It's time for Mystery Jam Monday Part 107 here at Phish.net. As usual, we will be playing for an MP3 download, courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. The rules haven't changed: you need to correctly identify the song and the date to win. Post your guess in the comments. One guess per person per day (with the second “day” starting after I post the hint). A hint will be posted on Tuesday (if necessary) and the answer will be posted on Wednesday. Good luck...

Wednesday Answer: Congrats to hotdogg for being quick on the draw with the 7/23/97 "Ghost" (Happy 15th Anniversary!). The Blog will return on Monday with MJ108...

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.

by Mockingbird Contributor Chris Glushko

Now that Phish has wrapped up their best tour since returning in 2009, it’s time to take a look back and rank the shows from worst to first. Why? Because we’re Phish nerds here at phish.net. It’s what we do best.

Phish.net is an all-volunteer project produced with two goals: to raise money for music education for children through The Mockingbird Foundation, and to provide the most objective historical reference for Phish on the internet. If you enjoy phish.net’s content, please consider donating to The Mockingbird Foundation, where more than 98% of the money raised is given directly to music education programs.

A few thoughts before we begin:

• We're looking at second sets and encores only. In a tour full of bust outs, it's too difficult to weigh the first sets with any sort of objectivity. For example, what improves a show more – the best “Wolfman’s” of 3.0 from the first set of 6/16 Atlantic City or the first “Shaggy Dog” since 1995 in the first set of 6/22 Cincinnati?
• Encores can only add value to the set. They never detract.
• Rankings are based on the music that ends up on the recording, not personal live experiences. Debating the best live experiences is like arguing over who has the best favorite color.
• There is very little separating shows within each division.
• Shows that rank 10-15 on the first leg of this tour would probably be top 10 shows for the entire year in 2011 or 2010. This is not so much because the band is hitting new peaks. Shows from last year like 6/3 Clarkston, 8/15 Chicago, and 9/4 Denver would still be at the top of this list. Rather, the difference lies in the consistency of play night in and night out, leaving 2012 with far fewer bottom-tier shows.
• This list is just for fun. In the end, the only rankings that matter are your own. Music is subjective. No matter how hard we try to objectify it, your personal experience and enjoyment means the most.

Now, on to the rankings...

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The Mockingbird Foundation has announced a short (five-minute) online questionnaire to help plan the manuscript for the Third Edition of the The Phish Companion. Any and all Phish fans are welcomed to take part in the Phish Companion Reader Survey.

Please share, like, retweet, and otherwise help circulate the link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HBM2VBJ. The more respondents who are willing to share a few moments with us, the better TPC3 will be!

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Hope everyone is ready for the 106th running of the Mystery Jam here at Phish.net. As usual, we will be playing for an MP3 download, courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. The rules haven't changed: you need to correctly identify the song and the date to win. Post your guess in the comments. One guess per person per day (with the second “day” starting after I post the hint). A hint will be posted on Tuesday (if necessary) and the answer will be posted on Wednesday. Good luck...

Thursday Answer: Congrats todavarama for being first in with the often forgotten 8/7/98 "Drowned." The Blog will be back on Mon. with yet another Mystery Jam.

The following was originally published in the second edition ofThe Phish Companion, about Sharin' in the Groove, which was officially released twelve years ago today and quickly became of the fastest selling "tribute" albums of all time.

In December 1999, more than three years after first organizing what would become the first edition of this book, Craig DeLucia had the idea to extend the work of the Foundation to a cover album, also for charity. It fell upon me, as an opportunity and (I felt) a responsibility, to take that project from idea into fruition. It was an immense distraction, the commitment of which I had not anticipated and still cannot fathom. But it became something far more rewarding, even historical, than I could have imagined.

Though the project was kept relatively quiet for most of its execution,ideas were bandied about through emails and telephone calls among Mockingbird regulars, around campfire discussions with close friends, and through the trial-and-error process of figuring out what it takes to convince some people in the music industry that a) I wasn’t in it for anything other than what it was at face value and, b) I didn’t have a budget. Through these discussions, and defenses, Craig’s idea evolved into a multi-dimensional concept, the boundaries of which were only hinted at in the first edition of this book:

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Welcome back from tour, everyone, and welcome to Mystery Jam Monday Part 105 here at Phish.net. As usual, we will be playing for an MP3 download, courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. The rules haven't changed: you need to correctly identify the song and the date to win. Post your guess in the comments. One guess per person per day (with the second “day” starting after I post the hint). A hint will be posted on Tuesday (if necessary) and the answer will be posted on Wednesday. Good luck...

Wednesday Answer: Congrats to bl002e for being first with the 7/1/95 "Split Open and Melt." Enjoy your TWO mp3 downloads. See you all on Monday...

I have bittersweet feelings about tonight, as there’s part of me that wishes this tour could go on and on. I love many of these sets and even shows individually, but most of all what I really like about this leg one is its narrative arc. By and large, since regaining their footing in Atlantic City, Phish is telling a story about consistency – the kind of consistency that makes a Phish show a very safe bet in 2012. They are playing like a band in command of its arsenal, and with an understanding of what its discerning fans expect and desire. More often than not, they are sending those fans away sated with a winning combination of showmanship, deep cuts from the repertoire, and a healthy balance of tight and loose playing. Even the most jaded fan can find something to be glad for about this stand.

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We’re coming around the home stretch for leg one of Phish’s 2012 summer tour, which by all reasonable accounts has been notable for the consistently quality performances. The variance between each gig has been very low and containing something for everyone, and the peaks – including last night’s absolutely ripping “Sneakin’ Sally” – have soared. In other words, they’ve been bringing the heat, every night. That sometimes gets lost when breaking down shows song-by-song with the minor quibbles and comparison’s that inevitably arise. We’ll offer some broader tour ending recaps and reviews in due time, but I wanted to get that out there. Here at phish.net we engage in a lot of historical analysis and comparison that isn’t for everyone, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t appreciating the here and now. The here and now is pretty awesome.

Kevin Shapiro kicked off the evening with From the Archives #16 part 2 on SiriusXM. Starting off from Phish’s first headlining performance at SPAC, we are treated to the absolutely sick 7/10/94 “Mike’s Song” -> “Low Rider” -> “Mike’s” > “I Am Hydrogen” > “Weekapaug.” Then what is widely considered the most innovative “Boogie On Reggae Woman” ever played, from the 9/18/99 performance in Chula Vista, CA, a singularly stunning achievement in group improvisation that thrills every bit as much now as it did then. “Maze” from 10/18/96 at Pittsburgh’s Civic Arena is next, followed by the lovely Trey jazz composition “Flat Fee” from the classic 7/20/91 Arrowhead Ranch gig with the Giant Country Horns.

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