SPHERE4 RECAP: A SPHERICAL EXPERIENCE
[This recap is courtesy of Mark C. Lynch, dot net user @Mondo_Butts, and he (and we) would also like to thank his friends users @FunkSuckle, @andrewfreeborncreative, @Sarahlyn710, @phishbiscuits11, and @juju.campbell90 for their support and input. -Ed.]
I woke up Sunday morning tired. Saturday night took a toll on me. Night 3 at the Sphere was a late one that spilled into an even later night hugging the tables. I woke up in a little bit of a fog. Grabbed some coffee and prepped for a work meeting I had scheduled. Coincidently, I spent a couple hours reviewing VFX for a TV show I work on. Later that night I found myself recapping VFX on a much larger scale. Soon thereafter, I realized it would be nearly impossible to accurately describe them in words.
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SPHERE3 RECAP: SQUARING THE SPHERE
[We would like to thank Rob Mitchum for recapping last night's show. Rob is a science and music writer in Oak Park, IL. He tweets about Phish @phishcrit, other stuff @robmitchum, and he has undertaken the Sisyphean task of writing about every Phish show on its 25-year anniversary, which will take him until at least 2047…and counting.Thank you Rob! -Ed.]
For all the billions of dollars invested in audiovisual technology at the Las Vegas Sphere, the thing I was most curious about for these shows was decidedly less flashy: would the members of Phish stand in their usual spots? For 99.9% of Phish shows, they have set themselves up in the same way – four-across on a rectangular stage at one end of the venue. But the few times they deviated from this layout have almost always produced memorable experiences and unusual music, from the alternative stages of late-night festival sets and the inward-facing square of the Chilling Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House costume to the flatbed truck in the round and the hourglass stage of MSG NYE stunts.
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SET 1: Plasma, Evolve, Ghost, Divided Sky, Shade[1], hey stranger, Character Zero
SET 2: Oblivion > Down with Disease, Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1 -> Also Sprach Zarathustra > Light > Ether Edge > Piper, First Tube
ENCORE: More > Slave to the Traffic Light
The band took the stage while pre-recorded music similar to Plasma played, before beginning the song. During Ghost, the neon-colored outlines of three giant robots appeared to tower over the band, with their facial expressions varying and their arms and bodies swaying slowly. The three robots were then replaced by one massive robot, with spotlights utilized to make it appear as if beams of light were coming from the robot's eyes, before the original three robots returned for the remainder of the jam. During Divided Sky, the dome became a view of a sea of clouds, with patches of blue sky above. As the clouds moved, their appearance varied from purple sunset hues to dark and stormy, with the movement stopping and all of the color fading during the pause before returning for the rest of the song. Page teased Linus and Lucy at the end of Divided Sky. Trey began Shade on acoustic guitar. During Shade, an eclipsed star was shown behind the band, with its corona of changing colors visible and a silhouette of the band in the center. During Sea of Stars, the dome became filled with a curtain of gold-colored four-point stars, which twinkled and waved in front of roiling clouds. During 2001, the dome became a starfield before being illuminated by replicated images of the stage lights. Mike teased Plasma during Light. During Ether Edge, a string of umbrellas with colored drops trailing beneath were raised to either side of the stage. The umbrellas were lowered again during Piper. During First Tube, the dome again became a starfield, this time with a ring of stars centered above the stage slowly swirling. As the second "verse" of First Tube began, a white vortex appeared in this area. As the stars in its orbit began to become multicolored, the vortex pulled in their light and created flowing, rainbow-hued ribbons that grew as the jam progressed. Prior to More, Trey thanked the production team behind the Sphere shows, and said that he thinks the band will return to the venue. After Slave, the band gathered at the front of the stage to take bows and have a picture taken in front of the crowd. This show was connected to the other three with each night's setlist tied into a state of matter. This performance's matter type was plasma.
SPHERE2 RECAP: ISO 2 SATURDAYS
[This recap is courtesy of Silas Cole, user @ObviousFool (Instagram @nice_shades), thank you Silas! -Ed.]
There are many things that set Phish shows at Sphere apart from other Phish shows, first and foremost, the visuals. I will do my best to describe the visual accompaniments, but words cannot possibly do justice to the spectacular displays, so I’ll also provide pictures. I also found myself less immersed in the music, for better or worse, and this recap accurately reflects that.
When we first entered the room, we were greeted by an enormous 3.67-acre LED array with a resolution of 16000x16000---the highest resolution LED screen on the planet. Once we sat down, we noticed the glaring lack of a light rig or stacks of speakers, but hidden behind the screen and throughout the venue there are over 168,000 separate speaker drivers, amps, and processing channels, an auditory nirvana.
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SET 1: Set Your Soul Free, Tube, Stash, Pillow Jets, Steam, Mountains in the Mist, Taste, 46 Days
SET 2: Sigma Oasis > Fuego > Golden Age -> Twist, I Am Hydrogen > Chalk Dust Torture > Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.
ENCORE: A Life Beyond The Dream[1], Tweezer Reprise
During Tube, the dome seemed to fill with soap bubbles which reflected the venue and drifted in front of a nebula of changing colors. During Pillow Jets, the view became that of a grassy path through a grove of trees under a starlit sky. Travelling down the path as the jam progressed, the grass and trees became tinged with glowing, multi-colored light, which periodically intensified and erupted from the ground through the branches, creating a firework effect. Mike and Trey teased Manteca during Steam. During Mountains in the Mist, the dome made it appear as if the venue was nestled in an evergreen-covered mountain range, with mist shrouding the sky from view. During Taste, the entire dome appeared to become covered in turning rings of Jim Pollock illustrations from the covers of the Live Phish CD releases, rendered in gold and black. During Sigma Oasis, the dome became a cloudscape, with trees, birds and sea creatures made out of bubbling clouds. During Fuego, a spotlight was used to create a silhouette of the band, with the image then recreated across the dome with effects added to make the band appear as flaming shadow people. During Twist, the dome became filled with multicolored letters tumbling before a backdrop of pulsing red circles. I Am Hydrogen was performed in a show without Mike's Song and Weekapaug Groove for the first time since October 31, 1987 (2,024 shows). A Life Beyond The Dream featured Trey on acoustic guitar. During Tweezer Reprise, the dome again displayed images of cars, this time tumbling into the distance. This show was connected to the other three with each night's setlist tied into a state of matter. This performance's matter type was gas.
SPHERE1 RECAP
[This recap primarily of the scene is courtesy of dot net user @saw_ita_Jen, Jenny Chadbourne. As with all recaps, the views expressed are those of the recapper and may not reflect the views of any of the volunteers who run this site. -Ed.]
With night one on the books, I sit here in my room trying best articulate this experience, which is not easy. It's akin to trying to describe the sky and the colors of the sunset, or what it feels like to be in a redwood forest at sunset. The full emergence of the experience is truly grand, beyond anything you can comprehend. In this case a picture (of Nectar) is really worth a thousand words (so there a bunch in this recap).
The Sphere is a force of color and light on the strip, it’s hard to miss in the day or nighttime. It’s constantly radiating light, and color. A true work of psychedelic genius. For reference, the Hampton Coliseum is 84,827 cubic feet (26,263 square foot arena floor and a 70-foot ceiling), but Sphere is 875,000 cubic feet, as it's 366 feet tall and 516 feet wide. As the cherry on top, we get graphics for Dead and Co---it’s really special to have that steal your face imagery in the mix.
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SET 1: Free, The Moma Dance, Axilla (Part II), mercy, Bathtub Gin, Theme From the Bottom > Split Open and Melt
SET 2: A Wave of Hope, What's the Use? > Ruby Waves, Lonely Trip, A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing -> Prince Caspian, You Enjoy Myself
ENCORE: Wading in the Velvet Sea, Harry Hood
The band took the stage while pre-show music similar to a Free jam played, which continued until they began the song and waterfalls of colored light suddenly cascaded from the top of the dome. During Moma, a moving, 360-degree live shot of the crowd and band was displayed, with psychedelic colors and effects. During mercy, the dome displayed an overhead view of a sparkling ocean, with small birds in pastel colors flying over the water. During Gin, the entire dome became an overhead view of a large wave pool, filled with hundreds of people on food-shaped inflatables drifting and spinning. During the Gin jam, the images of the bathers became blurred and abstract, forming a neon kaleidoscope effect. During Theme, the entire dome became an underwater seascape, with kelp forest, fish, human swimmers, and light from the surface shining down from the top. Theme also contained a DEG tease from Trey. At the start of ASIHTOS, eight jellyfish puppets were raised on each side of the stage, while the dome remained dark. Once the jam began, the light on the dome came up to reveal another underwater seascape, whose plants and fish became luminous as the rest of the light dimmed again. During Caspian, this seascape changed to a view from within the columns and arches of a sunken monument. As YEM began, the entire dome became the view from inside of a car as it entered a "Tunnel of Luv" car wash, with the stage appearing to sit on top of the middle of the dashboard. The car progressed through the wash as YEM continued, with Trey's solo during the wax and wheel scrub, and the bass and drums as the car was dried and exited the wash. Suddenly the car view was gone, and it appeared that the dome was clear, with a puppy licking it from the outside, in slow-motion, for the duration of the vocal jam. During Velvet Sea, the dome appeared to be covered in flowing red velvet, with photographs of the band throughout the years appearing and disappearing among the fabric. By the end of the song, the entire dome was covered in photos. Trey teased The Secret of Life (The Dead Milkmen) in Hood. This show was connected to the other three with each night's setlist tied into a state of matter. This performance's matter type was liquid.
SET 1: Everything's Right, Back on the Train, Wolfman's Brother, Maze, Leaves, Life Saving Gun, Dirt, Carini
SET 2: Sand > Tweezer -> My Friend, My Friend > Mike's Song > Lifeboy, Weekapaug Groove, Blaze On > Fluffhead
ENCORE: Farmhouse[1], Run Like an Antelope
The band took the stage while the pre-show electronic music continued. During Back on the Train, psychedelic images of passing countryside were displayed behind and above the band, rotating in opposite directions in different sections of the dome. During Maze, psychedelic live images of each band member appeared, stacked on top of each other. These images then fragmented and spread out, dancing and turning throughout the jam. During Leaves, several giant paper lanterns appeared, flanking the stage, while the dome showed a multitude of paper lanterns floating over water, with the moon shining above. During Life Saving Gun, the dome displayed stacks of old-style televisions with rabbit ears, with each television showing a live shot of one of the band members. These TVs moved and rotated as the jam progressed. After the song, Trey said that he "loves any song with a Jon Fishman percussion rinse," and told the crowd they should see the Sphere from the stage. During Dirt, the dome showed a forest view, looking upwards through trees at a purple-hued sky. During Tweezer, a field of multi-colored cars appeared behind the band, changing in size and shape and with their headlights blinking on and off in patterns, while other cars drove past overhead. My Friend, My Friend included live spotlight silhouettes of the band members projected across the entire dome. The projections during Mike's Song made it seem as if the venue was outdoors, with the band playing in front of a body of water with a rotating sculpture on the far shore. During Lifeboy, the sun went down and a number of other rotating sculptures lit up in the sky, creating a golden star-scape. The sun then rose again during Weekapaug. Farmhouse began and ended with Trey on acoustic guitar, as well as images of a farmhouse in a field under a night sky filled with stars and aurorae. This show was connected to the other three with each night's setlist tied into a state of matter. This performance's matter type was solid.
PHISH STUDIES CONFERENCE UNVEILS 2024 AGENDA, SPHERE PHANART EVENT
[This post is courtesy of Dr. Stephanie Jenkins. -Ed.]
The agenda for the 2024 Phish Studies Conference (May 17-19), hosted by Oregon State University and The Mockingbird Foundation, is now available! The complete schedule of panels, performances, exhibits, and vendors is available at phishstudies.net.
Registration is open to the public -- fans and scholars alike.
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ATTENDANCE BIAS PODCAST REVISITS PHIL LESH AND PHRIENDS AT THE WARFIELD, APRIL 15-16-17, 1999
IT has been twenty-five years since April 1999, a musically awe-inspiring month for Bay Area fans of improvisational rock. Those who loved the Grateful Dead, Phish, Steve Kimock (and Zero and KVHW, among the greatest improvisational rock bands in history imnsfho), and Carlos Santana couldn’t be happier. That's because in addition to the three Warfield PhilSH shows mid-month---which you can (re)listen to here or on Archive.Org or even watch video of on YouTube---April 1999 began with two legendary KVHW shows at the Great American Music Hall. The month also featured two Zero shows at the Maritime Hall the weekend of April 9; three Santana Fillmore shows, the third of which on April 18 featured Trey and Page on a few tunes (my review of it on this site is at phish.net/review-archive/shows/4-18-99.html; a stealth-taped fob-daud of this show used to circulate on DAT, CDR and cassette but I can't find it online today); two Jazz Is Dead shows at the Maritime Hall with Kimock on April 23 and 24; and then a Kimock, Vega, Hertz and (Jimmy) Herring (“KVHH”) show on April 30 up 101 north in Petaluma! This was certainly among the greatest months of music in my life and the lives of many others.
The magnificent, transcendent music of the April 1999 Phil Lesh and Friends Warfield shows, featuring Phil on bass, Steve Kimock and Trey on rhythm and lead guitars, Page McConnell on keyboards, and John Molo on drums, has been exhaustively discussed by many, including in detailed reviews posted in the glow of the events 25 years ago. The shows continue to be among the greatest improvisational musical performances I have ever seen, and you'll hear more from me about that than you ever needed or wanted to know if you listen to the Attendance Bias podcast episode about these shows with host Brian Weinstein; you can listen to it wherever you listen to your podcasts.
SURRENDER TO THE FLOW #82: LAS VEGAS 2024
[This post is courtesy of Christy Articola. -Ed.]
This issue is full of good stuff for you! It includes information about this year's Vegas run including where to eat, things to do, and lots of information about this new and exciting venue.
PHISHNET WAS BORN JUNE 22, 1991
PHISH archivist Kevin Shapiro recently---and graciously---tweeted HAPPY 34th BIRTHDAY to PhishNet, because for a very long time we believed PhishNet began thirty-four years ago in March 1990, as indicated in the old dot net "timeline," this News item, and this Jambands article from 2008 when Phish received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Jammys.
But a few years ago, PhishNet's founder Matt Laurence found his first email to the new PhishNet email list and sent it to us:
DIVIDED SKY FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES 2024 FUN(D) RUN AND MUSIC FEST
[Text courtesy of Alex of the Divided Sky Foundation. -Ed.]
For the third year, the Divided Sky Foundation has partnered with the Antelope Running Club to host a charity 5K run in Ludlow, Vermont. This event will occur on May 18th and will help raise awareness about addiction recovery and treatment, and support the recently opened Divided Sky Recovery Center, as well as the Turning Point Centers of Rutland and Springfield, Vermont. We're also excited this year to partner with The Phoenix to organize a post-run Mountain Music Festival, featuring Anders Osbourne, Dogs in a Pile and Saints & Liars.
THIS TIME WILL BE DIFFERENT: ATTENDANCE BIAS PODCAST CELEBRATES 15 YEARS SINCE HAMPTON 2009
In case you've missed it, the Attendance Bias podcast with host Brian Weinstein, for the previous two weeks and episodes, has been reminiscing about and revisiting Phish history during the 2000 pre-hiatus and 2001-2002 hiatus period, and the 2.0 and break-up period, with members of Phish.net and The Mockingbird Foundation, Scott Marks and Charlie Dirksen.
2024 Summer Tour Announced By The Phish
PHISH has announced a summer tour that begins with three shows at Great Woods on July 19, 20 and 21, and then continues at the Mohegun Sun on July 23 and 24, Alpine Valley on July 26, 27 and 28, St. Louis on July 30 and 31, Deer Creek on August 2, 3, and 4, the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids on August 6 and 7, Bethel Woods on August 9, 10, and 11, the previously announced Mondegreen festival in Delaware August 15th through the 18th, and finally four shows at Dicks from August 29th through September 1st. Tickets through the Phish Tickets lottery process for everything except Mondegreen are available now through Monday, March 11th, at noon e.t. Public onsale begins Friday, March 15th, at 10am e.t. For more information, visit Phish's website.
Phish Announces Festival Mondegreen
PHISH's next festival, MONDEGREEN, will involve four days of shows (so perhaps more than four shows) on August 15-18, 2024, at The Woodlands in Dover, Delaware. For more information about the event, please click here. Although passes for the festival go on sale this Friday, January 19, at 11am e.t., through AXS (create a fan account, or update your current AXS info (perhaps with a New Device) for a smooth purchase experience), travel packages go on sale this Thursday, January 18, at 11am e.t. For more information about mondegreens, there's a YouTube video here, an entertaining New Yorker piece from nearly a decade ago "The Science of Misheard Lyrics" here, and, of course, lest one e'er forget, heaven's just a funky moose.
Phish Releases Video Of 12/31/23 Gamehendge Production
PHISH released video today of its performance of Gamehendge on December 31, 2023, which spanned two of the show's three sets. This video not only contains footage that was broadcast to viewers of the webcast on New Year's Eve, but also previously unseen footage.
Mockingbird Announces Nye Tour Grants
In celebration of Phish’s four-show New Year's Eve run at Madison Square Garden (Dec 28, 29, 30, & 31), the all-volunteer and fan-run Mockingbird Foundation has announced that it is sending an unsolicited $1,000 Tour Grant to four music education programs nearby:
- P721X Stephen D. McSweeney OTC of Bronx, NY, for microphones (with cables and stands), an electric guitar, and an amp.
- NYCDOE of Far Rockaway, Queens, NY, for bongos, shakers, flutes, props, iPads, costumes, and other instruments
- P10X of Bronx, NY, for adapted instruments for students with fine and gross motor difficulties.
- Robert F Wagner Middle School 167 of New York, NY, for a Fender electric bass, strings, bow, and rosin.
This is the 26th round of unsolicited Tour Grants, an effort that now totals over $268,000, which is 11% of all disbursements made by the foundation. These grants are part of a long-standing effort to help support music education in the local communities that Phish touches. They follow Mockingbird's largest competitive grant round ever, and a total of 66 grants this past summer alone! Mockingbird has now made 661 grants in all 50 states, totaling more than $2.3M.
Phish 2023 Nye Run At Madison Square Garden
PHISH will perform at Madison Square Garden on December 28, 29, 30 and 31. The ticket request period for the phoi pholloi is underway at tickets.phish.com and will conclude on Monday, September 25th, at Noon eastern time. The public onsale begins Friday, September 29th, at Noon eastern time. A limited number of travel packages (hotel + tickets) will go on sale Wednesday, September 27th at Noon ET here.
Phish.net
The Mockingbird Foundation