Phish dusts off deep cut in return to stage in Va.

HAMPTON, Va. -- The Phish has landed.

The Vermont jamband lit the second stage of its career as a touring juggernaut Friday night at the Hampton Coliseum with "Fluffhead," rocketing deep into their past to prove that this is no nostalgia reunion.

Fans began to materialize around the spacecraft-styled hockey arena in Virginia by early afternoon, then swelled to a hollering mob by nightfall -- a scene the band's fiercely devoted following has longed to see since Phish called it quits in 2004.

Guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, keyboardist Page McConnell and drummer Jon Fishman are playing three sold-out shows in Hampton.

When the reunion concerts were announced last fall, the band's intensely devoted fans snapped up tickets immediately, and seats for the opening show were being resold for as high as $1,000 on Thursday. The summer tour dates have also sold out.

Ryan Lafata, a spokesman with the Hampton Convention and Visitors Bureau, said that it's possible to have upwards of 75,000 people come to the area for the three shows at the Coliseum, which holds about 13,000 for general-admission events.

Hampton tourism officials say the large number off fans expected include those who didn't have concert tickets still planned to travel to Hampton, congregate outside the coliseum to take in the scene and reunite with old friends.

Brett Hinckley of Greenville, S.C., said the coliseum is a favorite venue for Phish and its fans, who call the building "the mother ship" because of its resemblance to a giant spaceship.

"The energy in the building is second to none," Hinckley said before the show. "Once you experience it, you just kind of need to be back."

Phish formed at the University of Vermont in 1983. They are known for their amorphous blend of rock, jazz, bluegrass and other styles, along with intense improvisations. Often likened to the Grateful Dead, they had a lucrative touring act before calling it quits five years ago.