oh kee pah

The movie does a wonderful job conveying the communication, closeness, and camaraderie of Phish, providing glimpses into the band's onstage demeanor that even the most jaded fans will enjoy. Most importantly, the performances are excellent. Trey Anastasio displays off-the-charts delight throughout the film that reflects his playing, Mike Gordon's intricate bass work shines, and viewers practically get to step right into Page McConnell's keyboard nest and Jon Fishman's drum setup to witness their individual prowess.

Come Saturday, the band’s taking its crowdpleasing live show to a whole new level with its 1st annual UMBowl, an evening of four 45 minute sets influenced entirely by the audience. Not only have fans who bought tickets to the intimate event (Umphrey’s playing Lincoln Hall, much smaller than typical Aragon-sized venues) voted for certain songs to be played, they’ll also be encouraged to use text messaging to influence the direction of the show. It’s an innovative approach that’s bound to blossom in coming years by other bands seeking to make their fans feel more empowered and connected to the music.

In addition to pleasing the fans, Umphrey’s McGee co-founder/singer/guitarist Brendan Bayliss is trying to please himself, trying out some new material inspired by a painful divorce in a new supergroup called 30db featuring Yonder Mountain String Band singer/mandolinist Jeff Austin. That band’s debut album, “One Man Show,” is available beginning May 11, and the group plays Lincoln Hall a few days prior. Umphrey’s is also heading back into the studio next week and seeking to evolve its sound.

CB: Do you think your fans from your respective bands will go with this new direction?

BB: You know, I really don’t know. I have no idea. And to be honest, I don’t really care. Obviously I hope they like it, but I’m not doing it for them. I’m doing it to have an outlet for these songs. I have another side project with [Umphrey’s] bass player [Ryan Stasik] and two guys from the The New Deal. But it’s a cover band, and I’ve never had something where I can write music outside of Umphrey’s. It’s good to have a different songwriting partner to mix things up, and when I come back to Umphrey’s, it makes it me appreciate that that much more.

PhanTank.com is having a contest for a ticket givaway for one two-day pass for Phish's Telluride shows. The winner will also receive an at event camping pass which means camping right at the venue. Entry into the contest requires one to join the forum. The user in the thread with the most ridiculous post about anything will win. You may post videos, images, (nothing disgusting or repulsive please) and just about anything you want. If you have specific embed code for a video that you want to use because it is not hosted on one of the common video sites, it can be embedded by a mod on your behalf. There is no limit as to how many posts one can make.

The thread will close on Sunday May 16th at 11:59PM and the judging will commence. The ultimate decision will be made by the mods at PhanTank but will be heavily influenced by the user responses from the posts in the thread.

Please Email Dan Kreiner at phantank@gmail.com or for any questions.