WHAT: DVD release party for "The Clifford Ball," Phish's 1996 festival held at former Plattsburgh Air Force Base. Featuring live music by Elephantbear and Lucid.
WHEN: 4 p.m. Sunday.
WHERE: Olive Ridley's, 37 Court St., Plattsburgh.
ADMISSION: $5 to benefit WaterWheel Foundation, formed by Phish to aid Champlain Valley charities.
PHONE: 324-2200.
If the Clifford Ball is a haze, purple or otherwise, it's cool.
Phish — Trey Anastasio, Page McConnell, Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman — has your memory bank backed up in a new nine-hour, seven-disc DVD box set of the Aug. 16 and 17, 1996, outdoor festival held at the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base.
When Phish phan Patrick Gallagher got wind of the March 3 DVD release date, he contacted Phish management to plan a celebratory happening in the Lake City to benefit Phish's WaterWheel Foundation, which supports Champlain Valley charities.
"Lots of people and fans in Plattsburgh would love to do a little party to celebrate Plattsburgh's role in the concert," said Gallagher, who organized "The Clifford Ball" release party Sunday at Olive Ridley's in Plattsburgh.
"It was a fun experience for me and other people to go to the Clifford Ball. It's more a reason for Phish fans and people who worked the show or volunteered to get together and remember how fun it was and raise some money for charity."
Sunday's party offers good music by Elephantbear and Lucid, good memories, a preview of "The Clifford Ball," a chance to win a copy of the DVD box set and other business-donated prizes.
HUGE CONCERT
Between 70,000 and 100,000 people attended the 1996 festival, named after the 20th-century aviator and Ball Airlines founder who threw lavish parties attended by celebs such as Amelia Earhart.
In Pittsburgh's airport, Phish had crossed paths with Ball's memorial inscribed with: "A Beacon of Light in the World of Flight."
When the Phish Nation hit the tarmac, PAFB hadn't been closed a year. Mike Pedersen of Elephantbear had just graduated from high school.
"It was pretty amazing for me," Pedersen said. "It was such a huge concert. Phish was my favorite band. It was a little surreal and really exciting. It was pretty overwhelming because I hadn't been to too many concerts before."
Pedersen participated in a Press-Republican focus group that produced two commemorative Phish tabs.
He wrote what he calls a horrible short story, "The Phan phenomenon: Into which phan category do you phall?"
From a musical standpoint, Phish introduced him to improvisation and impacted how he plays guitar and writes songs.
"I had known improvisational music through jazz, not through rock 'n' roll music. They have amazing compositions as well. I loved their music so much. Not so much to re-create it but create music that makes someone feel the way I felt about their music in some fashion."
REUNION TOUR
Pedersen said the DVD's release now is about marketing and timing.
"I wish they released it a long time ago."
But there was the band's 2000 through 2002 hiatus and then the 2004 through 2008 split. In March, Phish embarks on its 2009 Reunion Tour.
Pedersen hopes to attend, but in the interim, he's grooving with the revolving configuration of Elephantbear — George Facteau (bass), Jamie Durivage (guitar), Tim Collins (piano and drums), Ryan Trumbull (drums) and Andy Deller (keys).
"We've been playing with Russ Lawton, the drummer in Trey Anastasio's band," Pedersen said. "We were hoping to get him to play with us. We will probably play a couple of Phish songs as tribute."
Facteau was not a Phish phan before the Vermont-based band crossed the lake. At the Clifford Ball, he was converted.
"I became a huge fan, and I was able to work for them after," Facteau said.
A Peacock Music friend got him a Great Northeast Productions hook-up. Facteau worked every show from the 1998 Lemonwheel in Maine to the millennial Big Cyprus in Florida. His claim to fame is he got tape stock from point A, Texas, to point B, Florida, in case of a technical glitch for the ABC Peter Jennings "World News Tonight" live broadcast. A sound-problem disaster was averted because of the tape stock and "Meat Stick" chants. Ask Facteau.
"It was absolutely amazing, like working for a huge family," he said. "Everyone takes the time to learn your name. I still go to Trey's shows and run into people I used to work with. They still remember you."
ONE-TIME HAPPENING
Lowell Wurster of the band Lucid remembers how much he, at 16, wanted to go to the Clifford Ball instead of Camp Dudley in Westport.
"A lot of my leaders, they all ran up north just to go to the parking lot and see what was going on," Wurster said. "I tried to sneak away. I couldn't do it."
He'd attended a Phish concert previously and years later worked as Phish security for big shows.
"They are definitely, by far, one of my favorite bands, hands down. They are all masters of their craft. They're all absolutely amazing. I've seen them in their own musical projects and met each and every one."
On Sunday, Wurster (percussion, harp, lead and backup vocals) and his Lucid bandmates — Kevin Sabourin (guitar and lead vocals), Jamie Armstrong (sax and backup vocals), Trumbull (drums) and Deller (keys) — will do their rock/blues thing.
Lucidites constantly call, "Hey, Trey," to Sabourin.
"Because he wails on guitar and has red hair and his appearance and smile," Wurster said.
Skipping the Clifford Ball still bothers him, though he went to The Great Went in Limestone, Maine, the year after.
"It was a huge thing happening in my backyard," Wurster said. "I should have had the foresight that our city would not allow it to happen again. It just drives me crazy."
E-mail Robin Caudell at: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com
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