Phish Reunite in Michigan ... Kinda

Posted on Jul 8th 2008 5:00PM by Benjy Eisen
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Although the summer skies remained clear for most of Michigan's four-day Rothbury festival, it was raining Phish on Sunday when three of the four members were present for individual projects. Most significantly, Trey Anastasio performed his first solo show in 15 months, and his first public appearance outside the state of New York since he got drug charges from that state reduced due to good behavior.

An emotional Anastasio took the main stage at this first-year festival armed with only an acoustic guitar and a smile the size of a Phish traffic jam. Performing a set heavy on Phish ballads, he could barely contain his enthusiasm when he invited bassist Mike Gordon to the stage to help finish the set. Two members down, two to go.

Joking, Anastasio said, "Now all we need is a drummer and a keyboardist." Announcing two new songs that he wrote with longtime Phish lyricist and songwriting partner Tom Marshall, Anastasio told the crowd -- with both intent and portent -- that "it starts with the songs so you can be our beta audience." Clearly, Phish is coming back.

As if that wasn't clear enough, 15 minutes after Anastasio's set ended, Gordon appeared with his solo band on an adjacent stage. Speaking out about a love song, Gordon proclaimed, "I love my new band! I love my old band, too!" He then brought both Anastasio and drummer Jon Fishman onstage to perform a couple covers and ... yes, a Phish song ('Meat'). That's three down, one to go.