[We would like to thank @andrewrose aka @andrewjrose for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

The Gods made themselves known yesterday in and around the grounds of the original Woodstock festival—and beyond, for that matter—as Tropical Storm Debby landed in the North East, pummeling the region with heavy rain and wind, and had some speculating about potential cancellations or aborted sets. None of that came to be in the end; Debby did not Do Bethel … but the Gods did Make Love. What kind of Love and Thunder are we talking about here? What went down as Phish kicked off their three-night stand in New York ahead of the Mondergreen festival in Dover? Read on, My Friend, and we’ll dig in.

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We are closing in on the largest phish.net architectural redesign since the site's relaunch in 2009. A testament to the popularity of the band, the site's traffic continues to grow, but unfortunately, faster than our team can complete the next phase to accommodate it.

During shows, we'll be redirecting the site to a stripped down version of the setlist and the gap chart at live.phish.net. You may occasionally see an issue outside of this time–please note we are aware, and our volunteers are working as fast as they can. Thank you for your patience!

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[We would like to thank Rob Mitchum (@robmitchum) aka @robmitchum on Bluesky for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

I’m gonna clue you in on a dirty music writer secret: when we’re assigned to review a concert, we hardly ever go in with a blank slate. Given the quick turnaround time that a live review demands, it’s useful to go into the show with a framing device already in mind, then adjust accordingly. One might even pre-write a few paragraphs before the show, making an educated guess about how the night would unfold. Come back home, fill in the details, and voila – you can make deadline and go back to hanging out with your friends.

I’ve certainly written enough about Phish to know better, but I still use this strategy when I draw the prestigious phish.net assignment. I’d been thinking a lot about my expectations for these shows and why I chose them from the surprising abundance of Midwestern options this year, so I wrote down a handful of paragraphs between nights one and two, naively thinking I could predict the general parameters of how the evening would unfold.

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[We would like to thank Megan Glionna (@meganglionna) aka @the_megan_dance for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

“I went to my first Phish show last night! It was so killer! It was amazing, indescribable. I’ve never seen a band so into their audience. Phish cannot even be judged until you see them in concert. They’re alive, electric, young, energetic. It was so tripped out to see downtown Grand Rapids full of hippies, like a Dead show! I felt uplifted, amazed and full of energy! They played so many killer tunes, I mean they jammed SO hard!”

Those are a few lines from my journal entry the day after I saw Phish for the first time when I was 17 years old. Take out the word “young” and it could accurately, if not eloquently, describe my feelings after last night’s show.

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[We would like to thank Daniel B.Simon (@sleeping_llama) for this piece. -Ed.]

Please give Phish a warm welcome back to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Jovi hosted Trey on his most recent visit, June 20, 2022. Trey brought his acoustic guitar, and sat in with her on the Grand Rapids "Bug." Kindness is magic, y'all! Without it, the rest doesn't even begin to matter.

On the heels of Trey's epic guest appearance with Jovi, he's bringing Mike, Jon, and Page along for The's fifth and sixth shows in Grand Rapids on August 6th and 7th. After 8/11/93 at Eastbrook Theatre, and 11/14/94 at DeVos Hall, it's their third trip to Van Andel. (In case there've been times when you wondered…ever heard of Amway? Jay Van Andel was a co-founder.) First came 11/11/96, and then came the two-year anniversary show of the aforementioned show, on 11/11/98. All-time most common opener "Chalk Dust Torture" (97x) kicked off the former, and PYITE the latter. Double treatment for "Contact," "Gumbo" and "Theme from the Bottom." Will any of those go 3-for-3? We've got two nights to find out. There's a lot of chatter in the build up to Mondegreen.** What is Phish holding back? What's in high gear? There's some serious spending, and also, paradoxically, some serious saving. Talk ain't cheap and neither is tour, but so as long as they destroy, it doesn't matter. (Still, I dare anyone to knock a Grand Rapids "Windora Bug.")

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[We would like to thank David Grossman (@first_tube_screamer) for recapping Sunday's show. -Ed.]

When ring leader @c_wallob's clarion call for the elect to assemble at Deer Creek (ermmm, Ruoff Music Center) went out shortly after the tour announcement, I waffled for a few months. There were closer venues, unvisited venues, and venues I would have preferred for various reasons. Only having caught one night at the Creek in ‘22 and nothing prior, c_wallob insisted I needed the full experience. Disaster struck a month prior to the shows when I was involved in a motor vehicle accident. Although frequent hospital trips and impaired mobility fettered me to either a couch or a gurney, I made the seemingly rash decision to take my flight out to corn-fed country. Let me tell you folks, St. Ernest rewards his faithful.

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[We would like to thank Matt (@coolyguy) for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

I have to agree with @c_wallob's introductory remarks on Deer Creek from his review of Friday's show–Deer Creek is special. Besides the history, the convenient location, and everything else aforementioned, I would add that the plentiful nearby camping is a major manifester of the venue's signature vibe. The concertgoers here–or at least a large part of them–have been soaking up the Midwestern sun, rain, and all the elements, which contributes to a greater sense of community, and shared experience.

Which is to say, by Saturday it was hot outside. Humid, too, after the rain the night prior. My crew (The Lizards), all in from Chicago, sat on the lawn, awaiting the show's start, sweating, hoping the sun would go down, too (it usually does). Besides a frankly superhuman and very cool group of college-aged youngsters behind us, the crowd too seemed to be feeling the heat. People moved slowly, gripping their beverages caked with humidity.

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[We would like to thank Brad Strode (@c_wallob) for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

What makes Deer Creek–an otherwise non-descript Live Nation mega-shed in the middle of strip malls that used to be cornfields–a can’t miss venue on a Summer Phish Tour? Maybe it’s the midwest location, enabling phans to come from East and West to gather for our favorite band. Maybe it’s the history of absurdly great Phish shows, not to mention the (significantly darker) history the venue holds in Grateful Dead lore.

Or maybe it’s because of the overall “vibe,” with its vibrant lot scene, plentiful tickets, and friendly staff. No matter the reason, when Summer Tour was announced for 2024, mrs_wallob and I encouraged our touring crew from all over the USA to join us on our pilgrimage, and the crew happily complied, in spite of the fact that we will all see each other in Delaware ten days after the final note rings out in the humid summer sky on Sunday.

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[Thanks to Mike (@yhgtbfkm) for the recap. -Ed.]

Writing recaps is hard. On top of trying to translate music into words (you try describing “Lawn Boy” in more than two sentences), it’s especially hard when the show you’re writing the recap for takes place the day after a show that contained, for lack of a better phrase, a jam for the ages. I had the privilege of attending NYE this past year, and as my friend and I were walking back to the hotel after the show, I rhetorically asked him “How do you top THAT?” and the answer is…you don’t. Phish learned that lesson years ago, Trey has said they make it a point to not talk about shows afterwards. Fans, however, have missed that part of the book. I started hearing about “Tweezer” while it was still happening. After two epic jams over the course of four shows, everyone was buzzing with anticipation about what tonight would hold. Would we get an epic "YEM" to compliment the tour so far? Maybe Gin as a throwback to the best "Gin" of all time (sorry not sorry)? Maybe they’ll play “Gloria” again! (Dear god I hope not.)

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[We would like to thank user @mikh2wg aka Rob for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

I’ll start off by answering the question you all must be asking yourselves, “Did our reviewer go to the St. Louis Zoo before the show?” Yes. Yes I did. @lomein and I got into town at 9am and we needed something to do and somewhere to be. So after a killer vegan lunch at Seedz, we walked over to see some animals. Highlights included grizzly bear antics, getting splashed by puffins, and watching a hippo mom and calf take a nap underwater. As far as omens presaging songs that could be played tonight, we saw a big group of Vultures and lots of parents and kids who needed to Get Back on the (zoo) Train. I called No Men for the opener and Lomein called Glide. We checked into our hotel in the afternoon, had some dinner, and hopped on the Metro to the show.

So neither of us predicted the opener, but I'm not gonna complain about "Cars Trucks Buses." The sound was a little muddy across the board at first. Not a lot of clarity in the bottom end. Nonetheless, Trey gave us a patient solo with some good space for Mike to attack and Page tore it right up.

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[We would like to thank Ryan Mannix (@thewatchfulhosemaker), a musician and performer from Chicago who plays with Lunar Ticks and Beat The Meatles and runs Indie Park Music Festival in Irving Park. -Ed.]

You’ve heard it a million times, seen it on shirts, and probably uttered it earnestly and ironically, but Sunday night at Alpine Valley Music Theater was one not to be missed. The setup shows of Friday - killer songlist and inspired playing from start to finish, as well as Saturday with a once in a lifetime, historic jam in “Simple” - set the energy and expectations high for Sunday.

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[We would like to thank Doug Kaplan (@MrDougDoug) for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

Here we are at Alpine Valley yet again! For those who haven’t been here before, Alpine Valley is a very precious (and extremely deep) ditch in Southern Wisconsin where the four wizards – who I will refer to as Phish for the rest of this article – have been enchanting and enlightening tens of thousands of people since 1996. Tonight just so happens to be Phish’s 25^th ever show at this venue, vaulting this space into an exclusive list of hallowed Phish locations where you can still see the band this year, like Madison Square Garden, Dick’s, and Deer Creek, and primal venues where you’ve probably never seen Phish (but I want to talk with you if you did) like Nectar’s and The Front. While we all know that a number is just a number, Phish people more than any other fanbase relish in numbers and statistics, often ascribing meaning to nice round digits. With such a rich history performing at the venue, including a bevy of official live releases, numerous two and three day stands, notable bustout shows, and the legendary Alpine “Ruby Waves,” Phish has proved time and time again that they can’t get enough of this magical Wisconsin ditch. But if you poke around the forums, you’ll see that fans seem to have more of a love/hate relationship with the venue.

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[We would like to thank Matt Schrag aka kipmat on dot net for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

Since the dawn of the touring scene, the second week of tour has been an interesting and mildly confusing time. In the pre-internet era, it was a time for vital information regarding the shows to be passed along: what was played, how they played, what to expect at that night’s show. As information-sharing moved online, one could form one’s own opinion by reading a posted setlist and show reviews, without having heard a note of the performance.

Thankfully, both the tapers and the Phish organization quickly made possible the sharing of show recordings with practically no delay. Now we can all be on tour, hearing the shows as they happen, from the comfort of our homes and private lives, and we can voice our opinions on those shows on community forums (like the one hosted on this very site). And, individually and collectively, we critically evaluate the first week of shows, trying to get a handle on how our favorite band is performing, and adjusting our expectations accordingly.

Still, the VR tech wizards haven’t figured out how to replicate the immersive experience of attending a show in person. Every Phish show is a unique and special experience, but some venues carry a greater historical weight than others. Friday night’s show was the band’s 24th show at Alpine Valley, and for myself and other #JadedVets, it feels like a family gathering, in celebration of lives lived and shared with each other. It’s such a pleasant surprise to recognize someone in a crowd that you haven’t seen in a few years, and reconnect with them through the experience of a Phish show.

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[We would like to thank Alaina Stamatis Farmhose on dot net and Fad Albert on Twitter for recapping last night's show! -Ed.]

Ah, Casino Phish. Phish Royale. In the afternoon before the show, Mohegan security is on high alert. What have they agreed to? What are these animals doing to their institution of higher gambling? But after the show they've resigned; their nervous systems bombarded with the sights, the smells! They've been forced to endure their prized roulette tables engulfed in dreads, tie-dye, patchouli, and tattered open-toe footwear. But that will all come later; for now, it's pre-show jitters.

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[We would like to thank user Estimated_Eyes (Luke) for authoring this recap. -Ed.]

After being treated to such an incredible weekend of heady jams at Great Woods, I had an anxious excitement for what Mohegan had in store. As we all know, like the Grateful Dead, Phish regularly plays heaters in CT. The most recent, Hartford ’22, having my favorite segment of music of summer that year - AWOH >ASIHOS>BLAZE ON particularly. And it’s a huge Phish regret of mine that I missed the Mohegan ’19 run, making a hypocrite of me, someone who always says “Never miss a New England Phish show.” The “Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1” from night one of Mansfield, although great, couldn’t hold a candle to the version from night 1 of Mohegan ’19 and, honestly, it has got to be the best version of that song to date. I was crushed to miss those shows, and I couldn’t wait to have second pass at Mohegan. Another thing adding to my excitement - seeing Phish in a venue that only holds about 10k people. What a treat for my 50th show. I’m sure to a jaded, grizzled vet, the 50th is still “noob” territory, but it feels like an earnest landmark and was the cherry on top of all the excitement and anticipation for the night ahead.

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