Phish Music Group

It's a familiar rock 'n' roll scene outside the Greek Theatre as hundreds of eager fans mill about in the crisp night air, hoping to score a ticket to a sold-out show. The hair tends to be long and the shirts tie-dyed. Hacky Sacks are being kneed and toed, and handicrafts are peddled. The rhythms of impromptu drum circles energize the atmosphere--which is thick with the smell of pot and incense.

Besides the Rolling Stones, U2 and Bruce Springsteen, it's hard to think of many rock acts that could crowd the Empire Polo Club in Indio for a three-day festival featuring no supporting acts or other live entertainment. But the legendary Vermont jam titan Phish has long operated outside the realm of normalcy, with a rabid fan base closer to addicted acolytes than casual admirers. When long-gestating message board rumors were finally confirmed months ago, Phish fanatics instantly began making preparations to trek to the site of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, where the band held its eighth festival -- the first in five years.

Phish fans had to be let down easy. For them it was more than a band. It was a calling, a community, its concerts a gathering of nomadic multitudes, a place to sing along or dance the hippie shake. Phish couldn't just break up. So a surprise announcement late last year declared that Phish was merely taking a hiatus from the blend of rock, jazz and folk that spearheaded the '90s "jam band" movement.

West Coast Phish fans may have been left out of the band's initial run of spring reunion dates, but the act is making a grand overture to its Pacific Time Zone fan base this fall. After much rumor and speculation, the band confirmed late Thursday that it would stage a three-day event in Indio beginning Oct. 30. The jam band will take over the same Empire Polo Grounds that host the Coachella and Stagecoach fests for what Phish is calling "Festival 8." The band will perform a total of eight sets throughout the Halloween weekend.

Jam band Phish isn't forgetting about fans who can't attend any of its sold-out reunion shows this weekend in Hampton, Va. The group will make high-quality MP3 downloads of each performance available free the following day. "We really wanted to show our gratitude to all the Phish fans for their support and the overwhelming response they've had to these shows," lead guitarist/vocalist Trey Anastasio said in a statement issued Wednesday. "We only wish everybody could be there."

For readers unaware of its music or its history, the gist of Phish is this: It is the relatively young band that picked up where the Grateful Dead left off. There are many obvious parallels. Still, it isn't fair simply to write Phish off as the most convenient sanctuary for neo-hippies disenfranchised when the 1995 death of Jerry Garcia did in the Dead after a 30-year run.

Hoping to avoid a Woodstock-like overflow crush of fans, promoters of Phish's farewell festival in rustic Coventry, Vt., are renting a local radio station to broadcast the music so ticketless fans can groove without overcrowding the premises. The iconic jam band's Aug. 14-15 shows are sold out, and fans will be turned back if they don't have tickets, state police have warned. Fewer than 70,000 tickets were sold, but 80,000 people are expected to show up.

Phish, the Vermont-based jam band whose legions of dedicated fans made it one of the nation's top touring acts, announced Tuesday that the group will break up at the end of its summer tour in August. The surprise announcement came as the band prepared to release a new album, "Undermind," on June 15 and embark on the tour, which will kick off June 17 at Coney Island in Brooklyn.

Phish, the jam band whose open taping policy made it one of the country's biggest live acts, is again sidestepping the record industry to cash in on the online music revolution. Livephish.com offers a rare service: soundboard-quality downloads of performances within two days of the concert. Fans pay $9.95 for MP3s or $12.95 for a computer file format in which no sound quality is lost during compression.

Tourism officials in Virginia say Phish heads brought their appetites and wallets -- not just dope -- to the jamband's reunion last weekend. The Hampton Convention & Visitors Bureau reported Tuesday that the estimated 75,000 fans who flocked to the coastal city generated $5 million in hotel, restaurant and retail sales. A manager at Hooters said the restaurant sold a week's worth of wings and beer over three days. Monday, police said they seized $1.2 million worth of drugs during the encampment of Phish fans.

Jam band Phish isn't forgetting about fans who can't attend any of its sold-out reunion shows this weekend in Hampton, Va. The group will make high-quality MP3 downloads of each performance available free the following day. "We really wanted to show our gratitude to all the Phish fans for their support and the overwhelming response they've had to these shows," lead guitarist/vocalist Trey Anastasio said in a statement issued Wednesday. "We only wish everybody could be there."

Hoping to avoid a Woodstock-like overflow crush of fans, promoters of Phish's farewell festival in rustic Coventry, Vt., are renting a local radio station to broadcast the music so ticketless fans can groove without overcrowding the premises. The iconic jam band's Aug. 14-15 shows are sold out, and fans will be turned back if they don't have tickets, state police have warned. Fewer than 70,000 tickets were sold, but 80,000 people are expected to show up.

Tickets to what Vermont-based jam band Phish says will be its last shows are sold out, and scalpers are getting as much as $915 for tickets to the festival next month. Some 70,000 tickets have been sold to the Coventry festival at Newport State Airport and surrounding fields in Coventry, Vt., on Aug. 14-15. Phish will perform both days. Tickets were originally priced $150. Veronica Lusk, sales representative for Internet broker eSeats.

Phish, the Vermont-based jam band whose legions of dedicated fans made it one of the nation's top touring acts, announced Tuesday that the group will break up at the end of its summer tour in August. The surprise announcement came as the band prepared to release a new album, "Undermind," on June 15 and embark on the tour, which will kick off June 17 at Coney Island in Brooklyn.

Phish, the jam band whose open taping policy made it one of the country's biggest live acts, is again sidestepping the record industry to cash in on the online music revolution. Livephish.com offers a rare service: soundboard-quality downloads of performances within two days of the concert. Fans pay $9.95 for MP3s or $12.95 for a computer file format in which no sound quality is lost during compression.

"Is this like anything you've ever seen?" asked Jake Steinberg, 20, a college student from California. Steinberg was just one of the small army of Phish fans who flew here in hopes of scoring tickets and getting inside Madison Square Garden on New Year's Eve to see the band's first live show since its hiatus about two years ago.

Dana Giacchetto, the boyish New York City money manager renowned for his ability to ingratiate himself with such young stars as Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck and Hollywood power broker Michael Ovitz, was charged Monday with three criminal counts for allegedly stealing at least $6 million of his clients' funds.

Phish fans had to be let down easy. For them it was more than a band. It was a calling, a community, its concerts a gathering of nomadic multitudes, a place to sing along or dance the hippie shake. Phish couldn't just break up. So a surprise announcement late last year declared that Phish was merely taking a hiatus from the blend of rock, jazz and folk that spearheaded the '90s "jam band" movement.