.

In my opinion the Phish thing is pretty likely at this point, because people are so healthy and enthusiastic about it among the band members. The vibe is really good.

The vibe is really good.

Yes, good vibes indeed!

See more Phish reunion coverage on Jamtopia.

Mike Gordon continued to fan the flames of a Phish reunion n an interview with Evan Levy of New York's WNEW radio (102.7 FM).

Here's a snippet straight from the Cactus's mouth…

We've started to talk as a foursome… as doing some more stuff again… rekindling the Phish thing. There's a lot of talk about that, and there's no specific plan… but I think there's a good chance of it pretty soon. And I think there will be plenty of time in our schedules to do other stuff, and for me that'll be this band, and maybe some more movies.
— Mike Gordon

If that doesn't make you want to gas up the Microbus, I don't know what will.

Update (August 13, 2008): This week, in an interview with Scott Bernstein of Hidden Track, Gordon fans the flames some more, saying “I’m just glad that I’m gonna have time do [Phish] and still have my own band.” Maybe it's just me, bit that kinda makes it sound like a sure thing!

Update (August 21, 2008): Watch Mike talk to Jack Thurston of Vermont's WCAX about the prospective reunion in a recent segment entitled A Reunion for Phish?

See more Phish reunion coverage on Jamtopia.

Photo by Katy Batdorff/
The Grand Rapids Press
(more pics)

Despite a few sit-ins over the last year and a half (see Trey with Phil & Friends and Trey with Robert Randolph for example) we haven't seen much from Trey Anastasio since his auspicious arrest in December of 2006.

But all of that was behind him on Sunday as Trey returned to the stage for a solo acoustic set on July 6th at the inaugural ROTHBURY Festival in Rothbury, Michigan.

Trey's ROTHBURY setlist included about a dozen Phish tunes, a Trey tune, and a GRAB tune. And as an added (though expected) bonus, Mike Gordon sat in for a few songs including two new ones — Backwards Down the Number Line and Alaska — though no official word on whether or not these are intended to be “Phish songs.” According to Trey he taught Mike both these of these songs to five minutes before the show.

You can download the entire Trey ROTHBURY set in lossless flac format on etree (Chris Davis and Col. George's Peluso cemc6/ck4 source | Nakguy's Milab VM-44 Link source) or you can download a lossy mp3 version of Trey's ROTHBURY set from mediafire. And stay tuned to this space for more concert videos from Trey's appearance at ROTHBURY.

UPDATE (July 6, 2008): After Trey's set, Mike had a set just a short distance away, and Trey returned the favor by joining Mike on stage (with a Stratocaster) for a jam and Meat. Then, just when you thought it couldn't get any better, there was a ¾ Phish reunion as Fishman joined Mike and Trey on stage for a cover of the Beatles song She Said, She Said!

Update (August 2nd, 2008): See our post about Trey's solo acoustic show at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island.

Update (August 7th, 2008): See our post about Trey & Classic TAB at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn.

Update (August 10, 2008): See our post about Trey & Classic TAB at the All Points West Festival in New Jersey.

So I started one of my recent posts about a Phish reunion and the prospect of a new Phish album produced Steve Lillywhite by saying that I'm not much for Phish reunion rumor mongering. Ironically, I ended up being the Chief Reunion Rumor Mongerer.

Well I'll start this post by saying that I'm also not much for copying and pasting large blocks of text and calling it a post, but today a very enticing letter from Page McConnell appeared on Phish.com and posting the whole thing just seemed like the right thing to do...

Well I'm not much for Phish reunion rumor mongering (despite my headline on this post about Phish at the Jammys and Trey's hints to Rolling Stone) but I just received an email with a rumor that supposedly originated from Jon Fishman himself...

The short version: Phish is definitely reuniting and there will be a new Phish album produced by Steve Lillywhite, who produced Billy Breathes over 12 years ago.

Stay tuned for more and keep your fingers crossed! I know I am.

UPDATE: So while this post has generated a ton of traffic and discussion on other message boards, please remember, it's just a RUMOR.

UPDATE 2 (June 21, 2008): I just read on Indie Point Unlimited Supply that Steve Lillywhite is in Dublin recording with U2 and because of this the Phish / Lillywhite rumor “doesn't look good.” Well I did a bit more research and according to U2Valencia Lillywhite is (or at least was) working with U2 in Dublin. However, per U2 soundman Joe O’Herlihythe's comments to HotPress, the band has since moved the sessions to France, though no word if Lillywhite came with them. Either way, U2 manager manager Paul McGuinness says the new U2 album is supposed to drop in late October, so even if Lillywhite works on it until the very end, he'd still have plenty of time to do a Phish album for '09 release — especially considering it only took him 15 minutes to mix New Years Day! ::refuses to let rumor die::

UPDATE 3 (June 22, 2008): Amazingly, this story was picked up by Billboard! They actually contacted Lillywhite's people and through a spokesperson he offered a “no comment” when asked if he was planning to work with the Phish again. Well I guess that's a lot better than a plain old “no.”

UPDATE 4 (June 23, 2008): The story has taken on a life of it's own. It's now been covered on such fine sites as Gibson.com and even New York Magazine! And my favorite so far... Sonic Slang has seemingly turned rumor into fact... “Billboard is reporting that Steve Lillywhite will be joining Phish in the studio for the long-awaited (but never in doubt) reunion album.” ...and didn't even bother to link here. Gotta love the Internet.

UPDATE 5 (June 26, 2008): Okay, finally something straight from the horse's mouth. Today a letter from Page appeared on Phish.com regarding the possible Phish reunion and associated rumors. Read the entire letter from Page.

UPDATE 6 (June 26, 2008): Well now we're talking! Just discovered this article on Rolling Stone with comments from Mike Gordon about the Phish reunion. First says Cactus... “The band has had a couple of dinners and they’ve just been great. We’re all just excited about the idea of doing something sometime. I can’t guarantee it, but I’m optimistic.” And then this, which I guess is somewhat vindicating though certainly not a full-on confirmation... “We talked to him, actually. [The rumor] stemmed from reality. We love Steve Lillywhite. He would bring out some great things in us. But we don’t have specific plans to work with him.” So all said, I'm thinking we might be able to put this thing to rest for a bit and wait for the REAL news.