The trajectory of this summer tour has been a little different than it was at this point in 2015. Sure, after five shows this summer we have been treated to a bunch of cool things. The band has kicked down a batch of rarities and bust-outs (particularly enjoyable were “I Am The Walrus”, “Dear Prudence”, and “I Found a Reason”), debuted a remarkable cover in “Space Oddity” and graced us with new Phish songs in “Things People Do”, “Breath and Burning,” and “Miss You."

In addition, there have been a small handful of noteworthy or Jam Chart worthy songs so far (most notably the fantastic “Twist” from Wrigley) but they are coming at a far slower and more measured pace than in 2015. So while Summer 2015 came out of the gates fiercely and quickly, this summer has been a bit more subdued with solid shows yet nothing (yet) that has arisen to the greatness of last summer. Fortunately, Phish can and does turn on a dime and gave glimpses of 2015’s excellence last night in the “Breath and Burning” jam. Mann2 last year was most certainly one of highlights of the summer, and the band loves playing Philadelphia, so many fans of course had high hopes for a repeat of last year’s night 2 at this classic shed.

Photo by Rene Huemer. From @Phish_FTR.

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Unexpected things are part and parcel of the Phish experience and have always added to the mystique, aura, and wonderment of this band. Tours are usually sprinkled with a few surprise moments but this summer seemed to be chock-full of surprises.

What surprised you the most?

Read on to learn about the ten most surprising things that the band did this summer.

10. Sold Out Magnaball. And Dick’s. If you told most fans after the New Year’s run that they better not sleep on Magna and Dick’s tickets this year, they probably would’ve looked at you like you were mad. While the “Fare Thee Well effect” likely made a small difference, it was really a “Phish” effect. With incredibly strong playing and a stellar Summer Tour, it is no wonder that many who were on the fence decided to pony-up and get their asses to these shows. Admittedly, despite the admonition not to arrive without tickets in Watkins Glen, tickets were ultimately sold at the gates. (Presumably only to fans arriving in a car with other ticketed fans but with a little bullshitting, anyone got in.) Nevertheless, it was surprisingly strong demand for both.

9. Debuted Heavy Rotation Page’s “Heavy Rotation” was released on his self-titled album all the way back in 2007. And indeed, Sirius’ “JamOn” channel really did put it into a heavy rotation after the album was released. Yet, several months later the song disappeared from Sirius, and after it being played at every single show of Page’s tour in 2007, it was but a distant memory. That is until the first set of the second Bend show. It fit in nicely with a band member “side-show centric” set. (2-26-2003 in Worcester had a very similar setlist construction). The Bend show also included Trey’s “Scabbard” (also a Phish debut) and “Winterqueen” and Mike’s “How Many People are You” (yet another Phish debut). While it is always possible for Phish to cover a song performed by a band member, given the eight years since “Heavy Rotation” was performed, that was most surprising.

8. The Landlady Landlady has been around since the beginning of time - specifically 1989 when the “Latin-esque” instrumental ditty was sandwiched between “Punch You In The Eye”. After “Punch” was shelved, the standalone “Landlady” portion reappeared on 9-13-1990 and was played seemingly every night for a couple years. It was so common, that I’ve personally seen it 73 times. Yet, the “Landlady” was evicted in 1994. While of course, the “Punch You In The Eye” returned after a 414 show gap on 2-5-1993 at the Roseland and continued with relatively common frequency. So while many fans had a standalone “Landlady” on a personal bucket-list despite all the “Punch” performances, it wasn’t until the last night of Dick’s that they were able to check it off the list. A 768 show gap. Nearly twice as long as the Punch gap.

[Landlady. 9-6-2015 at Dick's. Video by @kembra allen]

7. First Sets that mattered. Look, this isn’t overly harsh or critical, but let us be honest with ourselves. Most first sets since the triumphant return in 2009 have lacked significant replay value. Don’t get me wrong: They don’t all suck and many (most?) are a total howl to be at in person. But candidates for entry in the revered “Jam Charts” and sets that really kicked ass? There are scant few in the last seven years. 2015 included many “first sets that mattered”. Among many 1st set gems included “Reba” from Shoreline, “Bathtub Gin” from Watkins Glen and “David Bowie” from the Mann. It was great that so many shows got the memo, particularly Magnaball Night 1 and Alpine Night 2. (Sadly, the memo didn’t circulate to Dick’s 3.)

6. No F’s. No Fluffhead. No Fee. No Foam. This is a particular tragedy to me as these three songs number among my “Top 10” favorite Phish tunes. The expectation of a monumental “Fluff” on the final night of Dick’s was palpable. The odds were so favorable, Vegas likely wouldn’t even take the bet. When “Fluffhead” opened 3.0, it was the longest show gap that it had ever had as it had not been performed since 2000. Yet, throughout 3.0, it has been a stalwart appearing in every year and every ten shows or so. No “Fluffs” this summer at all. Likewise, “Fee”, while not as common as “Fluff”, was a notable omission from 2015 Summer setlists. “Foam” also fell into a deep well, never to surface.

[This didn't happen here or anywhere else.]

5. No F's? No D's either. D for Dead. Many fans were convinced Trey was going to put to use his many hours in the woodshed preparing for “Fare The Well” and bust out a Grateful Dead song or two over the summer. There’s no doubt he approached some songs differently and perhaps teased a song or two. Fans variously heard “Dark Star” all over the place, “Terrapin Station”, “I Know You Rider”, and “Scarlet Begonias” teases and perhaps others. But after the final notes of “United We Stand” were played: Final Grateful Dead song count tally: 0, null set, zero, zilch, zip.

4. Debuts That Crush Hell yeah, in the history of Phish, tons of songs come out of the gate and just kick ass and take names from Day 1. But that’s kind of ancient history. Many 3.0 debuts have ripened on the vine and matured like a fine wine over time. In the Summer of 2015, no fewer than three songs came out of the gate running: “Blaze On”, “No Men In No Man’s Land” and “Mercury”. If you need evidence of how finely tuned these songs are, check out the very second “Blaze On” from Shoreline or the Magnaball version from Watkins Glen. Likewise, “No Men” had many strong performances: pretty much take your pick of any of nine. But personally, I really enjoyed The Mann and Magnaball performances. Finally, you only have a pick of three Mercuries. But good Lord: what a trifecta!

["Mercury" at Alpine on 8/8/2015. Video by @madpicken]

3. Five or Six Song Set Five song sets are common. You know, if we are talking 1997. But 2015? Yeah. It happened. 8-12-2015 was a throwback to an era where five (or even four!) songs could command an entire set in spectacular fashion. “Bathtub Gin”, “No Men In No Man's Land” > “Twist”, “Scents and Subtle Sounds” and “Harry Hood” was the set. Read that again. That was the entire set. “No Men”, “Twist” and “Scent” all were epic enough to earn spots on the Jam Charts. Previously in the tour on 7-24-2015, another spectacular set only included six songs: “Blaze On” > “Twist” > “Light” > “Joy”, “Harry Hood” > “Cavern”. All but “Joy” and “Cavern” have spots etched on the Jam Charts.

2. Return of "Second Jam" in Mike’s. Much ink has been spilled all over, both on the web, and here on Phish.net about the triumphant return of the “Second Jam in Mike’s”. For fans lucky enough to be at Ascend Amphitheater in Nashville, they witnessed this highly anticipated jam for the first time since 7-14-2000. Had it just been the “Mike’s”, fans would have left happy but it additionally contained a great “Piper” and culminating in the ferocious “Crosseyed-Groove”.

"Mike's Song", 8-4-15, Nashville, TN. Video by @LazyLightning55a

1. Dick’s Encore - THANK YOU Who possibly could have predicted one of the most, if not THE MOST STUNNING encore in the history of the band? After a great three nights to close the Dick’s run and the special 2015 Summer Tour, the bombastic notes of “Tweezer Reprise” engulfed the stadium and signaled the end of the run. Umm….wait, not so much. Spelling out ‘THANK YOU’ and continuing the tradition of “setlist antics”, the encore continued with “Harpua” > “After Midnight” > “NO2” > “Keyboard Army” > “Your Pet Cat” > “Once in a Lifetime” > “United We Stand”. In all that craziness we only had:

1) Perhaps the most entertaining “Harpua” ever performed

2) The first ”Keyboard Army” since 1995

3) The first “Once In a Lifetime" since its debut it 1996

4) An entertaining “NO2”

and

5) The debut of “United We Stand”.

So yeah, that. I knew it was coming all along.

"THANK YOU" encore at Dick's.

Honorable Mention:

> Halloween Songs That Really Stuck Around Fuses, Cats, Dogs, Birds, and particulary Monsters were scattered liberally throughout the summer. "Martian Monster" was showcased variously as a show opener, set opener, set closer, Free Interlude and Little Feat mash-up. Mike previously stated in an interview that many of these were written as deep grooves to have open space to build on, and "Martian Monster" is indeed deep, and as successfully versatile as anything in recent memory. Perhaps no surprise as “The Haunted House” set was one of the most well received sets in Phish’s long history.

> No Randall’s After an overwhelming successful three-night stand in the Summer of 2014, I think many people assumed an encore performance was in store. With an almost festival-like vibe, ample space, fantastic acoustics and prime geography in one of the most densely fan-populated areas of the country, hopefully 2016 is on the horizon.

> Loose and liberal segues and sandwiches While this IS what Phish does and really should NOT be a surprise- the success and the way segues flowed especially as tour went on was jaw dropping. It represented a huge step above anything else in 3.0. "Martian Monster" sandwiches and Steam/WTU/Steam are cases in point. Chalkdust Torture -> Twist from Dick's was one of the best pure segues in many years as was the "Chalkdust -> Tweezer" (Or "Cheezer") from Blossom.

> No Northeast Shows Why does the Northeast always get shafted? Enough said. Hopefully this diabolical pattern ceases next year. Interesting reading here about tour patterns.

> Mexico Announced Though there were ample rumors, it was easy to write them off as yet another of the millions of rumors that don’t pan out. Even when URLs and images started circulating, many still thought it was an elaborate prank. But it was true. Phish is playing somewhere other than the United States or Canada for the first time since Osaka, Japan on 6-16-2000.

What did I miss? What were YOUR most surprising things from Summer 2015?

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The Front. Nectar’s. Hampton. MSG. Unquestionably a handful of the most storied venues in Phish’s long history, and not a coincidence that they all happen to be the most played venues in the band’s history. After this current two-night run, Alpine Valley Music Theater, in the rolling hills of East Troy, Wisconsin, jumps past Hunt’s and into the Top Five of Phish’s most played venues. Though, better watch out Alpine! Dick’s is quickly knocking on your door!

Lots of fans have a love/hate relationship with Alpine. And let’s be honest, many of them skew more towards the hate side of that equation. Yet, despite some of the drawbacks of the venue – heavy handed law enforcement, preposterously steep lawn, nightmarish traffic jams in and out – I for one love Alpine and every single trip I’ve made there.

As it is for Phish, it was a special venue for the Grateful Dead, too, and one of their most played venues as well. There is just something magical about Alpine. There’s character and history dripping from its distinctive wood roof with an elegance and charm simply not found in the cookie-cutter, tin & cement shit that defines the Live Nation era of outdoor sheds.
Photo by Rene Huemer © Phish From the Road

The massive amphitheater, one of the largest in the country, with pavilion seating nearing 8,000 (larger than some venues this summer tour) and overall capacity of 37,000 has now hosted Phish sixteen times. Its breathtaking views, unusually beautiful sunsets, sprawling lawn, and spectacular sound for a venue of this size keeps the crowds returning. I am excited and happy every year that Phish announces summer tour and Alpine is on the list and breathe a sigh of relief knowing that another great chapter will likely be written.

While it is impossible to highlight all the memorable jams, debuts and special moments from Alpine, a handful that come to mind since Phish’s debut almost exactly nineteen years ago on 8/10/96 include:

• Their second performance on 8/9/97 with an incendiary set-closing “Weekapaug Groove” that concluded the near set-long “Mike’s Groove” and showcased the magnificent hose of 1997.
• Debuts of Zeppelin’s scorching “Ramble On” as well as Jane’s Addiction’s “Been Caught Stealing” on one of the very first webcasts on 8/1/98
• The debut and single performance of the quirky track “Happy Whip and Dung Song” from the Siket Disk on 7/24/99. An overall outstanding show with liberal doses of extended jamming (in particular, check out the jam out of “Fluffhead”) and the massive bustout (324 shows) of “Alumni Blues” in the four-song encore.
• One of the very first “LivePhish” releases (Number 5) from 7/8/00.
• And from the last time they performed here on 7/1/12, a personal all-time favorite in the fantastic “Fee”.

Photo © @tweeprise

Alpine is for sale and many people think the future is tenuous and challenged by its newer, more modern, and more convenient cousin to the south in Northerly Island. I, for one, hope that Phish fits Alpine into the schedule every few years so more and more people will gleefully be able to say, “I saw Phish at Alpine!” Now that the first of the two-show weekend set has concluded – every Phish show here has always been on the weekend – what will they be saying about last night? Was it another show with Good Wood?

The show kicked off with a perfunctory take of “No Men In No Man’s Land” for the first time in the show opener slot and quickly into an energetic “Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan.” Up-tempo bluegrass tunes always seem to fit like a glove in summer shows and “Poor Heart” filled the role well. Another thing that works well is when “Julius” comes early in the first set. I’d much rather it give a good kick of energy early in a show, as it did here, than late in the second set or encore slot.

Photo by Rene Huemer © Phish From the Road

Since 2009, “Frankie Says” only pops up about once a year (or not at all!) and was a great treat. And of course a tour debut. While lyrically interesting, “Frankie Says” is not a very demanding song musically, but great juxtaposed next to one of Phish’s more complex and demanding tunes in “Maze”. This spirited version was nailed pretty good and even featured a fun Mission: Impossible tease by Page.

Is this where the “Wood” really gets good?

After “Mercury” debuted at the second show in Bend, it has been one of the new songs that most fans have most been eager to hear again. They have sound checked it many times, extensively re-worked it during the Nashville soundcheck, and came to Alpine armed and ready to play. Focusing on the breakdown and jam part of the tune (at least in Nashville) seems to have paid dividends. At times light and airy, almost like a Jethro Tull song, “Mercury” also has the “Canterbury sound” of early Floyd with Marimba Lumina sprinkled in. Mercury’s day may indeed be longer than its year (depending how you define year) but it may have been longer than the attention span of much of the crowd at Alpine, too. In time, I’ll hazard a guess that that won’t be the case for most crowds. No fear, though, as the crowd was instantly brought back in by “Reba” and a hot set-closing “Possum” (Phish’s 500th performance) that featured especially bright and prominent keys by Page.

Photo © @tweeprise

“Down with Disease” has already spectacularly opened the second set in Tuscaloosa this summer. Would this set opener bring the same great results? Just after the ten-minute mark it seemed to be ready to really launch into some interesting space, with Fishman kicking out an interesting beat and an overall contemplative pace with just the right amount of Mu-Tron pedal by Trey. No sooner had “Disease” settled into its groove, it segued into “Halley’s Comet”. Extended jams coming out of “Halley’s#x201D; are a rarity these days. Given the placement here in the second set and the way Phish has been playing this tour, hopes were high and fans on the edge of their seats, like they were when “Mike’s Song” started in Nashville. Yet, while fun, the “Halley’s” didn’t deliver terribly much more than it does typically these days. It was a touch longer and did have a nice little jam that many likely heard a bit of Trey’s “Fare Thee Well” influence. It nicely devolved into “Twist” that had been portended a couple times earlier in the set. Again, like the “Halley’s”, “Twist” was enjoyable and a decent, “syrupy” jam but no real legs.

Photo by Rene Huemer © Phish From the Road

In the power clean-up spot in the set, “Light” also had the potential to be the first candidate for a Phish.net Jam Chart addition from the show. The second half of second set has had such monsters this tour, and Trey seemed particularly spirited with his vocals so again, hopes were high. When it seemed as though “Light’s” light was dimming and heading into something different entirely, a nice curve-ball thrown and the elusive, loved and magical “What’s The Use?” enthralled the crowd. Another, Siket Disc tune for the annals of Alpine history and its second helping in “3.0”. This is really one of those songs that always buoys up the song that preceded it. One of the best things about “What’s The Use?” is the impossibility of when to predict it will be turn up. In this case, the first time following “Light” and as always “What’s The Use?” delivered its signature spacey, mind-fucking goodness (albeit a brief fucking).

In the homestretch, “Fuego” segued nicely out of “What’s the Use?” and offered up its normal fire, albeit again without any jamming. The anthematic “Backwards Down The Number Line” had the crowd singing along and the always sublime and enjoyable “Slave to the Traffic Light” closed the set. The double encore pair of “Meatstick” and a raucous “Character Zero” closed the show.

Will this be looked back and remembered as another legendary Alpine show? No, most certainly not, but “Saturday Night Special” shows have their place. Crowd pleasing numbers, rock-show theatrics and boisterous numbers with crowd sing-alongs and engagement pleases many fans. Phish summer 2015 has had some incredibly great moments. And while lots of tonight may not have elevated to the “incredible” level, the crowd was treated to a couple of rarities, a great take on the new “Mercury,” great mini-jams in both “Disease” and “Light” and the almost return of a jammed out “Halley’s.” I think it sets us up perfectly for a great Sunday night show, and another hopefully historic Alpine show. Enjoy the Wood.

Photo © @tweeprise

Phish Summer 2015 – Setlists & Recaps
07/21/15 Setlist – Recap – Bend 1
07/22/15 Setlist – Recap – Bend 2
07/24/15 Setlist – Recap, Recap2 – Shoreline
07/25/15 Setlist – Recap – LA Forum
07/28/15 Setlist – Recap – Austin
07/29/15 Setlist – Recap – Grand Prarie
07/31/15 Setlist – Recap – Atlanta 1
08/01/15 Setlist – Recap – Atlanta 2
08/02/15 Setlist – Recap – Tuscaloosa
08/04/15 Setlist – Recap – Nashville
08/05/15 Setlist – Recap – Kansas City
08/07/15 Setlist – Recap – Blossom
08/08/15 Setlist – Recap – Alpine 1
08/09/15 Setlist – Recap – Apline 2
08/11/15 Setlist – Recap – Mann 1
08/12/15 Setlist – Recap – Mann 2
08/14/15 Setlist – Recap – Raleigh
08/15/15 Setlist – Recap – Merriweather 1
08/16/15 Setlist – Recap – Merriweather 2
08/21/15 Setlist – Recap – Magnaball 1
08/22/15 Setlist – Recap – Magnaball 2
08/23/15 Setlist – Recap – Magnaball 3
09/04/15 Setlist – Recap – Dick's 1
09/05/15 Setlist – Recap – Dick's 2
09/06/15 Setlist – Recap – Dick's 3

Alpine Valley posters by Brad Klausen.

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I'm pretty stoked to be writing a few words about this venue and equally stoked for the upcoming shows. Sometime by the end of the year, or if the cards don't fall right, perhaps the first part of 2014 Tour, I'll hit my 300th show. Tons of special memories of course. I've seen Phish perform in every place from dorms, college quads, fraternity houses, gin soaked college bars with 15 people attending and deserted clubs to hallowed halls to the country's biggest, grandest and most cherished venues. Yet, of all the special places I've seen this band- the Centrum ranks right up there among my favorite venues. Perhaps I'm one of only a handful of people that would make that seemingly bizarre claim and hold the venue in such high regard. What is it about the Centrum? Who knows. A cocktail of great memories with friends, remembering the band beginning to "hit it big", great musical moments, omnipresent electricity in the air, historical shows, and a large dose of home-town homerism has elevated this venue for me. Regardless of what regard you hold this venue, there's no doubting the importance it has had in Phish history or the many great musical moments that it has hosted.

Who knows: You may not even recognize the Centrum in Worcester, MA when you visit on October 25th and October 26th for the bands fifteenth and sixteenth appearances here. These shows keep this hallowed venue square in the top few of most played venues by Phish (and likewise the second most performed artist here). Let's get a few things straight before we roll up our sleeves. First off, it is, phonetically, "Woo-ster" not "Worchester". And like Deer Creek, The Boston Garden or Great Woods, it doesn't quite matter which corporate behemoth shelled out enough money to rename the joint. It will always be "The Centrum" but feel free to call it the DCU Center if you want. The venue has actually had a few different names over the years. We need to do a bit of house-cleaning here on Phish.net as we actually have the names incorrect. In 1993 when Phish first played here on New Year's Eve and in 1995 the venue was named "Centrum in Worcester". In 1997, it was re-christened "Worcester's Centrum Center" and in the 3.0 era, starting with their performances in 2010, it has been known as "DCU Center".

The venue, with a capacity of 14,500 and situated in New England's second biggest city, has an embarrassingly rich history for not only epic Phish shows, but also for scores of other bands. We'll look at 'Ten Great Moments' in Centrum Phish history after we look to the future. Despite some real high moments musically and historically for the band, the venue has also been marred with complaints. Most notably have been the lack of restrooms, the lack of concessions and the miniscule concourse space to accommodate the always sold-out crowds. So what's changed? Read on for the best of what's to come and the best of what's already been!

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When I think about Phish, one of the very first things that comes to mind is New York. I know they’re not a “New York” band and have their roots in Vermont and New England, but it’s impossible to discuss even a cursory history of the band without intertwining the band’s glorious history there. Phish has unquestionably put their stamp on the Empire State playing every nook and cranny of the state from college quads and campuses in the early years to tiny clubs and rooms like Aiko’s in Saratoga, The Chance in Poughkeepsie, The Haunt in Ithaca, The Wetlands in the City and Clement’s Brew Pub in Syracuse. Seemingly in the blink of an eye, Phish was performing to 70,000 fans at one of the most awe-inspiring festivals ever seen at the Clifford Ball in Plattsburgh, to some of the world’s grandest stages in Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall (and everything in between in New York City). Having played nearly 100 different venues in New York, Phish has performed there more often than any other state with Vermont being a not-that-close second. (California & Massachusetts round out the other top four).

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On January 7th, a friend of the entire Phish community was taken from this world much too early. Robert Eckhart (known by many as Barefoot Bob) found a small spot on his tongue. Sadly, it turned out to be cancer. He went through painful surgeries to have part of his tongue and the lymph nodes in his neck removed. This was followed by numerous, difficult radiation treatments. On Monday, January 7th, he lost his courageous battle and leaves a wife and two children. He was only 37.

Trey was on WXPN this afternoon, on the same day as Bob's services, extolling the virtues of Phish fans and proclaiming them the best fans anywhere.

Let's really prove this point as we have many times in the past and band together as a community and help Bob's family. It makes no difference if you knew him from Phish.net, from Twitter, from tour experiences together, a fleeting hello at one show, just knew his name or never heard of him at all. He is one of us. A fan. A husband, father, brother, son, and friend.

Many artists, Phish and gracious fans and friends have donated a few dozen fantastic items including posters and artwork. Please visit http://barefootbobmemorial.com/ for details on how you can participate. And remember- the most important thing is helping the family so make those donations and dig deep.

Share your thoughts and rememberances of Barefoot Bob in THIS thread.

We are lucky to be part of such a great community. Thank you for reading and contributing.

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By then, my first show, the excitement, the scene, the energy and the parking lot full of Deadheads trying Phish for the first time made this a wild night. What was lost then, that it is appreciated only after seeing many shows and filling my "Clarkives" with every Phish show I can get my hands on, is the caliber of my first show. I didn't know it at the time but I was witnessing a top notch Phish show, at the time you could have played me the Bonnaroo 2012 set and it'd have been great. The "Bathtub Gin" is second to only a handful of Gin's, along with a great all around setlist- check out the second set alone! ( Tweezer Reprise > Runaway Jim > It's Ice > Bathtub Gin -> Rotation Jam -> Mallory [debut] > Also Sprach Zarathustra > David Bowie, Sweet Adeline). This Bowie is a punch in the face with a fist full of lightning. The dark tones to the firing bullets of notes upon drum slaps to conquered mountains of bass lines Cactus likes in this time period. I listen to this show a lot and the 2:03 mark still sets hairs up on my arms. True Phish stage dress for the 90's is shown from a Page side view that captures the ability to turn playful tuning jamming into cosmic excitement with and exclamation of finality to finish off a David Bowie that never once asks "is it Bowie or Maze?"

Every Friday, we highlight a video with a brief recap of the show it is from and what makes it interesting, noteworthy or simply fun. With the help of Dan Saewitz from Phishvids.com, we hope to keep the stream of videos coming at you entertaining and interesting. Have a cool video you’d like to suggest? Interested in contributing a review yourself? Submit ideas here.

Speaking of gems- this one is a true beauty! On many people's "All Time" list, this Piper from Las Vegas in 2003 was an absolute monster. This video captures the spirit of the show and the song beautifully. Filled with raucous energy from front to back, this Piper delivered an infectious, rhythm filled jam complete with exceptional playing by all band members.

This great video features full panned shots of the crowd, Kuroda's lights, close-ups of Trey being quintessentially Trey (around 10:00 min), glowstick wars, and other all-around zaniness.

Unfortunately this video is clipped into two other parts. Enjoy Parts 2 and Parts 3 also. Each part is not to be missed!

Also, if you haven't visited PhishVids.com lately, you are in for a nice surprise. Check out the all-new PhishVids 2.0 with blazing fast search and new design. Powered by the Phish.net API of course! Dan, co-writer of this feature on Phish.net, spent a ton of time on this invaluable site for Phish video buffs. Be sure to leave your words of thanks either here on on Twitter (@Phishvids).

Enjoy the glorious Piper and see you next week!

Every Friday, we highlight a video with a brief recap of the show it is from and what makes it interesting, noteworthy or simply fun. With the help of Dan Saewitz from Phishvids.com, we hope to keep the stream of videos coming at you entertaining and interesting. Have a cool video you’d like to suggest? Interested in contributing a review yourself? Submit ideas here.

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!

A bit after 19 minutes, the effervescent Dave's Energy Guide starts to grow out of the jam. This hadn't been seen in it's full glory in 479 shows (3/8/91). It, of course, had been teased plenty of times including as recently as six days before in Canandaigua, NY (Finger Lakes Performing Arts Center). The band eventually hops back into Tweezer. Towards 25 minutes, a full on type II jam emerges and Mike begins playing a bassline that sounds very similar to the Mario theme song although many would likely say that is crazy.

Right before we hit the 28th minute, The Breeder's "Cannonball" grows out of the music. The band eventually slows it down as Trey plays a chord repeatedly and the wonderous jam eventually comes to an end.

Thanks to Dave (again!) for uploading this with some quality audio.

Also, in case you haven't checked it out yet, be sure to take a few minutes with Switchcam which offers up some pretty cool features for watching concert video clips. Recap from HiddenTrack.

Every Friday, we highlight a video with a brief recap of the show it is from and what makes it interesting, noteworthy or simply fun. With the help of Dan Saewitz from Phishvids.com, we hope to keep the stream of videos coming at you entertaining and interesting. Have a cool video you’d like to suggest? Interested in contributing a review yourself? Submit ideas here.

The idea was thought up by Blues Traveler front-man John Popper, who also spent his youth in Trey's childhood hometown of Princeton, New Jersey. While originally it was called, "Horizons of Rock Developing East Coast," it was changed to "Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere" soon after. Dozens and dozens of bands ultimately joined the HORDE throught the years in addition to inaugral members Widespread Panic, Aquarium Rescue Unit, the Spin Doctors, The Samples, and Phish. The festival was a huge success and its final concert took place on September 5, 1998 in Portland, Oregon.

On 7/21/93, Phish played a one set show as a part of the H.O.R.D.E. tour. Phish opened with 2001 and encored with Daniel Saw The Stone. Towards the end of the song, Trey apologized for not playing longer, but said that they had run out of time. According to a review by SlaveFan, the band was given a five minute signal after Purple Rain. Be sure to check it out as well. The Blues Traveler setlist for that show is available thanks to the folks over at archive.org and their wonderful Wayback Machine. Widespread Panic's set can be found here.

Every Friday, we highlight a video with a brief recap of the show it is from and what makes it interesting, noteworthy or simply fun. With the help of Dan Saewitz from Phishvids.com, we hope to keep the stream of videos coming at you entertaining and interesting. Have a cool video you’d like to suggest? Interested in contributing a review yourself? Submit ideas here.

Another debut in My Friend, My Friend opened up the second set. After a Poor Heart, the band decided to teach fans their Secret Language. The band taught the crowd Charlie Chan, Simpsons, Me and My Arrow (Asshole in the Front Row), Don't Mean a Thing, Random Note, All Fall Down, and Turn Turn Turn while Bowie was played in the background. Mound debuted after Stash and a few songs later is the debut of NICU. Possum included four signals to close the set. Sleeping Monkey debuted as the sole encore. Overall a very historic Phish show including a bunch of classic debuts and a plethora of secret language including the instructions. Thanks to Dave again for uploading this awesome video!

Every Friday, we highlight a video with a brief recap of the show it is from and what makes it interesting, noteworthy or simply fun. With the help of Dan Saewitz from Phishvids.com, we hope to keep the stream of videos coming at you entertaining and interesting. Have a cool video you’d like to suggest? Interested in contributing a review yourself? Submit ideas here.

Dave says:

"This jam is one of the long-form jams of the 1994 Fall Tour that would in retrospect, stand out as some of the best improvisation Phish has done. Earlier in the year at the 5/7/94 Bomb Factory show, Phish blew the lid off the place with a wacky mixed-up song set that seemed to be a natural evolution of the best of what 1993 had to offer. Personally my favorite part of a Phish show, and I know I'm not alone, is the improvisation (duh!). The jam before a song, or in between two songs, the ten minutes after the song usually stops. This fall tour had many of these moments. The 11/16/94 Simple, the 11/2/94 Tweezer, 11/12/94 DWD, 11/28/94 Tweezer, 11/30/94 Fix' to Die, basically every other show or two featured a lengthy improvisational suite, and it kept going until the 12/29/94 Bowie. For fans of spontaneity, this tour was one of the best.

On this night, somehow the taper captured this jam nicely. The first set of the VHS copy of this show is unwatchable, the taper was clearly having a good time. Camera in one hand, who knows what in the other, and shaking a leg. Then by some intervention, maybe from above, possibly a junior mint, this unsung hero found a ledge to set his camera on, 30 seconds before the start of this super jam. For the next 25 minutes, he kept it trained on the stage. Thank God!

A powerful jam right out of the gates, with several changes from soft and twinkly with colors spinning to menacing ferocity spiralling into darkness. Chris Kuroda plays between light and dark like the band does with the tempo and volume. Fitting that at the end of this jam, out of serenity it morphs into Yerushalayim Shel Zahav, whose lyrics translates to "Oh, Jerusalem of gold, and of light and of bronze, I am the lute for all your songs." Beautiful end to a sometimes frightful 25 minutes!

I asked Dave a couple weeks ago where all these fantastic videos were coming from:

"I've been going thru a lot of DVD's that were once on VHS that a friend transferred to DVD for me a few years ago by means of DVR. A lot of them never really got seeded as DVD's for download type torrents on Trader's den or the like. And many were 1st or 2nd gen. Sometimes the audio was bunk or a bit shaky or too dark or too light. I've been using some software to sync a better audio copy and fix what can be fixed, as not to alter anything too much. I always been a huge Phish video fan, so I collected everything I could as it was going around. Sharing the groove is the whole reason for it all."

As for this particular show:

"I came upon this tape with many others starting in 1994 and 1995 with the invention of the Internet. I remember rec.music.phish being the third music group after the Beatles and Elvis to have a group formed. I actually went to some record conventions and bought (i know) a few 1st or second 2nd gen Phish videos sold by slithery types, muggles. Then never went back. I'd record it 30 times, put one post up, get 30 trades set up, and then get 30 packages in the mail. Unreal. The networking of Phish fans still blows me away. This tape was one that I got in one of those trades. Quickly grew a nice list and kept in contact with the first Phish video tapers and grabbed everything that was out there. Funny thing though. With the fast and furious pace Phish had, you had to roll with it like NOW. So if a video was shaky, dark, poor sound, or lots of static, they were kind of forgotten. Better cameras were making better videos. Now, again with the internet and software, it is worth the time to search out a sweet copy of the show, and fix it up the best that I can. I watched that Columbia Jam really for the first time last nite. Couldn't sleep."

Couldn't agree with you more Dave: Sharing in the Groove indeed! Thanks for sharing this great video on YouTube and specifically debuting it with us on Video of the Week.

For a bit more reading beyond our song history, check out http://www.jerusalemofgold.co.il/ for some in depth reading on this extraordinary song.

Every Friday, we highlight a video with a brief recap of the show it is from and what makes it interesting, noteworthy or simply fun. With the help of Dan Saewitz from Phishvids.com, we hope to keep the stream of videos coming at you entertaining and interesting. Have a cool video you’d like to suggest? Interested in contributing a review yourself? Submit ideas here.

After the mammoth that was Big Cypress, Phish played a number of radio sessions leading up to their first full show of 2000: May 21st at the world famous Radio City Music Hall. Starting off the tour with a short 60 minute set, Phish played only one Farmhouse tune in the first set: the opener – First Tube. They would continue on to play five more songs off Farmhouse including Gotta Jibboo, Dirt, Twist, Piper, and The Inlaw Josie Wales.

Although it was not the most incredible show, many fans seemed to absolutely love their night of Phish. After Velvet Sea, Page told the crowd how he had come to Radio City many times as a child to see concerts. Trey then exhibited his affection for the venue and their loyal fans. “...we don’t want to screw anything up, so let’s just keep this going for as long as we can.” As you all know, Phish went on hiatus a few months later. Josie Wales was played on acoustic guitar and “a roll-lickin' Loving Cup sent [the crowd] out to 6th ave with smiles on!”

Jeff recounts:

"This was a really special show....even though it often gets overshadowed by the next night with that legendary Ghost. For the most part, tickets were very difficult to come by. I suspect that in 2000, most fans were still trying to get through to Ticketmaster by TELEPHONE at 10:00am on the day of a ticket release...because I got my tickets online and it was a SNAP!

Security at the venue was very friendly, for the most part, although they DID ask us kindly to put the video camera away during Limb By Limb. As the night progressed, I saw the security guy less and less, and we decided to go for it. Glad we did.

This was Phish's first show after Big Cypress. I remember hearing lots of people here & there try to get a Cheesecake chant going, but it never took. LOL. They didn't say it like they were pissed. It's kind of interesting watching this Banter video where Trey is talking about how grateful the band is for all the fans, and about them wanting to continue on for the long haul and he mentions specifically about NOT WANTING TO MESS ANYTHING UP...........is it just me, or did he seem reeeeeally uncomfortable during that chat? Almost like he knew what was going to happen..........oh well.....it's all good now!

A few more random memories........I remember, before the show, Trey stuck his head out of a window above RCMH and we all waved to him. I also remember seeing people stomping out their cigarette butts on the brand new carpet at Radio City. I didn't like that."

Why upload now?

I LITERALLY stumbled upon it in an old shoebox filled with junk and a few DV tapes. I had totally forgotten we had filmed anything more than a few minutes worth of footage! Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!

Check out the rest of the never before seen footage below along with some reviews of the night.

Especially enjoyable is the pre-show footage including shots of the spectacular lobby.

Harry Hood - http://youtu.be/pkgo8iiEB5Y

Velvet Sea - http://youtu.be/8J1wpxTDafI

Guyute - http://youtu.be/ZLxSY2tFT0A

Inlaw Josie Wales - http://youtu.be/p9h0dVkppNo

Loving Cup - http://youtu.be/fmG8_1nlSt0

Thanks Jeff for the videos and the memories.

Every Friday, we highlight a video with a brief recap of the show it is from and what makes it interesting, noteworthy or simply fun. With the help of Dan Saewitz from Phishvids.com, we hope to keep the stream of videos coming at you entertaining and interesting. Have a cool video you’d like to suggest? Interested in contributing a review yourself? Submit ideas here.

Last year, we blogged about "The Spreadsheet" and talked a bit about Kevin's tireless and unrelenting quest to provide this invaluable tool to the fan community. Working selflessly & quietly, Kevin has continued to update & add to this amazing set of links including side shows. At some point last night, Kevin reports that the spreadsheet has surpassed the absolutely incredible goal of 1,000,000 downloads. All of that in less than three years. Stunning.

To give you an idea of how many downloads are done from the spreadsheet, and how many fans use it: As of Noon today, the download count was already up to 1,001,032.

Kevin says:

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The tour until the 1st had been going fairly well. Early shows in Las Vegas and Colorado were satisfying, but the band picked up the pace in Cincinnati and began to really hit its stride in Worcester, with a YEM opener and a tremendous Ghost in the second set. What really got everyone buzzing, however, was the 28th in Nassau. At the time, Destiny Unbound was a mythical legend, like a full-set Gamehendge, a thing that was so hyped that it had pretty much become unthinkable to expect, despite repeated attempts by the audience to summon it from the depths (see Hampton 97 or PNC 00). Nonetheless, it’s safe to say that the community was totally and utterly shocked to see Destiny come over the setlist update on rmp. No one could believe it. I still can’t believe that they did it. And not only that, but the band blew the second set away with an absolutely incredible Tweezer that meandered into Soul Shakedown Party. Down in North Carolina, a whole lot of people were wondering why they had skipped the 28th, myself included.

The Coliseum was, and still is, the largest indoor venue that the band has played. Being a general admission show, I wanted to take full advantage of this opportunity to get on the rail so I headed over to the arena from Winston-Salem late at night on the 28th. Arriving to a bunch of Shania Twain fans waiting for tickets (at least I think it was Shania Twain…), me and my other diehard friend Hugh decided to sit right down and wait 12 hours until the show started. That’s right. We sat on concrete in the middle of a cold February night and slept on the ground to secure a front row seat. Humorously now, although it wasn’t funny at the time, the tip-off that a graveyard shift Colesium worker gave us about a ‘side entrance’ turned out to be a joke, as a policeman woke us up at around 6AM. After a quick run to get food, and since there was no one there yet, we moved instead to the front doors of the venue. The hours passed quickly as folks shuffled up to the entrance. My good friend and rmp compadre Salvo and I sat for hours statistically predicting the setlist. We were pretty sure that there would be a 2001, and that Chalkdust would make an appearance, but we were really unsure what to expect since the break-out of Destiny had changed the game. Since Slave had been played in Philadelphia, I also had to change up my sign, which I decided would look good with ‘Peaches’ on it (I mean…if we were gonna choose from everything, why not?).

To this day, I have no clue why we went so early…perhaps we were so excited from the news about Destiny, perhaps because we knew it was going to be an amazing show…in any event, the waiting paid off, as it was easy to quickly scurry through security and grab a space on the rail, right in front of Mike.

On to the show…a rowdy Chalkdust started things off. If I recall, and the video is blanked out, but there was a tremendous wave effort going which got the crowd going (we should really bring that back…). Moma was a nice funky treat, but it was clear that the band needed Foam to warm up. The noticeable action started during Lawn Boy when, during a gorgeous Mike solo, Page meandered over to Trey’s mic to croon in the spotlight. Of course the crowd went bananas, so the obvious next song choice was a loud Zero, which got them all rallied up even more. You can see the reaction at this part of the video. You can also see a very young me, in the white shirt, going ga-ga for Trey (quite embarrassing now...sigh).

After a wild Zero, the band wound down and Fishman missed his cue. At that time, Trey started up what I clearly thought was the beginning to Slave. Right at about 40:41, there is about half a second when I distinctly remember hearing the very first notes of Slave, which shot me straight through the roof. You can see in the video a lone figure jumping sky high. Now, of course, I wasn’t disappointed with Divided Sky; at this point, the band had dwindled the number of performances of this song to a handful of times a tour, and, it certainly was welcome in the first set. But I really was hoping… Anyways, this was a particularly strong version, though, and one of the most memorable parts of the night came right during the silent section. A great thing about this video is that it really captures the intensity of this moment. Somewhere in the noodling that Trey did during the quiet section, a group in the back corner of the arena cracked what literally looked like flares and sent them all around the arena. You can hear the crowd react at 45:34. These things were gigantic and extremely bright and the entire arena was looking at them. The camera pans out at around 46:00 and you can kind of see a few of them being thrown around. Gigantic gigantic glowsticks. Of course that set off a flurry of glowstick chucking, a few of which made their way to stage.

In the middle of all of this, and this is still one of the more bizarre things I’ve seen at a Phish show, right at 47:27 on the video, Trey just holds up his hand, and a glowstick comes out of nowhere and lands in it. He throws it back and then seconds later, Mike picks one clear out of the sky. Of course, then the entire audience starts throwing these things at the band – hundreds of these things are coming down from all over, and Trey finally is waving to stop. You can see Fishman huddle behind his drums for safety. Anyways, Divided Sky was, from what I remember, pretty good. In the jam, I distinctly remember hearing Waves teases. After a nice calm Mist, the band, which had just played Waves a few nights earlier, unleashed a wonderful Waves which, at the time, I had been wanting to hear since MSG. It’s a beaut – of course nowhere near, say, the Bethel version, or even the absolutely amazing IT version, but it still translates pretty well.
Really, though, set 2 is where the action was this night. Rock N Roll started off this beautiful set with some early machine gun. The band got in a groove, and Trey and Fish just hinted at Oye Como Va and a little theme they’d return to later. I really thought things were going to take off in the Rock N Roll, especially right at about 9:19 when Trey got into the “we’re going to start a jam” groove pattern (you can hear it in many really big jams, including the Cypress Rock N Roll). Unfortunately, after about a minute of potential, they reeled this one in. It was frustrating, at the time, especially when things moved into the rather mundane Wilson. But then…there was Piper.

Now, I’ve seen a lot of Phish. But the 15 odd minutes that make up this Piper are among the best minutes I’ve ever spent watching or listening to the band. Starting at about 21:00 in the video, the band would type-II this version into the realm of legend. Now, before I talk about what I like about this version, let me say a few things. Firstly, I know that there are many great Pipers. I saw Merriwether in ’98 and was in the front row for the mammoth Oswego and Cypress versions. Although I was not on the west coast for the predecessor of this version earlier in the tour, and there have been many great Pipers since, I think this may be one of the best Pipers, if not, the finest Piper, that the band has played. Sure, I was right there. In fact, I can see myself throughout the entire video and I’m clearly biased both because I was present and also because I’ve listened to the version a hundred times, but this Piper really deserves a listen.

Now that you are forewarned, back to the show. Right around 23:00, Fishman started this shuffle beat, and Trey fiddled around with this funky little groove. It slowly morphed into what is listed as the Oye Como Va chords, but I just remember this bouncy, funky, lilting groove with no set pattern. You can hear it distinctly at about 24:00. This is also right about the time that Trey turned facing stage left and stared straight at me. Now, I still don’t know if he was locked into how I was dancing, or what. He likely wasn’t even looking at me. I don’t know, but what I do know is that the following 10 minutes or so were just pure hose and at the time I was grooving back and forth staring up with Trey grinning and then he begins a soft solo right on top of the jam, with Page moving in support. The jam just bounced and twisted around until about 26:00 when it took on a ferocity and things picked up. So there I was, bouncing around, listening to this great type II, and this jam is coming together. The band was completely in tune with each other and then they finally break it down. Right about 27:00, we move back into the jam-chords! Yes! Things hadn’t ended in Rock N Roll after all! Right around 27:50, Trey backs off to the bottom, Fish is holding down this funky lilting beat, and suddenly Page is building tension. All of the sudden, here come these back and forth lights from Kurouda that just capture everything. This back and forth pattern. You can see it at about 28:15. At that time, I remember thinking that this was as locked in as the band could get, and then of course, things get even funkier and Kurouda lights up the back of the stage. Things kind of wash away into space for a bit before the band brings the jam full circle and there’s this Trey shred, the lights go wild, and the jam screams to a conclusion. Pure hose.

This all felt like quite a ride, but the ride ended and things moved to space. At that point, I’m convinced that Trey wanted to use his loop pedal but couldn’t quite get it working right. At the time I wasn’t really not where things were going to go. They were funky enough to go anywhere, really, but Trey couldn’t quite work his pedalsland there was a little stall. An extremely funky 2001 followed, and included one of my favorite light shows I’ve ever seen Kurouda do, mainly because he worked with so little. Things were quite dark for this 2001. The camera zooms out so you can really see some of the nice patterns. I love the rig CK had for this run. Wolfman’s was extra funky, and Mike really took hold of things from this point onward and singlehandedly moved into Boogie On. Somewhere in there there was a Velvet Sea, but what I remember mostly at the end was the pure and total chaos that the Antelope brought. Sometimes there are just those Antelopes when you are convinced that things are getting evil, and this was one of them. Right around the 1:13:00 mark, you’ll see what I mean. Things got totally atonal, and I just remember feeling like things were about to explode, including just about everyone around me.
The Carolina closer made the night special and hey, First Tube is fun, don’t get me wrong. But at the time I was convinced that this show had been wonderful, and I was hoping that the band wouldn’t just end with it. Amazingly, Trey decided to start up YEM, and the crowd went bezerk. A perfect choice, and a wonderful way to end a tour. This was a strong YEM and with the Proud Mary vocal jam, it ended things just the way I was hoping.

So, about 24 hours after I had begun to make my way to this show, things finally ended. We made our way to Checkers and finally ate something (it had been about 14 hours since our last meal) and tried to figure out what had just happened.

Seeing this video is a fantastic memory. These days I couldn’t imagine getting in line a full day ahead of time (sleeping on the pavement) and waiting that long to get in the front. In fact, I’m pretty sure that may be the longest someone has ever waited in line at the front of the venue to get a front row seat. Nowadays I like to arrive at my seats about 5 minutes before the band starts, just about 8:10. But, back then, I didn’t want anything to interfere with a direct sightline into the hose. It was a great experience and one that I will treasure.

So, I know that this is a pretty long recap for a Friday video, but I wanted to thank everyone for reading and the Phish.net community for letting me share it. I’m pretty sure lots of people will disagree about this Piper being one of the best, but it was and still is to me, and I think it deserves a listen.

“Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning”

Complete Set 2 LINK

Every Friday, we highlight a video with a brief recap of the show it is from and what makes it interesting, noteworthy or simply fun. With the help of Dan Saewitz from Phishvids.com, we hope to keep the stream of videos coming at you entertaining and interesting. Have a cool video you’d like to suggest? Interested in contributing a review yourself? Submit ideas here.

Phish took the stage last night at Dick's in Commerce City, CO, on the middle night of this tour-closing run at the same time as the previous night, 8:20pm, even though Friday's late start was presumably weather-induced. On a stage that seemingly continues to get narrower and taller, Phish came out with ferocious, staight forward, Saturday-night-blazing guns. While it was quickly obvious there would be no repeat in stitching together a theme-based set like the previous night, it was also quickly obvious that Phish was intent on not letting the majesty of the surroundings overpower their sound. There was absolute shredding throughout the first set, beginninng with the stalwart "Possum".

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Twenty years ago today, in the cozy confines of Larrabee Farm in Auburn, Maine, Phish wrapped up their touring for the Summer of 1991. The entire run, barring Amy’s Farm, consisted of the well received Horn Tour. Commencing with the home-town show at Battery Park in Burlington, VT on July 11th and winding down the East Coast and culminating at the potent one set blowout at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, GA, the Horn Tour was 15 shows that became etched into the collective memory of the fan-base. However, as fun as the Horn Tour was, and as good as the shows were, the definitive show that paints the picture of where Phish was at that time, and portended signs of things to come, was Saturday, August 3rd at Amy’s Farm.

Front page Maine Sun Journal, August 4, 1991

Phish was slowly graduating from smoky clubs, college bars, and fraternity houses to slightly larger venues in 1991. While clubs like the Front in Burlington, the Campus Club in Providence, and Cat’s Cradle in Chapel Hill were still on the docket, so too were venues like the State Theatre in Ithaca (not the Haunt!), the Boulder Theater in Colorado (not JJ McCabes!) and the Capitol Theater in Port Chester (not Club Bene!) The excitement was palpable and though most shows were not sold-out, it was abundantly clear something special was happening. The momentum was building and there was a buzz about the band that was literally deafening. It was tough to talk about music on the nascent Internet, at other shows, around campuses and all along the East Coast without someone bringing up Phish. An exciting time it was to still be able to arrive at a club 30 minutes before show time, pay $10 and get your hand stamped, and know that you were seeing history in the making. At the final show of the Horn Tour, Trey made official what had been rumored since the Spring and all summer long: there would be an end of summer party at Amy’s Farm, and we were all invited.

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Most Phish fans can be categorized into two groups. One that has 'The Spreadsheet' in their browser bookmark bar and the other that is yet to experience the "Holy Shit!" moment when they discover it for the first time. A labor of love & dedication, the Spreadsheet is one of the definitive sources for Phish MP3's and catalogs every known circulating show since 1983. A mere utterance of the term, "The Spreadsheet", and most fans instantly know that you are talking about Kevin Hoy's Google Doc. But how did this amazing resource come about? And who is Kevin?

I spent some time recently asking Kevin all about the Spreadsheet.

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One can’t begin to discuss even the cursory history of Phish without mentioning the role of tapers and the taping community. After every show and tour, hundreds of padded envelopes criss-crossed the country and helped spread the gospel of Phish in a fashion similiar to the way bits & bytes travel the Internet now. From one to one trades, to complex trading trees, to blanks & postage offers, to taping parties, Phish tapes were constantly circulating. At the root of every chain and the beginning of every trade, was a taper who selflessley put recording the shows above all else.

Initially, it was with baited breath that people waited to receive tapes to even find out what was played last week. Likewise, with the arrival of a fresh batch of tapes it was an opportunity to hear a debut, to hear what all the buzz from a particular show was about or to hear a new cover torn to shreds the first time. As time went by, and set-lists become disseminated quicker through the internet, tapes were no longer needed to know what was played but rather as the first opportunity to listen to the magic that was happening elsewhere in the country. Though tapes have long since been replaced with digital, setlists are instantly updated live-time at current.phish.net or m.phish.net, LivePhish has the show available for download within an hour of the show ending, and you can stream the show as you leave the parking lot from the Phish app, there still exists an incredibly energized and dedicated taping community.

some of the taper rigs from Mansfield, MA 'Great Woods' Picture credit: Parker Harrington

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A selection of 34 tracks from prior Phish festivals is now available for free stream or download at LivePhish.

The collection includes all time favorites like the Great Went Bathtub Gin, Runaway Jim -> Free from Camp Oswego, and the Mike's Groove from Big Cypress.

Hand selected by archivist Kevin Shapiro, Live Bait Vol. 5 spans festivals from Ian's Farm through Festival 8 with even a little Arrowhead Horn Tour thrown in for good measure. It is an absolute treasure trove of tracks that fans have been dying for official releases.

Humorously, to add the flavor of summer festivals, Track 18 is former road manager Brad Sands' announcement of inclement weather during Lemonwheel.

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In very exciting news to audiophiles & vinyl lovers and collectors, Phish will be selling never before released vinyl editions of a couple of albums at the JEMP Record store as well as a limited re-release of "Two Soundtracks" that quickly sold-out on Record Store Day. The store will be located next to the House of Live Phish. The "White Tape", "Party Time" and "Two Soundchecks" will be available.

For details, see Phish's Facebook page.

Full text below.

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No other band on the planet has had their music dissected, catalogued, reviewed, and archived as extensively as Phish. There are scores of resources fans can use from Phish.net’s setlists, to zzyzx’s Stats, to the famous Spreadsheet, to phish.com’s own setlists, to LivePhish downloads. But what about searching for the treasure chest of fan videos available on YouTube? Daniel Saewitz has an answer for you: PhishVids.com. He was gracious to answer some questions about Phish.Vids, the inspiration behind the site, a little technical babble and some general thoughts about Phish.

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Tonight's live stream from Alpharetta, GA has been postponed until 8:00 pm due to thunderstorms in the area.

Though last night's show didn't start until after 8:00pm, the stream went live at 7:00pm. Phish tweeted, "We will not be starting tonight's Phish stream until 8PM EST due to thunderstorms"

Presumably, this means the show will start later than last night's 8:15pm start time to allow for people to get the stream working properly after it goes live. EDIT: Live as of 8:10pm enjoy!

Reports from the area indicate a ferocious storm with heavy rain, high winds, and even some downed trees.

Read On for Pictures from venue.

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Ready to have your couch tore to shreds by Phish with three shows from Colorado?

Check out the Coach Tour streaming FAQ's here: Phish.net Couch Tour FAQ!

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In what is hopefully a precursor to more announcements of webcasts for other Summer Tour shows, Phish announced that they will be live webcasting the Alpharetta, GA shows. Both shows on June 14th and June 15th are sold-out and can be ordered individually or as a package. Single shows will be $14.99 while the two-show package is $24.99.

Details and ordering information: LivePhish

As were the New Year's shows, these two from Alpharetta will be broadcast in Hi-Def 720p enabling you to be able to hook your computer up to your large screen TV with stunning results.

Enjoy the shows if you are heading to Alpharetta or through "Official Couch Tour 2011."

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Sitting in the midst of the vast sprawl of an outdoor amphitheater during an encore when thousands of like minded fans held Zippos or Bics in the air was an indelible image that became ingrained in many concert goers minds in days gone by. Later, glowstick wars became one of those incredible visual memories seeing all the wild fluorescents fly through the air in orchestrated syncopation.

Now, developer and Phish fan, M@ - aka Matt Sheppard, thinks it is the time for smartphones to take over with an iPhone & Android app called Crowd Lights.

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