Phish facts that will 'Punch You in the Eye' before jam band swims to Delaware festival

Andre Lamar, Delaware News Journal

Updated January 19, 2024 at 8:50 PM·4 min read

The legendary jam band Phish is as polarizing as fanny packs, comedian Amy Schumer, and pineapple pizza.

This popular crew from Vermont has been grooving listeners since the 1980s.

They're on pace to reel in a big school of Phish fans for their new four-day festival, called Mondegreen, in The Woodlands of Dover from Thursday, Aug. 15, to Sunday, Aug. 18.

Phish (from left) - Page McConnell, Jon Fishman, Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon - will be the second act to place the new Las Vegas Sphere.

Meanwhile, here are some interesting Phish facts for folks to dive into about the band.

Fans receive macaroni from Phish

There are lots of unique ways to make DIY music shakers. Phish fans discovered this when the band handed them boxes of macaroni to be used for percussion tools when they played Slade Hall at the University of Vermont on Sept. 27, 1985, according to Phish.net, the popular Phish forum where fans leaked the band's Woodlands festival a month before Phish officially went public.

Phish plays vacuum cleaner in concert

Drummer Jon Fishman is skilled at playing melodies on a vacuum cleaner. There are multiple videos of him on YouTube holding a vacuum hose to his mouth and creating quirky sounds with it during his vacuum solo. One YouTube video is titled “Phish 11-30-19 Vacuum Solo.”

Lead singer Trey Anastasio can play drums

Trey Anastasio of Phish greets fans at Bridgestone Arena on the first night of a three day stop in Nashville, Tenn., Friday night, Oct. 6, 2023.

When Fishman is doing his vacuum solo, who's on the drums? Lead singer Trey Anastasio has filled in for his bandmate behind a drum set. Anastasio joins a unique list of singers who also play drums like Dave Grohl (who has vacationed in Rehoboth Beach), Ringo Starr, Teddy Pendergrass and Phil Collins. You can watch Anastasio in action in the above vacuum solo video.

Phish's hot dog is in Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, not the band

For years there's been a debate whether Phish will ever be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. There honestly isn't a clear answer. The irony is the band has a famous hot-dog prop that's featured at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Ohio. The band first rode the iconic hot dog at their Boston Garden concert on Dec 31, 1994.

Page McConnell's dad developed Tylenol

Tylenol is one of the most iconic medicines. It's interesting that it's linked to the band Phish.

Born in nearby Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey, keyboardist Page McConnell was destined to make musical medicine that would heal the masses. His dad, Jack, worked for the McNeil Pharmaceutical Co. (later Johnson & Johnson) and helped develop Tylenol, according to a 2007 report by ABC.

Phish co-founder becomes a politician

Musician Jon Fishman of Phish attends the 25th Annual Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Induction on March 15, 2010 in New York City.

Not all Phish members can be branded as one-dimensional musicians, especially percussionist Jon Fishman (who inspired the band's name, according to encyclopedia.com). Fishman's résumé also includes becoming a politician as he drummed up excitement in his hometown of Lincolnville, Maine, after becoming the newest selectman to win an election to the five-member select board in 2017.

Dress-wearing Phish member does movie with Bernie Sanders

Phish drummer Jon Fishman is an old supporter of Vermont senator Bernie Sanders (pictured).

Fishman has had a knack for wearing doughnut dresses in concert over the years. That might explain why he's credited as playing Ginger the "transvestite" drummer" in the 1999 film "My X-Girlfriend's Wedding Reception," per IMDB. Another Vermont legend in the film is Fishman's friend Sen. Bernie Sanders, who plays a rabbi in the flick. Fishman is a longtime supporter of Sanders and endorsed him when he was on the campaign trail in 2016.

Who is the fifth member of Phish?

It's common for bands to embrace members who aren't one of the group's founding musicians. But it's unusual when that adopted member is the lighting guy. Chris Kuroda, the band's lighting director, is the fifth official star Phish in the group. (It even says so on the band's website.)

Phish college thesis is on improvisation

Page McConnell of Phish performs onstage at the 25th Annual Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on March 15, 2010 in New York City.

The ability to ad-lib in concert is a cornerstone for Phish. McConnell takes it seriously, so much so that he based his senior thesis around it when he attended Goddard College in Vermont. His thesis, which was published in 1987, was titled "The Art of Improvisation," per McConnell's bio.

Phish has a 'Triple Nipple'

The jam band references nipples getting sliced in three songs, a theme nicknamed the "Triple Nipple." In the song "Fee," the band sings: "Floyd is dead; he's nothing but a ripple/Cause Milly took that paper/And sliced him on the nipple."

There's also the tune "Sloth":

“I'm So bad. He's so nasty Ain't got no friends. Real out-casty Stay out of my way. End up a cripple I'll take this piece of paper. [Cross?] your nipple.”

The third song about nipples is "Punch You in The Eye":

"Well it seems you didn't like my face I quickly learned that Prussia was an evil place They tied me to a chair with a giant clip And held a piece of paper to my tender nip."

Are you coming to the Mondegreen festival and have a cool Phish story to tell? Please email lifestyle reporter Andre Lamar at [email protected]. Consider signing up for his weekly newsletter, DO Delaware, at delawareonline.com/newsletters.