[Thanks to Josh Martin, @JMart, for once again writing a recap for the phish.net blog. And thanks to Matt Bittmann for the sweet photos! - ed.]

Greetings, everyone, and glad tidings from New York City, where Phish played the first of four rescheduled concerts, originally slated to be played Decemeber 29th - January 1st.

Before we begin in earnest, a brief requiem for what might have been: It is overstating nothing to say that Phish in the fall of 2021 was on one of the hottest runs of the post-break up era, no matter what you choose to call it. And while comparisons to the best tours of ANY era may have been a tad premature, one can certainly forgive their being made, as such comparisons are made with the breathless exuberance of a fan who has just witnessed something great. And if you saw a Phish show last year, chances were you did. Add to that momentum the bonkers Sci-Fi Soldiers numerology that Phish started laying on the audience during the Halloween run (4680 days from 3/6/09 to 12/31/21, etc.) and one can’t help but be a bit sad for what might have happened if those dates had gone off as planned. That having been said, if the last two-plus years have taught anyone anything about life, it is that there are things that are simply out of our control and it is our charge to deal with that uncertainty as best as we’re able.

There was no 12/29/21 show, but there was a 4/20/22 show, and that show started at the shockingly early hour of 8:07 PM with “Carini.” Given the level of 4/20-related chatter that had been going on for the past few months, it’s doubtful that very many heads had this as the run opener. This subversive “Carini” modulated is its way out of the dark into a pleasant, if familiar, sonic space. Around 7:30 Trey started upping the ante and Mike was quick to follow. Page jumped on clavinet for a few bars of something that was starting to sound very sinister, but was quickly nixed for a return to calmer pastures. There Trey and Mike fell into two beautiful melodic runs that coalesced into a propulsive chop, beautifully segueing into “Possum.”

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Welcome to the 499th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the second puzzle of April - thanks to @sumac22 for the clip! The winner will receive a $10 gift certificate for LivePhish.com. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of the mystery clip. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 AM ET. Stay safe!

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Reminder: For the first MJM of each month, only folks who have never won an MJM are allowed to answer on the blog before the hint. If you have never won an MJM, please answer as a comment below. If you have previously won an MJM, but you'd like to submit a guess before the hint, you may do so by PMing me; once the hint has been posted, everyone should answer on the blog. If that's confusing to you, check out the handy decision tree that I threw together for you. If you're not sure if you've won before, check in the MJM Results spreadsheet linked below.

Welcome to the 498th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the first puzzle of April. The winner will receive an MP3 code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of the mystery jam. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. Stay safe!

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We hope you will join us for a fine wine and pasta party fundraiser for The Mockingbird Foundation (whose volunteers manage this website) pre-show on Saturday, April 23, 2022, from 4:30-6:30pm at Legacy Records, which is a ten minute walk from MSG.

The event will be held in the upstairs bar of Legacy Records, Ada's Place. This fundraiser is doubling as an opportunity for some of us to hang out with each other for the first time in [expletive deleted] years given the [expletives deleted] pandemic.

For more details and to register, please click here.

Please support this event if you have time and if you appreciate Phish.net. And if you're not keen on wine there will be non-alcoholic beverages available, of course; this is not a formal wine-tasting, there will simply be a variety of fine wines available to drink if you're into wine. This is a preshow gathering of friends new and old more than anything else. Thank you for your support of this site and The Mockingbird Foundation!

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Welcome to the 497th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the third puzzle of March - shoutout to MJM HoFers @Zands & @sumac22 for the clips! The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of both mystery clips, which are connected by a theme. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. Stay safe!

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Welcome to the 496th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the second puzzle of March - thanks to @Zands for one of the clips! The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of both mystery clips, which are connected by a theme. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET. Stay safe!

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To round out the Mockingbird Foundation's 25th year fundraising for music education, we're holding a 10-day auction with a range of things we think you'll find tasty:

• Three new, unboxed copies of the Phish Companion Third Edition, long sold out and currently only available in used copies, for over $500;
• Incredibly, several dozen trips, including adventure travel (fishing, hunting, rafting, and NASCAR), international travel (from Canada and Mexico to Bali, Machu Picchu, and the Amalfi Coast), cultural travel (inc. Broadway backstage, New Orleans Jazz, and Sonoma Wine), and four award shows (Emmy Awards, Espy Awards, Country Music Awards, and American Music Awards);
• Some robust categories of wine- and golf-related items, to restock basics or for gifts with a heart;
• A range of lower-dollar items, because we know everyone likes a little bidding competition for a good cause, from golf divots to kitchen items to binoculars;
• Some higher-value electronics items including a drone and an electric scooter; and
• Some interesting sports memorabilia, autographed and/or framed.

The auction runs from 6am PDT Friday March 18th until 6pm PDT Monday March 28th. Register in advance, now, at mbird.org/auction, and get ready to start bidding for the kids!

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Reminder: For the first MJM of each month, only folks who have never won an MJM are allowed to answer on the blog before the hint. If you have never won an MJM, please answer as a comment below. If you have previously won an MJM, but you'd like to submit a guess before the hint, you may do so by PMing me; once the hint has been posted, everyone should answer on the blog. If that's confusing to you, check out the handy decision tree that I threw together for you. If you're not sure if you've won before, check in the MJM Results spreadsheet linked below.

Welcome to the 495th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the first puzzle of March. The winner will receive an MP3 code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of the mystery jam. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. Stay safe!

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As we were doing our HF Pod review of Mexico, it made me want to share some additional thoughts on the last weekend of incredible music, relaxation and fun. I have a lot of thoughts on the music, but I also did a lot of thinking about what makes this so incredibly unlike anything else Phish does.

Important disclaimer up front: I realize how fortunate I am for being able to go on this trip. Even though it was a big expense for us, I was able to pay for the trip, arrange childcare for my kids, do my work remotely and take a few days off, and generally experience the beauty—which is a huge privilege.

Musically, post-”The Lizards,” I was immediately struck by how in control Trey was the entire weekend. He’s always in control, in a lot of ways, but the way he played all weekend was from the front—leading jams, playing fills and riffs where you don’t always hear them, and constructing these unique and interesting setlists. I got my first “Peaches en Regalia” in 27 years of seeing Phish, and the “I Never Needed You Like This Before” was a fiery trip. Add a 20-minute “Tweezer” and what I thought was a great combo of “Shade,” “Evolve,” “Tube,” “Sigma Oasis,” and “Sand,” and you have a great start to the weekend.

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[Phish.net thanks user @ObviousFool (Silas Cole; www.niceshades.art) for recapping the final night in Mexico. -Ed.]

We arise at the crack of noon and slowly make our way to the pool. We are foggy, rather groggy, but it’s the final day in paradise and time is of the essence. We snag a couple chairs in the shade, order a couple of Miami Vices (half piña colada/half strawberry daiquiri), and make friends with our neighbors. Night four is rapidly approaching, and with plenty of bangers still on the table.

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Welcome to the 494th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the final puzzle of February! The winner will receive two MP3 downloads code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of both mystery clips, which are connected by a theme. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET. Stay safe!

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[We would like to thank user @Phish_tank Andy Zellinger for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

Everyone entered the venue looking relaxed and sun-kissed as they did the stingray shuffle past psychedelic art installations and street tacos, margaritas in hand. Tonight was the first full show of the run, following a funky dance party Welcome Set last night. The lights went down around 7:49 pm to start night two of this four-night run at the Moon Palace Cancun.

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[We would like to thank user Kelly Wilson @KellyNICU for this recap. -Ed.]

There’s no better feeling than dancing to your favorite band with your favorite people.

As always, the energy in the crowd was palpable. People had been partying in the pools all day waiting for their band to play. On night one of Mexico we ended up staying on our balcony facing the stage because how often do you get a chance to do that? We met some strangers who soon became friends, and invited them up to dance with us because that’s what Phish is all about.

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The Divided Sky Foundation is partnering with the Antelope Running Club (on Facebook and Instagram) to plan a charity run in Ludlow, VT, May 14th to celebrate the opening of the first Divided Sky Center. Sponsors include Ben & Jerry's, and over 150 runners are already signed up for on-site or virtual participation. Register now at http://www.anteloperunners.com/dsf

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[This post courtesy of Keith Eaton, @Midcoaster, who first became obsessed with music when, in 1979, he sat in a darkened theater and watched Apocalypse Now. Nothing was ever quite the same after that opening sequence.]

A few weeks ago, it took everything I had in me to change my clothes and head to the elliptical for a run. Low clouds hung like gray gauze, and a drizzle was ruining the fresh snow. Such is the winter norm now on the New England coast. Classes were quiet, masks burying facial expressions. I muddled through the day and then dragged myself to the gym. Victory!

Some days, this is really difficult. After having had COVID following the New Year, getting back into this running routine has been even harder. The annoying bouts of asthma had become chronic, and the 'rona fatigue of which they speak is real. Plus, after these past two COVID school years focused on the day to day while being denied various annual benchmarks, I've had a difficult time mustering enthusiasm. It was a familiar feeling, too. Depression? Nah. Teacher burnout? Maybe. What about grief?

That word, grief, stuck in my craw as I randomly selected music from my iPod. Music wasn't even something I was "looking forward to"; this is just part of the running routine. Right? The iPod roulette landed on 10/20/21 Eugene's "Ruby Waves". It was a great choice. Trey's simple mortality lyrics, uniquely his own, produce a clear vision of his soul's travels after death. Our soul-spark becomes pinball energy and is reabsorbed into the whole, an "ocean of love."

The jam (much discussed) brought me into a serene space where body mechanics and conscious breathing fell away, and I was left to simply flow. That's when it came to me: grief. Since March of 2021, I have lost five people who were closely connected to me in one way or another. Three were friends from my incoming freshman class in college. I met them in the fall of 1985, and there was a large group of us who glommed onto one another, sharing a love of the Grateful Dead, punk, activism, and misfit culture. In many ways, our cheap beer and brick weed Frisbee lounge shenanigans seem like yesterday.

Little did we know that friendships seeded then would last a lifetime.

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