Checking in from the afterglow zone around Long Beach, still marveling and laughing at all that went down on Wednesday. Given the fuel-injected power of recent tour openers, nobody was expecting Phish to phone shit in, but I’m pretty sure nobody expected things to get quite that wonderfully weird, either.

Taking in the first set with Justin Bieber and his entourage? Can’t say that’s an everyday occurrence for me. Nor was the ghostly introspection of “Rock & Roll,” or the rocking party vibe of “Ghost.” Bottom line? You never know what you’ll get when Phish comes to Southern California!

In contrast, Phish and the Bay Area go together the way the Grateful Dead and New York City did for so long: predictably, like peanut butter and chocolate. Since the Warfield gigs in April of 1992, Phish has demonstrated its love for Bay Area fans by crafting dependably smart sets and delivering them with fire, and those fans have demonstrated their love for Phish by knowing their shit and getting down accordingly. Yes, it’s true: San Francisco crowds flap their gums too fucking much. But they’re also smart, seasoned music people, with ears that are even bigger than their mouths.

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Welcome back to the second leg of summer tour, Phish fans! This will be a necessarily abbreviated recap so that the recapper may make tracks up the coast of California (“must be somewhere over here”). Let’s get right to it.

Long Beach Arena was far less than full last night as the band took the stage just after 8:15. A rare opening “Suzy Greenberg” starts us off, the first time it had opened a shows since the famous 12/14/95 show immortalized on Live Phish 1. The set then settles into a pleasant if uneventful segment featuring “Cities” > “Kill Devil Falls” and a well-executed “Guelah Papyrus.” “Cool it Down” seems to be easing its way into the rotation and featured an extended ending – not quite “type II” but definitely a little added spice; the band clearly loves this groove.

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by Mockingbird Foundation Contributor Chris Glushko

A few weeks ago, I took a look back at leg one and ranked all 20 second sets from worst to first. In addition, Charlie Dirksen also took a fantastic deep dive into the first half of summer. Now that we’ve all had some time to over-analyze leg one in painstaking detail, it’s time to get our Phish nerd on for leg two. With seemingly anything and everything on the table this Summer, what could/should the band do to take it up another level?

As always, if you enjoy this piece or other content on phish.net, please consider donating to The Mockingbird Foundation, where more than 98% of the money raised is given directly to music education programs. Now on to the list -

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What does today have in common with 109 other Mondays? It's time for the Mystery Jam... #110! 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: Congrats to ucpete on his first win, correctly ID'ing the 12/31/02 "Piper." The Blog will be back on Monday with MJM111 but, for now, it's off to Long Beach!

Welcome to Mystery Jam Monday Part 109 here at Phish.net. 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: Nice work by Bl002e for nailing the 4/29/94 "Mike's Song" and yet again sending the Blog home a loser. There's always next week... See everyone then!

Well this You Enjoy Myself, and the set as a whole, will not go down in Phish history near "best ever" territory, I believe this is a cool insight to the fanbase back in the early 90's. There are no smartphones in everybody's hands trying to capture the moment, nor glowsticks going through the air. (Though humorously there is a funny comment on the video on YouTube "that one dude with a glowstick was a visionary")

It's just Phish and the crowd having a blast and getting down.

There was a much grainier version of this video put up on Youtube back in 2007, but this one got put up just before Summer 2011 tour. It is a huge upgrade. Enjoy!

Originally posted nine years ago today...

IT has long referred to a transcendent moment of sudden appreciation for Phish and their music, an eruptive combination of sensation and experience. Those who didn't previously "get" Phish, and even some who have disliked Phish's music, become unexpectedly entranced. Whether due to a particular jam, new song, stylistic direction, innovative cover or composition, special guest, silly antic, or simply solid performance, they finally "get IT". And with this band, you can get IT again and again.

I got IT the first time I heard Phish. I probably only barely “got” music at all by that time. But when I heard Lawn Boy on the afternoon of 10/10/90, my ears exploded. And when I attended my first Phish show that night, I was absolutely stunned. This was IT – as strong, diverse, original, and fun as I could imagine – more so, certainly. I was awakened to IT.

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Welcome to Mystery Jam Monday Part 108 here at Phish.net. 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...

Thursday Answer: Looks like we have another first-time winner... Congrats to Beenjammin84 for nailing the 6/12/09 "Kill Devil Falls," a 3.0 jam that seemed to fool quite a few people. The Blog will be back on Monday with the 109th Mystery Jam.

IT can take you by surprise, changing your entire worldview in moments, making you a true believer. Music with transcendent power is addictive and bliss-inducing, and those obsessive enough to listen to every note of Phish CRAVE IT. Sometimes a show is so breathtakingly excellent that it literally drops your jaw in silent awe as you stumble, in an enthralled daze, back out to the lots. But even if the show you just caught didn’t do IT for you, part of the attraction of highly improvisational music, like Phish’s music, is that it was likely just such a show for someone. And Phish’s shows on Leg One of this Summer tour have done IT for quite a lot of folks.

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It's time for Mystery Jam Monday Part 107 here at Phish.net. 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: Congrats to hotdogg for being quick on the draw with the 7/23/97 "Ghost" (Happy 15th Anniversary!). The Blog will return on Monday with MJ108...