Welcome to the 378th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the first* and easiest of June! The winner will receive THREE MP3 download codes courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. 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 PM ET. Good luck!

*Reminder: For the first MJM of each month, only folks who have never won an MJM are allowed to answer before the hint. If you have never won an MJM, please answer as a blog 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.

Answer: Congratulations to two-time MJM winner @serpent_deflector, who needed only twelve minutes to solve this week's MJM before waiting nervously for the next 23 hours and 48 minutes while others danced around the solution: the 7/16/17 "Carini." For his efforts he'll take home three LivePhish codes. Stay tuned next week for MJM379.

A very creatively written take on the "Phish Studies" conference that took place in May 2019 in Corvallis, Oregon, has been published by the Corvallis local paper, the Gazette-Times: "Floating with the flock: Three days among the faithful at the first Phish Studies Conference." We hope you find it worth your time to read, even though you must pause your ad-blocker.

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[Take the Bait is spirited deliberation centered around the hyperbole of Phish’s music and fandom, passionately exuded via the written words of phish.net contributors @FunkyCFunkyDo and @n00b100. Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of phish.net, The Mockingbird Foundation, or any fan… but we're pretty sure we’re right. Probably.]

Funky: Wouldn’t you know it, public internet forums can be a place of knowledge and enlightenment. ...instead of, you know, the usual slander, libel, and childish name-calling. Esteemed phish.net user, and frequent reader/chimer-in-er, @JMart, concocted this thread a couple weeks ago, which led to some great, Phishy discussion about which songs were better, or worse, during the 3.0 years.The forum delivered some fine discussion and debate, which got me thinking - we’ve coyly danced around any actual controversial opinions our last few episodes, casually diving into some forgotten about corners of the Phish world, which few people seemed to care much about, but important pieces of Phish nonetheless. Nerdism aside ::pushes up glasses to nose:: we didn’t really deliver anything too contorversial, neglecting to give the fans what they really want: a reason to use slander, libel, and childish name calling... directed at us! No doubt picking a jam’s best years will result in a slew of digital disgust, so let’s get on with it.

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[Welcome To Weekly Catch With Osiris! A weekly series brought to you from the team at Osiris. Each Wednesday we're going to bring you a historic Phish show from that week with some commentary. Our goal is to go beyond official releases and well-known shows to bring you some of the overlooked gems throughout Phish history. If you like what you find, we'd encourage you to check out the assortment of podcasts at the Osiris! This week's catch comes from Michael Shields of Across The Margin.]

Listen: Bethel Woods Center For The Arts, Bethel, NY - 05/28/2011

From day one of this project, one that teamed Phish.net and the Osiris Media Group, the goal of the Weekly Catch has been to bring Phish fans a historic Phish show from the week the article is published and provide some context into the show in question. The hope is for the show chosen is that it is one not well know, not an official band release, and generally an overlooked gem. And thus, one could surmise, the Weekly Catch will usually be focussing on shows from back in the day, well before Coventry and a hiatus.

But at this point in the modern era glorious shows can easily get overlooked or left unsung as the grandeur and legend of 3.0 persistently grows. And so, I am happy to be the first writer in the series to whisk the Weekly Catch into the 3.0 era and celebrate easily one of the best shows of Summer 2011.

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[This is the second essay that Phish.Net user @thephunkydrb has published on Phish.net. He previously published a meditation on time and experience tied to the Baker’s Dozen “Tube,” which you can read here. -Ed.]

By Jnan A. Blau

I’ve just come back from one of the coolest, most stimulating and invigorating, and definitely one of the most “far out” (to quote Mr. Bill Kreutzman, via Mr. Benjy Eisen) experiences of my life. Late last Monday night, I got back home to San Luis Obispo, California from Corvallis, Oregon. I had to rise and shine the next day, no time at all to transition from Phishiness to so-called real life—a direct, rather abrupt segue (a rip cord if there ever was one!) into a full day of teaching in university classrooms. I was, and still am, kind of exhausted. But, I’ve had a secret smile the size of Mt. Icculus plastered across my face and tattooed on my heart ever since. This because I am back from Phish Studies, the first-ever academic conference dedicated to our favorite topic/subject/phenomenon.

This, unlikely as it may seem, is my conference review for all you dot-netters, you denizens of the Phishverse, you members of one of the most lovely and inspiring communities going.

(Could this be the world’s first conference review?!)

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Welcome to the 377th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the last of May. The winner will receive two MP3 download codes courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the songs and dates of the two mystery clips. The clips are connected by a theme, but the theme needn't be part of the correct answer. 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. Good luck!

Hint: This week's theme is most definitely not "Theme" – in fact, these two jams were played before "Theme from the Bottom" debuted.

Answer: Pencils down! The Blog has won again! Unbelievably, for the first time ever, the Blog has defeated the MJM crew back-to-back weeks; speaking of which, no one figured out that this week's MJM featured back-to-back versions of "David Bowie": 10/12/94 and 10/18/94 (in reverse order). I never would've thought two jams from the same song played in the same state, the same week, could've stumped folks this hard, but so it goes. Come back next week when we get an easy MJM for three LivePhish codes!

Wilson Ramos has been walking up to bat to the tune of Wilson by Phish for quite a while now. The chords are strummed and the crowd screams Wilson, announcing time for one of the more feared hitting catchers to come to the plate. Sadly, that has not been the case this year. ...

Ryan Gibbs has a cogent essay about Vampire Weekend's new album, connections to Phish, and online chatter about it.

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Between Me and My Mind premieres soon, and the trailer was released today on Billboard. The documentary will have a one-night run nationwide, hopefully at a theater new you.

[Welcome To Weekly Catch With Osiris! A weekly series brought to you from the team at Osiris. Each Wednesday we're going to bring you a historic Phish show from that week with some commentary. Our goal is to go beyond official releases and well-known shows to bring you some of the overlooked gems throughout Phish history. If you like what you find, we'd encourage you to check out the assortment of podcasts at the Osiris! This week's catch comes from Brian Brinkman of Beyond The Pond.]

Link: Nectar's, Burlington, VT - 05/24/1988

The year 1988 was a huge one for Phish. It could be argued that it was the biggest year of their career until 1992. Their sound quality took a massive leap forward with upgrades in gear. Their catalogue deepened and became more varied. Their setlists flowed with focus and deliberateness. They traveled west to Colorado & laid roots that would reap longterm rewards for decades to come. And, perhaps most important, their jamming, which they would relegate for the next five years, finally reached a level of maturity, thus previewing the transcendence the band would routinely display come 1993.

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Welcome to the 376th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the third of May. 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 songs and dates of the two mystery clips. The clips are connected by a theme, but the theme needn't be part of the correct answer. 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. Good luck!

Hint: If your search for the answer begins afloat upon the waves, you're barking up the wrong tree.

Answer: Congrats to... the Blog! For only the 24th time ever, the Blog has won the MJM. While @Phishdicks4 saw right through the hint and correctly identified the 7/2/98 "Runaway Jim," he missed the second clip: 7/31/97 "Runaway Jim." Come back on Monday when the difficulty ramps up another notch for MJM377, and we'll play for two LivePhish codes.

[Take the Bait is spirited deliberation centered around the hyperbole of Phish’s music and fandom, passionately exuded via the written words of phish.net contributors @FunkyCFunkyDo and @n00b100. Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of phish.net, The Mockingbird Foundation, or any fan… but we're pretty sure we’re right. Probably.]

Funky: Among the many, many elements of Phish that keep me in awe of them and their music is the sheer greatness and fullness of their sound. It’s not that it’s loud, it engulfs; it’s not produced or prepackaged, it’s fluid and polished; it’s not that it knocks you over with intensity (well, sometimes it does), no, it flows over you with freshness and gusto, even the same song you’ve heard 100 times or more.

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Registration has started for the Fourth Annual Runaway Open charity golf tournament for Phish fans, the morning of the second show of the upcoming Dick's run, over Labor Day weekend.

We'll have up to 80 players this time, with a shotgun start at 10 a.m. (preceded by a group photo and warm send-off), playing at Willis Case. As before, we'll have contests - but it's all about swingin' sticks with fans, so don't sweat it if you're rusty, new to the game, or prioritizing fun over competition. So are we. :)

Early registration is strongly encouraged. All three previous events have sold out, with a waiting list we couldn't satisfy. The number of players has nearly doubled each year (16 to 32 to 54), but we've also opened registration earlier, to facilitate players' planning and to help find more players. So act soon - and please help spread the word!

Register by completing this online form and then making a donation to the Mockingbird Foundation of $150 per player, which covers all fees, cart, lunch, an event golf shirt, and a gift bag of goodies.

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[Welcome To Weekly Catch With Osiris! A weekly series brought to you from the team at Osiris. Each Wednesday we're going to bring you a historic Phish show from that week with some commentary. Our goal is to go beyond official releases and well-known shows to bring you some of the overlooked gems throughout Phish history. If you like what you find, we'd encourage you to check out the assortment of podcasts at the Osiris! This week's catch comes from Brian Brinkman of Beyond The Pond.]

Listen: The Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY - 05/14/1992

As the Spring 1992 Tour wove it's way back to the Northeast for its conclusion after three months on the road, the band was tight, filled with humor, and readying for a leap that would project them to the creative peak of the next three years. Here, on May 14, from The Capitol Theatre, a venerable must-play venue for all jambands, Phish played a show that displayed all the aspects that made the Spring 1992 Tour so ripe with youthful ambition and so filled with joyful pure Phishiness.

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Your time is near, the mission’s clear, but it’s later than you think. The inaugural Phish Studies conference will take place at Oregon State University this weekend. The three-day event is unprecedented. There have been classes about other bands. There have been conferences focused on other bands. There has never been a stand-alone conference devoted to a single band with this level of community integration and collaboration. You’ve never seen this side of Phish. The conference has been a dream of ours for a long time. Don’t miss out on your only chance to be at the first-ever Phish Studies conference held on a college campus. Help shape the future of the growing field, redefine what is possible in the Academy, and take part in history as it unfolds. You will always remember where you were.

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