Mike Rowe's Collection of

Phish Memorabilia

(1988-1990)

Phish plays Contois Auditorium, Burlington, VT, December 16^th, 1989.

I attended the University of Vermont in Burlington from 1986-1990. When I was a freshman, a friend of mine had a poster that he had taped to the fridge in his dorm room, advertising a show by a band called Phish. It featured a woman and a child on a beach. In the original photo, the woman, who was dressed in her Sunday best, was ordering the child into the water; the child looked cold and reluctant. The photo had been altered so it looked like the woman was pointing at a stylized fish out in the waves. Neither my friend nor I had either seen or heard the band, but their poster intrigued me.

I first saw the band, very briefly, playing a Valentine's day dance in my dorm (Marsh). I caught one song and was sufficiently impressed to run upstairs to tell some friends what they were missing out on. Unfortunately, by the time I got back, the show was over.

I finally saw the Phish at the Front, sometime around the first week of classes in late August or early September of 1988. That first show completely blew me away. I'd finally found the band I'd been looking for all my life-complex, improvisational, goofy rock. Up to that time I'd mostly been into the kind of band that had passed its prime around the time I was born-the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, the Who, the Grateful Dead. It was such an amazing thing to find a band like Phish upon walking into a bar in Burlington, VT, of all places. The two songs that stuck with me from that night were Contact and Foam, though I didn't know the names then. At the end of the show, Trey brought out an old acoustic guitar and smashed it up; I was right at the edge of the stage and snagged it. I held onto it for the next couple of years, until I moved out of my apartment at 38 South Union and, unfortunately, forgot that it was hanging in the basement. But I left that show telling everyone who would listen that someday these guys were going to be Big.

For the remainder of my undergraduate years, I saw Phish as often as I could-twice at Goddard for Halloween, Sam's, Comptois Auditorium, a block party in North Burlington, Battery Park, but especially at the Front/Outback, where I occasionally worked the door collecting the cover. I always kept an eye out for Phish's posters, though I always waited until after the show to take them. Posters is perhaps too strong a word; they were just black and white photocopies on colored 8 1/2" x 11" or 14" construction paper. But they were always interesting, and I've treasured them as momentos of the time when Phish was the best secret in the world. Many of them were done by long-time friend of the band Jim Pollack, who has remained their graphic artist in residence ever since. They capture the hallucinatory, joyous experience of a Phish show perfectly.

The posters below are copies of the ones I saved from that time. Originally they were hosted in 1995 on the old Phish archive on the Brown netspace server (click here to see the original page). That disappeared several years ago, so I thought I'd put this back up on my personal webserver. As I've said, the originals were all black and white. I colored these in for fun, and to make them harder to counterfeit. If someone tries to sell you one that looks just like these, it's a fake-save yourself some money and just print these ones out.

By the way, none of this stuff is for sale, so don't bother emailing me to ask. You shouldn't sell these either. I've put these up in the spirit of sharing that had always characterized the best part of the Phish community. Jim Pollack (who blessed this site in its original incarnation-thanks, Jim!) and Phish hold copyright to this material. If you appreciate what you find here, you should continue to support them by buying their stuff.

There are a couple of other items of interest as well-the cover of the original tape cassette release of Junta and a copy of a t-shirt sold at a "battle of the bands" called "the Rumble" at the Front in 1989. Phish won the Rumble, and used first prize, studio time at Archer Studios, to begin the recording of Lawn Boy. Anyway, if you were lucky enough to have experienced the Burlington music scene back then, the list of bands participating should bring back some fond memories.

Enjoy!

Mike Rowe Kozmic Endeavors

November 2007


August 17^th, 1989 at the Front. Remembered for Nancy's final performance of Halley's Comet. One of my all time favorite shows. 81/2" x 11" photcopy on colored paper.		October1^st ,1989 at the Front. The first all-ages show, which was prompted by my brother Hindenberg (aka Hindy) getting caught sneaking into a previous show at the Front and the subsequent discussion with Shawn Sweeny, the Front's owner. Remembered for the premiere of Reba. 81/2" x 11" photcopy on colored paper.			March 9, 10 and 11^th, 1990 at the Front. The thing I remember about these shows was that it was very cold outside-like below zero cold, but extremely hot inside. When the doors opened at intermission, great clouds of steam billowed out into the street. 81/2" x 11" photcopy on colored paper.


September 7^th and 8^th, 1989 at the Front. These are shows that are otherwise lost from history-no recordings exist. It's often suggested that these might be from 1988 (in which case, one of them might be my first show.) But the days of the week (Thursday and Friday) put them in 1989. 81/2" x 14" photcopy on colored paper.		October 20^th, 21^st and 22nd 1989 at the Front. The show from the 20^th is probably the most heavily circulated show from the Front. It featured the Giant Country Horns on a bunch of numbers. 81/2" x 14" photcopy on colored paper.			December 16^th, 1989 at Contois Auditorium in Burlington City Hall. This was a nice little theater that I hadn't know existed before the show. The show occurred the weekend after UVM and other area colleges went on break, and was thus very poorly attended. Lots of room to twirl around madly, or a balcony from which to watch the twirlers spin. 81/2" x 14" photcopy on colored paper.


February 15^th, 1990 at the Living Rom in Providence, Rhode Island. Knowing I was way into Phish, my friend, housemate and lab partner Dave Paolella picked this one up for me when he was home for the weekend. 81/2" x 11" photcopy on colored paper.		January 27^th and 28^th, 1990 at the Front. Another abstract Pollack design that was featured in an early Phish Newsletter (before it became Doniac Schvice). 81/2" x 14" photcopy on colored paper.			The album cover for Phish's first studio album, Junta, as sold on cassette at shows. The tape itself was black with the song titles in white and the band logo. Back before the internet, this was one of about 5 Phish tapes I had; I've probably listened to it 10,000 times. Includes Contact without the stupid fade into Union Federal.


		The design from the back of the t-shirt sold at the Rumble, April 21^st and 22^nd, 1989. The show is remembered for Fish's descent from the rafters, naked, for the encore. Phish won the Rumble, and used first prize, studio time at Archer Studios, to begin the recording of Lawn Boy. All printed in a single color originally. A gift to me from my friend David Dutil.


This one was probably Phish's first "real" poster, professionally printed, c. Spring 1990. Sold at shows and sent to venues to promote upcoming gigs (this one is from the Front.) A gift to me from David Dutil, head bartender at the Front. 22" x 17" on card stock.

Related Links:
(Jim) Pollack Prints	The Phish Poster Archive		The Official Phish Site	Andy Gadiel's Phish Page		The Phish.net Archives

Created November 18, 2007 by Mike Rowe. Last updated February 3, 2008.