There are just 30 days left until the start of Summer Tour 2013. To kill time before the start of tour, @lawnmemo has started a project he calls 33 in 33, where 33 different writers write about a single jam (or run of songs) from each show of Phish's 2012 Summer Tour. The first two entries are already live (written by Phish.net contributors @ericwyman and @tmwsiy) and are well worth your time. Presumably the third will be posted shortly (covering Bonnaroo, but don't let that stop you). If this project is half as good as his The Daily Ghost reviews, we're all in for a treat. So bookmark his homepage or follow him on twitter for each day's post as we all countdown the days until Bangor. Just a month to go, folks.

Read more...

On Wednesday, May 22, Trey Anastasio revived his orchestral repertoire with the National Symphony Orchestra Pops at the 2,446-seat Kennedy Center Concert Hall in Washington, D.C., for his only scheduled orchestral appearance in 2013. Anastasio was joined by NSO principal pops conductor Steven Reineke, performing orchestrations by Don Hart.

“First Tube” led off the show, as it had in all six previous orchestral performances, excepting it’s symphonic debut on 5/21/09 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra when it closed the first set. Trey appeared extremely loose as he enthusiastically leaned into the first of his solos of the night, rushing ahead of the orchestra before settling into a sustained groove. The Anastasio/Marshall composition “Frost” from Trey’s 2012 release, Traveler, offered the only orchestral debut of the evening, with Trey delivering a sweet and delicate vocal performance.

Read more...

Welcome to the 145th chapter of Phish.net's Mystery Jam, er, "Monday." Just like your local clichéd classic rock FM radio station, this will be a true "Two for Tuesday" edition, as you'll be playing to win TWO MP3 downloads courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, 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 Wednesday if necessary, and the answer will be posted on Thursday. Good luck!

Answer: A pair of MP3s goes to first-time winner @viola, who successfully identified the 6/19/09 A Song I Heard The Ocean Sing. Well done!

T-minus three days until MJM Part 146...

Welcome to the 144th edition of Phish.net's Mystery Jam Monday. You should all know how the story goes by now -- the first contestant to correctly identify this week's song and date will 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, and the answer will be posted on Wednesday. Gentlemen, gentlewomen, start your engines...

Tuesday Hint: Being familiar with the longest version of Gotta Jibboo that Phish has played to date can help you determine which year this week's MJM comes from. Be warned, however -- this hint is not as straightforward as you might think it is.

Wednesday Answer: It seems that the hint was as hard to solve as the MJM itself! You were very close to solving that part, as @ekstewie1441's comment mentioned that the 7/4/00 Gotta Jibboo was the answer for MJM #96, and '96 was indeed the year that MJM #144 comes from -- the 7/9/96 Mike's Song to be exact. Because the answer to MJM #144 was not mentioned in the comments, the Blog is this week's big winner with its ninth victory in 144 tries, but its second in the last five.

Next week's 145th chapter of Mystery Jam Monday will be held a day late due to Memorial Day, for which contestants will be competing to win a pair of MP3 downloads. Enjoy the holiday weekend, everyone!

IT can be good to take a break. You catch your breath, relax your limbs, clear your head... feed your soul. Five months into 2013, as we near July and Phish's impending Summer Tour, the highlights of their 2012 MSG New Year's run still sound fresh and fantastic, even if my $0.02 about them are not.

Read more...

I realized yesterday, that I probably haven't listened to Phish in a month. That is, actively listening, thinking about Phish's music. Then I got to thinking… have I listened to Phish this year? Have I distanced myself from the music purposefully? Do I not like Phish anymore? I mean, shit, I don't think I'm gonna go to any shows this summer. And I'm kinda ok with that. So what gives?

Read more...

Welcome to the 143rd edition of Phish.net's Mystery Jam Monday! As always, the first contestant to correctly identify this week's song and date will win an MP3 download courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. The rules: 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. Enjoy!

Wednesday Answer: For a moment, I'd deluded myself into thinking that this week's choice had fooled the contestants just long enough to at least earn a hint-aided loss. With a scant eight hours left, however, they proved once again how ridiculously great and knowledgeable they truly are. (Or how miserably awful the Blog's been at choosing clips.)

Fall 1998 was certainly not the most consistent tour Phish has ever played, but it did provide numerous underrated gems -- MJM #143's 11/4/98 Piper being one example. Three-time winner @PhreePhish wins this week's MP3 download. Mazel Tov!

Mystery Jam Monday 12² arrives in five.

Seth Kaddish has put together a geographic heat map showing Phish touring concentrations by state. (Compare to the one he did of Dead tours. Also, the two are posted together for easy comparison by TheBarnPresents.)

Read more...

On this lovely seis de mayo, I'd like to welcome you to the 142nd chapter of Phish.net's Mystery Jam Monday! As always, the first contestant to correctly identify this week's song and date will win an MP3 download courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. The rules haven't changed: 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.

Buena suerte!

Wednesday Answer: By correctly identifying the 10/8/99 Halley's Comet this week's MP3 download goes to @mcgrupp81, who's now recorded three MJM wins. Bravo!

MJM CXLIII drops Monday.

Weak ticket sales prompted a quick hook for the show, but Hands on A Hardbody is starting strong in the Broadway awards season. This morning, Trey captured a Tony nomination in his first foray into writing for the stage, sharing a nod for Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Stage with Amanda Green. (Amanda wrote the lyrics, while the two share credit for the music). While it's not a part of this particular award, Trey also is credited with writing the orchestrations (along with old partner Don Hart), a big part of the overal musical effect.

Read more...

Welcome to the 141st episode of Phish.net's Mystery Jam Monday! We're a scant 5,637,600 seconds or so from lights down in Bangor. If you've got a spare sixty to waste, give this one a listen. If you recognize which song and show it was culled from, post your guess in the comments. Because MJM Headquarters was the big winner last week, the first contestant to correctly identify this week's song and date will win TWO MP3 downloads, courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. The rules haven't changed: 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: No luck was needed, as @westbrook identified the 8/24/93 Vancouver Soundcheck Jam (the first 10:00 of that YouTube) within the first two minutes of the contest, and wins a pair of MP3 downloads. Although, considering that @yunkfunk also answered correctly within seconds of the winning comment, perhaps a bit of luck was involved. Regardless, the Blog was thoroughly flogged -- per usual, you contestants are truly on your game.

Episode #142, next Monday. Same Phish time. Same Phish channel.

Greetings, and welcome to the 140th episode of Phish.net's Mystery Jam Monday! Including today's edition, we're still eleven Mystery Jam Mondays away from the opening show of Phish's 2013 Summer Tour, which should provide you ample opportunity to fill up that road playlist.

That's because, per 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.

Best of luck!

Tuesday Hint: The streak of fourteen straight MJMs that have not needed a Tuesday hint has been snapped! It remains to be seen, however, if the Blog can put an end to its winless streak of twenty-five. Here's your clue: along the lines of what @ucpete alluded to, there are MJMs which are topical, and MJMs which are not. This week's MJM falls into the former group.

Wednesday Answer: With the win, I'd like to congratulate -- the Blog! It was a true nail-biter, as many of you were able to pin down either the era or the location, but ultimately no one was able to put it all together and name the 12/31/94 Chalk Dust Torture, played at the old Boston Garden, and chosen in the wake of the utter chaos that enveloped Boston last week. Check out the end of that track for the post-outro evil spaciness that ultimately fades into a soothing Horse > Silent.

Stay tuned for next week's one hundred and forty-first Mystery Jam Monday, when the Blog attempts to put together its first two-win streak and improve its current record of 8-114-14^[1].

[1] That would be 8 wins, 114 losses, and 14 hint-aided losses. And yes -- when falling to 106 games below .500, you're damned right we're counting hint-aided losses separately from the garden-variety ass-whuppings we typically suffer.

20 years ago today, I did an interview with Mike Gordon for rec.music.phish. Phish was in Ann Arbor for a two-day run at the Michigan Theater and we sat down in his hotel room before the 4/18 show to talk about a number of things. My favorite part was the discussion about his songwriting. He had with him his songwriting book that had pretty much everything he had written up to that point. This interview includes the first public peeks at Simple and Scent Of A Mule (before they were even songs), some unused lyrics from Mound, and even some never-recorded lyrics. We had a very fun discussion and it gives a rare peek into the songwriting mind of Mike Gordon. Click on the "read more" link to see the interview.

-Brian Feller 4/18/2013

Read more...

Welcome to the 139th edition of Phish.net's Mystery Jam Monday. I am truly honored to be your new victim host, and hope I can be the Andrew Luck to @lumpblockclod's Peyton Manning. Rather than his Curtis Painter.

Despite the change in personnel, most things around here will remain the same. 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: My dreams of an undefeated reign have been destroyed. By identifying the 8/10/04 AC/DC Bag -- a song about Gamehendge's accountant Mr. Palmer that was posted on Tax Day, I'd like to note -- this week's MP3 download goes to @PhreePhish, who's put together an impressive run of two wins over the last four weeks.

Join us here next Monday for the one hundred and fortieth installment of Mystery Jam Monday.

(Note: Mockingbird Foundation volunteers often participate in Type II Cast Phish podcasts. For this series of episodes, we thought we would cross-post it to the Phish.net audience to allow them to chime in and play along. As always, if you enjoy the content here, please donate to The Mockingbird Foundation. Plus, don't forget to preorder The Phish Companion, 3rd Edition.)

If this is the first you are hearing of the Ultimate Phish Nerdgasm^TM series, then you should go listen to the first two episodes, or at least the first. But definitely not just the second, because that wouldn’t make any sense. However, I understand if you want to get down to money shot and only listen to this episode. If you have been following along this whole time and keep coming back for more, we applaud you! This is easily the longest running series of recorded spoken word geek talk about Phish.

Read more...