Summer’s here and the time is right to skip the preliminaries and get right to the action. So let’s!

The band takes the stage at nTelos Wireless Pavilion just before 8pm and warms up with a perfunctory “Sample,” which gives way to the oblong Delta rhythms of “Party Time.” During the jam segment, Trey introduces Carl “Geerz” Gerhard of Giant Country Horns fame, informing the audience that Gerhard now leads music instruction for all of America’s armed forces(!). “Geerz” blows a big old solo that brings the crowd to life before taking a bow and exiting stage left to the first notes of a rare but mostly unremarkable first set “Simple.”

Read more...

Welcome to the Mystery Jam Monday Part the 103rd 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: Nice job by @andrewrose with his second win in a month with the 7/13/99 "Wolfman's Brother." The Blog will be back on Monday with another Mystery Jam...

Three songs into Kenny Rogers' set at Bonnaroo on Sunday, he expressed his gratitude to the organizers and the crowd for welcoming him to the festival. He made some quip about young fans remembering his music (blissfully unaware to the apparent hipster irony), closing with a proclamation of his intent to play every one of his hits. The tent erupted.

With Rogers, a greatest hits set is expected. He does not need to prove himself at Bonnaroo, as acts have done over the past eleven years. All attendees are expecting to hear are recognizable songs, as he has been performing for years in Branson. While Phish certainly no longer needs to prove themselves, their fans, by contrast, do expect more than a run through of the hits. Especially during a four-hour slot on what could arguably be the largest stage in live music. But other than one or two moments of surprise and adventure, Phish's show was filled with songs that simply muscled through the bigness of the event.

Read more...

For those attending the upcoming Burgettstown and and/or Cuyahoga Falls shows, the Pick-Up Sticks program is back on. Place an order with glowstickwars.com on or before June 21, 2012, with promo code BURGPUS or CUYAPUS, and not only will you get 25% off (thanks to the site's ongoing Back to Tour Sale), but you will receive an extra 25% discount on your order. Plus, 10% still goes to the phan-run Mockingbird Foundation.

Read more...

Welcome to the 102nd 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...

Wednesday Answer: Congrats to Prof. Pauly9717, Emeritus for nailing the 12/4/96 "Mike's Song." Yes, with his 7th win, Pauly will be joining Rabeldy in the faculty lounge looking down on the rest of you for your extreme Phish noobtardery. Look for a Pauly-curated MJ in the coming weeks.

Words by Phillip Zerbo. Photos by Parker Harrington.

We’re back! Five months and change since they kicked off 2012 at Madison Square Garden, Phish returned to the stage in Worcester, home of so many classic Phish performances over the years. The MSG New Year’s run met mixed reaction among fans, though that seemed long forgotten when the lights went down on Thursday. Let’s recap...

A punchy “Buried Alive” opens, followed by “Runaway Jim” – their second performance of the song in Worcester since the all-time classic “Runaway Jam” of 11/29/97. The fifth-ever Phish performance of The Stones’ “Torn and Frayed” was next, one of the few Exile on Main St. songs to stick in the repertoire after their performance of the album in full on 10/31/09. Standard but enjoyable renditions of “Funky Bitch,” “Moma Dance” and “Rift” were next. The only mild surprise song selection of the night was the Anastasio/Marshall composition “Nothing;” this was the fifth Phish performance ever and the first since 6/24/10 in Camden (78 shows). A typically languid “Ocelot” brings the set back into a more predictable pattern, followed by Page’s “Beauty of a Broken Heart,” the obligatory “Possum,” and we are capped off by “Rocky Top.”

Read more...

Welcome to the second century of Mystery Jam Mondays 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: Pauly7917 was the first one in withthe12/14/95 "NICU." Congrats, Pauly. This was an easy one, of course, and for that reason, I'm half tempted to declare Rabeldy the winner for getting all meta on us and noticing the reason behind picking this particular MJ for 101... we're starting the second 100 the same way we did the first. See you all next Monday, where the MJ will not be from 2/16/03.

Welcome to the 100th installment of Mystery Jam Monday here at Phish.net. As usual... Sorry, scratch that. There's nothing "usual" about this week's Mystery Jam. We will (as usual) be playing for an MP3 download, courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. But we're also going to throw in $25 worth of merch from the Phish.net Online Store. As for the MJ itself, much like the Hampton/Winston-Salem MJ, this is a multiple MJ. Therefore, we won't be using the comments to guess this week. Instead, send your SINGLE guess to [email protected] If you have any questions, you can post those in the comments section. The first person to correctly identify the song and the date of each jam will be the winner. 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. In the event no one guesses all of the Mystery Jams, the winner will be selected by the Blog at its sole discretion.

Before I go, I'd just like to say how much fun I've had hosting the Mystery Jam for the last 100 weeks. Hopefully all of you have enjoyed playing. If you have, one great way to show it is by clicking on the "Make a Donation" button in the upper right-hand corner of your screen and making a (tax-deductible) donation to the Mockingbird Foundation. Just like Phish.net, the Mockingbird Foundation has an all-volunteer staff, so virtually your entire donation will go towards music education for children. Every donation is appreciated, regardless of size. And this will conclude the pledge-drive portion of the Mystery Jam. Feel free to brag about your donation in the comments, though. Good Luck...

Tuesday Update: We're going to change things up and give everyone an extra day to submit their guesses. Hint tomorrow, answer on Thurs.

Wednesday Hint: No one has solved it yet, though two of you are very close. Here's your hint: In no particular order, the MJs are from '93, '94, '95, '98, '00 and '11. Good luck.

Thursday Answer: Congrats to @bl002e, who managed to come up with all six Mystery Jams. It was hint-aided, but still pretty damn impressive to get all six. In order, they are: (1) 4/2/98 "Stash," (2) 5/28/94 "It's Ice," (3) 11/30/95 "Tweezer," (4) 5/28/11 "Halley's," (5) 4/23/93 "Weekapaug," and (6) 7/1/00 "Ghost." See you all on Monday For MJM Part CI...