It has been almost a year since Phish disbanded after a weekend’s worth of shows in Coventry, Vt., but several releases are in the works to satiate the band’s rabid fan base. Among them is the DVD origianlly shown at setbreak of the group’s 20th anniversary on Dec. 2, 2003, at Boston’s FleetCenter.
“It’s either funny or memorable moments taken from 2,500 videotapes we’ve collected,” bassist Mike Gordon reveals to Billboard.com of the film, which originally ran about 30 minutes. “The band was going back and forth about whether we wanted to release it. But I’m excited, because we’ve added about 10 minutes of footage. We’ll probably have to subtract because of clearances for appearances and cover songs. Some of them will be impossible to get the rights to for any amount of money.”
“There’s a great moment where we are playing [Prince’s] ‘1999’ and we’re being lowered down onto the stage by contortionists dressed up in costume and on stilts,” Gordon continues. “[Guitarist] Trey [Anastasio] and I, our bodies are perfectly straight. I don’t know how we did it. We eventually were flat on the stage. The groove is a very legitimate version, for us anyway, of a Prince song. It’s such a nice moment. But the licensing coordinating company has said there isn’t any chance in hell we’ll get permission to use it.”
The DVD, provisionally named “The 20th Anniversary Video,” may arrive in time for Christmas but could be pushed to early next year. And while the film focuses on on-stage moments, there are a handful of behind-the-scenes clips.
Full article: Billboard
