Mike Gordon’s “hotline” voicemail (212-330-9092) currently jokes about various jamming types. It begins, however, with “type 3,” and explains a variety of jamming types up through “type 17,” which no band member will discuss “in public or even in private,” and “type 18,” which of course does not exist.

Since Mike does not discuss them, you may be curious about “type 1” and “type 2.” These jamming types were first discussed on Rec.Music.Phish by a fan named John Flynn in January 1997. You can read a great deal of information about them here in the FAQ file. These terms have been in use by many Phish fans for over 14 years, even though perhaps you couldn’t care less about them. What do they mean, again?

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Annual counts of Grateful Dead and Phish shows form a similar shape in some regards: early rapid rises, a sharp cut after 8 years or so, and relative continuity for the later 15 or so years. The Dead's curve does have twice as many sudden drops, indicating years with shorter or fewer tours. But their "hiatus" didn't even last an entire year (1975, which also included several shows), while Phish have had more years with no shows, and latter years with half what surviving Dead members peformed. Moreover, excluding their festivals, Phish tours typically hit arenas and sheds, avoiding the stadiums that became a key element of Dead tour.

(Note: An earlier post included incomplete Dead data.)

Posted by @757phan in the SBIX Essay Contest. This esay received the most "thumbs up" from phish.net users. This entry concludes the SBIX essay series for the phish.net blog.

A Journey of the Mind, Body, and Soul with Camp.net at SBIX

I want to start off by saying thank you to Phish, Phish.net, Team Camp.net, and to everyone in my life who helped me make this journey, especially my soon to be wife Amy. Amy is a phan and could not go, but encouraged me to go no matter what and made me promise to dance extra hard for her. I love that girl.

Here is a randomly written account of my experience last weekend. This is also a free write exercise in that it has only been edited for spelling and to include photos and some .net handles. Everything else was simply thoughts spilling out onto my computer as they raced through my head. I have included some photos and a few videos, but I really didn’t take many of either. I was too busy trying to live while I’m young. It is way too long, so I tried to chunk it up. If you want to read just one section great, the whole thing cool, or read nothing and look and the pictures it’s all good. Do you.

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Welcome to the 60th installment of the Mystery Jam. 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). The hint will come on Tuesday and the answer will be posted on Wednesday. Good luck...

Tuesday Hint: Well, then. Looks like the Blog struck a nerve this week. That said, I should note that this is emphatically not the same clip as MJ15.

Wednesday Answer: It will come as no surprise that it is the 7/3/97 "Ghost." Congrats to frantic0blivion for being the first to ID it. And remember, when it comes to the Mystery Jam, the only rule is that there are no rules. Well, other than the rules up there. But no other rules. See you next Monday with (most likely) a brand new Mystery Jam...

MP3 Downloads Courtesy of LivePhish.com

Posted by @HARRYHOOD213 in the SBIX Essay Contest.

My Super Ball Poem

What can I say?, I was not even there,
But I had a good reason and that I will share.

Its nothing to exciting or overly cool,
It simply responsibilities of a working, family phool.

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Posted by @JohnManBand in the SBIX Essay Contest.

Theater of the Mind

When I was younger I used to sit out on the back porch on summer nights with my father listening to an old transistor radio. At night we could pick up stations from far away – somewhere in upstate New York, sometimes even Canada. It had to do with the ozone-skip, my dad explained, the way the AM stations bounced their signals off the ground. Though he’d grown up with television, my dad was nostalgic about the golden age of radio and spoke of the “Theater of the Mind” in which the listener imagined his own movie based on what he’d heard. I guess he passed on some of that aural appreciation to me. I like to listen.

This past 4th of July weekend I sat out behind my own house, listening – enjoying what may soon replace the American summer vacation: couch tour. The sounds of The Bunny on Live Phish’s stream seemed to be broadcasting from a mysterious and distant land, a land called “The Super Ball.” The Bunny obliterated my interest in local radio. I kept it on all weekend. As long as the internet connection held out I’d be okay, and it was more reliable than AM.

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Posted by @forbins0218 in the SBIX Essay Contest.

ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?

What is it?

An experience is born as a result of environmental intake and manipulation. It is the sum total of your surroundings combined with your attitude. To me Superball was just that: new friends, old friends, imaginative escapades, remembrance, embracement, anxiety and fulfillment. I could ramble on about every experience I had, but a few stood out to me that truly captured the event and all its participants. The following are 5 experiences that I will always remember.

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Posted by @terrapin9614 in the SBIX Essay Contest.

"Colonel Forbin, stared up at the mountain..."

I'm freaking out.

My 85th show, and I'm finally getting my first "Forbin's." But there's no one to share the experience with. I'm walking back from the front of the crowd, back to my wife, my best friends, my entire Super Ball crew...but where they are, I have no idea.

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Posted by @douvy in the SBIX Essay Contest.

Phish has shown me the essence of what I was searching for in music for a long time, and when you get four guys together that really understand how to respond to one another and work towards the chemistry of exceptional improvisation, the experience related is for everyone all at once, and it fills the air and grasps your attention like something beyond us all; a force to be reckoned with.

This weekend each band member infused selflessness into their playing by listening to everyone and everything but themselves to manifest their creativity. The band was able to focus on what the others were doing, and through this, Phish --and everything a part of it, the instruments, the energy the crowd, everything --were able to let the music transcend beyond them. From the opening note of Possum to the closing explosion of First Tube, a mega-blissful experience occurred where judgment of the music being played seemed to be absent on both sides of the music, from the musicians and the audience. And fittingly so, I find it unnecessary to personally judge any part of the weekend from a musical perspective. As a result of this absence of judgment, everyone’s interpretation of Superball was in its purest and most spontaneous form.

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Posted by @tripsforjoeg in the SBIX Essay Contest.

It isn't very often that things fall into place perfectly; that is, unless you happened to be in our group (and I'm assuming several thousand other groups) at Superball IX. So many things went so smoothly for us that it seems as though the whole trip was just a mental projection of my idea of a perfect weekend that started the moment the festival was announced. Our trip timing was immaculate. Our luck was great. Our campsite was green, flat, fun and close to the venue. I couldn't be more completely satisfied with the way everything went.

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Posted by @FlockingInside in the SBIX Essay Contest.

Secret set, how awesome was it that Phish let us see them

Undressed, raw and private in their own
Personal setting which they created to make our minds salivate,just when I thought saturday night couldn't
End any better they came out again and played the best
Revamped sleeping monkey I have ever had the privilege of hearing not to mention how Chris manipulated those lights. Another treat for the masses was
Ball square, a truly awesome work of magic, put together by some very talented and intense
Artists who definitely knew what was up, I appreciate all of your hard work and dedication the whole experience was like a
Lucid dream and at times I couldn't believe I was really there. I had a blast from the time I arrived until the morning we packed up our stuff and left making sure to
Leave our campsite clean, thank you Phish, for melting my face off, thank you superball for a great weekend, thank you rail for sunday night, can't wait to do it again!

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Posted by @ivy_light in the SBIX Essay Contest.

Nature, History, Music, Philosophy, and Knowledge: The Journey that was Superball IX

Thousands of years ago, slow-moving rivers of ice descended on North America. Along their slow, steady passage, they carved out the earth into rivers of gorges. Pushed forth ahead of them was a nutrient-rich milieu of soil. As the earth warmed and the glaciers melted, the deep cuts they made became filled with the pure, lush, clear water once trapped as ice. And the lush soil gave forth to rich forests bisected by pure waterfalls.

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Posted by @autoo in the SBIX Essay Contest.

First off would just like to say that it was a life changing time being at Watkins Glen for the phish festival. I got there and camped in South Dakota I believe and was a very relaxing place to be very kind folks all around each side of you. I've always enjoyed going to phish festivals because I was in a accident in 94 that took the use of my right arm so I look different but seeing as how we are all a phamily at these kind of gigs nobody stares or says anything to you which is a big confident booster for me. Another way people helped me was thinking of ways for me do activities or what not without having to feel different. Ok about the phest first it wasn't bad driving and parking everyone was out to help each other. Also on top of Watkins Glen being so beautiful I was very Glad to see folks picking up garbage using bags for cans and keeping the sites very neat. The bathrooms were really well taking care of as well which is usually never the case. Last I was just very excited to be able to attend see I bought a ticket when they first came out because everyone I knew was all all about going. I was counting on someone to go with for months then they suddenly backed out so I was stuck because I have a handicap and can't do that drive myself. Luckily a friend of mine jumped in and said I will drive and help you out this weekend. People always get sketched or whatever about taking me to festivals or away for nights but I've been living with disability since 94 I was 11 when it happened so I am able to provide for myself now a days. Because of my accident I was in I lost the use of my right arm and have been in pain every day since I woke up from a coma. When I go to phish shows I think its the energy and love and peace that I am able to pull from other people that the pain will go away and will have use and be able to live my life completely free. So thank you to all the phamily that was there and to Phish for sharing there experiences with us.

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