[We would like to thank users @Kerstenb and Suzydrano (Suzy Barros, @suzydrano on Twitter) for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

We arrived together, friends since we were six, 28 years since our first show at Walnut Creek.

The moist heat smacked us in the face like a used spa towel, but once we strolled through the dusty lot to arrive at the venue, we were home. Even the stairs to the lawn provoked memories that we endeavored to locate throughout the years.

This was a show that required some recognition. Suzy’s 225th show, Kersten’s kids’ first show, our fifth Walnut Creek show together, friends and family scattered across the audience---hard to find on the packed lawn)---running into random people and finding out they're from our tiny home town in rural North Carolina. Of course, conversation quickly drifted to the memorable 1997 show, when the deluge turned the lawn into a mudpit, Kersten’s parents were at their first show, and her brother was featured prominently on the jumbotron as he danced, shirtless and wild.

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[We would like to thank user Gootch350, Evan Gottschling (Twitter @PrisonOfLimes), for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

We live in a world where I have seen/heard easily 100 shows live from home and this was another. I personally have never been to Jones Beach, so this review will not be about the vibes or the lovely breezes, or any interstellar interactions. I’m sure the (insert classic Long Island food item) tasted extra sweet/savory and the beverages were flowing like the nearby Carmen’s River.

We start the night with "Mike’s Song," which is noteworthy mostly because what follows is the longest jam of the night instead of opting for a more traditional "Mike’s Groove" segment. Wolfie finds a chill funk groove with a bit of swing from Fishman as Trey starts to layer some effects into his tone. He pulls back to a cleaner tone and Page finds some energy on the baby grand, extra mustard seemingly emanating from his shirt. When Page switches to the organ, the band turns a corner through a heavier, more evil zone. The jam heads into a "Sigma Oasis" feel and then continues evolving. Page begins to add some sonic textures that hint at a spacey take-off point but instead we find ourselves in "Ya Mar."

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[This recap is courtesy of Tom Volk, phishnet user tvolkl, blanksnpostage on Twitter. -Ed.]

So here we are at long last: off to arguably their best start to a tour in a good long while, Phish arrive at Jones Beach for the first time since 2013. It’s a venue fraught with a so-so reputation amongst fans that also has a sneakily long history with the band, dating back to the summer of 1992 as the fourth stop on the original H.O.R.D.E tour.

To understand where I am coming from with Jones Beach, you have to understand first that this place is essentially a vortex for me and my family. Legend has it my grandfather drove down the newly paved Wantagh parkway in August of 1929 to swim at and explore the newly created state park days before its official opening. In the early 70s, my parents met there while working summer jobs in college. My dad worked at the Zach’s Bay concession stand, a scant 100 yards from the entrance to the theatre, where he served ice cream everyday at lunch to a pleasantly drunken Guy Lombardo.

It’s where I saw my first Phish show in 1994, where beforehand I met Mike Gordon in the parking lot where he politely chatted with a small group of us in the southeast corner of the parking lot and chastised my friend for smoking a cigarette at too young an age. “Young smoker, huh?” peering down from his bike before he sped off. So for me, this venue is inescapable and my attachment to it is irrational. You’d only understand if you grew up on the south shore, amongst the mosquitos, strip malls, salt breezes and suburban congestion and then piled my family history on top of that. So, if you’re looking for complaints about the traffic, that fact the main concourse has all the ambiance of a third rate state fair food court, the looming NY State Troopers, or that the incessant ocean breeze destroys the sound you’ve come to the wrong place. Simply, I am a homer.

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[This recap is courtesy of Alaina Stamatis, phishnet user Farmhose, Fad_albert on twitter and also Fad_Albert on Instagram as well. -Ed.]

“Hartford is a sacred place, magical things happen here,” whispers a hippie girl as she hands me a red solo cup of what appears to be pond water. We’re standing under a violent sun in suffocating heat, surrounded in every direction by rubble and stickered-up vehicles. She continues: “This is a potent frog extract that will aid in the decalcification of your third eye.” I’m so thirsty that I ignore the last statement, plugging my nose and chugging it down as a hot breeze envelopes us with dust. The Hartford police usher us toward the venue and we head in.

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[Phish.net thanks Noah Eckstein, freelance journalist, for this recap. His work has been featured in The Guardian, The Daily News, PBS, Variety, and DoubleBlind Magazine. He also assistant produced and co-wrote the first two seasons of Osiris Media’s podcast Undermine. Twitter: @NoahEckstein. Phish.net: @SOLARGARLICAFICIONADO. -Ed.]

Dairy cattle have given their bodies to supply humanity with labor, leather and beef for 2,000 years. And, let’s not forget about milk. Without which, the classic Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food ice cream would be, well, it wouldn’t be.

On July 23, 2022, the sacrifices of past, present, and future dairy cows and their revered spirits were honored with auditory splendor, a cosmic “thank you” from the band and from the crowd.

The Guernsey cattle that were the reason Max Yasgur had a farm in the first place were memorialized on Saturday night, their collective sacrifice and memory honored by Mr. Jon Fishman, (aka Moby Dick, Dick, Dick) who sampled their fabled utterance, the good ol’ classic “moo” throughout a rocking show that concluded an epic two night run at the Bethel Woods Arts Center.

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[Phish.net thanks volunteer recapper Brad Strode (user @c_wallob) for this recap. -Ed.]

Hello everyone. Long time reader, first time recapper here. I’ve always enjoyed reading these recaps for every show, and I’m thrilled to be able to help out on Summer Tour 2022.

Bethel Woods Music Center for the Arts (corporate sponsorship hopefully not pending) in many ways is not so different from your typical summer shed; the parking lots are expansive and mostly devoid of shade, there is a single entrance point with sometimes long security lines, and the amphitheater itself is a standard pavilion & lawn, with an unremarkable roof covering those lucky enough to have reserved seats close to the band. With all that said, Bethel Woods Music Center is nothing like the typical summer stop on Phish tour. The fields and forests surrounding the venue are steeped in nostalgia.

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For today's recap, please hop over to JamBase for a full rundown from RJ Bee of Osiris Media and HF Pod.

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[Thank you to Nick Williams (user @TwiceBitten) for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

Phish, the band, what can you say? An American original: full of the awe, spectacle and big top excitement of P.T. Barnum’s circus; as majestic as the Rocky Mountains and as thick as New England’s forests; as powerful as the magic that existed in this land before the white man came, and sometimes as dark and sinister as the evil that those settlers brought with them (well maybe only on a headful). So what does such a band do after playing a show up in Bangor that seems to be unanimously regarded as IT? They had options: Phish could have tried for a repeat, stretching another jam past 30 minutes; they could have relied on a bunch of bust outs to keep the fans satisfied; they could have phoned it in even.

As the years have gone on, Phish has largely moved out of the shadow of the Grateful Dead and into their rightful place as the elder statesmen and torchbearers for a spark that was ignited almost 60 years ago in a series of rented halls around the Bay Area. While the Dead largely settled into a standardized show format less than halfway through their career, Phish has always been keen on freshening-up the flow of shows from night-to-night, tour-to-tour, era-to-era. Still, much as there are only 12 notes in western music, there are only so many types of Phish shows (not counting more subtle variations within each format).

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An essay by Trey Anastasio about the future of roots music appears in the Summer 2022 issue ("Movers and Shakers") of No Depression, from the FreshGrass Foundation. The issue also features pieces by Bonnie Raitt, Woody Guthrie, Dan Auerbach, Rhiannon Giddens, and more.

FreshGrass is also known for continiuing the Steve Martin Banjo Prize, two festivals, and a series of awards supporting bluegrass, old time banjo, and roots music traditions.

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[Phish.net thanks volunteer recapper Ben Harder for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

To my fellow Mainers, a big Hihowahya!!?? To those of you who were visiting from away, stoked you made it up for what was the first Phish show in Maine since the Bangor show on 6/25/19 and 6/26/19. Tonight's show made for the fourth at the venue (the first being 7/3/13), and over the years we've seen the GA Pit evolve from lawn to crushed rock to concrete pad. The place looked a bit like the Big Dig, with a steel retaining wall and framing for private boxed seating to come.

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[David Goldstein, this recap's author, is a phish.net contributor and co-host of the Beyond the Pond podcast on Osiris Media. He usually wears Whalers gear on lot. -Ed.]

It could be nostalgia creeping in, but something about seeing Phish in New England in 2022 just hits a bit differently. This is especially so in Massachusetts, a state so integral to the band’s evolution; The ‘89 Paradise gig! Multiple New Year’s Shows in Boston and Worcester! They did a Gamehendge here once! And now that the nexus of the Phish kingdom has been effectively relocated two and a half hours south, they seem to play Massachusetts far less than they used to (you brahs too fancy for a heady Worcester run now?)

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[Jadedvet TLDR Capsule Summary: 6/10. Remarkable for a tour opener, as they played as if it were a mid-tour gig. Strong improv in the “Ghost->SYSF” sandwich opener and the “Ruby Waves” in the first (arguably the worst version—technically speaking—of “Mound” ever, but it’s at times hilarious), and the segue-heavy second set was great fun improvisationally, with solid versions of almost everything, a SHOCKING “Weekapaug” -> out of “Plasma’s” coda, and even the “Saw It Again” had a sublimely dark, throbbing jam that segued well into “Fuckerpants.” And Page was on the piano quite frequently, which as you know ain’t always the case. Overall an above-average-great show worth a listen and a strong terr openah. -cd]

IT’s the most wonderful time of the year! And with the beginning of summer tour: the sticky humidity, the hot asphalt, the commingling of musty moist smells of patchouli, skunky hybrids, and B.O. . . . smells like: VACATION!

So much EXCITEMENT, so many weeks of ANTICIPATION, building and building and building after the, uh, first-summer-tour concluded only like five weeks ago in Deer Creek, and after PORK TORNADO played a gig for the first time in nine years, and after Trey sat-in with both Goose AND Billy Strings! What would the tour open with?? Would Trey invite a child on stage for a-sing-along with the band!? Would the show be better than the Arkansas tour opener a year ago!? Would the show even be WORTH A DAMN!??

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FYI Surrender to the Flow's Summer 2022 issue has been released and it is available for download at this link here. (https://sttflow.gumroad.com/l/sttf74) While it is free to download after you provide an email address, donations are encouraged as STTF has been a labor of love for many years and we at dot net hope you support it! There will be paper copies circulated on tour, so you may see it in the lot or at a show, but you're far more likely to see it if you download a PDF of it. (There likely will be a paper copy available for perusal at the WaterWheel table at shows, too.)

This issue includes information about the Summer Tour from Great Woods to Alpine, e.g., where to eat, things to do, and things you need to know about the towns and the venues. The issue also includes reviews of the Spring Run 2022, articles including ...

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Whether you're taking advantage of Amazon's Prime Days deals (today and tomorrow), stocking up on concert tour needs for upcoming shows, or getting Christmas gifts done early (check the time!), we hope you'll start with any of the links in this post - all of which are affiliate links benefitting the Mockingbird Foundation. And if not today, bookmark any of them for later, then use that bookmark any time you shop at Amazon.

It's an easy, low-effort way to support music education while doing something you're already doing. It doesn't require using Amazon Smile (though that can benefit Mockingbird, too), and often means a higher cut towards our all-volunteer, nonprofit efforts to fundraise for music education among Phish fans.

From Parke Puterbaugh's book to that mildly suspicious Phish trivia one, to musical instruments, to luxury beauty care products, to a Segue - every Amazon purchase, rental, or subscription starting from any of these links will help pay for instruments, staffing, scholarships, and more, "bringing the music full circle" (Trey's words about what we do) from the fans back to kids who'll be the next musicmakers.

You can even help Mockingbird earn a "bounty" by signing up for a trial subscription of Amazon Prime, Audible, or Kindle; or use Amazon Fresh or Amazon Pets; or do pretty much anything else, at any Amazon site or property, as long as you start with any of these links.

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[Blog post and video/audio of this 10/3/96 Gordon Stone Trio gig with Mike and Jon is courtesy of Chad Simons, dot net user @charlesrsimons (Twitter @ChadSimons1, and Insta chadrsimons). -Ed.]

Phish tour '96 ranked among the top for me. I jumped in at the Red Rocks shows and finished at the Clifford Ball. Need I say more? I could, trust me.

After the Clifford Ball, my crew and I crossed Lake Champlain by ferry in my friend's split-window VW bus. The sunset behind the Catskill Mountains was amazing, and I knew something very special was waiting for us on the other side. Just after driving off the ferry, we spotted a huge vertical sign with the word "WILSON" on it. Of course, Nectar's was next, and the list goes on.

I decided to stay in Burlington, and my friends went back to Indiana. I had no idea what was in store for me as the temperature started to drop that fall. I had never experienced a northern winter like the ones you get in Vermont, but the fun never stopped.

On October 3, 1996, I patched my Sony DAT-D8 into the mics of a guy I met before this show. We set up just in time, and I barely had a moment to count how many people were there before the guys began playing. There must've been only about 30 of us there, as you will hear in the applause and comments made between the songs. Mike is on bass for all of the songs, and he’s on vocals for nearly all of the songs; and Jon joined in on the washboard and bell for the entire second set. This show is truly a gem with such a fun setlist and plenty of humor.

I hope you enjoy it, you can listen to it here on YouTube.

Charles R. (Chad) Simons

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