TAHOE TWEEZER, RUBY WAVES, AND THE ERA OF SETTLED WORK
[thanks to phish.netters @Mshow96, @Ry_storm, and @jimmylovesposter for their work on the "Jam of the Era" tournament, and to @philospliphy for the essay that follows - ed.]
Voting in the final matchup of the phish.net forum “Jam of the Era” tournament is open until tomorrow at 9 am EDT. Vote here.
In celebration of the two finalists the bracket organizing committee is pleased to welcome guest contributor, @philospliphy.
In the Long May They Run podcast, Trey reveals that an obscure book of urban planning theory became the band’s "bible" when they first began planning their independent, infamous, and shockingly successfully festivals. A Pattern Language (APL), by C. Alexander, et al., proposes and defends a mode of communal living wherein all social functions − from the privacy of the marital bed to the sharing of collective meals to the labor of workers in diverse fields to the pedestrians passing them all on the street − are creatively weaved into an organic, but open whole, designed to balance basic, yet contrasting, human needs like solitude and communality, productivity and rest, self-expression and family and community responsibility, darkness and light.
The discovery of this book, of course, corresponds with the time after which Phish had firmly and permanently become an arena-level draw, and during which the group achieved heights of musical performance, economic success, and cultural impact that no one at Nectar’s, or even on the farms of Ian or Amy could have anticipated. The interconnected community they had always sought to build through music was not only actualized, but seemed poised to become a substantial and permanent fixture on the American cultural landscape. A band that had tailored their career so that they needed to prove themselves and win over audiences every night could now not only write its own ticket, but freely set its own benchmarks. The shift to more collective, less guitar-centred improv in ’96, the hard turn towards funk and darkness in ’97, the surprise covers and more spacious sound of ’98, eventually giving way to the ambient bliss from ’99-'00 reveal a band always reaching for a new height, or finding a new way of integrating their catalog and hard-won connection with what was, for them, most interesting or challenging at the moment. It’s no wonder that, after "The Show," Fish thought they should stop; by the new millennium, a band built around having to earn its keep night after night had literally nothing left to prove. And if the band’s 2004 performances aren’t proof enough, Trey’s Charlie Rose interview makes clear that he knew the Phish that he founded and that did, indeed, "conquer America" wasn’t built to last; playing music so diverse, complex, and risky demanded 100% commitment to the project and, once it ceased to become the primary – and virtually sole – focus of the lives of all of the members, it was destined to get "sloppy around the edges" and become something else. Trey, Mike, Fish, and Page are, after all, human beings, rather than musical machines (even if they occasionally sound that way), and APL is grounded in the idea that being fully human requires us all to balance our work – independent, creative work of passion, though it may be – with the other vital facets of our lives, lest any one of them become all consuming, and thus damaging to ourselves, others, or both.
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 431
Welcome to the 431st edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the fourth of five August editions. 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 song and date of both mystery clips, which are connected by a theme. 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!
PHISH.NET FORUM "JAM OF THE ERA" FINAL MATCHUP
[thanks to @Mshow96 for the announcement of the final vote - ed.]
The users of the phish.net forum have put their extra time during this forced break from touring to good use, reflecting and deliberating on what it means to define an era of Phish musically. To that end, the community has assembled a bracket of 64 landmark jams from the last decade plus of creative output from the Vermont quartet.
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 430
Welcome to the 430th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the third of August. Thanks to @justino for his help on one of the clips! 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 song and date of both mystery clips, which are connected by a theme. 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!
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 429
Welcome to the 429th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the second of August. 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 song and date of both mystery clips, which are connected by a theme. 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!
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 428
Welcome to the 428th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the first and easiest of August. 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 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. Stay safe!
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 427
Welcome to the 427th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the fourth and hardest of July. 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 song and date of the four mystery clips. 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!
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 426
Welcome to the 426th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the third of July. 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 song and date of both mystery clips. 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!
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 425
Welcome to the 425th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the second of July. 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 song and date of both mystery clips. 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!
Answer: 26! That's how many MJM Emeriti sit in the MJM Hall of Fame now, after @serpent_deflector hit his walkoff shot this week. After his 5th and 6th wins, back-to-back in MJM407 and MJM408, it looked like a foregone conclusion he'd waltz into the Hall of Fame. But the very next week, @Chicken_Sub_In_Your_Hand burst onto the scene with his first win, and ended up racking up all seven needed to skunk @serpent_deflector and take his spot in the HoF. Not to be denied, the model of persistence ultimately prevailed, crushing this week's contest (typo notwithstanding) and finally cementing his legacy as one of the best to ever play the game. This week, he made mince meat of the "Carini"-themed MJM, quickly identifying the 12/30/12 and 7/24/18 "Carini"s, a veritable night and day pairing of the wide-ranging, 3.0-blossomed tune. For his efforts, he gets a backhanded compliment on the Hall of Fame page, yet another LivePhish code, the realization that he wasted hours of his life poking through random snippets of outro ambience on the internet in hopes to win $10 of MP3s, the thankless task of helping me choose which clips to run week after week, a wicked case of the Mondays for the rest of his life now that he can't play for keeps, and of course, his very own digital key to Phish's Vault, courtesy of Kevin Shapiro. Congrats @serpent_deflector, and welcome to retirement! Uh, you might want to avoid Florida for the next year or so...
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 424
Welcome to the 424th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the first and easiest of July. 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 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. Stay safe!
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 423
Welcome to the 423rd edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the final MJM of June. This week's puzzle is brought to you by MJM Hall of Famer @PhreePhish. 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 both mystery clips. 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!
FORUM FUNDRAISER FOR MOCKINGBIRD COVID-19 RELIEF FUND
Ever wondered if you could donate to Mockingbird simply by "liking" or "upvoting" a post? Wonder no more, as there is an extraordinarily generous fundraiser afoot in the Forum, link here:
https://forum.phish.net/forum/show/1378812209#page=1. Thank you @WickerAndCork for your inspiring generosity and also to @hen3ry and all others who are also planning to donate--or have already donated--in significant amounts to the COVID-19 Relief Fund! Also, two (2) of Mockingbird's donors have each agreed to match @WickerAndCork's donation to Mockingbird in July up to $1000.
On behalf of The Mockingbird Foundation, thank you!
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 422
Welcome to the 422nd edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the fourth MJM of June. This week's puzzle is brought to you by a few MJM Hall of Famers: @justino, @wforwumbo, and yours truly. 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 all three mystery clips. 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!
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 421
Welcome to the 421st edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the third of June. This week's puzzle is once again brought to you by @justino - thanks again! 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 song and date of both mystery clips. 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!
REGISTRATION OPEN FOR THE PHILOSOPHY SCHOOL OF PHISH 7.0 (CLASS BEGINS JUNE 22)
For the seventh summer in a row, Dr. Stephanie Jenkins will teach the “Philosophy School of Phish” course—more formally called the “Philosophy of Art and Music”—via Oregon State University’s Ecampus program. Using the band as a case study, students will explore canonical theories about art and its meaning, from ancient to modern times. As part of their required course work, students will attend three virtual listening assignments and conduct philosophical interviews with artists from the Phish community. Registration is open.
Space is limited. To enroll, follow instructions for registering through OSU’s ecampus and enroll in PHL 360: Philosophy & the Arts (CRN 72292). (Because this class is a special section of a regular course offering, you will not find PHL 360 listed online as “Philosophy School of Phish.”) Make sure Dr. Jenkins is listed as the professor. Note: You do not have to be a current OSU student to take this course. You’ll need to apply and enroll as a “non-degree seeking student.”
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