My wife Jennifer, who, by comparison, is not a very big Phish fan, gave me the green light to go to Atlantic City for Halloween this year. She asked me recently, “What do you want to hear them play?”  Now, I’ve been chasing Camel Walk for some time, but before I even could process it, I reflexively responded “I could really go for a nice, meaty Split Open and Melt.” What?! Split Open and Melt!? Where did that come from?...

9/21/1999...

"Simple" was first written and recorded by Mike Gordon in a four-track medium in the Doo-Wop style and introduced to the band during the studio sessions for Hoist. This version reflected the country and bluegrass writing style of many previous Gordon compositions. The song was left off of the album and the band showed hesitation in performing it live.
...

There are infinite reasons to be elated about the reunion of Phish. One of these reasons is being able to see some of the solo project material adapted by the band. It took seven years for "Middle of the Road" to find itself into Phish's rotation, and it holds promise to be a great new addition. With Mike leading the vocals, and Page tickling the ivories, the twangy "Middle of the Road" has a renewed energy and the harmonious chorus is ridiculously catchy. Two versions have been performed thus far by Phish, the debut on 8/8/09, and a more polished follow up at the Hartford show on 8/14/09. "Middle of the Road" was also a staple on Mike and Leo Kottke's 2002 tour in support of Clone, and representative versions can be found from their performances on 11/5/02, 11/10/02 and 11/15/02. ...

Maybe because I don’t write a lot of songs for the band it really takes writing a lot to be confident about having a couple that sound good. Trey writes 10 songs for every one that he uses. If the band doesn’t decide to keep working on a song, from the other three [members], then it’s not always likely that I’m going to say “Can we work on my song?” Unless I’m just so into it that I feel confident it will be good. Otherwise I’m just not really into the promotional side.

Mike Gordon on Jambands.com, 8/29/03

Everything I learned about band leading I probably learned from Trey.

Mike on Jambands.com, 8/29/03

It's rare that Phish songs debut on New Year’s Eve. The first post-hiatus show on 12/31/02 was bound to be an exception, though, as Phish was sure to begin to integrate material from the then-recently released Round Room into the live concert rotation. “Seven Below” charged out of the gates in the third set, not only as a debut, but as the musical and visual centerpiece of the New Year’s spectacle. Given that the only other song to make its debut following the traditional performance of "Auld Lang Syne" on New Year's Eve was the jam segment of "Down With Disease," it seemed clear that the band had big plans for "Seven Below."...

The lyrics for this song are derived from a Tom Marshall poem that remains more or less unchanged from its original form. Tom had sent Trey an envelope containing only this poem some time during Trey’s fall 1985 semester at Goddard College. Trey was intrigued by the poem and affixed it to his door, where he left it undisturbed for a year or so. The poem occasionally made its way into the live Phish show around this time, though primarily in a spoken-word context. In early 1986 “McGrupp” usurped the music that originally accompanied “Skippy the Wondermouse” when that tune was retired from the band’s repertoire. 1986 and 1987 versions of “McGrupp” sound almost as they do today, although the lyrics were chanted disturbingly and the piano solo section didn’t exist just yet. But there were other, larger plans for this song brewing in Trey’s head....

GlowSticksWars.com is offering a special promotion to Phish.net visitors preparing for Fall Tour. Save 20% on two or more tubes of ShowSticks (concert-friendly glow rings) with the promo code PHISHNET20. 10% of all proceeds are donated to the Mockingbird Foundation.Let's make it rain!

An auction is being held to benefit Shawn Williams, who was injured in a car accident on his way to Telluride, Colorado on August 8, 2010. Shawn (aka “whyweigh” or “liquidgoggles” on PhishPosters.com and week4paug.net) has a broken neck, broken ribs, a broken pelvis, a broken hand, and swollen internal glands and remains in Denver with family.  Many people have donated their Phish collectible items to be auctioned to help pay Shawn's medical expenses.

Phanart is hosting another auction - this time of five summer tour posters - to benefit the Mockingbird Foundation. It closes next Tuesday (August 31st) at 5:15 PDT.

Necessity is the mother of hilarity.

Dan Hantman, 8/25/04

A ten-track summer sampler titled "Phish: Live Bait Vol. 01" is being offered free from LivePhish.com "as a thank you for fans' continued support. Share it with your friends, pass the link around, trade the MP3s freely." The fully-mixed soundboard tracks come form the first leg of the 2010 Summer Tour, and include "Alumni Blues" > "Letter To Jimmy Page" > "Alumni Blues" (from 6/25/10), "Backwards Down The Number Line" (from 6/12/10), "Swept Away" > "Steep" (from 6/20/10), "Gumbo" > "My Sweet One" (from 7/3/10), "Kill Devil Falls" (from 6/22/10), "Tweezer" > "Slave To The Traffic Light" (from 7/3/10), and "Show Of Life" and "Tweezer Reprise" (from 6/19/10).

Phish's Fall 2010 tour opens officially with three shows in Colorado (after the Austin City Limits Festival) and ends with three shows in Atlantic City, concluding with a "very special Halloween show" presumed to include a "musical costume" as in years past.  Although most of the shows are in the Northeast, the venues are more intimate than might be expected. Tickets are $60, and include an MP3 download of the show.  Visit phish.com for further details.  Note: There is a mere 10-day window to mail order for tickets. The Fall Tour video may be found here.

Like Phish, Joe Walsh's original material includes a wealth of both frivolity and rock. Solidly in the latter category, "Walk Away" was the sole single from Walsh's last album with The James Gang and the band's only Top 40 hit. It emphatically addresses tension and departure – in its music, lyrics, and history, as well as in the timing of Phish's performances of it....