MMJ > Phish

[Salacious D]

what's the connection--they both play covers? is phish not able to be pegged into one category?  i just can't see where the focus is ever about the music when it comes to bands like Phish--not saying they're not great musicians....it's like 20% music and 80% live shows...IMO...i know many will disagree..i'd rather compare MMJ w/fearless bands like radiohead or with ryan adams...weaving in and out of genres, really discovering different kinds of sounds--...i just don't see the connection but i know many can so i will back off and let you all discuss. i just think it's a random comparison and i hate any comparison that slights MMJ

You're absolutely on to something there--both bands are indefinable. Phish played everything from jazz to bluegrass to Sinatra covers. They played with Jay-Z in Brooklyn, they played Led Zep songs, they have a *HUGE* catalogue which makes it impossible to define what they are (which, I believe, is why so many people simply opt to call them a "jam band.")

With that said, the connection you say you can't see has more to do--at least for me, someone who does see the connection--with the way the music (particularly live) makes the listener feel. For many people, seeing Phish live was about bringing so many interests and experiences together in one place and just letting loose and enjoying the pure bliss of music. Again--for me-- MMJ is the only band that's been able to procure and conjure those same sorts of emotions.

Perhaps it is because of the fact that both bands have such a wide variety of sounds--they are able to replicate so many different feelings that by the end of the show, you feel wonderfully, completely emotionally exhausted.

[Isobella]

I'm impressed by the phish fans powers of concentration, to enjoy listening to drug induced somnambulants play the same lydian mode in one position sloppily for 18 minutes  

Phish=teletubbies with tambourines

[Salacious D]

^^We get it. You don't like Phish. Go find another thread to play in because you're wasting your and our time.

[ItStillJaimoe]

I don't see the comparison. MMJ aren't a jam band, have better studio albums that Phish (excluding Billy Breathes and Farmhouse), but MMJ are nowhere near as huge as Phish.  

[DavidCrosby]

...for Phans....

http://www.musichallofwilliamsburg.com/calendar/show/1853/

....a Trey solo show in this really small venue in Brooklyn, looks like it could be pretty cool....please dont turn this post into why Trey sucks as a solo artist, just letting people know about it.....

[ItStillJaimoe]

...for Phans....

http://www.musichallofwilliamsburg.com/calendar/show/1853/

....a Trey solo show in this really small venue in Brooklyn, looks like it could be pretty cool....please dont turn this post into why Trey sucks as a solo artist, just letting people know about it.....

As long as Trey is off all of his junk, then his solo shows are worth checking out.

[DavidCrosby]

...for Phans....

http://www.musichallofwilliamsburg.com/calendar/show/1853/

....a Trey solo show in this really small venue in Brooklyn, looks like it could be pretty cool....please dont turn this post into why Trey sucks as a solo artist, just letting people know about it.....

As long as Trey is off all of his junk, then his solo shows are worth checking out.

...I think he actually is, but who really knows though.... :'(

[Penny Lane]

...for Phans....

http://www.musichallofwilliamsburg.com/calendar/show/1853/

....a Trey solo show in this really small venue in Brooklyn, looks like it could be pretty cool....please dont turn this post into why Trey sucks as a solo artist, just letting people know about it.....

i saw that---!  i thought they were getting back together? i actually liked trey's first solo album---

[Penny Lane]

I don't see the comparison. MMJ aren't a jam band, have better studio albums that Phish (excluding Billy Breathes and Farmhouse), but MMJ are nowhere near as huge as Phish.  

i think they are/were huge because everyone wants to be a part of something---and they took up that spot for many years in the jam scene---people flocking to the shows to relate to others enjoying the same thing...i think for MMJ that is a RESULT of the music, not the cause of the interest---i guess that was my point

[Salacious D]

I don't see the comparison. MMJ aren't a jam band, have better studio albums that Phish (excluding Billy Breathes and Farmhouse), but MMJ are nowhere near as huge as Phish.  

i think they are/were huge because everyone wants to be a part of something---and they took up that spot for many years in the jam scene---people flocking to the shows to relate to others enjoying the same thing...i think for MMJ that is a RESULT of the music, not the cause of the interest---i guess that was my point

I'm sure wanting "to be a part of something," as you say, is part of it, but to say that the hype surrounding Phish had less to do with the music than that idea of being something implies that perhaps you never had the "real" Phish experience. The hype--at least the heart of the hype, came from their music. That hype was contagious and individuals who appreciated the buzz more than the music definitely flocked to it, but there was always the undercurrent of buzz that was, as you say, purely "a RESULT of the music."

Phish broke up because they didn't want to be a caricature of themselves. I'm starting to think that the same is true of their audience. Most people are so far detached from the actual Phish scene that all they have to rely on are silly images of what Phish and its universe was all about. I'm by no means trying to bring a "phishier/holier than thou" feel to this post, but it's very difficult to discuss how a band's live experience reminds you of another band's live experience when you have a very limited perspective on what either of those mean.

[DaFunkyPrecedent]

I'll say it again... PHISH DRUGS > MMJ DRUGS

[ItStillJaimoe]

I don't see the comparison. MMJ aren't a jam band, have better studio albums that Phish (excluding Billy Breathes and Farmhouse), but MMJ are nowhere near as huge as Phish.  

i think they are/were huge because everyone wants to be a part of something---and they took up that spot for many years in the jam scene---people flocking to the shows to relate to others enjoying the same thing...i think for MMJ that is a RESULT of the music, not the cause of the interest---i guess that was my point

I think you are partly right, although I like Phish's music as well. Times change and in many ways, indie is a replacement to some for the jam band scene. Everything is just so scattered noways musically.

I disagree with you though on your other main point. Yes, Phish took the lead when Jerry Garcia died and the jam scene began to flourish, but Phish had enough substance in their music to fill stadiums tour after tour, not to mention their best albums are still fucking great. I don't like that many Phishheads I've met, but Phish indeed had crossover commercial appeal only dreamed of by their peer bands from the time.

[bignewt]

phish=lame.

[DavidCrosby]

I'll say it again... PHISH DRUGS > MMJ DRUGS

....sad but true, lets change that....

[laylow82]

I don't see the comparison. MMJ aren't a jam band, have better studio albums that Phish (excluding Billy Breathes and Farmhouse), but MMJ are nowhere near as huge as Phish.  

i think they are/were huge because everyone wants to be a part of something---and they took up that spot for many years in the jam scene---people flocking to the shows to relate to others enjoying the same thing...i think for MMJ that is a RESULT of the music, not the cause of the interest---i guess that was my point

I'm sure wanting "to be a part of something," as you say, is part of it, but to say that the hype surrounding Phish had less to do with the music than that idea of being something implies that perhaps you never had the "real" Phish experience. The hype--at least the heart of the hype, came from their music. That hype was contagious and individuals who appreciated the buzz more than the music definitely flocked to it, but there was always the undercurrent of buzz that was, as you say, purely "a RESULT of the music."

Phish broke up because they didn't want to be a caricature of themselves. I'm starting to think that the same is true of their audience. Most people are so far detached from the actual Phish scene that all they have to rely on are silly images of what Phish and its universe was all about. I'm by no means trying to bring a "phishier/holier than thou" feel to this post, but it's very difficult to discuss how a band's live experience reminds you of another band's live experience when you have a very limited perspective on what either of those mean.

I pretty much agree with everything you said.  i never really like to put myself in the phish scene.  I never cared for dressing like a hippie or using lingo that only phish fans use.    Phish was all about the music and sometimes what made phish an essential band would get lost in translation due to there fanbase.  Those guys in phish put everything into there music.  They believed in the power of music and they were always looking to go into so many directions and explore many different styles and sounds.  The feeling and experience of listening to phish was so personal yet so many people felt something out of it and it was great to share your thoughts and feelings with other people who felt the same thing.

So to me phish can never be compared to because they belong in a different relam.  

[ratchetisfake]

oh i must be in the wrong forum, i thought this was the my morning jacket forum....
seriously, are we STILL talking about this?
take it to the phish forum. please. ::)

[Salacious D]

No, you're not in the wrong forum, just obviously in the wrong thread.

If you don't want to read it, don't click on the thread--it's simple as that.

There are several other people here who were way into Phish back in the day and had a whole bunch of feelings conjured up when they started seeing MMJ that had been buried when Phish broke up. I don't see why we can't talk about the similarities one band's live experience has with another on the band's forum.

I pretty much agree with everything you said.  i never really like to put myself in the phish scene.  I never cared for dressing like a hippie or using lingo that only phish fans use.    Phish was all about the music and sometimes what made phish an essential band would get lost in translation due to there fanbase.  Those guys in phish put everything into there music.  They believed in the power of music and they were always looking to go into so many directions and explore many different styles and sounds.  The feeling and experience of listening to phish was so personal yet so many people felt something out of it and it was great to share your thoughts and feelings with other people who felt the same thing.

So to me phish can never be compared to because they belong in a different relam.  

And I think that's the common denominator--the fact that both bands so *obviously* put every thing they have into their shows. I've seen a lot of shows but I've never been blown away by a band's--whatever you want to call it, maybe stage presence? Sheer enjoyment of playing?--like I have been with these two. That becomes contagious and the audience feeds off of it. That's when it's an purely organic thing. When the scenesters start to feed off of the residual energy of the audience, that's when problems start and I think that's what you're talking about when you say "what made phish an essential band would get lost in translation due to there fanbase." I've never thought of it that way and I completely agree.

I would also like to say to those of you--pennylane, laylow, itstilljamioe, and others who have been willing to have an "actual" conversation about this--I really appreciate your insights. As the previous poster suggested, this topic has been tried out on PT's (Phish's) message board with disastrous results for the OP, but I'm quite happy to see here that a conversation like this is at least remotely possible. So thanks for letting me get these thoughts that have been stewing since Bonnaroo out  :)

[Penny Lane]

i remember listening to a ton of hoist in high school...i also remember when billy breathes came out and especially farmhouse--i actually like them and i think they've written some good songs (down with disease, farmhouse, if i could, prince caspian) and some pretty silly songs--i guess i just didn't see the connection here---for some reason, when i get drunk i inevitably start debating the merits of phish (kind of like did reagan really win the cold war?) it's wierd.

i also remember my ex boyfriend was a regular on the 'dude of life' board---what WAS that LOL

[easy way]

I'll say it again... PHISH DRUGS > MMJ DRUGS

....sad but true, lets change that....

It's not what you want, but what you need,
It's not a head full of pills or amphetamines...

[ratchetisfake]

dont get me wrong, i love phish. i just dont see the similarities. they give me two completely different feelings when i listen to them. but thats my opinion.....