Phish will celebrate playing its first shows in over four years by offering fans free, high-quality downloads overnight of the band’s March 6th, 7th and 8th concerts at Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia.

Tickets for the concerts sold out just seconds after they went on sale last fall.

Watch Phish “Slave To The Traffic Light” video from The Clifford Ball DVD:

Phish on amazon.com

Phish on amazon.co.uk

“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. It’s going to be an amazing celebration and we only wish everybody could be there,” said Phish lead guitarist/vocalist Trey Anastasio.

The band is bringing in a recording truck to capture the concerts and each multi-track recording will be professionally mixed onsite. (Previous livephish.com offerings have been matrix recordings – the soundboard feed combined with audience microphones.)

Twenty-four hours after each show, 256kbps MP3s will be made available for free for a limited time at www.livephish.com. Fans may purchase true CD-quality FLAC downloads ($12.95/show) or custom 3-CD sets ($23.00). They can register now at www.livephish.com to receive an email when the free MP3s are available. Fans may also pre-order FLAC files and CDs now.

With its 2002 New Year’s Eve show at Madison Square Garden, Phish became the first artist to record and release MP3s the next day via their own music download store. The band has sold MP3 and FLAC downloads of each subsequent concert within hours of its conclusion.

Phish will launch a sold-out summer tour with a two-night stand at the Nikon Theatre at Jones Beach in Wantagh, NY on June 4th and 5th. Along the way, the band will be play two sets at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival: on Friday, June 12, 2009, Phish will give a special late night performance and the group will close out the weekend on Sunday, June 14th. For tour dates, please visit www.phish.com.

Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983, Phish grew increasing popular through word-of-mouth, delivering what the Village Voice characterized as “something rare in pop: a long, complex, and completely different show each night.”

The Grammy-nominated band was included in the Top 10 Grossing Concert Tours in North America from 1995-2000 and from 2002-2004.

Phish – comprising Anastasio, drummer Jon Fishman, bassist Mike Gordon and keyboardist Page McConnell – has released 11 studio albums, six concert videos and a series of 44 complete live concert CDs, including 13 on its own JEMP Records. Its series of full concert downloads on livephish.com currently totals 88. The Clifford Ball, a seven-DVD box set capturing the band’s entire performance at this landmark 1996 festival, was released yesterday by JEMP Records/Rhino.

Phish Official Website

Live Phish Downloads