REVISITING HAMPTON
What’s so special about Hampton? I joined in a discussion about this topic a few weeks ago, and there doesn’t seem to be a simple answer to the question. For sure, as venues go, Hampton has a number of marks in its favor, but none seem to provide a slam-dunk answer to the question: Why does Hampton Coliseum enjoy such legendary status for Phish fans?
(Photograph by Erik Axdahl)
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 163
Welcome to Phish.net's Mystery Jam Monday, Part 163. The winner will receive an MP3 download courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, you'll need to be the first person to identify the song and date of the mystery jam clip. Each person gets one guess per day, with the second “day” starting after I post the hint. A hint will be posted on Tuesday if necessary, with the answer to follow on Wednesday. Good luck!
Answer: Kudos to another first-time winner this week, as @bostonron deftly identified the 8/11/04 Down with Disease.
PHISHING POLL THURSDAY, VOL. 8: BOO!
"Ghost."
It's a wisp of a song, yet one of the band's most versatile canvases. It can become a melting reactor core, a V8 ghetto glide, a starship awakening in the cradle of a distant nebula, or a lurking menace. And 'tis the season: If Winter Phish is "Tweezer," Spring Phish is "Reba," and Summer Phish is "Bathtub Gin," then Fall Phish is surely "Ghost."
To mark and celebrate the onset of autumn, we want to hear about your favorite "Ghost." And this Ranker comes with a bit of a twist: we are letting our users start with a blank canvas. We haven't named a single contender . . . not that we could name just one if we tried. [Edit: Well, we had to name one to create the poll. What better to start with than the studio version?]
Please add your selection using this format: Ghost YYYY-MM-DD. Thanks!
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 162
Welcome to Phish.net's 162nd Mystery Jam Monday! Because no one was able to ID MJM #161, this week's winner will receive TWO MP3 downloads courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, you'll need to be the first person to identify the song and date of the mystery jam clip. Each person gets one guess per day, with the second “day” starting after I post the hint. A hint will be posted on Tuesday if necessary, with the answer to follow on Wednesday. Good luck!
Answer: In the penultimate 1.0-era show that contained the band's lone performance to date of El Paso -- a song also prominently featured in the opening scene of Sunday's Breaking Bad finale -- the 10/6/00 Down with Disease was identified by first-time and two-MP3 winner @itsice1. Great job!
PHISHING POLL THURSDAY, VOL. 7: BEST SECRET FEST JAM
If we are to trust the band as the arbiter of what is and what is not, there have been nine Phish festivals to date. Each of these events has been replete with surprises both on and off the stage. Among the more clandestine of these surprises have been a series of secret, unannounced, unrequited, undermined, and/or under attended sets of non-traditional Phish. Although, not officially a festival, this "secret set" tradition was originally to be initiated with a late night 4th set at Amy's Farm. Unfortunately, due to the arrival of some uninvited guests looking for trouble, the band pulled the plug and this late night set never materialized. Eliminating the elusive 4th set at Amy's farm from contention, we are left with the opportunity to determine the best of the non-traditional festival sets that are alleged to have occurred when many of us were not looking. Some of these sets are so secret, only Phish knows about them.
TUESDAY ON TURNTABLE.FM/THEPHISH: JUNTA
This just in from Myke "@LawnMemo" Menio:
The third installment of our weekly Phish studio replay is on Tuesday, September 24, at 9pm e.t. at turntable.fm/thePhish. We will be replaying Junta from start to finish and will be including the outtakes (available on etree here). Come join us for a couple hours and re-live one of Phish's greatest albums!
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 161
Phish.net Mystery Jam Monday iteration: 161
Prize: One MP3 download courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net
Objective: To be the first person to identify the song and date of the mystery jam clip
Rules: Each person gets one guess per day, with the second “day” starting after I post the hint on Tuesday if necessary, with the answer to follow on Wednesday
Start time: Now
Hint: If Mr. Carey were judging this week's MJM, as of Tuesday at 9:27am ET, Mr. Monroe would have twice the money needed to win.
Answer: Several of you were able to figure out the hint -- as of the time it was posted, all submissions were past the date of the correct answer, so using "The Price is Right" rules (hosted by Drew Carey), since everyone else was "over", Bill Monroe's two-dollar bill would have been double the $1 it would have taken to win. Unfortunately for you, and fortunately for the Blog, only Contestant Emeritus @pauly was able to figure out this week's MJM: the 8/21/93 Stash. For the record, it was previously said that a more straightforward hint might be in order next time. For a mystery jam from the prominent month of August 1993, I'd say this was a suitable increase in clarity, no?
Stop by next Monday for a double-MP3 giveaway MJM!
PHISHING POLL THURSDAY, VOL. 6: BEST FISHMAN SONGS
Norton Charleton Heston. Bob Weaver. Henrietta.
Sneezeblood Eyeball.
Call him what you will, the truth remains: Jon Fishman is Phish's one, true, natural-born showman. Though threadbare of garment and hairbare of head, the man knows how to own a song like nobody else.
Pick one favorite Fishman tune? A fool's errand for sure. So we made it easier for you by including only those that have at one point been accompanied by HYHU. And, as usual, you can always click through and vote for (or against) more than one . . .
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 160
Today marks the 160th installment of Phish.net's Mystery Jam Monday. On the heels of a rare victory by the Blog, this week's winner will receive TWO MP3 downloads courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, you'll need to be the first person to identify the song and date of the mystery jam clip. Each person gets one guess per day, with the second “day” starting after I post the hint. A hint will be posted on Tuesday if necessary, with the answer to follow on Wednesday. Good luck!
Answer: First-time winner @Penn42 wins two MP3s, as he impressively identified the post-PYITE 2/13/97 Jam as this week's mystery clip.
TUESDAY SEP. 17: WHITE TAPE ON TURNTABLE FM
Myke "@LawnMemo" Menio reports that the replay of Phish studio albums on Tuesdays continues at 9pm EST at Turntable.fm/thePhish.
Myke writes: "This week we will play The White Tape from start to finish. Boasting exceptional versions of 'Alumni Blues' and 'Slave to the Traffic Light,' and many rarities, The White Album is a lot of fun. Last week we replayed TMWSIY and had a great turnout and excellent conversation about the album. Many people checked out Turntable for the first time, and can't get enough of it. I hope you will join us this Tuesday!"
PHISH.NET INTERVIEWS KEVIN THE BLOBFISH
Our resident quality assurance director, Kevin the blobfish was recently crowned the world's ugliest animal. Kevin has been hard at work optimizing Phish.net for some time, and rarely emerges from the tank and into the public eye. We caught up with Kevin to discuss this unflattering acknowledgement. Read on for the entire interview.
PHISHING POLL THURSDAY, V5: FALL TOURS TO REMEMBER
With the sounds of summer so fresh in our minds, it's hard for us to fathom that the first Fall Tour since 2010 (and the third since 2000) is right around the corner. But it is!
If you are as giddy about that as we are, it's with good historical reason: Phish's autumn excursions have yielded some of the band's most enduring performances and have marked quantum leaps in Phish's song catalog, stagecraft, and improvisational prowess. And while it's no easy task to pick a favorite from the bunch, we know you're game. Once again, we're giving you the full monty (sans staff bias) so limber up your thumbs and hash it out in the comments.
And hey, don't forget to bring a bulky wool sweater.
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 159
Welcome to the 159th edition of Phish.net's Mystery Jam Monday. Be the first person to identify the song and date of the mystery jam clip and win one MP3 download courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. Each person gets one guess per day, with the second “day” starting after I post the hint. A hint will be posted on Tuesday if necessary, with the answer to follow on Wednesday. Good luck!
Hint: http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=330090197
Answer: The Blog wins only its eleventh MJM ever, as no one identified the 12/31/03 Stash. The 63-45 boxscore linked in the hint connects to New Year's Eve 2003 being the 45th of only 63 shows that Phish played in the brief 2.0 era. Now that the Blog's earned a robust 11-133-15 record, a more straightforward hint might be in order the next time it's needed.
See you back here on Monday for MJM #160, when two MP3 downloads will be up for grabs.
TUESDAY SEP. 10 TUNE IN TO TURNTABLE.FM
Myke Menio (@LawnMemo) will be playing Phish's albums consecutively on turntable.fm each week, beginning with TMWSIY on Tuesday, September 10th.
Here is a message from Myke:
"Hey everyone! As many of you know I hang over at turntable.fm/thePhish quite often. It is a site where you can listen to Phish 24 hours a day and interact with people doing the same.
After talking with some fans recently, I was shocked by how many people have never heard some of the studio albums. So I got the idea to play every studio album from start to finish, one per week.
On Tuesday, September 10th at 9:00PM EST, we will play TMWSIY from start to finish, and then we will play one of Phish's albums every week thereafter (in the order of their release date) until we're through them all. TMWSIY will take about an hour. On Tuesday, Sept 17th, we'll play The White Tape, thenJunta (pronounced HUN-tah!) the next week, etc., until we finish with JOY. We will also be playing the outtakes from Billy Breathes, Ghost, and Round Room.
I am going to make sure for the hour or so that the replay is going on, the chat is about the music. With the knowledge base a lot of you have, I am sure we will all learn something, or at least have fun sharing memories!
So come out this Tuesday, September 10th, to turntable.fm/ThePhish, listen to TMWSIY and have a great time!"
PHISHING POLL THURSDAY, V4: FIRST SETS OF SUMMER
First sets matter.
Above all else, the first half of a Phish show is about the band stretching, getting their sea legs, reading the venue, and establishing a connection with the audience; ideally, a feedback loop of energy that can turn a second set into something truly special. And sometimes, a first set is worth well more than the price of admission.
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