Merriweather Post Pavilion. As any Northern Virginian, current or former, would tell you: I love it and I hate it. I went to several shows there, so I loved the proximity, but hated the traffic and the parking. Now, if you narrowed it down to just Phish shows, I'd immediately think of one moment: the 8/8/98 Sabotage encore. There's a great story there, but it's not the one I'm going to tell today.

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Welcome to the 148th chapter of Phish.net's Mystery Jam Monday! Per usual, if you're the first person to identify the song and date of the mystery clip, you'll win an MP3 download courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. Each contestant gets one guess per day, with the second “day” starting after I post the hint. A hint will be posted on Tuesday if necessary, with the answer following on Wednesday. Enjoy!

When I think about Phish, one of the very first things that comes to mind is New York. I know they’re not a “New York” band and have their roots in Vermont and New England, but it’s impossible to discuss even a cursory history of the band without intertwining the band’s glorious history there. Phish has unquestionably put their stamp on the Empire State playing every nook and cranny of the state from college quads and campuses in the early years to tiny clubs and rooms like Aiko’s in Saratoga, The Chance in Poughkeepsie, The Haunt in Ithaca, The Wetlands in the City and Clement’s Brew Pub in Syracuse. Seemingly in the blink of an eye, Phish was performing to 70,000 fans at one of the most awe-inspiring festivals ever seen at the Clifford Ball in Plattsburgh, to some of the world’s grandest stages in Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall (and everything in between in New York City). Having played nearly 100 different venues in New York, Phish has performed there more often than any other state with Vermont being a not-that-close second. (California & Massachusetts round out the other top four).

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Holmdel, New Jersey’s PNC Bank Arts Center was my hometown venue and will forever be close to my heart. Growing up in tiny Hazlet, about 45 miles south of New York City, we usually had to travel into the Big Apple or up to The Meadowlands to see big acts unless it was summer. The Garden State Arts Center, as it was called from the time it opened in 1968 until PNC Bank bought the naming rights in 1996, was a mere mile from the house where I grew up and each summer would host a wide variety of musical acts. As a tot my parents took me to see doo-wop revivalists Sha Na Na at the shed, which was one of my first musical experiences and over the years I saw dozens of concerts there.

Bands such as the Allman Brothers Band, the Steve Miller Band and Santana would seem to visit each summer and even if I couldn’t afford a ticket that night, I was still able to hear the music quite well from the parking lot. From the time I was nine I would go away for eight weeks each summer to sleepaway camp which certainly cut into my Arts Center-going opportunities. That never phased me much until 1994, when I found myself entering a passionate love affair with the music of Phish.

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It’s hard to process the fact that July 6 will mark the passage of thirteen years since the last time the nation of Canada – or any land outside of the Unites States, for that matter – hosted a Phish show. A variety of theories abound to explain the lengthy embargo, from previous border-crossing difficulties, to Trey’s probationary terms stemming from his December 2006 arrest, to the band’s devotion to Dunkin’ Donuts and utter contempt for Tim Hortons.

Regardless of the actual reasoning, it will come to an end a mere three days following that milestone. That roar you vaguely remember coming down from north of the border this past winter? Well, okay – it was almost certainly the celebration of professional hockey’s return from yet another labor stoppage. But there’s a slim chance it was the long-neglected Canadian contingency of Phish fans cheering the announcement of the upcoming July 9, 2013 show at Toronto’s Molson Canadian Amphitheatre.

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Welcome to Part 147 of Phish.net's Mystery Jam Monday! (Give or take a day.) As usual, if you're the first person to identify the source of the mystery clip, you'll win an MP3 download courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. Each contestant gets one guess per day, with the second “day” starting after I post the hint. A hint will be posted on Wednesday if necessary, and the answer will be posted on Thursday. Good luck!

Answer: You know, it's getting awfully hard to fool the MJM audience. By knowing that this week's mystery jam came from the February(-ish?) 2004 jam at the Barn featured in Undermind's bonus DVD doc, "Specimens of Beauty", first-time winner @j_led deftly wins this week's MP3 download. Guys, gals, don't be appalled if next week's selection ends up being a silent jam.

See you Monday(-ish?)!

From the editors: For the second installment of our Summer Tour Venue Revue, the editors of Phish.net wanted to extend an invitation to Myke Menio (aka @lawnmemo) whose project The Daily Ghost chronicled every live version of Ghost and now is running his own recap of Summer 2012 in a project entitled 33 in 33 featuring a different writer every day. We're excited for his perspective of his home venue in his first piece at Phish.net!

Following the tour opener in Bangor, Phish takes a break on Independence Day before traveling to one of their favorite venues. After closing out Leg 1 last year, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, “SPAC” is the first three day run of 2013. If history is any indication we should be prepared for just about anything.

When I was asked to write the SPAC piece I wasn’t sure if I was the most qualified person to do so. After I accepted, I figured I could pull it off. I mean I wrote 113 Ghost reviews and I didn’t know what the hell I was talking about. Then I sat down and started to think about what might make for a good review.

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PHISH will open the Summer Tour on July 3 in Bangor, Maine. It has been almost twenty years since they played there, and in anticipation of the upcoming tour, we at Phish.Net will endeavor to revisit past Phish performances in cities and towns that the band will play this summer. In this first installment, I revisit the November 2, 1994, show in Bangor, the “Tweezer” of which was the first “experimental” version to both exceed 30 minutes and conclude with a return to the "Tweezer" theme. The highlights of that day and that evening I have not forgotten, and shall not soon forget.

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Regular visitors of our good friends over at PhanArt may have noticed a significant milestone on their charitable donations list: with a $100 donation from Zuckerpinz on May 18th, total donations to The Mockingbird Foundaton by PhanArt and their Friends now tops $10,000. On behalf of all of us here at the Foundation, and in the name of all the grants and programs these donations help us to support (including running Phish.net), we thank PhanArt Pete and the entire PhanArt community for your ongoing generosity.

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The producer of PBS Newshour, Mike Melia, tweeted a tease on June 3 of an interview that PBS Senior Correspondent Jeffrey Brown conducted of Trey a few weeks ago, before Trey's performance with the National Symphony Orchestra. Trey apparently said in the interview that Phish is working on a new album, and that some of the new songs' lyrics are being written collectively. The interview will purportedly air in early July before the Summer Tour begins in Bangor.

Trey apparently also said in the interview that "A lot of the people that come see us have been coming for 20, 30 years . . . And I know them. A lot I don’t know by name, but there are people that I look out and see that I really genuinely feel a connection to . . . people who stand like 10 rows back and dance that I recognize.” If you know anyone other than Tom Marshall who has been seeing Phish for thirty years, please ask them to be in touch, as we would like to interview them for this site's blog.

With exactly one month left to wait for Phish's 2013 summer tour opener in Bangor, we bring to you the 146th episode of Phish.net's Mystery Jam Monday! To give the readers who can't participate during standard 9-to-5 work hours a fair shot, we've posted this one a bit later than usual. To win an MP3 download courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net, be the first contestant to correctly identify this week's song and date. Each contestant gets one guess 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. Let's get this show on the road!

Answer: Second-time winner @morgentown wins this week's MP3 download by knowing the 11/11/88 Whipping Post. Once again, the MJM contestants show how tough it is to stump them.

New MJM in five days. New jams to choose from in twenty-eight.

Lake Tahoe is looking an awful lot like Gamehendge as Evil King Wilson plays his winning hand on this gorgeous new print created by master printmaker AJ Masthay for the upcoming Phamily Poker Classic 3 charity poker tournament. This 5-color linoleum block print was hand-crafted in an edition of 150, and the only way to get one is by joining the tournament at Harveys Lake Tahoe on July 31st. Held to benefit The Mockingbird Foundation, the Phamily Poker Classic 3 features a generous cash prize pool, great bonus prizes, and one of these stunning prints for each player.

Our plan is to give each player the print number that corresponds to their final position in the tourney. So, for example, if you bust out in 100th place, your print will be #100. But for those with the luck and skill to make the final table, we have something special. AJ has created a unique Final Table Variant of the print ... an edition of only 10 ... on a special wavy metallic paper that really pops. Check it out here! The only way you're going to get one of these beauties is by making the final table, so get practicing your cards!

Seats are filling quickly for the Phamily Poker Classic 3, and once people feast their eyes on this print, we anticipate a quick sellout. Sign up today to reserve your print and seat in the Phamily Poker Classic 3, and we'll see you in Tahoe! 

Following the great reception (and quick sellout) of AJ Masthay's Famous Mockingbird print, created to celebrate the upcoming publication of The Phish Companion, 3rd Edition, we are excited to announce the release of two new Famous Mockingbird pins from Masthay Studios. The 1 1/2 inch hard enamel pins are available in both antique silver and antique gold colored metals, each individually numbered out of an edition of 200 and backstamped with the Masthay Studios logo.

The Famous Mockingbird pins will be available from the Phish.net Store and Masthay Studios on Tuesday, May 7th at 12 noon ET.  Pins are $15 each including shipping, or a matching numbered set (one gold and one silver) for $25 shipped.

A generous portion of the proceeds go to The Mockingbird Foundation. Thank you AJ for your support and gorgeous artwork!

Summer in Saratoga: A Rock Art Exhibition, a poster show featuring Phish artists from around the country will be held on Saturday July 6^th from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at The Saratoga Hilton in downtown Saratoga Springs, New York. Developed and produced by a group of artists and fans known as The Mothership Art Collective, this poster show will be held in the middle of a weekend of Phish, who play three nights at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, July 5^th-7^th.

Phish poster shows have been held over the years with great success, as unique posters made for the Phish shows that weekend and stop on the tour feature some of the best concert art being produced today. ‘Summer in Saratoga’ is the second event produced by The Mothership Art Collective, a group within the Phish community, comprised of artists and organizations who promote the art inspired by the band Phish. Their initial poster show, ‘First Tube’, was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey on June 16^th, 2012 and was a success for all who participated in the event and raised $2000 to benefit The Mockingbird Foundation. The eclectic artists featured at this poster show displays the broad scope of Phish related art and capture the inspiration of the band in their art. The creative fan base that Phish has makes for amazing art inspired by the band, the locales and the music. The collective works hard to bring an art show to the Phish touring public each year.

In keeping with the great tradition and success of past poster shows, Summer in Saratoga will offer free entry to all patrons, tubes available for purchase, charitable donations from the event made to The Mockingbird Foundation and a wide array of artists with posters to fit any budget. Artists will be announced in early May, as well as any special edition works that will only be available at the show, which will be posted on www.mothershipartcollective.org in early June.

The Saratoga Hilton is located at 534 Broadway in Saratoga Springs, about three miles from Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC).

From Playbill.com: 

"Hands on a Hardbody will close on Broadway April 13, its producers announced on April 8. 

On July 31 in Harvey's poker room in Lake Tahoe, organizers Kevin Young and Jamey Brill, with the assistance of other volunteers, will be running a poker tournament for the benefit of The Mockingbird Foundation.

"The Phamily Poker Classic 3" is a Texas Hold Em Event, as both of the prior "Classics" were in Tahoe in 2011 and in Atlantic City in 2010. Seats are very limited, because the tournament will only take place on the afternoon of July 31, beginning at 1:00pm. The chip stacks and blinds will be structured to ensure that no one misses a note of Phish (i.e., the tournament will end before showtime, as the previous tournaments did).

The entry fee will be $140 and at least half of that amount will go directly into the prize pool. Similar to past events, there will also be non-cash prizes that will be raffled off throughout the tournament. Part of the buy-in will be used to cover expenses/costs, and the remainder will be donated to The Mockingbird Foundation.

In addition, every player in the Phamily Poker Classic 3 will receive a limited edition, custom poster designed by AJ Masthay. The participants at the final table also will get a special signed/numbered edition different from the rest, and will receive a numbered poster based on the number that they're eliminated (e.g., second place will receive poster numbered "2"). 

Tickets will go on sale at 10am pt (1:00pm et) on Wednesday, April 10th, at http://www.phamilypokerclassic.com/. 

We hope that you will join us again and make this event as special as the previous Phamily Poker Classic tournaments, which raised over $10,000 for The Mockingbird Foundation. With your continued support, we can keep these events happening and support a great cause. 

Thanks so much for your support!

The Mockingbird Foundation - that all-volunteer nonprofit of Phish fans that runs Phish.net, The Phish Companion, et al. - has announced five new "emergency" grants to support restoration of music programs impacted by Hurricane Sandy last October.

We are excited to announce that AJ Masthay's recent print celebrating the upcoming release of The Phish Companion, 3rd Edition will go on sale this Friday, March 15 at noon EDT (9am PDT) on the artist's website (http://masthaystudios.bigcartel.com/). This limited edition of 150 prints on navy blue paper is a six-color linoleum block print, and costs $40. There is a limit of one print per customer.

In addition, a number of Artist's Proofs, special variants, and AJ's original color sketch and printing plates will be for sale, with a generous portion of the proceeds to benefit The Mockingbird Foundation. These also go on sale this Friday, March 15 at noon EDT (9am PDT) on the artist's website.

In addition to the majority of the 150 prints, the following print variants and original art will also be available on Friday. 

Silver and Gold Leaf Variant Edition size: 6 Price: $150		Paisley Variant Edition size: 3 Price: $200
"Distressed Leather" Variant (not real leather) Edition size: 3 Price: $200		Purple Haze Variant Edition size: 4 Price: $200
WC Variant Edition size: 1 Price: $300		OG Sketch by AJ Masthay Original drawing used for print Only one! Price: $1000
OG Plate by AJ Masthay Original hand carved linoleum printing plate Only one! Price: $500		Artist's Proofs AP - Navy blue edition 15 available Price: $60 AP - Grey edition 5 available Price: $100

We apologize for the frustration caused by our attempted sale last week, and expect that by selling via the artist's site these problems will be avoided. All prints will be sold this Friday, March 15 at noon EDT (9am PDT) on the artist's website. Thank you for supporting The Mockingbird Foundation.

Phish has announced their Summer 2013 tour. Starting on July 3rd in Bangor, Maine, the 25-show tour will cross the country before wrapping up with a three-night run at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado. The Phish Tickets ticket request period has begun, and ends on Sunday, March 24th at 11:59pm EDT. For more information, visit http://www.phish.com/summer2013/. To request tickets, visit http://tickets.phish.com/.

In an interview airing tomorrow, Sunday, March 10, on the long-running CBS "Sunday Morning" talk show, Trey tells host Anthony Mason  that "we always felt like lepers", but that "I was at the concerts and people were having a great time".  A very short clip of that interview can be seen on the CBS Sunday Morning website here.

The "Sunday Morning" show runs from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. EST (check your local listings).  As we all know,Trey is rarely interviewed, so this is worth watching, or setting your DVR to record.

UPDATE (3/10/13 1:40 p.m.):  For those of you who missed it, the entire interview is now up on the CBS "Sunday Morning" show website here.