Phish vs DMB

Even if there’s no confusing Phish with the Dave Matthews Band, the two musical groups will forever be connected for a few similarities.

Both are guitar-based rock bands that came to prominence in the ’90s with incredible fan bases, with Phish falling into the hippie culture and DMB building a following through college frat parties and mainstream radio play.

Both are jam bands with a penchant for playing long, improvisational songs in concert. With no current smash on the radio, each act routinely packs arenas and stadiums with a cultlike following. Meanwhile, the concert itself is hardly ever about the bands dazzling the crowd with theatrics and pyrotechnics. You’re mostly there to commune with fellow “Phish heads” and Dave devotees as the music charges the atmosphere.

The groups have ties to Virginia: The Dave Matthews Band formed in Charlottesville, so the connection is more direct. Although they jelled in Vermont, members of Phish reportedly adore Hampton Coliseum for its “mothership” design. This despite the 2009 arrests of nearly 200 of their fans in the parking lot, most on narcotics charges.

And both bands will stop in Hampton Roads this week: Dave Matthews Band at Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach on Sunday; and Phish at nTelos Wireless Pavilion in Portsmouth on Tuesday and Wednesday.