[We would like to thank Doug Kaplan (@MrDougDoug) for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

Here we are at Alpine Valley yet again! For those who haven’t been here before, Alpine Valley is a very precious (and extremely deep) ditch in Southern Wisconsin where the four wizards – who I will refer to as Phish for the rest of this article – have been enchanting and enlightening tens of thousands of people since 1996. Tonight just so happens to be Phish’s 25^th ever show at this venue, vaulting this space into an exclusive list of hallowed Phish locations where you can still see the band this year, like Madison Square Garden, Dick’s, and Deer Creek, and primal venues where you’ve probably never seen Phish (but I want to talk with you if you did) like Nectar’s and The Front. While we all know that a number is just a number, Phish people more than any other fanbase relish in numbers and statistics, often ascribing meaning to nice round digits. With such a rich history performing at the venue, including a bevy of official live releases, numerous two and three day stands, notable bustout shows, and the legendary Alpine “Ruby Waves,” Phish has proved time and time again that they can’t get enough of this magical Wisconsin ditch. But if you poke around the forums, you’ll see that fans seem to have more of a love/hate relationship with the venue.

I love this place and feel very fortunate to be here, but I fully understand it if you want to complain about this venue. After seeing Phish in many locations, you might think about Alpine Valley and ask yourself, “Is this still 'Simple' for me to attend, or should I go see Phish somewhere else?” Going to Alpine Valley requires a lot more planning and determination than many other places Phish plays these days. This is NOT a Chicago venue, there are no Ubers or Lyfts, there’s no public transit, the lot police and highway patrollers are aggressive and unwelcoming, someone is going to have to be a DD and drive you and your wookie friends home, there’s no shakedown street, there aren’t many reasons to hang out on the lot when there are Robocop drones handing out citations, the surrounding areas are expensive to stay at, the traffic is imposing. With all these factors, I surely don’t fault you if it’s all too much to handle and you’d rather just go to Dick’s. But for those of us that love this place, all these inconveniences become really easy to ignore. When you finally work your way through the bullsh*t and get inside of the venue and start making your way down to the bottom of the lovely ditch, it’s as oldschool and charming as any spot that Phish still plays.

Let’s just be honest---business doesn’t seem to very good at Alpine Valley these days. Every summer feels like it could be the last one where the venue is still operational. With every passing year, there are fewer and fewer bands that can command an audience demanding of this enormous venue. Jimmy Buffett is dearly departed… and while it’s 5 o’clock somewhere, it’s midnight for Parrotheads everywhere. Dead & Company have said fare thee well to their forever tour and are more likely to do a residency at The Sphere in Dubai than ever return to Wicked Wisco. This year, Alpine Valley is hosting few enough events that you can count them your fingers; only Phish, Dave, Hootie, and a few other country/americana concerts are on the docket. Because they don’t host very many shows, Alpine Valley is able to stay stuck in a time warp. This isn’t Great Woods where they removed most of your beloved lawn to put in more seats to charge you more, or SPAC where they installed a balcony and blocked your beloved view. This venue feels exactly as it felt the first time I visited in 2009, and according to my wife, the same as the first time she visited it in 1998. Another particularly charming and oldschool thing about the venue is that it erases your cell phone service, so you can just put it away and enjoy the show. Once you’ve waded through all the logistics, and get to your spot, and the music is flowing, it feels like Phish is playing a very private event for only true believer fans at the bottom of the grooviest ditch that ever was. There are so many positives of this venue that you can lean into, rather than letting the bad stuff bog you down, so let’s hope that it remains a stop on Phish’s forever tour.

Last night, for Phish’s 24^th show at Alpine Valley, the band delivered a Midwestern banger the likes of which we haven’t seen in quite a while. It was a real tooth-grinder: a high-octane, energy-driven, attention-grabbing show with perfect calls at almost every moment, containing a few top tier jams in “My Friend My Friend” and “Ghost,” and brimming with an unrelenting vintage energy that matched the venue and the moment perfectly. Tonight, for Phish’s 25^th show, what tarot cards will the band draw and what amazing adventures do they have in store for us?

I’m attending the show with my wife and an old friend who is celebrating her birthday. We are all the way on Mike’s side of the pavilion, seated right in front of the GA Pit entrance. We are treated to an excellent side-stage view of the band and both loud and clear sound. The band begins with a trio of classic daytime summer picks, continuing yesterday’s thread of vintage, high-energy, crowd-pleasing selections. The show kicks off with the now somewhat rare set-opening “Sample in a Jar,” leading into a version of “Halley’s Comet” that had just a little extra mustard on the bun, rolling into a rollicking reading of “Birds of a Feather.” The band winds it down for a moment with a solid ballad selection. “Mountains in the Mist” has been getting a lot of play recently, maybe a bit too much so, but I have very little to complain about when the band goes floating off into an iridescent dreamscape. The next card drawn is “Foam” – one of the tracks that elicits the silliest dance moves from fans all around me. If you’re the kind of person who demands a perfect rendition of “Foam” to fully enjoy yourself, well I don’t really want to go see a show with you, because it’s all a lot more enjoyable when you remember how special it is every time Phish dusts this one off. A lot of really happy, statistically-minded people finally get to cross “Foam” off of the #1 slot of their “most common songs not seen” stat page. I’m happy for them all!

The sun is going down over the hill and the set seems about midway through and ready to explode. “Moonage Daydream” is always a perfect pick wherever it appears – every time I’ve seen it played live, it’s one of the biggest crowd pops of the night. We’re well into 3 sets of the Alpine Valley run and Phish has not made a single bad call in the setlisting department. My little crewlet is ecstatic because the beloved birthday girl is a big David Bowie lover, and my wife dressed our daughter in a David Bowie shirt earlier today. Perhaps we’ll continue this thread later? “My Soul” is up next – one of my wife’s favorite songs and another daytime summer classic. We can squeeze out a little more sunlight from this joyous day and juice it for all of the fun it’s got, right?

Standing right next to the GA Pit entrance is starting to become a bit of a distraction. A man runs out with his hands covering his face, holding a pile of vomit tightly to his face. He sits down on the path to recuperate. My wife and I always come prepared, so I go up to him and give him some wet wipes to clean up the puke and overhear him talking to security about how he’s experiencing some chest pain and needs help. Here’s hoping this man got the help he needs. An opportunistic jerk sees the health episode transpiring and the security thinned out a bit and tries to crash the pit without a wristband. They chase him around and catch him almost immediately. He gets all pouty-faced and he shows them some other wristband from another show, and they escort him out of the pavilion quickly. The guy directly in front of me is also clearly paying more attention to the chaos than the music. He expertly trolls the security and pretends to run into the pit right after they escort out the opportunistic jerk, only to be all like “JK JK JK” and he high fives and half-hugs the guard. It’s a hilarious moment that I had to compliment. I love some good comedy at a Phish show.

I put on my sunglasses to block out the distractions and Phish delivers another heavy-hitter with “The Lizards,” basically a childhood dream and spellbinding Disney-like moment for all the believers in attendance. It’s wonderful to see this song so early in the show. It’s always so uplifting and awe-inspiring, so it’s great to see it when my knees aren’t cooked. “David Bowie” is up next and it’s clear that Phish is deeply tuned in to the birthday girl, my daughter’s fashion choices, and my wife’s legendary status in our circle as “a Bowie magnet.” While we’re still waiting for “David Bowie” to return to its now ancient, craggy, mega-exploratory ways, it’s always a magnificent way to rev up the audience one final time before saying goodbye for a little while.

Setbreak at Alpine Valley goes by very quickly when you have a seat that’s at the bottom of the very groovy ditch. We make our way up the hill to do some bathroom and refreshment-related errands, running into some friends along the way. While waiting for a delicious black can of Liquid Death Sparkling Water (TM), I meet a very young fan who’s eager to talk. He’s 14 years old, attending his tenth show with his father, is planning to buy a Red Bull, and would like to see “something rare in set two” like “Makisupa Policeman” or “Dog Log," which he tells me he has recently learned how to play on guitar. I’m feeling a little nostalgic and tell the young man that he reminds me of myself at his age when I first saw Phish. The man behind me in line interjects and tells me that he could have had the same conversation with me when I was fourteen at the Phish show and that we’re all a part of the same continuum of Phish-loving, guitar playing, nerdy, friendly guys. It’s good to be around family. I try to wish the young man a good second set, but he’s running back to his spot as fast as possible. Red Bull gives you wings?

“Sigma Oasis” begins and my crew of three is all over the venue trying to make our way back to our seat. Phish is telling me that “[I’m] already there,” but I’m actually more than a city block from my seat and will have to flash my ticket credentials three separate times to get back to it. I return to our spot right when the song portion is concluding, and the band is starting to settle into a cozy groove. The ideas are just starting to flow when Trey gets the idea that it’s time to abort and play “Simple,” forcing the riff. The band seemingly rejects the idea for a while and continues on the “Sigma Oasis” jam, but Trey keeps saying “No No No Simple Simple Simple” and the band has no other choice but to follow suit.

I think about how my wife and I have been singing “Simple” to our six-month old daughter with our own family-oriented lyrics:

“We’ve got [daughter’s name redacted] / cause we’ve got a fam / and we’ve got [name redacted] in the fam.
What is a fam without [name redacted]? [Name redacted] is grand!
[Name redacted] and Garmin [our cat’s name], Mommy and Daddy
[Name redacted] and Garmin [our cat’s name], Mommy and Daddy”

My mind drifts to the REAL MVP of the night. It’s not Big Red, it’s not John Sullen Melancholy, or Cactus, or even Leo. It’s my mother-in-law who is taking care of [name redacted] and allowing me and my wife the opportunity to do our favorite thing for a few nights. Thank you SO MUCH Grandma!

Phish is singing one of their silliest and most heartwarming songs and I’m happily thinking about my family when the band catches my attention with an early key change into a funky, sassy, stately strut. We aren’t even ten minutes into this jam, and they’re already hinting at shades of an atonal clown portal kind of zone. The music is flowing so clearly and effortlessly from all members with a level of patience and empathy that’s promising. The best kind of Phish is music of gradual change, and we’re slowly skirting into a less intense portion, but always maintaining a strong danceable energy. Mike is loping around in a wonderful and wily way and everyone else is gently prodding at the seams, probing out which direction will come next. While not rushing anywhere in particular, Trey gets into a familiar southern rock mood – Fishman immediately picks up the tempo in an attempt to make this a little different than other recent jams which have often been in a southern rock-y mood. This is regal, happy music with an Allman Brothers vibe that Trey revs up into an ecstatic, sassy, finger-wagging, happy dance.

“Is this still Simple?”

At the 20-minute mark, it feels like it might end, but we enter deeper into the Krautrock-y soupy mire: with Fishman motoriking away, Trey getting spacier and probing deeper into the murk, Page moving from some plinking keys that ground the mix to synthesizer shimmers that explode the mix, as Trey locks into descending riffs, and Mike holds down the fort. We’ve traversed through many zones already, but Fishman is keeping everything so danceable throughout. Another key change, Fishman keeps up the blistering hypnotic pace, and one more key change later, we’re back into the happy dancing southern rocking churn – perhaps a bit repetitive, but we’re so happy that they are choosing to keep pushing themselves, and the rhythm section is keeping the party going. We’re about 25 minutes in and my wife and I have a quick meeting – “Is this still “Simple?” “Yes.” “Is this as good as last night?” “Maybe even better.” OK glad we’re on the same page.

They build up this jam portion to a normal 4.0 major key peak – which is to say a rapturous, joyful, arms-in-the-sky, smile beaming from your face that’s gives you wrinkles, happiest you’ve felt in a month, small tears welling in your eyes, winning the Olympics kind of moment. After a huge crowd pop, Fishman proves that he's the biggest dance monster of them all and keeps the perpetual groove rolling. Trey pops in with a little staccato riff, we’re getting a little bit dubby and then it’s time to probe some new depths. We’re at about 28:30 and the band is officially opening up the clown portal in a big way. Everyone gets atonal, effects and synthesizers are zipping left and right, the drums become queasy and irregular before locking into a sneaky groove. This is sublime – if you’re a sick weirdo like me. A hidden door reveals itself to Page, which sounds like it could lead to several moments of “Meatstick”, but unlike than Trey’s forceful segue into “Simple," Page suggests “Meatstick” as an open-handed invitation. The band passes on “Meatstick,” but the mere suggestion gets them locked into a lovely, warty, Phish-y groove with the “Meatstick” tone continuing to keep the jam firmly underneath the circus calliope for a few more minutes, as Trey pitch shifts and lilts over the bizarro groove, waving his finger in the wind. Things might be getting a little too weird, so the band decides it’s time to wind it down and get pretty and ethereal. Is this still “Simple”? Mike holds some lovely long pedal tones, Trey lays down some reverse loops and beautifully pontifies over them, Page pedals along on shimmering organ, with Fishman keeping a flittering and unrepetitive high hat rhythm, martially churning like circuit-bent toy soldier. This is gorgeous, awe-inspiring Phish that allows the audience a moment to take a tiny breath and look out at the vista. Yet another key change, and Trey decides that it’s time to get a little bit bluesy and rowdy and the band follows suit. It’s time to rev up the old hose and water the garden again. “Is this still “Simple”? Is this real life? How are they still keeping this up? Will they ever relent?” The band locks into a nasty riff together, before realizing that they’re contractually required to cap this one off with one more giant major key jam, a.k.a the happiest moment in the history of time, causing tens of thousands of high fives, hugs, and wrinkles around the eyes. Though geographically, I’m at the bottom of the ditch, spiritually I’m on top of the hill of life. All good things must come to an end, and Trey brings it back into “Simple” proper, perfectly tying a bow on a jam that we’ll all be talking about for years to come. This “Simple” is the kind of patient, stately, multi-faceted, life-affirming, balls-to-the-wall, totally locked-in, never stop dancing, attention-consuming, moment-dilating experience that we as Phish fans so eagerly seek and revel in. I think to myself that it must’ve been a 35-minute or so jam, but I later discovered that it was the longest “Simple” ever, that it surpassed the Alpine “Ruby Waves” as the longest jam in venue history, and that it holds a slot in the top ten Phish jams by length. A superlative, top-shelf jam that’s entirely befitting of the Alpine Valley 25^th official anniversary show that everybody forgot to celebrate except for me. While basking in the improvisatory mastery, I think to myself, “Is this still “Simple”?” And the answer is OMG 100% YES – seeing this band is the most entertaining thing on the planet. There is nothing easier than enjoying a Phish concert, especially when they are as on point as they’ve been these last two shows.

Phish could have left the stage and the set would’ve been as long and fulfilling as a late-90s Alpine Valley set, but luckily there’s more to come. The band takes a collective pause and launches into “The Howling,” another one that holds a lot of significance for my little crew as we attended the Sci-Fi Soldiers gig together and have howled to the song all over the country. It’s a thrill to keep the energy so high and danceable after that mind-melter of a “Simple” that’s still on my mind. “A Wave of Hope” comes crashing ashore and I can confidently say that this song is the most useful track from “Evolve” within the Phish live concert toolset. Which is to say… it f*cks just about every time! The jams are flowing effortlessly tonight, and the band is trying to dance our legs off. One of our neighbors is also flowing effortlessly in a bad way: “A Wave of Fart” drifts into our section. The three of us laugh and try to figure out who it was – was it the security guard manning the pit entrance or the aisle dancer with BO? “Is this still “Simple”? Nope! It’s WOPE! And once the atomic bomb of a fart clears out, it’s a wonderful, uplifting, mostly major-key jam at a brisk tempo that reaches a big white light peak, and winds down the groove in a more sentimental manner.

They lull us into a brief ambient muck before drifting along into “Lifeboy.” The ballads have been very scant this run, and I’m glad that Phish is picking slow songs that are complex and brimming with emotions. These are the moments that can really elevate a set and keep every moment engaging and meaningful. Another sparkling, special vibe to revel in… or perhaps a good time to reach into my clear bag and eat the warm Rice Krispie treat that’s been on my mind after an hour of full throttle Phish. Later in the night, a text makes it through the matrix from one of my closest friends who’s up on the lawn, that he’s thinking about our dearly departed friend – J Guy – who unexpectedly and tragically exited our realm earlier in the week. The best Phish sets achieve balance between moments of joy and reflection: sets that can make you lose yourself in a swell of collective energy, and then zoom right back into highly personal, interior thoughts.

Phish is crazed this Alpine Valley run and “Sand” arrives like an unstoppable force of nature. The persistent energy continues, our section has cleared out a little bit, and we now have several seats to dance, and dance we do – we’re spinning in circles, flailing around, eyes closed, celebrating and reveling in every note. Phish is tightly twisting the wet towel of life, ringing out our spines, and squeezing out every last drop of energy from our bodies. Trey is kind of a brat in the locker room and he’s cheekily slapping us in the butt with the wet towel. The band is completely in charge of the moment and holding our hearts in the palms of their hands. The XL set impossibly keeps it rolling with one of our favorites, “Golgi Apparatus,” continuing the vintage vibes that have been proudly on display the last four sets. The only thing I regret is that there are no more ticket stubs to hold in the sky, but I’m also glad that nobody has their phone ticket waving around either. Happy 25^th to Alpine Valley!

Earlier this tour at Great Woods, Trey threatened us, suggesting that it’s our responsibility to cheer for an encore and that it’s kind of a silly little tradition that the band does not need to uphold. This is the kind of show where there’s nothing left to say, but luckily there are two more tracks on the table for the encore. “Esther” makes an appearance and serves as the mystical and cryptic rarity that mirrors the Wisconsin fog that’s rolling in. And now it’s time to buckle up, because there’s one final roller coaster ride with “Character Zero.” We have a quick crew meeting, and all agree “There’s nothing more fun than this. We can’t believe that they were able to top last night’s show. We’ve got it simple / we’ve got a band.”

The lights come on and I’m quickly faced with our new situation – it’s time to get out of Alpine Valley, climb that hill, and get back to the hotel room to take care of our baby, relieve grandma, and write a review for this particularly imposing and monumental show. A wave of stress crashes over me as the throngs of people start making their collective moves. I take a breath and think about the last several hours. “Is this still Simple?” And the answer will always be a resounding yes, there’s nothing more simple than getting to simply enjoy Phish. When they’re playing like this, I’ll gladly deal with all of the tribulations presented by Alpine Valley to be in the room to enjoy it.

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