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The Lounge Ax was a music venue in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago , located across the street from Wax Trax . It was an important venue for live rock music , especially indie rock . The club was opened in 1987 by Jennifer Fischer and Julia Adams, who were joined around September 1989 by Sue Miller, previously the booker at two other Chicago clubs, West End and the Cubby Bear . For most of the club's existence, it was owned by Adams and Miller.

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101-687: The band Phish played their first performance ever in the state of Illinois at Lounge Ax on March 30, 1990. Miller married her husband, musician Jeff Tweedy , at the Lounge Ax in August 1995. The ceremony was conducted by a waitress at the club named Lana Levins, who was also an ordained minister. In 1996, Touch & Go Records released a compilation album to benefit the club, titled The Lounge Ax Defense & Relocation Compact Disc , featuring artists such as Guided by Voices , The Jesus Lizard , Sebadoh , Tortoise , The Coctails and Yo La Tengo . Lounge Ax

202-511: A 1970s kung fu -inspired poster for the opening date in Las Vegas. The 21-date tour is considered one of the group's most popular and acclaimed tours, and several concerts were later officially released on live album sets such as Live Phish Volume 11 in 2002. Phish ended 1997 as one of the ten highest grossing concert acts in the United States that year. In April 1998, the band embarked on

303-632: A Usenet newsgroup, rec.music.phish, which launched in 1992. Aware of the band's growing popularity, Elektra Records signed them that year after they were recommended to the record label by A&R representative Sue Drew. In the summer of 1991, the band embarked on a 14-date tour of the eastern United States accompanied by a three-piece horn section dubbed the Giant Country Horns . In August of that year, Phish played an outdoor concert at their friend Amy Skelton's horse farm in Auburn, Maine that acted as

404-400: A certain manner based on a particular musical cue from the band. For instance, if Anastasio " teased " a motif from The Simpsons theme song, the audience would yell, " D'oh! " in imitation of Homer Simpson . In 1992, Phish introduced a collaboration between audience and band called the "Big Ball Jam" in which each band member would throw a large beach ball into the audience and play

505-625: A concert scheduled for Halloween night. In October 1994, Crimes of the Mind , the debut album by Anastasio's friend and collaborator Steve "The Dude of Life" Pollak , was released by Elektra Records; The album, which had been recorded in 1991, was billed to "The Dude of Life and Phish" and features all four members of Phish acting as Pollak's backing band. On December 30, 1994, the band made their first appearance on national network television when they performed " Chalk Dust Torture " on Late Night with David Letterman . The band would go on to appear on

606-494: A day thinking about nothing but Phish" and began discussing a reunion with the other members of the band. Phish received the Jammys Lifetime Achievement Award on May 7, 2008, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden . All four members attended the ceremony and gave a speech, and both McConnell and Anastasio performed, although not together. In response to a June 2008 rumor that Phish had reunited to record

707-510: A friend of Anastasio's, in the fall of 1984. Daubert ceased performing with the band in early 1985. Keyboardist Page McConnell met Phish in early 1985, when he arranged for them to play a spring concert at Goddard College , the small university he attended in Plainfield, Vermont . He began performing with the band as a guest shortly thereafter, and made his live debut during the third set of their May 3, 1985 concert at UVM's Redstone Campus. In

808-461: A hot dog. The stunt was reprised at their 1999 New Year's Eve concert before the hot dog was donated to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . At the end of 1994, Phish appeared on Pollstar ' s list of the highest grossing concert tours in the United States for the first time, as the 32nd highest grossing act, with $ 10.3 million in ticket sales. Following the death of Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia in

909-407: A new album, McConnell wrote a letter on the band's website updating fans on the current relations between the band's members. McConnell wrote that while the members remained friends, they were currently busy with other projects and the reunion rumors were premature. He added, "Later this year we hope to spend some time together and take a look at what possible futures we might enjoy." That September,

1010-664: A note each time his ball was hit. In so doing, the audience was helping to create an original composition. On occasion, performances of " You Enjoy Myself " and " Mike's Song " involved Gordon and Anastasio performing synchronized maneuvers and jumping on mini- trampolines while simultaneously playing their instruments. Fishman would also regularly step out from behind his drum kit during concerts to sing cover songs, which were often punctuated by him playing an Electrolux vacuum cleaner like an instrument. The band released their second album, Lawn Boy , in September 1990 on Absolute A Go Go,

1111-503: A performance that was simulcast throughout the Boston area by radio station WBCN . The concert was filled with several new "secret language" cues they had taught their audience in order to deliberately confuse radio listeners. Phish began headlining major amphitheaters in the summer of 1993. That year, the group released their fourth album, Rift , a concept album which featured a cover painted by David Welker that referenced almost all of

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1212-461: A prototype for their later all-day festival events. In 1992, the band released their third studio album, A Picture of Nectar , their first release for the major label Elektra. Subsequently, the label also reissued the band's first two albums. Later in 1992, Phish participated in the first annual H.O.R.D.E. festival, which provided them with their first national tour of major amphitheaters. The lineup, among others, included Phish, Blues Traveler ,

1313-530: A radio program on WGDR with Pollock. Phish adopted a number of Nancy's songs into their own set, including "Halley's Comet", "I Didn't Know", and "Dear Mrs. Reagan", the latter song being written by Nancy and Pollock. In his book Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America , music journalist Jesse Jarnow observed that Wright and his music were highly influential to Phish's early style and experimental sound. Wright amicably ended his association with Phish in 1989, but Pollock has continued to collaborate with Phish over

1414-561: A room and jamming for hours on end. One such jam took place at Anastasio's apartment, with a second at Paul Languedoc's house in August 1989. They called these jam sessions "Oh Kee Pa Ceremonies", a reference to the film A Man Called Horse . In July 1988, the band performed their first concerts outside of the northeastern United States, when they embarked on a seven-date tour in Colorado. These shows are excerpted on their 2006 live compilation Colorado '88 . On January 26, 1989, Phish played

1515-489: A section of the California Labor Code , that allows employees to be released from a personal services contract after seven years. By this time, Metallica had been with the label for more than a decade and had racked up sales over 40 million records, but they were still operating under the terms of their original 1984 contract, which provided a relatively low 14% royalty rate. The group also claimed that they were taking

1616-579: A small independent label that had a distribution deal with the larger Rough Trade Records . The album had been recorded the previous year, after the band had won studio time at engineer Dan Archer's Archer Studios when they came in first place at an April 1989 battle of the bands competition in Burlington. Phish, along with Bob Dylan , the Grateful Dead , and the Beatles , was one of the first bands to have

1717-572: A studio album. Four days after the release of Round Room , the band appeared as a musical guest on the December 14 episode of Saturday Night Live , hosted by former Vice President of the United States Al Gore . During the episode, the band debuted the song "46 Days", appeared in a comedy sketch, and their song "You Enjoy Myself" was featured in a TV Funhouse cartoon segment. During their return concert on December 31, McConnell's brother

1818-519: A unique instrumental identity. As his senior project for Goddard College, Anastasio penned The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday , a nine-song progressive rock concept album that would become Phish's second studio experiment. Recorded between 1987 and 1988, it was submitted in July of that year, accompanied by a written thesis. The song cycle that developed from the project – known as Gamehendge – grew to include an additional eight songs. The band performed

1919-408: A wide variety of genres including funk , reggae , progressive rock , psychedelic rock , folk , country , jazz , blues , bluegrass , electronic music , and pop . The band is part of a movement of improvisational rock groups, inspired by the format of the Grateful Dead 's live performances and colloquially known as " jam bands ", that gained considerable popularity as touring concert acts in

2020-477: A year, stemming from Anastasio's suspension from the university following a prank he had pulled with a friend. Anastasio returned to his hometown of Princeton, New Jersey following the prank, and reconnected with his childhood friend Tom Marshall ; The duo began a songwriting collaboration and recorded material that would appear on the Bivouac Jaun demo tape. Marshall and Anastasio have subsequently composed

2121-540: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont , in 1983. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio , bassist Mike Gordon , drummer Jon Fishman , and keyboardist Page McConnell , all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the lead vocalist. The band is known for their musical improvisation and jams during their concert performances and for their devoted fan following. The band

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2222-508: Is credited as bringing in seminal new wave band The Cars , setting Elektra, again, on another artist direction. Although the label was technically listed as "Elektra/Asylum Records" on the label credits, as the years went on, the label began to unofficially call itself Elektra Records again (with Asylum operating as a subsidiary label). In 1982, Elektra launched a jazz subsidiary called Elektra/Musician . The following year, Bob Krasnow became president and CEO of Elektra; under his leadership,

2323-499: The Greek mythological Pleiad Electra was changed. Holzman famously explained, "I gave her the 'K' that I lacked". He found the 'C' in the original name "too soft", but liked the "solid bite" of the letter 'K', citing its use in the Kodak name. The first Elektra LP, New Songs (EKLP 1 released March 1951), was a collection of Lieder and similar art songs, which sold few copies. During

2424-685: The Island Tour - a four night tour with two shows at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York on Long Island and another two at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island . The four concerts are highly regarded by fans due to the band's exploration of a jazz-funk musical style they had been playing for the previous year, which Anastasio dubbed "cowfunk". The band performed

2525-750: The Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, Maine , near the Canada–United States border . In October 1997, the band released their second live album Slip Stitch and Pass , which featured selections from their March 1997 concert at the Markthalle Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany . Following the Great Went, the band embarked on a fall tour that was dubbed by fans as the "Phish Destroys America" tour after

2626-531: The Paradise Rock Club in Boston ; the owners of the club had never heard of Phish and refused to book them, so the band rented the club for the night. The show sold out due to the caravan of fans that had traveled to see the band. The concert was Phish's breakthrough on the northeastern regional music circuit, and the band began to book concerts at other large rock clubs, theaters, and small auditoriums throughout

2727-592: The Spin Doctors , and Widespread Panic . That summer, the band toured Europe with the Violent Femmes and later toured Europe and the U.S. with Santana . Throughout the latter tour, Carlos Santana regularly invited some or all of the members of Phish to jam with his band during their headlining performances. The band ended 1992 with a New Year's Eve performance at the Matthews Arena in Boston, Massachusetts ,

2828-559: The Warner-Elektra-Atlantic umbrella. Holzman remained in charge of Elektra until 1972, when it merged with Asylum Records to become Elektra/Asylum Records; Asylum's founder, David Geffen , headed the newly combined label. Holzman, in the meantime, was appointed senior vice president and chief technologist for Warner — ushering the company into home video and the first interactive cable system. Holzman also went on to acquire Discovery Records . In 1975, Geffen stepped down when he

2929-435: The 1950s and early 1960s, the label concentrated on folk music recordings, releasing a number of best-selling albums by Theodore Bikel , Ed McCurdy , Oscar Brand , and Judy Collins , and protest singers such as Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton . Holzman also recorded Josh White , who was without a record deal as a result of McCarthyite blacklisting . In 1964, Elektra launched Nonesuch Records . This classical budget label

3030-485: The 1990s drew to a close, Elektra began to see a slump in revenue, while noticeably underperforming on the charts. It also developed a bit of a sullen reputation in the industry for not properly promoting many of its releases, thus earning the nickname "Neglektra" from several signed artists, such as Marvelous 3 , Jason Falkner , and Greg Dulli , and was easily lagging behind its sister labels Warner Bros. Records and Atlantic Records. In February 2004, Warner Music Group

3131-755: The 1990s. Phish has developed a large and dedicated following by word of mouth, the exchange of live recordings, and selling over 8 million albums and DVDs in the United States. Phish were signed to major label Elektra Records from 1991 to 2005, when the band formed their own independent label, JEMP Records , to release archival CD and DVD sets. Phish was formed at the University of Vermont (UVM) in 1983 by guitarists Trey Anastasio and Jeff Holdsworth , bassist Mike Gordon , and drummer Jon Fishman . Anastasio and Fishman had met that October, after Anastasio overheard Fishman playing drums in his dormitory room, and asked if he and Holdsworth could jam with him. Gordon met

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3232-656: The Chicago-based Paul Butterfield Blues Band (with Mike Bloomfield ), the Los Angeles bands Love and The Doors , and the Detroit bands The Stooges and MC5 . Included in Elektra's Los Angeles-based signings were Tim Buckley and Bread . In 1968, the label also signed pioneering rock guitar soloist Lonnie Mack to a three-album deal. Also in 1967, Elektra launched its Nonesuch Explorer Series, one of

3333-600: The Ghost , Phish performed several songs from the album on the public television music show Sessions at West 54th in October 1998, and were interviewed for the program by its host David Byrne of Talking Heads . In the summer of 1998, the band held Lemonwheel, their second festival at Loring Air Force Base in Maine. The two-day event attracted 60,000 attendees. The band played another summer festival in 1999, called Camp Oswego and held at

3434-444: The Great Went festival and the recording of The Story of the Ghost . Phish were nominated in two categories at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2001: Best Boxed Recording Package for Hampton Comes Alive and Best Instrumental Rock Performance for "First Tube" from Farmhouse . During Phish's hiatus, Elektra Records continued to issue archival releases of the band's concerts on compact disc. Between September 2001 and May 2003,

3535-611: The Oswego County Airport in Volney, New York . Unlike other Phish festivals, Camp Oswego featured a prominent second stage of additional performers aside from Phish, including Del McCoury , The Slip and Ozomatli . In July 1999, the band released an album of improvisational instrumentals titled The Siket Disc . The band followed that release with Hampton Comes Alive , a six-disc box set released in November 1999, which contained

3636-457: The Phish website that the band would disband at the end of their 2004 summer tour. He wrote that he had met with the other members earlier that month to discuss the "Strong feelings I've been having that Phish has run its course, and that we should end it now while it's still on a high note." By the end of the meeting, he said, "We realized that after almost twenty-one years together, we were faced with

3737-446: The United States, and remains their best selling album to date. Phish ended 1995 with their first New Year's Eve concert at Madison Square Garden. The concert was released in its entirety on the live album Phish: New Year's Eve 1995 – Live at Madison Square Garden in 2005. In early 1996, Anastasio and Fishman formed a free jazz side-project called Surrender to the Air , inspired by

3838-523: The Year". Nadel was officially named president of the label in 2017. In October 2017, Elektra Records partnered with MSG Networks for "Friday Night Knicks". Announced on June 18, 2018, Warner Music Group relaunched Elektra Music Group on October 1, as a stand-alone, staffed music company with the labels Black Cement, Elektra, Fueled by Ramen (FBR), Low Country Sound , and Roadrunner Records . A handful of major artists transferred from Atlantic. This returned

3939-413: The action because Robert Morgado had refused to honor a new deal they had worked out with Bob Krasnow shortly before he quit the label. Elektra responded by countersuing the group, but in December, New York magazine reported rumors that then Warner Music US chairman Doug Morris had offered the group a lucrative new deal in exchange for dropping the suit, which was reported to be even more generous than

4040-663: The album was issued in October of that year. The album's first single, "Free", peaked at No. 24 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart and No. 11 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and was their most successful song on both charts. By 1997, Phish's concert improvisational ventures were developing into a new funk -inspired long form jamming style. Vermont-based ice cream conglomerate Ben & Jerry's launched "Phish Food" that year. The band officially licensed their name for use with

4141-571: The area, such as the Somerville Theatre , Worcester Memorial Auditorium and Wetlands Preserve . That spring, the band self-released their debut full-length studio album, Junta , and sold copies on cassette tape at their concerts. The album includes a studio recording of the epic " You Enjoy Myself ", which is considered to be the band's signature song . Later in 1989, the band hired Chris Kuroda as their lighting director. Kuroda subsequently became well known for his artistic light shows at

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4242-459: The band began a two-year hiatus that ended in December 2002, but they disbanded again in August 2004. Phish reunited officially in October 2008 for subsequent reunion shows in March 2009 and since then have resumed performing regularly. All four members pursued solo careers or performed with side-projects and these projects have continued even after the band has reunited. Phish's music blends elements of

4343-466: The band held their first festival, The Clifford Ball , at the decommissioned Plattsburgh Air Force Base on the New York side of Lake Champlain . The festival attracted 70,000 attendees, making it both Phish's biggest concert crowd to that point and the largest single concert by attendance in the United States in 1996. Phish recorded their sixth album Billy Breathes in the winter and spring of 1996, and

4444-419: The band made no reference to the hiatus, and left the stage without saying a word following their encore performance of "You Enjoy Myself", as The Beatles ' " Let It Be " played over the venue's sound system. Bittersweet Motel , a documentary film about the band directed by Todd Phillips , was released in August 2000, shortly before the hiatus began. The documentary captures the band's 1997 and 1998 tours,

4545-477: The band planned to end their hiatus that December with a New Year's Eve concert at Madison Square Garden. They also recorded Round Room over the course of four days in October and released it on December 10. The band had initially planned to record the new album live at the Madison Square Garden concert, but instead felt that demos they had recorded of the material were strong enough to merit release as

4646-629: The band played three songs at the wedding of their former tour manager Brad Sands. Later in 2008, the band reconvened at The Barn , Anastasio's farmhouse studio in Burlington, Vermont , for jamming sessions and rehearsals. On October 1, 2008, the band announced on their website that they had officially reunited, and would play their first shows in five years in March 2009 at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia . The three reunion concerts were held on March 6, 7, and 8, 2009, with "Fluffhead" being

4747-456: The band released an experimental short-subject documentary called Tracking , also directed by Gordon, which depicted the recording sessions for the album. Foreshadowing their future tradition of festivals , Phish coupled camping with their 1994 summer tour finale at Sugarbush North in Warren, Vermont , that show eventually being released as Live Phish Volume 2 . On Halloween of that year,

4848-437: The collective reputation of the group. Unhappy with major structural changes enacted by then Warner Music Group chairman Robert Morgado, Bob Krasnow abruptly resigned in July 1994, and others soon followed; the highly respected Warner Bros CEO Mo Ostin decided not to renew his contract and left in December 1994, and Ostin's friend and protégé Lenny Waronker left early the next year. Krasnow was replaced by Sylvia Rhone , who at

4949-528: The development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1950s and 1970s. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group . After five years of dormancy, the label was revived as an imprint of Atlantic in 2009. In October 2018, Elektra was detached from the Atlantic Records umbrella and reorganized into Elektra Music Group, once again operating as an independently managed frontline label of Warner Music. In June 2022, Elektra Music Group

5050-474: The earlier Krasnow deal. In January, the group and Elektra jointly announced that they had settled the suit, and although a nondisclosure agreement kept the terms secret, media sources claimed, "a significant increase in royalty payments to the band as well as a renegotiation of the group's recording contract were key factors in Metallica and Elektra coming to terms." Despite having a large stable of noted acts, as

5151-771: The entirety of their performances on November 20 and 21, 1998 at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia . The set marked the first time that complete recordings of Phish concerts were officially released by Elektra Records. To celebrate the new millennium, Phish hosted a two-day outdoor festival at the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation in Florida in December 1999. The festival's climactic New Year's Eve concert, referred to by fans as simply "The Show", started at 11:35 p.m. on December 31, 1999, and continued through to sunrise on January 1, 2000, approximately eight hours later. The band's performance of

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5252-466: The festival were released on a DVD set, also called It , in October 2004. In November and December 2003, the band celebrated its 20th anniversary with a four-show mini-tour of shows in New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. The December 1 show at Pepsi Arena featured a guest appearance by former member Jeff Holdsworth, who sat in with the band on five songs, including his compositions "Possum" and "Camel Walk". On May 25, 2004, Anastasio announced on

5353-464: The final show at Lounge Ax was headlined by The Coctails (who reunited for the occasion), with Dianogah and M.O.T.O. opening. 41°55′34″N 87°39′00″W  /  41.92620°N 87.65006°W  / 41.92620; -87.65006 This article on a music performance venue is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to a building or structure in Chicago

5454-547: The first collections of what is now referred to as world music . Excerpts from several Nonesuch Explorer recordings were later included on the two Voyager Golden Discs , which were sent into deep space in 1977 aboard the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 space probes. Elektra, along with its Nonesuch Records subsidiary, was acquired by Kinney National Services in 1970, which changed its name to Warner Communications in 1972. Soon afterwards, Kinney consolidated their label holdings under

5555-522: The first song the band played onstage at the first show. Approximately 14,000 people attended the concerts over the course of three days, and the band made the shows available for free download on their LivePhish website for a limited time, in order to accommodate fans who were unable to attend. Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment ) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group , founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in

5656-569: The group in March 1986 following a religious conversion. Anastasio and Fishman relocated in mid-1986 to Goddard College after a recommendation from McConnell. Phish distributed at least six experimental self-titled cassettes during this era, including The White Tape . While based at Goddard College, Phish began to collaborate with fellow students Richard "Nancy" Wright and Jim Pollock. Pollock and Wright were musical collaborators who made experimental recordings on multi-track cassettes, and had been introduced to Phish through McConnell, who co-hosted

5757-491: The group promised to don a fan-selected " musical costume " by playing an entire album from another band. After an extensive mail-based poll, Phish performed the Beatles ' White Album as the second of their three sets at the Glens Falls Civic Center in upstate New York. The "musical costume" concept subsequently became a recurring part of Phish's fall tours, with the band playing a different album whenever they had

5858-687: The group to the Warner-Elektra-Atlantic triad that had for decades marked the original company organization. Staff from Elektra, FBR, and Roadrunner labels, plus some from Atlantic, staffed the new standalone group with co-presidents Mike Easterlin and Gregg Nadel coming from Fueled by Ramen and Roadrunner Records and Elektra, respectively, where they served as label presidents. Elektra co-presidents answered, though, to Atlantic Records Group Chairman and CEO Craig Kallman and Chairwoman and COO Julie Greenwald. On October 3, 2018, Elektra revealed its entire leadership team. The label group's first release

5959-467: The group's concerts. A profile on Phish appeared in the October 1989 issue of the Deadhead magazine Relix , which marked the first time the band had been covered in a major national music periodical. By late 1990, Phish's concerts were becoming more and more intricate, often making a consistent effort to involve the audience in the performance. In a special "secret language", the audience would react in

6060-400: The hiatus. In April 2002, Phish guest starred on the episode " Weekend at Burnsie's " of the animated series The Simpsons . The episode marked the band's first appearance together, albeit as animated characters, since the hiatus began. Phish provided their own voices for the episode and performed a snippet of "Run Like an Antelope". In August 2002, Phish's manager John Paluska announced

6161-436: The horn section of R&B group Tower of Power . To promote the album, Gordon directed the band's only official music video, for its first single " Down with Disease ". "Down with Disease" became a minor hit on rock radio in the United States, and was the band's first song to appear on a Billboard music chart when it peaked at #33 on the magazine's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart that summer. To further promote Hoist ,

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6262-490: The label in 2015. In September 2015, Castelaz stepped down from his role at Elektra, leaving Nadel to run the label. In 2016, Elektra's releases included A/B , the debut album by Icelandic rock band Kaleo , which included the number-one Alternative hit " Way Down We Go ", Fitz and the Tantrums ' self-titled third album and the critically acclaimed Southern Family , which garnered a 2016 CMA Nomination for "Musical Event of

6363-732: The label reached its commercial peak throughout the rest of the 1980s and early to mid-1990s. In 1989, the label officially changed its name to Elektra Entertainment. During the Bob Krasnow era, the label became home to a wide range of artists, such as Metallica , Yngwie Malmsteen , Faster Pussycat , Mötley Crüe , Phish , Tracy Chapman , 10,000 Maniacs , They Might Be Giants , The Cure , The Sugarcubes , Stereolab , Luna , The Call , X , The Afghan Whigs , Anita Baker , Linda Ronstadt , Natalie Cole , Brand Nubian , KMD , Pete Rock & CL Smooth , and Ween . The label's A&R department included former music journalist Terry Tolkin , who

6464-551: The label released 20 entries in the Live Phish Series . These multi-disc sets featured complete soundboard recordings of concerts that were particularly popular with the band and their fanbase, similar to the Grateful Dead 's Dick's Picks archival series. In November 2002, the label released the band's first concert DVD, Phish: Live in Vegas , which featured the entirety of the September 2000 concert at which Anastasio announced

6565-474: The majority of Phish's original songs throughout their career. Anastasio returned to Burlington in late 1984, and resumed performing with Gordon, Holdsworth and Fishman. The quartet named themselves Phish in October 1984, shortly before they performed their first concert together following Anastasio's return to UVM. Anastasio designed the band's logo, which featured the group's name inside a stylized fish. The band's members have given several different origins for

6666-541: The music of Sun Ra , which also featured Marshall Allen , Michael Ray , John Medeski , Oteil Burbridge , Kofi Burbridge , and Marc Ribot , among other musicians. The group's only album, Surrender to the Air , was released in March. Following an appearance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in April 1996, Phish spent the summer of that year opening for Santana on their European tour. In August 1996,

6767-431: The name Phish. In Parke Puterbaugh's 2009 book Phish: The Biography , the origin is given as a variation on phshhhh , an onomatopoeia of the sound of a brush on a snare drum. In the 2004 official documentary Specimens of Beauty , Anastasio said the band was also named after Fishman, whose nickname is "Fish." In a 1996 interview, Fishman denied that the band was named after him, and said the onomatopoeic inspiration behind

6868-460: The name was the sound of an airplane taking off. In late 1984, Phish began to play regularly at Nectar's bar and restaurant in downtown Burlington, and performed dozens of concerts across multiple residencies through March 1989. The band's 1992 album A Picture of Nectar was named in honor of the bar's owner, Nector Rorris, and its cover features his face superimposed onto an orange. The band would collaborate with percussionist Marc Daubert ,

6969-402: The new company was called Atlantic Records Group , with Elektra breaking off into a subsidiary that became dormant until the label was revived in 2009 (though longtime time Elektra artists such as Tracy Chapman , Björk , and Yolanda Adams continued to have releases on the label, while newer signees such as Jason Mraz and Jet were transferred to Atlantic). Atlantic Records Group announced

7070-666: The official book Phish: The Biography , Anastasio expressed that "Coventry itself was a nightmare. It was emotional, but it was not like we were at our finest. I certainly wasn't". The festival weekend was beset by logistical issues, including heavy rain, muddy conditions in the festival area and a traffic jam on Interstate 91 . Following the break-up, the band's members remained in amicable communication with one another. The members also occasionally appeared on each other's solo albums and collaborated on side-projects. In 2005, Phish formed their own record label, JEMP Records , to release archival CD and DVD sets. The label's first release

7171-568: The opportunity to graciously step away in unison, as a group, united in our friendship and our feelings of gratitude." The band's eleventh – and at the time final – studio album Undermind was released in June 2004. The band's summer 2004 began with two concerts at Keyspan Park in Brooklyn, New York . The first concert was recorded for the live album and concert documentary Phish: Live in Brooklyn , while

7272-510: The product, the only time they have ever allowed a third-party company to do so, and were directly involved with the creation of the flavor. Proceeds from the flavor are donated to the band's non-profit charity The WaterWheel Foundation , which raises funds for the preservation of Vermont's Lake Champlain . On August 8, 1997, Phish webcast one of their concerts live over the internet for the first time. On August 16 and 17, 1997, Phish held their second festival, The Great Went, over two days at

7373-577: The program seven more times before David Letterman 's retirement as host in 2015. For their 1994 New Years Run, Phish played the Civic Centers in Philadelphia and Providence as well as sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden and Boston Garden , which marked their debut performances at both venues. For the December 31 show at the Boston Garden, the band rode around the arena in a float shaped like

7474-460: The revival of Elektra Records as an independent entity within Warner Music on June 1, 2009. The revived label is headed up by two new co-Presidents: Mike Caren , Exec. VP of A&R for Atlantic Records, and John Janick , founder and President of prominent indie label Fueled by Ramen . The revived label uses a modified version of the circa -1970s Elektra logo. The first release of the new label

7575-570: The second featured a guest appearance by rapper Jay-Z , who performed two songs with the band. Later that summer, the band appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and performed a seven-song set from atop the marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theater for fans who had gathered on the street. The 2004 tour finished with the band's seventh summer festival on August 14 and 15, which were billed as their final performances. The Coventry festival

7676-627: The song "Heavy Things" at the festival was broadcast live as part of ABC 's 2000 Today millennium coverage, giving the band their biggest television audience up to that point. 75,000 people attended the sold-out two-day festival. In 2017, Rolling Stone named the Big Cypress festival one of the "50 Greatest Concerts of the Last 50 Years". Following the Big Cypress festival, the band issued their ninth studio album Farmhouse in May 2000. "Heavy Things", which

7777-527: The songs on the record. The album was the band's first to appear on the Billboard 200 album chart, debuting at #51 in February 1993. In March 1994, the band released their fifth studio album Hoist . The album featured an array of guest performers, including country singer Alison Krauss , banjoist Béla Fleck , former Sly & The Family Stone member Rose Stone , actor and trombonist Jonathan Frakes , and

7878-447: The suite in concert on six occasions: in 1988, 1991, 1993, twice in 1994, and in 2023, without replicating the song list. The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday has never received an official release, but a bootleg tape has circulated for decades, and songs such as "Wilson" and "The Lizards" remain concert staples for the band. Beginning in the spring of 1988, members of the band began practicing in earnest, sometimes locking themselves in

7979-489: The summer of 1985, Phish went on a short hiatus while Anastasio and Fishman vacationed in Europe; during this time, McConnell offered to join the band permanently, and moved to Burlington to learn their repertoire from Gordon. McConnell officially joined Phish as a full-time band member in September 1985. Phish performed with a five-piece lineup for about six months after McConnell joined, a period which ended when Holdsworth quit

8080-428: The summer of 1995 and the appearance of "Down with Disease" on Beavis and Butt-Head , the band experienced a surge in the growth of their fan base and an increased awareness in popular culture. In their tradition of playing a well-known album by another band for Halloween, Phish contracted a full horn section for their performance of The Who 's Quadrophenia in 1995. Phish's first live album, A Live One ,

8181-629: The time was a senior vice president at Atlantic Records , and also the CEO of Atlantic's EastWest Records America imprint. Upon Rhone's arrival at Elektra, the label took over the operations of EastWest, as well as Sire Records (which had previously operated through its sister label Warner Bros. Records ) and was renamed Elektra Entertainment Group. In September 1994, another damaging controversy erupted when heavy metal band Metallica filed suit against Elektra to terminate their contract and gain ownership of their master recordings. The group based its claim on

8282-509: The tour in the middle of studio sessions for their seventh album, and were inspired by the quality of their performances to further incorporate the cowfunk style into subsequent sessions. The resulting album, The Story of the Ghost , was released in October 1998. The album's first single " Birds of a Feather ", which had been premiered on the Island Tour, became a #14 hit on Billboard's Adult Alternative Songs chart. To promote The Story of

8383-431: The trio shortly thereafter, having answered a want-ad for a bass guitarist that Anastasio had posted around the university. The new group performed their first concert at Harris Millis Cafeteria at the University of Vermont on December 2, 1983, where they played a set of classic rock covers, including two songs by the Grateful Dead . The band performed one more concert in 1983, and then did not perform again for nearly

8484-399: The years, designing some of their album covers and concert posters. By 1985, the group had encountered Burlington luthier Paul Languedoc , who would eventually design custom instruments for Anastasio and Gordon. In October 1986, he began working as their sound engineer. Since then, Languedoc has built exclusively for the two, and his designs and traditional wood choices have given Phish

8585-499: Was Phish: New Year's Eve 1995 – Live at Madison Square Garden , which was released in conjunction with Rhino Records in December 2005. The album was named the 42nd greatest live album of all time by Rolling Stone in April 2015. The label subsequently released several other archival live box sets, including Colorado '88 (2006), Vegas 96 (2007), At the Roxy (2008) and The Clifford Ball (2009). In December 2006, Anastasio

8686-401: Was Trench by Twenty One Pilots on October 5, 2018, on Fueled by Ramen label. Despite that, Atlantic Records is still mentioned in liner notes of the album. In 2019, the label had huge success again with Tones and I 's hit single " Dance Monkey ". In December 2019, Elektra became the distributor for DTA Records , set up by Travis Barker . On June 22, 2022, Warner Music Group announced

8787-477: Was Elektra's first foray into pop music. The most notable signing for Bounty was the Paul Butterfield Band who was moved over to Elektra when Bounty folded. Elektra's entrance into pop gained the label considerable prestige within the music scene by being one of the first labels to sign up leading acts from the new wave of American psychedelic rock of 1966–1967. The label's most important signings were

8888-645: Was aired in October. In the summer of 2000, the band announced that they would take their first "extended time-out" following their upcoming fall tour. Anastasio officially announced the impending hiatus to the band's fans during their September 30 concert at the Thomas & Mack Center in Paradise, Nevada . During the tour's last concert on October 7, at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California ,

8989-457: Was arrested in Whitehall, New York for drug possession and driving while intoxicated, and was sentenced to 14 months in a drug court program. In 2007, while Anastasio was undergoing rehabilitation, the other members of Phish surprised him on his birthday with an instrumental recording they had made for him to play along with on guitar. During his rehabilitation, Anastasio said he "spent 24 hours

9090-628: Was credited with coining the term " alternative music " in the late 1970s. Also during this time, Elektra developed a relationship with the UK label 4AD . Elektra became the label for 4AD acts such as the Pixies , the Breeders , Frank Black , and The Amps in the United States. Like its sister labels, Elektra's fortunes began to wane in the mid-1990s, in part because of a series of bitter corporate battles between senior Warner label executives, which seriously damaged

9191-515: Was featured prominently in the Chicago-based movie High Fidelity , released in 2000. The club served as the site where John Cusack 's character, Rob Gordon, and the staff from Championship Vinyl first encounter Marie DeSalle, played by Lisa Bonet . Its location across from the Biograph Theater plays an important part in the dialogue leading up to the Lounge Ax scenes. On January 15, 2000,

9292-411: Was formed by Anastasio, Gordon, Fishman and guitarist Jeff Holdsworth , who were joined by McConnell in 1985. Holdsworth departed the band in 1986, and the lineup has remained stable since. Most of the band's songs are co-written by Anastasio and lyricist Tom Marshall . Phish began to perform outside of New England in the late 1980s and experienced a rise in popularity in the mid 1990s. In October 2000,

9393-424: Was introduced as actor Tom Hanks . The impostor sang a line of the song "Wilson", prompting some media outlets to report that the actor had appeared at the concert. At the end of the 2003 summer tour, Phish returned to Limestone, Maine for It , their first festival since Big Cypress. The event drew crowds of over 60,000 fans, and was the band's final festival to be held at Loring Air Force Base. Highlights from

9494-559: Was merged with 300 Entertainment to create the umbrella label 300 Elektra Entertainment (3EE), though both Elektra and 300 continued to maintain their separate identities as labels. Elektra was formed in 1950, as the Elektra-Stratford Record Corporation , with a singles label called Stratford Records, by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt in Holzman's St. John's College dorm room. Each invested $ 300. The usual spelling of

9595-502: Was named for the town in Vermont that hosted the event, which was held at the nearby Newport State Airport . The concerts were simulcast in movie theaters and on XM Satellite Radio . "The Curtain With" was the final song the band performed at their then-final concert on August 15. After Coventry, the members of the band admitted they were disappointed with their performance at the festival; In

9696-613: Was released as the album's first single, became the band's only song to appear on a mainstream pop radio format, reaching #29 on Billboard' s Adult Top 40 chart that July. The song also became the band's biggest hit to date on the Adult Alternative Songs chart, reaching #2 there. In June 2000, the band embarked on a seven-date headlining tour of Japan. In July, they taped an appearance on the PBS music show Austin City Limits , which

9797-496: Was released during the summer of 1995 and featured selections from various concerts from their 1994 winter tour. The album charted at number 18 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and was reported to have sold around 50,000 copies in its first week on sale. A Live One became Phish's first RIAA -certified gold album in November 1995. In 1997, A Live One became the band's first Platinum album, certified for sales of 1 million copies in

9898-411: Was sold by Time Warner to a group of private investors made up of Thomas Lee Partners , Bain & Company , and Edgar Bronfman Jr. (who assumed CEO duties). The new owners of WMG decided to merge Elektra and Atlantic Records. Because it was the lesser performing label of the two, 40% of Elektra's operations were put into the new venture, while a commanding 60% of Atlantic's went in. Subsequently,

9999-423: Was the best-selling budget classical label of the era. Other labels followed suit by starting their own budget series, but Nonesuch remained the most popular and Jac Holzman states in his book that profits from the budget classical label made it possible for Elektra to experiment with their pop releases by the mid-1960s. In 1965, Elektra began a short-lived joint venture with Survey Music called Bounty Records, which

10100-543: Was the original soundtrack of the HBO show True Blood , and the first album released was Charlotte Gainsbourg 's IRM . The label is now home to artists such as Uffie , Little Boots , Justice , Bruno Mars , and CeeLo Green . On October 4, 2012, Warner Music announced that Jeff Castelaz , the co-founder of Los Angeles -based independent label Dangerbird Records , had been named president of Elektra Records. Gregg Nadel from Atlantic Records A&R became General Manager of

10201-498: Was told that he had a terminal illness; He later was revealed to have been falsely diagnosed. He was replaced by Joe Smith, who later went on to become CEO of Capitol Records . Joe Smith, whose leadership resulted in the biggest market share and gross revenues Elektra Asylum was to have, inherited the A&;R services of Chuck Plotkin , famed later for producing many of Bruce Springsteen's greatest records, followed up by George Daly , who

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