IT has been thirty years since summer 1995, when Phish performed highly and mind-blowingly improvisational versions of “Tweezer” at Salt Lake (18m), Mud Island (50m), NissanPav (20m, with “Johnny B. Goode”), Finger Lakes (45m), and Jones Beach (30m, with DEG), not to mention the Red Rocks “Mike’s Groove” (35m), Walnut Creek “Runaway Jim” (31m), Blossom “Mike’s” (20m), the Jones Beach “Bowie” (27m), the SPAC DWD (24m), the Great Woods Mike’s>Contact>Groove (35m) and “Stash” (18m), and the Sugarbush “Bowie” (31m, also with “Johnny B. Goode”).

Yet, as demonstrated last night at SPAC, and at times earlier this summer (including recently in the must-hear “Ether Edge” and the "Ruby Waves" from Forest Hills and the WGTYM in Chicago), Phish continues to improvise with breathtaking skill, ingenious creativity, and high-spirited soul.

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