Welcome back to Mystery Jam Monday here at Phish.net. After a one week hiatus, the Blog returns with the 113th Mystery Jam. As usual, we will be playing for an MP3 download, courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. The rules haven't changed: you need to correctly identify the song and the date to win. Post your guess in the comments. One guess per person per day (with the second “day” starting after I post the hint). A hint will be posted on Tuesday (if necessary) and the answer will be posted on Wednesday. Good luck...

Wednesday Answer: WE LOVE DICKS! WE LOVE DICKS! WE LOVE DICKS! Oh, yes, and congratulations to @conradjohansen for being the first to get the 9/1/12 "Prince Caspian," one of many highlights of the recent Dicks run. If for some reason you haven't yet heard these shows, they are well worth purchasing over at livephish.com (and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Mockingbird Foundation). We will all be listening to them for years to come. The Blog will be back on Monday with another Mystery Jam...

The Phish Companion. Please consider making a donation in any amount to The Mockingbird Foundation in Greg's honor, as such donations will be matched up to a total of $250.

John Ferguson eloquently wrote these words about Greg:

Read more...

I just looked at the calendar and, indeed, it is not 1997 any more. I suspected as much, given the way my back feels when I get out of bed, but it’s good to double check sometimes. It doesn’t seem like it should be 15 years since Phish destroyed America. I want to call it a few years ago, five at the most, but the gray on my head and in my beard, like Mike, says no. So it must not be that Phish just played DCU last week; it must be true that the last show of the summer took place just hours ago. I was feeling old going into the Dick’s run, and I felt that the promise shown by Long Beach and BG3 had faded as the second leg went on, and I was wondering where the band was at and where it was going. I did not, however, forget one of the original commandments: Never put anything past Phish. These guys will make you throw out your preconceptions and will melt your face at the drop of a hat. This weekend was a jaunt in the WABAC Machine, three shows that will be talked about for years while they find a place among the greats. Debating how exactly to rate Dick’s 2012 can wait long enough, though, for us to appreciate that Phish closed out the summer in classic style, with a series of fist-pumping peaks in the first set and deep, inspired type-II jams in the second.

Read more...

by Martin Acaster (@Doctor_Smarty)

Like most people, I spent the bulk of the day on Saturday wondering how in any way the experience of the previous night could be surpassed. During the face-fucking of the Friday night show I was blissfully unaware that I was getting pranked. Certainly the setlist sequencing seemed odd, jams of unusual duration were emerging from the stage and splattering each of my sensory orifices with heaping dollops of creamy goo, but I did not know that Phish was sending me a coded message. If I was any kind of historian, I may actually have reviewed what happened last year at Dick’s before venturing out here. I’m not, so I didn’t, and the subliminal message was completely obscured by the music that it evoked. Obviously first night of Dick’s means there will be a gimmick show. But what would night two hold this year? Very likely just an average great Phish show. There had to be a let down.

Unlike the rest of you I was faced with the added burden of knowing that I would have to sit down and compile a recap of the show. Whatever Phish came up with, it was my turn to share the deep thoughts it evoked in me. Considering the masterful job done by Mr. Bertolet in distilling the essence of the first Dicking I knew I would at least have to attempt to bring my “A” game. I wasn’t sure I was up to the challenge. In fact, I was feeling a great deal of performance anxiety. As I sat and pondered these things gazing westward toward the Front Range, I felt I shared a moment with the band. Anything short of the previous night’s orgiastic bacchanalia, as expressed in my own words would just be disappointing for us all.

Read more...

What a year 2012 is shaping up to be for Phish.

It is worth remembering that 2011 ended not with fireworks but fizzle, as the band turned in an uncharacteristically flaccid run at Madison Square Garden. I had firm hopes – but limp expectations – that Phish would emerge in 2012 with a renewed sense of purpose, creativity, and fun. Thus far they have shattered those expectations by delivering a first leg that snowballed gradually and even methodically to a SPAC-tacular finish, and a second leg that (while somewhat more erratic) has offered a lavish mess of jaw-dropping improvisational highlights.

What an embarrassment of riches, and what better place to conclude the second leg – or, perhaps, introduce a “third leg” of sorts – than Dick’s?

Read more...

One of the things we like to do as Phish fans is try to guess which shows will rage the hardest. Venues with unique qualities, whether it is the name (The Bomb Factory), the location (The Gorge; Red Rocks), or the building (Hampton Coliseum) tend to be prime candidates in games of “Find the Rager,” so of course a lot of early money was on The Oklahoma Zoo Amphitheatre to host a memorable show. Expectations increased after a standout show and epic “Limb By Limb” the night before in St. Louis, even though the band seemed to take a potential animal-themed show off the table by also playing “Runaway Jim,” “Ocelot,” “The Sloth,” “Camel Walk,” and “Possum.” Unfortunately, expectations are sometimes confounded, and the Zoo gig would prove (at least on tape) to be more bear than bull, with ample mistakes, low heat, and little flow.

Read more...

I’ll open with a confession. Before hearing tonight’s show, I had cooked up a snarky idea for the recap. Something cutesy. Something high-concept. I thought it was clever.

Then Phish smacked the smirk clean off my face.

Given what transpired in St. Louis tonight, I conferred with some of the staff and we all agreed that we owe it to you to do our best to describe the show in clear and simple terms. Phish did not show up tonight to mess around, so neither will we.

Read more...

On September 4, 2011, Phish played a show in Commerce City, CO at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The final show of their summer tour was immediately lauded by fans for its outstanding merits. It was simply, a great show. But a very tiny event on that evening lead to a yearlong battle where friendships were tested as two sides of a heated argument began. Did Phish tease The Modern Lovers "Roadrunner" during a jam in "Piper?"

During the show there were numerous tweets leaving the venue alluding to this connection. In the following days, the Phish.net working group team debated the merits of this claim in a manner likened only to hyenas fighting over fresh kill. On one side, the defense, a group of individuals who argued that the similarity of the jam so obviously harkened back to the main riff in "Roadrunner" that it would be foolish to ignore the similarity in riff. On the other side, the prosecution, who surmised that the two pieces of music were in no way similar when you compared the melody and rhythm. According to my gmail archive, I have no less than 58 threads containing the term roadrunner. That basically amounts to someone bringing it up more than once a week. Needless to say, it was kind of a big deal, and even when someone brought it up as a joke, it really wasn't a joke.

Fast forward to this weekend in San Francisco. Several people tweeted about and directly emailed the setlist team about a Mumford and Sons tease in Sunday night's "Crosseyed and Painless". Like salt in an unhealed wound the Dick's "Piper" came charging back in, this time with the prosecution presenting the audio included above as evidence. And after much deliberation, under the cover of darkness, the "Roadrunner" tease was removed.

So why was it removed? In simple terms, because the majority of people in the discussion felt that it didn't belong. That's not to say that it doesn't exist (it doesn't but you can believe whatever you choose) but rather that we're not willing to put it in print. Hundreds if not thousands of potential teases are out there, but as outsiders we will never be able to measure the intent of the band. In most cases of these obscure teases, I believe that the band has simply played something in the moment that is resoundingly similar to another piece of music, by accident. There are certainly numerous teases listed in the setlist file that fall into this category as well. From an editorial sense all we can do is review people's "ideas" and the rate them based on a comparison with the original cited material. Sometimes it's obvious, most times it's not. The other problem is that once someone plants the seed in your head, the brain is conditioned to expect it and often times leads you to hearing something that may not be there.

But in the end, the activity is pretty fun and many people enjoy it. That's not going to change. This is one of those special little wrinkles that make Phish so fabulous. We spent a year (collectively) arguing one tiny little point, so insignificant that 99% of people never knew it existed, smarter individuals might say this is a symptom of insanity. So, goodbye Roadrunner tease, you had a great run. Don't let the door hit you as you leave.

Phish loves to tease. Not only do you have the endless inside jokes, musical quotes and jams that hint at a song you can’t quite place, the live experience itself is kind of a tease. When I’m at a show and really tuned in, I get fully absorbed and objectivity is dissolved in the magic of being there. I’m still unapologetically awed by being at a show, and will walk out of the venue spewing effusive and hyperbolic praise. I also leave wondering what the music will sound like in the morning, hoping that I’ll hear the same epic moments I enjoyed at the show. So in the interest of full disclosure, please know that when the lights came up last night I was blown away and shamelessly fluffing despite any flaws. Now, with my show ears off any my recap ears on, I’m still reconciling what I heard last night with what I’m hearing in the car on the way home through North Carolina. My impression of Charlotte is of a Phish tease in both the good and frustrating sense; songs that continue to flirt with their potential, a first set with tremendous flow but flawed execution, a Mike’s Groove with both amazing and head-scratching song selection, and a “Tweezer” that on tape can only hint at the experience I had first hearing it.

Read more...

Welcome to the 112th installment of Mystery Jam Monday Here at Phish.net! As usual, we will be playing for an MP3 download, courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. The rules haven't changed: you need to correctly identify the song and the date to win. Post your guess in the comments. One guess per person per day (with the second “day” starting after I post the hint). A hint will be posted on Tuesday (if necessary) and the answer will be posted on Wednesday. Good luck...

Wednesday Answer: Congrats to WayIFeel for being the first to get the 8/15/98 Lemonwheel "Bowie." Monday is Labor Day and the Blog is taking the day off, so we'll be back on the 10th with MJM113.

On the second Saturday night of the summer’s second leg, the stage was set, Phish was back in Hotlanta in the Lakewood hood instead of Alpharetta. It has been nine years since Phish last played at Lakewood (7/26/03).The Lakewood Amphitheatre has a history of producing some stellar Phish performances. Some of my personal favorite shows there include 7/23/97 and 7/4/99.

The second Saturday Night Special of leg two was filled with soulful southern playing, featuring songs that have been played several times on this leg. The song selection for this show would be a mixture of songs seen in SF on 8/17/12 and at this venue in previous years (6/15/95, 7/23/97, 8/6/98, 7/3/99, 7/4/99, 6/23/00, 6/24/00, 7/26/03).

Read more...

We’re now fully in the swing of tour, show #6 of summer leg #2. Tonight the band returns to an old Phish haunt not visited in thirteen years, Oak Mountain Amphitheatre in Pelham, AL, a ~10,000-seat all-reserved open-air venue. This was the third Phish show at this facility (10/15/94 & 9/28/99) and the seventh in the state of Alabama. This show was provided as an official LivePhish webcast. Let’s cut to the action.

“Possum” starts off, a little “early” @ 7:55 local time. Uneventful but fun, a quick break and then “Cities,” an easy call given the “A lot of bridges in... Birmingham” line which received the requisite crowd appreciation. An unusually rough rendition of “Sample in a Jar” was next, about which the less said, the better. “Timber” held early promise but retreated into it’s 3.0 shell before it developed into something interesting, giving way to a solid if concise version of “Back on the Train.”

Read more...