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| Show Date | Song | Stream | Summary | Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986-04-01 | Icculus | Listen | In this short, early version of Icculus, Trey introduces the song as being written by the (presumably fictional) Sneeze Blood Eyeball. After a short narration in which Trey talks about how much he and the band love Icculus and are so moved by him that they wrote a song about him, we move into the composed section, which is punctuated by Trey shouting "April Fools!" | Transcription |
| 1986-10-31 | Icculus | Listen | At their first recorded show on Halloween night, Phish turned to the prophet in the penultimate slot of the second set. Unlike at Rosemont Horizon (the only other Halloween Icculus to date), the holiday itself is barely mentioned in a fairly standard rendition of the song. | Transcription |
| 1986-12-06 | Icculus | Listen | This song is a toast to the great one. | Transcription |
| 1987-08-10 | Icculus | Listen | Trey's work in this version is entirely unremarkable, but those listeners interested in audience participation will be sure to seek out this version for the unsolicited narrative contributions of one, likely intoxicated, show-goer. | Transcription |
| 1988-03-11 | Harpua | Listen | Debut of Harpua's narration! The short narration here could be described as the barebones essence of the story, featuring only Harpua and Poster Nutbag, who is described as the meanest cat in the entire town. The dog smiles, the cat arches his back, the dog drips hungry saliva. There's going to be a fight! | Transcription |
| 1988-03-12 | Bag | Listen | Part of the first Gamehendge! Wilson's very own electronic robot hooded hangman has Mr. Palmer on the gallows scaffolding... | Transcription |
| 1988-03-12 | Forbin's | Listen | Part of the first Gamehendge! Colonel Forbin makes the decision to try to save the revolution by climbing up the mountain to find Icculus... | Transcription |
| 1988-03-12 | Mockingbird | Listen | Part of the first Gamehendge! The Famous Mockingbird comes down and lands on Icculus' shoulder... | Transcription |
| 1988-03-12 | McGrupp | Listen | From the first Gamehendge! Differing from Trey's thesis only by its beginning song, we learn how while on a walk with his fleet hound Forbin discovered a door... | Transcription |
| 1988-03-12 | Possum | Listen | Conclusion of the first live Gamehendge! After the new Wilson takes over, Icculus sings "Possum" while looking down on the valley below him... | Transcription |
| 1988-03-12 | Tela | Listen | Part of the first live performance of the Gamehendge saga! Rutherford the Brave was saved from drowning by the Unit Monster, the multibeast belonging to the most beautiful woman Forbin has ever seen... | Transcription |
| 1988-03-12 | Sloth | Listen | Part of the first Gamehendge! Errand Wolf gets a little bit greedy and seeks the meanest man in town to help him execute Wilson... | Transcription |
| 1988-03-12 | Wilson | Listen | Part of the first Gamehendge! While riding with Tela on the back of her multibeast, Forbin learns about the revolution to overthrow the evil King Wilson... | Transcription |
| 1988-03-22 | Mockingbird | Listen | Trey cuts to the meat of the story, assuming many of the folks already knew the build up, and then gives a brief intro to Icculus before breaking into Forbin's>Mockingbird proper. | Transcription |
| 1988-03-22 | Harpua | Listen | Harpua meanders through town until he comes face to face with Poster Nutbag. Suddenly, a car drives by taking no notice of the animals. The two of them coil their bodies into deadly arches preparing for a fight. | Transcription |
| 1988-03-22 | Icculus | Listen | Found within Fly Famous Mockingbird, here Icculus amassed all the writings of the great thinkers in the Helping Friendly Book, but Wilson stole it because he was an asshole. | Transcription |
| 1988-04-22 | Mockingbird | Listen | Tiny narration from Trey: "At this point, the Famous Mockingbird lands on Icculus's shoulder. And he whisphers in the Mockingbird's ear and the Mockingbird flies off in pursuit of the Helping Friendly Book. Right, Marley?" | Transcription |
| 1988-05-15 | Harpua | Listen | Harpua was moseying through town looking for a little precious birthday fudge when he runs into a Big White Furry Creature From Town. | Transcription |
| 1988-05-15 | Icculus | Listen | Intrusion by a shaggy dog aside, this version of Icculus begins rather routinely. But as things heat up, we get one of the first versions of the song in which Trey shouts the praises of Icculus for an extended time, seemingly using every superlative he can to describe him. | Transcription |
| 1988-05-22 | Tela | Listen | Brief introduction to the context of the song "Tela" in the Gamehendge saga, Trey explains that Tela rides up to Col Forbin kneeling by the river right after Rutherford the Brave jumps in. | Transcription |
| 1988-05-24 | Harpua | Listen | Compact narration provides a playful recap of the story's rudiments with some funny twists, including that this poster nutbag is named Cat, which Harpua sees as "hot lunch." | Transcription |
| 1988-06-21 | Harpua | Listen | Trey tells the brief story of a boy, his big white cat, and their nice nice relationship that comes to a unfortunate end when Poster Nutbag encounters Harpua, the big nasty bulldog, which has moseyed over from the bad section of town through the mediocre section into the rich section, where the boy and his cat live. | Transcription |
| 1988-07-25 | Harpua | Listen | This fun variation of the classic story uses Paul Languedoc as the protagonist as opposed to Jimmy, and does not reference the Old Man, but instead has Harpua wandering the town. The free and silly Nectar’s is a perfect backdrop for this late 80s Harpua. | Transcription |
| 1988-07-25 | Icculus | Listen | The night that Phish left for their now-legendary trip to Colorado, they treated the Nectar's crowd to this Icculus in the first encore slot. This standout versions includes a well-timed sexual interjection from Fishman, an incredible amount of screaming from Trey, and of course Trey's impression of Bono's "This is Red Rocks! This is The Edge!" This version appears on the Junta re-release. | Transcription |
| 1988-07-29 | Icculus | Listen | While not a standout version for 1988, this is worth a listen for the sake of conjuring up the image of an early-twenties Trey Anastasio screaming to a nearly-empty bar that he is a pretty cool guy. This version appears on Colorado '88 and is sandwiched between some quick plot summary of the Gamehendge saga -- even though only four Gamehendge songs appear in the set. | Transcription |
| 1988-07-29 | Sloth | Listen | Brief introduction for "The Sloth" in this quartet of songs from "our musical" from Phish's first tour of Colorado. | Transcription |
| 1988-07-30 | Harpua | Listen | The first Harpua performed in Colorado features some interesting banter before beginning, as Trey tries to quiet the crowd, and a solid narration of the encounter between the meanest dog and cat in the land far far far far, utilizing several of the tropes common to these early version. | Transcription |
| 1988-08-05 | Harpua | Listen | Trey names the dog Sam and/or Jack, comments on his proclivity for friends playing volleyball and his big paws/pause, and almost forgets to let the audience know that the cat is named something like Buster Narbsack. | Transcription |
| 1988-11-03 | Harpua | Listen | Another concise retelling of the story once upon a time of the encounter of Jimmy's big, beautiful, fluffy white cat and the meanest, fattest, ugliest bull dog in all the town. | Transcription |
| 1988-11-05 | Icculus | Listen | Trey alludes to a picture behind the stage of a mysterious person who turns out to be Icculus. As he begins to introduce the song, he ignores requests for Johnny B. Goode and Free Bird, instead pressing on through Icculus' standard format. | Transcription |
| 1989-03-14 | Harpua | Listen | This rather standard telling has a few deviations. It starts with Trey leading the audience in hand gestures that accompany the song. There are also a few mentions to notable Phish family members (Paul, Tim) and a quick reference to one of Mike's dreams (something that will become a staple in later versions of Harpua). | Transcription |
| 1989-04-20 | Esther | Listen | The first of four "Esther" narrations, Trey contextualizes not so much Esther's place in the Gamehendge saga, but, rather seems to illustrate Trey toying with the song taking place in Gamehendge. | Transcription |
| 1989-04-20 | Harpua | Listen | As the final song at one of the last frat house parties the band would play in the NE, this electric Harpua has banter carrying on from the prior "Love You," before launching into a hilarious classic narration featuring ridiculous play-on-words, first with non-shot ass before a lot of screaming "my God" in the section where Poster's name is introduced. Easily among the wildest early versions. | Transcription |
| 1989-04-30 | Divided | Listen | Contains brief Rhombus narration: "Imagine now, you’re going out into a deep green field, and there’s the Rhombus out in the middle of the field." | Transcription |
| 1989-04-30 | McGrupp | Listen | Trey introduces the audience to Gamehendge by discussing the origins of four songs, "McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters," "The Lizards," "Divided Sky," and "Wilson." | Transcription |
| 1989-05-01 | Esther | Listen | Trey delivers an account of Esther nearly identical to that of the first "Esther" narration the month before. | Transcription |
| 1989-05-06 | Mockingbird | Listen | A short, simple, and classic connecting piece between Forbin and Mockingbird. | Transcription |
| 1989-05-09 | Harpua | Listen | Incredibly goofy early version includes Trey dipping into some of his Icculus-style screeching and a Fishman-supplied ass motif. Features an obscure reference to Burt Bacharach's "This Guy's in Love" | Transcription |
| 1989-08-12 | Icculus | Listen | This version was part of the wedding reception for Steve and Beth Drebber. It is unique only in that it includes a brief and quiet interjection from Steve and some goofy trumpet playing that probably comes courtesy of Fishman. | Transcription |
| 1989-08-26 | Mockingbird | Listen | Brief narration after "Colonel Forbin's Ascent" | Transcription |
| 1989-09-09 | Divided | Listen | The band that came "all the way from Gamehendge" gives this brief introduction to the song "Divided Sky" to explain that it was originally an old Gamehendge chant to the gods of the night sky that was part of a yearly ritual pilgrimage to the enormous black Rhombus at the center of the field in Gamehendge | Transcription |
| 1989-10-14 | Harpua | Listen | In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida quotes inside a fairly standard early version. Recording cuts out right before "I don't want a goldfish." | Transcription |
| 1989-10-20 | Harpua | Listen | Classic treatment of the Colonel's visit to Icculus is short and sweet | Transcription |
| 1989-10-22 | Mockingbird | Listen | Short, classic narration has Icculus giving directions to The Famous Mockingbird | Transcription |
| 1989-10-31 | Mockingbird | Listen | Short and classic narration from the band's third Halloween show and final performance at Godard College. | Transcription |
| 1989-11-02 | Divided | Listen | Following on the second-ever Kung, "which was part of the ritualistic chant leading into this song ("Divided Sky"), in this truncated and pretty bizarre narration Trey utilizes the refrain "green grass, high tides, forever" to convey the majesty of the land where the black black black black Rhombus stands. Also, Mike screams "Yes!!!" | Transcription |
| 1989-11-03 | Mockingbird | Listen | Short and classic narration. | Transcription |
| 1989-11-10 | Harpua | Listen | Fairly standard early version includes Trey using the word "betwixt" and some full-band "Sunshine of Your Love" jamming via Jimmy's stereo. | Transcription |
| 1989-11-30 | Mockingbird | Listen | Short and standard introduction to goings on in the song. | Transcription |
| 1989-12-07 | Divided | Listen | Short but exciting narration features interesting backing from the band as Trey takes us on a subjective journey "through time and space" with two friends to the center of a vast green field where we climb atop a black Rhombus thanks to our hooks to scream to the gods of the night sky. | Transcription |
| 1989-12-29 | Divided | Listen | Likely longer narration begins when recording stars after it is already underway, telling the story how "we" climb the Rhombus, look toward the clouds, which are splitting apart, and sing... | Transcription |
| 1990-01-29 | Harpua | Listen | This standard (and slightly inaudible), early 90s version centers on Poster and Harpua meeting on the street after a stroll by both. Purple Haze teases are sprinkled throughout the narration, much to the delight of a number of spectators (“That was awesome!!!”). | Transcription |
| 1990-02-01 | Rhombus Narration | Listen | Simple introduction to the Rhombus lore, this narration takes us to Gamehendge and three intrepid explorers climbing to the top of the floating Rhombus and partaking in the Divided Sky ritual. | Transcription |
| 1990-02-25 | Mockingbird | Listen | Brief narration explains why Col. Forbin climbs the mountain to ask Icculus for help, who summons the Famous Mockingbird to steal the Helping Friendly Book back from King Wilson for the revolutionaries to use against the Evil King. | Transcription |
| 1990-03-01 | Rhombus Narration | Listen | Basic narrated intro to Divided Sky, except in this version Trey specifically mentions "you" having friends on the journey to the top of the Rhombus. | Transcription |
| 1990-03-11 | Harpua | Listen | Apparently Trey was feeling somewhat verbose in this wordy early 90s version.Harpua is aware of Poster as they meet, even being the one to name the cat in this telling. The Jimmy “Purple Haze” tease accompanies his introduction. | Transcription |
| 1990-03-17 | Rhombus Narration | Listen | Lacking any mention of the three-hook-ed instrument, Trey and two friends come down the mountain, through the deep wood, and enter a vast green green green field, at the center of which is a black black black Rhombus. | Transcription |
| 1990-04-04 | Rhombus Narration | Listen | Beginning with a brief description of the ills that would befall Gamehendge at the hands of Wilson, Trey tells the story from before, "back when when it was peace and tranquility," of how three chosen Lizards would venture to the mountain, ingest the root, and seek a destination far away through the forest, a black Rhombus in the middle of a great green field. | Transcription |
| 1990-04-06 | Rhombus Narration | Listen | After an arduous journey at one mph in their truck up to Crested Butte, Trey tells a story about a land much like Crested Butte where the people perform a special ritual once a year, traversing the forest until they come to a huge green field with a black Rhombus at its center, which three fortunate subjects climb atop using their three hook-ed climbing instruments in order to sing a special sacred ditty to the gods of the night sky. | Transcription |
| 1990-04-07 | Mockingbird | Listen | Brief narration recounting that Icculus lives on the mountain, and he has instructed the Famous Mockingbird to steal the Helping Friendly Book back from the evil King Wilson. | Transcription |
| 1990-04-20 | Mockingbird | Listen | Classic, short narration: "Here he comes now, The Famous Mockingbird, flying out of the sky down on to Icculus's shoulder. Icculus, whispering in the Famous Mockingbird's ear, "go to Prussia, fly to the highest tower of Wilson's castle, steal the Helping Friendly Book, and bring it to the innocent people of Gamehendge, thereby restoring peace and harmony to Lizards everywhere..." | Transcription |
| 1990-06-09 | Harpua | Listen | While this version does follow the same structure as many early versions, it's noteworthy for Fishman's often-hilarious insertions from behind the drumkit. | Transcription |
| 1991-02-28 | Esther | Listen | A brief narration functions to contextualize the story contained within the song, as opposed to Esther's role in the Gamehendge saga. | Transcription |
| 1991-02-28 | Lizards | Listen | Brief introductory narration is mostly just poking fun at how quiet and attentive the audience is. | Transcription |
| 1991-03-31 | Mockingbird | Listen | With Colonel Forbin before him, the great prophet Icculus tells the Famous Mockingbird to steal the Helping Friendly Book from Wilson. | Transcription |
| 1991-04-04 | Mockingbird | Listen | Icculus whispers in the Famous Mockingbird's ear, and it flies off into the distance to the castle of the Evil King Wilson in pursuit of the Helping Friendly Book. | Transcription |
| 1991-04-06 | Icculus | Listen | After Steve Drebber's wedding, Icculus becomes much more of a rarity. The first version in two years is remarkable in that it includes a quick thank-you from Trey to the fans who have been following the band up through this final show of their first West Coast swing. The most noteworthy part of the narration, though, is when Mike offers some rare narration, speaking as Icculus himself to describe Phish as a camped-up, art rock Deadhead band. | Transcription |
| 1991-04-15 | Mockingbird | Listen | Short but dense narration contains important details of the Col's trek to find Icculus in the mountain, seeking help to steal back the most important book in the world, the Helping Friendly Book. | Transcription |
| 1991-04-18 | Harpua | Listen | Harpua ends up in the nice part of town. A young boy there pets his best friend, Poster Nutbag, who is his best friend that he loves. Poster Nutbag goes for a walk and there is an awful fight. | Transcription |
| 1991-04-21 | Mockingbird | Listen | In this special Earth Day version, Trey gives a thorough and complete explanation of the perils in which Gamehendge finds itself as Forbin climbs the mountain to see Icculus for himself, complete with the rest of the story about how the lizards became "infected with the germ of hate and greed," to which he remarks that "hopefully that won't keep happening here on this planet." | Transcription |
| 1991-04-26 | Harpua | Listen | The old man lives deep in the North Country, near the Canadian border, where people's family trees don't have branches, and his ugly dog leaves home to wander until he comes to a town, the nice part of town, where he encounters a cat just let out by his loving owner. | Transcription |
| 1991-05-02 | Mockingbird | Listen | For a great crowd clearly following the story's arc, this version includes the shaking, trembling, transforming mountain that is Icculus for the first time and an extended monologue from the god instructing the Famous Mockingbird to fly to the highest tower of the evil King Wilson's castle. | Transcription |
| 1991-05-03 | Harpua | Listen | This version is replete with fun variations on the standard structure -- Jimmy is watching Cam Neely, Trey offers his Stanley Cup predictions, and Harpua's owner is given the moniker "Timber Hole." | Transcription |
| 1991-05-04 | Mockingbird | Listen | Micro narration covers a lot of ground in a short period, taking listeners through the vast forest and up the great mountain to get the help of Icculus for the Lizards to return to their old life of utter peace and tranquility. | Transcription |
| 1991-05-16 | Mockingbird | Listen | Another micronarration, this one features the shaking and quaking, transforming mountain that becomes Icculus, who will call the Famous Mockingbird for help to steal back the Helping Friendly Book. | Transcription |
| 1991-07-14 | Mockingbird | Listen | After the mountain itself becomes Icculus and Forbin reaches the top, Trey tells the familiar story of Icculus calling on his friend the Famous Mockingbird to help Col. Forbin save the lizards by stealing back the Helping Friendly Book from the castle of the evil King Wilson. | Transcription |
| 1991-09-30 | Mockingbird | Listen | Concise narration attempts to catch up this noisy audience on the classic story of Col Forbin's trek to the mountain to find Icculus for help stealing back the Helping Friendly Book. | Transcription |
| 1991-10-13 | Bag | Listen | Taking a West Coast audience along to Gamehendge for just the second performance in an extended form, several songs of the saga are connected with narrations in this incomplete but nevertheless expansive version. | Transcription |
| 1991-10-13 | Mockingbird | Listen | Taking a West Coast audience along to Gamehendge for just the second performance in an extended form, several songs of the saga are connected with narrations in this incomplete but nevertheless expansive version. | Transcription |
| 1991-10-13 | McGrupp | Listen | Taking a West Coast audience along to Gamehendge for just the second performance in an extended form, several songs of the saga are connected with narrations in this incomplete but nevertheless expansive version. | Transcription |
| 1991-10-13 | Tela | Listen | Taking a West Coast audience along to Gamehendge for just the second performance in an extended form, several songs of the saga are connected with narrations in this incomplete but nevertheless expansive version. | Transcription |
| 1991-10-13 | Sloth | Listen | Taking a West Coast audience along to Gamehendge for just the second performance in an extended form, several songs of the saga are connected with narrations in this incomplete but nevertheless expansive version. | Transcription |
| 1991-10-27 | Mockingbird | Listen | Expanding some on the short early Mockingbird narrations, Trey takes Telluride to another mountainous land far away, where, "not unlike what happened in this particular country," an innocent people living in harmony with the land are enslaved by an evil King. | Transcription |
| 1991-10-27 | Tela | Listen | Brief description of Tela's place in the Gamehendge pantheon. | Transcription |
| 1991-10-28 | Harpua | Listen | The old man lives with his dog just nearby, and they like to hunt yuppies together. Meanwhile, in the rich part of town, Jimmy abandons Poster to go schralping so Poster is bored and goes for a walk, rather than Poster walking out on Jimmy, which is the usual scenario. | Transcription |
| 1991-11-02 | Mockingbird | Listen | On the final night of their Colorado tour, Trey tells the crowd they had to play this story because CO understands the spirit of the mountain. Solid, if somewhat standard, history of the Saga. | Transcription |
| 1991-11-10 | Llama | Listen | From phish.com: "Llama was preceded by a unique Gamehendge narrative by Trey, who said 'this song takes you to the top of a mountain with a rebel troop about to get attacked by these other troops coming up the mountain in a war-torn nightmare of futuristic Gamehendge.'" The recording of this version does not circulate as of December 20, 2021. | Transcription |
| 1991-11-13 | Mockingbird | Listen | Referencing an earlier "Rhombus Narration" from the same show, this brief narration picks up "a little farther into the future" to tell the story of the Colonel -- not Hampton -- seeking Icculus atop the mountain for help retrieving the Helping Friendly Book. | Transcription |
| 1991-11-13 | Rhombus Narration | Listen | This fun, spirited, and detailed "Rhombus Narration" finds Trey transporting those inside Love auditorium to where Phish comes from. Whimsical musical accompaniment and pointed story-telling informs this standout version, a must-hear for those interested in "The Divided Sky's" inception. | Transcription |
| 1991-11-15 | Rhombus Narration | Listen | Following three lizard people, you climb on top of the Rhombus and realize you are in the middle of a great prayer. | Transcription |
| 1991-11-20 | Mockingbird | Listen | Another 1991 version features Col. Forbin climbing up the trembling mountain that sits in the middle of a forest near a vast green field with a tiny little black spot, the Rhombus, in the center. | Transcription |
| 1991-12-07 | Mockingbird | Listen | Col. Forbin braves thousands of falling rocks and boulders, their collective force transforming the mountainside into the face of the Great and Knowledgeable Icculus, who, in an act of benevolence, calls upon the Famous Mockingbird to retrieve the Helping Friendly Book and save the people of Gamehendge. | Transcription |
| 1991-12-07 | Harpua | Listen | This version finds the old man finally returning home from a long journey to find his once beautiful dog turned into a fat ugly beast of a dog, bloodthirsty and mean, always searching for his next hot morsel of flesh, which will of course next be Jimmy's cat, Poster. | Transcription |
| 1992-03-19 | Mockingbird | Listen | Icculus calls upon the Famous Mockingbird to retrieve The Helping Friendly Book, thus freeing the people of Gamehendge from tyranny and ugliness. | Transcription |
| 1992-03-24 | Mockingbird | Listen | Here Trey introduces the story of the Lizard People and the Helping Friendly Book, Colonel Forbin and Icculus, the mountain and the Famous Mockingbird, to another puzzled crowd. | Transcription |
| 1992-03-26 | Harpua | Listen | Trey introduces Marley to the audience and brings her on stage for a straightforward narration that starts in the teeming jungles of Brazil, leading Page to quote "Brazil" with Fishman chiming in. Trey introduces Page as "a beacon of light in the world of flight." | Transcription |
| 1992-03-31 | Mockingbird | Listen | From a set featuring several Gamehendge songs, Trey links them together for the audience before sharing the story of the plight of the people of Gamehendge and the noble Col Forbin who has come to help them return to their life of peace and tranquility. | Transcription |
| 1992-04-04 | Harpua | Listen | Trey takes us from the Rockies back out over the East Coast across the Atlantic to the cliffs of Dover, where a mean old man, terrible at playing bagpipes, lives with his mean little dog Harpua, who goes out wandering the cobblestone streets looking for some action. | Transcription |
| 1992-04-16 | Mockingbird | Listen | Trey asks the audience to imagine the venue lifting up in the sky and floating, like a hot air balloon, across the sky to Gamehendge. He introduces the Lizards and begins to talk about their god just before > Icculus. After that short interlude, we have a standard mountain narration that concludes with Col. Forbin speaking with Icculus. | Transcription |
| 1992-04-16 | Icculus | Listen | This is the first of three performances of "Icculus" that comes in the middle of "Fly Famous Mockingbird." Here, the narration is brief just providing a bridge to begin "Icculus." | Transcription |
| 1992-04-21 | Mockingbird | Listen | Trey asks the audience to imagine the venue lifting up in the sky and floating, like a hot air balloon, across the sky to Gamehendge. He introduces the Lizards and begins to talk about their god just before > Icculus. After that short interlude, we have a standard mountain narration that concludes with Col. Forbin speaking with Icculus. | Transcription |
| 1992-04-22 | Harpua | Listen | In this special Earth Day edition, Trey narrates a version of the "Harpua" story starring Johnny Fishman as the old man who plays drums in a band, who somehow both has a cat named Poster Nutbag and is the owner of the big evil dog, Harpua which he's left just outside the gig. Trey sets up a story to perhaps give out Fish's hotel room number for a huge party later that night, but Fish blurts out a hotel room number that is actually Trey's, so Trey tries to spin the story to deflect from it being his room, and wraps up the story when Poster seeks to leave the party but encounters Harpua outside. | Transcription |
| 1992-04-24 | Mockingbird | Listen | With a Wizard of Oz intro, Colonel Forbin is swept away to Gamehenge and climbs the mountain. With an Icculus narration in the middle of this featuring lots of screaming and some dry heaving from Fish, it's a great and early Gamehenge treat. | Transcription |
| 1992-04-24 | Icculus | Listen | This is one of three performances of "Icculus" which comes in the middle of "Fly Famous Mockingbird." | Transcription |
| 1992-05-02 | Mockingbird | Listen | Another two-part narration with "Icculus" stuck in the middle, this version follows the sends us through space to the trembling mountain, following a quick reference to the L.A. riots in the beginning. The "Icculus" includes a reference to the Aquarium Rescue Unit being a "feeble Bluegrass band" before they read the Helping Friendly Book. | Transcription |
| 1992-05-06 | Mockingbird | Listen | After sending the crowd sinking down through Earth until it becomes up, Trey tells the classic story of Forbin climbing the mountain that becomes Icculus, with a stop in a revolutionary encampment deep in Gamehendge forest. | Transcription |
| 1992-05-09 | Harpua | Listen | A typical "Harpua" narration about a typical mean old man and his abused old dog, a typical young American boy watching a typical American rock song on MTV ("Teen Spirit") while petting his typical little cat, Whitey, and the typical deadly fight that ensues when the mean dog and helpless cat cross paths | Transcription |
| 1992-05-17 | Mockingbird | Listen | This longer-than-usual-in-'92 narration from a show at an ice skating rink aptly begins with ice creeping over the cement under the feet of everyone there, before the plane of ice lifts up and away into infinity where it begins to tilt at an ever higher angle until you slip off the rink, falling and falling until you enter the atmosphere of a planet that had looked like a speck, which is Gamehendge, where there is a huge mountain... | Transcription |
| 1992-11-21 | Mockingbird | Listen | After folding down the walls of the venue, everyone takes a rampway higher and higher into space, the vast void of space, until the rampway becomes a tube then a small pipe, and you're holding to it easily because there's no gravity until you're sucked into a black hole where time slows and your body stretches until you poke through the other side, which is Gamehendge, where there is a mountain that becomes the face of Icculus, speaking to Col Forbin. | Transcription |
| 1992-11-27 | Mockingbird | Listen | Trey describes audience members splitting into two entities, one being little soul people that climb the stage and enter Gamehendge through Fishman's brain. Trey then chants a description of Col. Forbin's Ascent and the arrival of the Famous Mockingbird. | Transcription |
| 1992-11-28 | Harpua | Listen | An old man and his dog live in a crevice of Fish’s brain in a circular little dome house with a little hot tub extension. Harpua walks through midtown Port Chester looking for some action while Jimmy sits in his room listening to the Spin Doctors on the classic rock station. | Transcription |
| 1992-12-04 | Mockingbird | Listen | Epic narration follows the audience after it is liquefied into a gooey clump of water dripping through the floorboards into the basement, and eventually into the Mighty Mississippi, which takes them to the Gulf of Mexico, deeper and deeper, past a volcano, passed by a submarine, before flowing through a cave into Gamehendge, where the journey continues. | Transcription |
| 1992-12-08 | Mockingbird | Listen | Despite the warm confines of the Barrymore Theater, the creeping cold eventually freezes the venue into a solid block of ice, which is crushed by a giant robot and swept by a vast broom, and carried on the wind, whose source is none other than Fishman's vac, all full of saliva. Eventually, everyone congeals again, goes to Gamehendge, and Trey literally sings the story as a lullaby. | Transcription |
| 1992-12-31 | Mockingbird | Listen | New Year's Eve version finds us in "the last set of 1992", the Arena lifted off its foundation by the tractor beam of a ship and floating over scenic Boston. Hanging onto a pole, we descend into the ocean, turning into rock fossils for thousands of years until a glacier brings us to the surface, onto land that is now Gamehendge. | Transcription |
| 1992-12-31 | Harpua | Listen | This NYE extravaganza, breaking from many traditions of Harpua narrations (Reba makes an appearance!) includes a town wide ceremony, outside sound additions, and most importantly, KUNG sandwiched into the story. A harbinger of the grand and sweeping tales to come, this version is a must-listen for fans of Jimmy. | Transcription |
| 1993-02-05 | PYITE | Listen | Very short narration comes right after Trey teaches The Landlady Dance, aka the Punch You in the Eye Storm Dance, to the Roseland Ballroom in the first PYITE in over 3 years. He essentially recites the lyrics from the end of the song but does explain the reason "The Landlady" is found in the song. | Transcription |
| 1993-02-07 | Mockingbird | Listen | The audience takes root to become plants, pea pods, growing in a farmer's field, to be harvested and processed into pea stew, packaged in jars, sold at the grocery store, and eventually eaten by a little baby, who digests the pea stew and poops it magically into Gamehendge. | Transcription |
| 1993-02-12 | Harpua | Listen | Each feeling a little deja vu, Harpua and Poster set out on their predictable journies-- Harpua from his home on the scraggly hill, Poster from his house because Jimmy is watching the Superbowl halftime show with MJ -- toward a most unpredictable ending | Transcription |
| 1993-02-19 | Mockingbird | Listen | We travel back in time to 3/28/92 when Phish's previous Atlanta show was canceled due to a flood. But, this time we turn the water to steam by moving our feet. We rise with the steam into the storm and land in Gamehendge to observe Forbin's ascent, and Icculus speaks. | Transcription |
| 1993-02-25 | Mockingbird | Listen | For the band's first show in Miami, Trey takes the audience on an extensive, detailed narration that sends the crowd floating in the building upside-down out over the city and beach to land the right way up again in the middle of the ocean, where the building's floor becomes a surfboard to ride the biggest wave in the history of the world, which everyone rides to a magical green island. | Transcription |
| 1993-03-08 | Mockingbird | Listen | A strange red growth on Fishman's arm is the first sign that Fishman has begun growing taller and thinner until he becomes elastic and begins floating away. Fortunately, a fan grabs his ankle and all the spectators grab each other's ankles as they all begin floating away towards Gamehendge. | Transcription |
| 1993-03-18 | Mockingbird | Listen | This lengthy Mockingbird narration starts with Trey explaining that this was a special Holographic concert that the spectators don’t remember agreeing to. The holographic concert hall is in a cube frame and ends up at the bottom of the ocean (after a brush with a shark) which leads to a Gamehendge portal. Full of nifty visuals and imagery, this is vintage Mockingbird narration. | Transcription |
| 1993-03-22 | Bag | Listen | To a great, attentive, quiet audience in Sacramento, this performance of the complete Gamehendge saga begins following an unfinished "It's Ice." | Transcription |
| 1993-03-22 | Forbin's | Listen | To a great, attentive, quiet audience in Sacramento, this performance of the complete Gamehendge saga begins following an unfinished "It's Ice." | Transcription |
| 1993-03-22 | Mockingbird | Listen | To a great, attentive, quiet audience in Sacramento, this performance of the complete Gamehendge saga begins following an unfinished "It's Ice." | Transcription |
| 1993-03-22 | McGrupp | Listen | To a great, attentive, quiet audience in Sacramento, this performance of the complete Gamehendge saga begins following an unfinished "It's Ice." | Transcription |
| 1993-03-22 | Tela | Listen | To a great, attentive, quiet audience in Sacramento, this performance of the complete Gamehendge saga begins following an unfinished "It's Ice." | Transcription |
| 1993-03-22 | Lizards | Listen | To a great, attentive, quiet audience in Sacramento, this performance of the complete Gamehendge saga begins following an unfinished "It's Ice." | Transcription |
| 1993-03-22 | Sloth | Listen | To a great, attentive, quiet audience in Sacramento, this performance of the complete Gamehendge saga begins following an unfinished "It's Ice." | Transcription |
| 1993-03-22 | Wilson | Listen | To a great, attentive, quiet audience in Sacramento, this performance of the complete Gamehendge saga begins following an unfinished "It's Ice." | Transcription |
| 1993-03-25 | Mockingbird | Listen | Unorthodox narration beginning with Trey offering a magical glass of wine to Mike. The magical glass of wine causes Mike to play the ancient bass riff, which makes the blood of the audience members fizzle, turning them into soda and the venue into a soda can, which a young kid finds on the sidewalk and kicks all the way home. The carbonation from the soda causes the audience to float up in a cloud that takes them Gamehendge, where they recite the ritualistic entry chant, "Kung." This narration also includes an "Icculus" to continue the narration of Forbin's trip up the mountain. | Transcription |
| 1993-03-25 | Icculus | Listen | This is one of three performances of "Icculus" which comes in the middle of "Fly Famous Mockingbird." | Transcription |
| 1993-03-31 | Harpua | Listen | Trey reminisces about the first time he saw the old man and his mangy dog. Then he pays a visit to his friend, Jimmy, who is watching Beverly Hills Cop... again. After listening to some Stones, Jimmy reveals the disturbing depth of his feelings for his cat before letting Poster out for a walk where the cat meets its fate. | Transcription |
| 1993-04-05 | Mockingbird | Listen | The whole earth dries up until it is just a big cloud of dust floating through space. The dust turns into TV screen static that depicts a guy hang-gliding. The guy unlatches himself from the hang-glider, and, as he falls to Earth, he starts to see a mountain and a guy climbing up the mountain… | Transcription |
| 1993-04-13 | Mockingbird | Listen | Terry, the band's driver, hooks his rig to the back of the venue, and hauls the building west up the Rocky Mountains, loading it atop the world's biggest ski jump ever. A very funny version, the recording, however, is incomplete. Any tapers got a patch? | Transcription |
| 1993-04-14 | Harpua | Listen | Narration begins in Trey's bed while he wonders where all the dreams go. He sees them in dream bubbles, first to form small dream piles at the side of the bed before being collected and taken to a great Dream Mountain. Here, there is a grassy knoll in which Harpua and his evil master, together a compilation of all the dreams ever, live. Going on a walk looking for fresh meat to the suburban place nearby, where most of the dreams originate, Harpua meets Poster Nutbag. | Transcription |
| 1993-04-21 | Mockingbird | Listen | Gremlins sound down the brick exterior of the venue until it becomes a silver ball in one of those wood labyrinth games. The crowd falls through a hole to Gamehenge and Icculus tells Forbin he will help him by getting the Famous Mockingbird. | Transcription |
| 1993-04-25 | Mockingbird | Listen | The audience becomes various tiles rearranged by Trey with his pedal board in a giant Tetris game, and are lifted into space and transported to Gamehendge by rocketing Soviet architecture. | Transcription |
| 1993-05-03 | Mockingbird | Listen | Thanks to Paul's high tech wizadry, Phish turns the crowd in New Brunswick upside down, held only by the weight of their body through their feet, before setting out through space, beyond all the stars, until eventually landing on an amorphous blob with a green atmosphere, which is of course Gamehendge. Unfortunately, no one will remember the voyage because of a powerful gas, activated by the "Vibration of Life," that Paul pours into the venue which will change the memory to seem like only a story. | Transcription |
| 1993-07-25 | Harpua | Listen | In this version, we learn that mean old man was actually Ravishing Rick Rude who, legend has it, was a 30 feet tall lumberjack and had a giant mean dog, Harpua, who held a grudge against all the people moving into the North Country ruining their idyllic lumberjack lifestyle, so he ventures down in the suburbs seeking revenge. | Transcription |
| 1993-07-29 | Mockingbird | Listen | A series of mental and physical gymnastics casts those in attendance down a river and over the Bottomless Waterfall which leads, of course, to Gamehendge. | Transcription |
| 1993-08-07 | Mockingbird | Listen | One of the great Mockingbird narrations, from right beside the theme park at Darien Lake, takes listeners on the Rollercoaster of the Mind up into space, "through a barrier" toward a tiny green speck, the land of Gamehendge. | Transcription |
| 1993-08-15 | Mockingbird | Listen | Possibly the most disturbing narration has Trey take the listener through the human body via the intestines and the bloodstream into your very own heart, where the beating gets louder and scarier until it stops. You realize then you are nothing... and everything... and in Gamehendge. | Transcription |
| 1993-08-20 | Harpua | Listen | For Phish's first visit to Red Rocks, Trey crafts a Harpua story appropriate for its setting where Harpua and his owner have been cast out from the village of cavedwellers that used to live under the stage. Eventually, Harpua learns how to shapeshift and turns himself into a giant iguana to haunt the village, until one day he encounters Poster Nutbag, who just before he is killed stares at Harpua and turns him into stone, where he remains to this day. | Transcription |
| 1993-12-30 | Mockingbird | Listen | Once again, the walls and floor of a hockey rink give way as Trey takes the audience surfing on the waves that emanate from the pipes beneath the ice. The crowd must then catch and ride a massive wave, which takes them to the land of Gamehendge. | Transcription |
| 1994-04-11 | Mockingbird | Listen | Through a very powerful mind trick, the audience leaves their very well grounded bodies to take their minds floating up and up and up, oozing through the roof of the building, into space, until they all fall in a hole -- but not a hole that tears ligaments in your ankle like what had happened to Trey the night before, no this is a Pleasure Hole -- which sends them into an alternate space where there is a tiny green speck floating, not a circle, more of a rectangle with angled sides, that flips over to become a sea of green grass. | Transcription |
| 1994-04-24 | Mockingbird | Listen | As we are all a group of molecules bouncing off each other, through a lot of empty space, this version imagines all that empty space disappearing until the entire audience becomes one giant puddle of muck that Paul and Chris sweep into a sphere that they launch out of the venue into space toward Gamehendge. | Transcription |
| 1994-05-03 | Harpua | Listen | Just off the New Jersey Turnpike, past the strip of factories and beyond the suburban blocks, there is a teeming mountainous jungle where an old man has taken refuge from the mean suburban society to plot his revenge on the awful people that cast him out by training his dog to become an evil killing machine, to rob a boy of the one thing he loved. Jimmy is the little boy, and his cat Poster is the one thing he loves. In this version, Jimmy can't decide what to listen to so he plays both Cream and Stevie Wonder at the same time, and the band performs "You Are the Sunshine (of My Love)." | Transcription |
| 1994-05-25 | Mockingbird | Listen | To begin the band's three-night stand at The Warfield, Paul uses the soundboard to create the energy necessary to transform the audience into a pool of collective human energy goo and the venue into a giant slingshot as means of transporting those in attendance into the cosmos, and, ultimately, Gamehendge. | Transcription |
| 1994-06-16 | Mockingbird | Listen | Rare by this point in the narration's history, this rather standard-classic narration establishes "Kung" as a vestige of an older version of the Helping Friendly Book before Wilson edited out the powerful magic inherent in the book. | Transcription |
| 1994-06-17 | Harpua | Listen | On what must have been a very hot day, "Kung" sends everyone to Gamehendge, where the air is so cool and moist, to introduce Harpua and his owner, who have been banished out of town for being evil. They now look down from their hill on the town, where the children sing "Simple." We meet Jimmy, listening to Jimi ("Voodoo Chile"), and his cat Poster Nutbag, who wants to go outside, where unfortunately he crosses paths with Harpua. | Transcription |
| 1994-06-22 | Icculus | Listen | Narrated with a Basketball finals update (Houston up by five), this version begins with a reference to "Simple" before Trey and Fish get into duel pleading the audience to read the book. | Transcription |
| 1994-06-26 | Bag | Listen | The first set of the "GameHoist" show features a stellar complete performance of the Gamehendge saga. | Transcription |
| 1994-06-26 | Forbin's | Listen | The first set of the "GameHoist" show features a stellar complete performance of the Gamehendge saga. | Transcription |
| 1994-06-26 | Divided | Listen | The first set of the "GameHoist" show features a stellar complete performance of the Gamehendge saga, which connects the Rhombus to the saga and concludes with "Divided Sky." | Transcription |
| 1994-06-26 | Mockingbird | Listen | The first set of the "GameHoist" show features a stellar complete performance of the Gamehendge saga. | Transcription |
| 1994-06-26 | McGrupp | Listen | The first set of the "GameHoist" show features a stellar complete performance of the Gamehendge saga. | Transcription |
| 1994-06-26 | Tela | Listen | The first set of the "GameHoist" show features a stellar complete performance of the Gamehendge saga. | Transcription |
| 1994-06-26 | Lizards | Listen | The first set of the "GameHoist" show features a stellar complete performance of the saga connecting "Kung" to Gamehendge and explaining how "Llama" fits into the narrative. | Transcription |
| 1994-06-26 | Sloth | Listen | The first set of the "GameHoist" show features a stellar complete performance of the Gamehendge saga. | Transcription |
| 1994-06-26 | Wilson | Listen | The first set of the "GameHoist" show features a stellar complete performance of the Gamehendge saga. | Transcription |
| 1994-06-30 | Harpua | Listen | Jimmy takes Poster Nutbag to a bar to drink beer and sing karaoke while Harpua is out on a killing spree, trained by his owner to take revenge on all the people in the town that tormented him so. | Transcription |
| 1994-07-08 | Bag | Listen | The last complete Gamehendge performance is from a dream during a dental visit... | Transcription |
| 1994-07-08 | Forbin's | Listen | The last complete Gamehendge performance is from a dream during a dental visit... | Transcription |
| 1994-07-08 | Divided | Listen | The last complete Gamehendge performance is from a dream during a dental visit and concludes for the second time in a row with "Divided Sky." | Transcription |
| 1994-07-08 | Mockingbird | Listen | The last complete Gamehendge performance is from a dream during a dental visit... | Transcription |
| 1994-07-08 | McGrupp | Listen | The last complete Gamehendge performance is from a dream during a dental visit... | Transcription |
| 1994-07-08 | NO2 | Listen | The last complete Gamehendge performance begins in a dentist's chair... | Transcription |
| 1994-07-08 | Tela | Listen | The last complete Gamehendge performance is from a dream during a dental visit... | Transcription |
| 1994-07-08 | Sloth | Listen | The last complete Gamehendge performance is from a dream during a dental visit... | Transcription |
| 1994-07-08 | Wilson | Listen | The last complete Gamehendge performance is from a dream during a dental visit... | Transcription |
| 1994-07-16 | Harpua | Listen | Returning home to VT after a long tour, Trey begins this Harpua with lots of love for their home state before starting the story in classic fashion, introducing the characters and setting, and follows them until the fateful meeting of Poster Nutbag and Harpua, when suddenly the story is "HIT BY A COMET," referring to Comet Shoemaker-Levitt which struck Jupiter that night, and apparently also kills Poster. | Transcription |
| 1994-10-14 | Mockingbird | Listen | Trey coats the room with Fanon Spirit Vibe from his Fanon Spirit Beam (actually a Fanon megaphone), turning the band and those in attendance into spirits separated from the shells of their bodies, capable of transporting themselves from New Orleans to Gamehendge. | Transcription |
| 1994-10-16 | Harpua | Listen | This narration, featuring "Flashlight" teases, tells the classic fight story while Jimmy and his cat are out at a Bootsy Collins concert, where Jimmy leaves Poster outside while he goes back "for a little more Bootsy," leaving poor Poster vulnerable to an attack by Harpua, who's out on the town and drawn over by the thumping bass. | Transcription |
| 1994-10-27 | Mockingbird | Listen | Incorporating a "Vibration of Life" this narration introduces a new phase inverter built into Trey's guitar by Paul that, in combination with shifts in the color of light by Chris, sends everyone hurtling into another dimension, which it turns out is Gamehendge, where Col Forbin is climbing the mountain to find the spirit of Icculus. | Transcription |
| 1994-10-27 | Icculus | Listen | This version of Icculus references the Vibration of Life, a popular gambit during the Fall 94 tour that appeared earlier in the evening during Mockingbird. After Trey draws a connection between the life-changing properties of the Vibration and a certain Book, we are treated to the usual shouty Icculus. | Transcription |
| 1994-10-31 | Harpua | Listen | Transcription | |
| 1994-10-31 | Harpua | Listen | On one of the most famous and historic nights in the band’s history, it is fitting that the crowd was treated to Poster and friends. Telling the story of the first Halloween, Trey weaves both The Vibration of Life (Death) and War Pigs by Black Sabbath into this retelling. | Transcription |
| 1994-11-04 | Mockingbird | Listen | Research shows that the sound of the Vibration of Life can be enhanced by certain colors of light. Red is powerful, it can heal the sick, bring joy to the sad. The Vibration of Life accompanied by green light transports you to Gamehendge! | Transcription |
| 1994-11-17 | Mockingbird | Listen | Trey channels the Vibration of Life and helps those in attendance transform their bodies from corporeal vessels into surfboard souls, vehicles soon employed to catch the perfect consciousness-expanding wave which delivers all safely unto Gamehendge. | Transcription |
| 1994-11-20 | Icculus | Listen | If there's a connection between Icculus and OJ Simpson, rely on Trey to find it. He open the narration by referencing the last time Phish was in the area, which turned out to be the OJ show. Trey says that watching the Bronco reminded him of life, which of course encouraged him to make one of his famous book recommendations. | Transcription |
| 1994-11-25 | Harpua | Listen | Initially a Thanksgiving themed Harpua, this Harpua quickly devolves into a light themed revenge story centering on red and green light. Interaction with the audience (i.e. a glow stick war) and Kuroda's operation of lights obviously play a large part of this story, as does the incredible energy at The UIC Pavilion that night. | Transcription |
| 1994-11-30 | Mockingbird | Listen | Acknowledging the numerological significance of the band's third visit to Evergreen, Trey introduces the Vibration of Life and encourages us to grab the end of the line of the sound, which transports us into space across the universe to the planet Gamehendge, where we land at a critical time when Col Forbin is climbing the mountain. | Transcription |
| 1995-06-23 | Harpua | Listen | Joined by John Popper, this unfinished Harpua teases the pre-internet audience with the Rhombus being “nearby” as well as a short, but hilarious attempt at ABBA. The Old Man finds himself being dragged by a wish compelled branch through town until he is at the doorstep of Jimmy. | Transcription |
| 1995-10-05 | Mockingbird | Listen | Trey takes the audience on a conceptual journey through the matrix and reveals that Gamehendge is the source of the music that glues the universe together. | Transcription |
| 1995-10-31 | Harpua | Listen | On a night of overwhelming riches, Phish treats Chicago to a "Harpua" during their second Halloween “costume” show. With the ultimate Michael Jackson fake-out, this performance also includes Mike offering his unique narrative skills to add a touch of surreality with his account of a dream featuring baby raccoons. | Transcription |
| 1995-10-31 | Icculus | Listen | To open their second musical costume Halloween, Phish turns to Icculus. This version is noteworthy in that it's the only version to date in which the book is depicted as fallible -- the many Halloween spirits at Rosemont Horizon that night proved too much for the book to handle, and Trey beseeches the audience to read the book in order to curtail the advance of the evil spirits. | Transcription |
| 1995-12-01 | Mockingbird | Listen | East meets West meets Gamehendge, and Trey, via the Mystical Land of Chocolate, provides (especially given the time) the "best" ever directions to the fabled Rhombus. | Transcription |
| 1995-12-31 | Mockingbird | Listen | When Phish is not on tour, they work in the Gamehendge Time Laboratory manufacturing time for Gamehendge, but since the Helping Friendly Book has been stolen, they no longer have the right recipe for time. | Transcription |
| 1996-08-07 | Mockingbird | Listen | Another chapter in the saga of the Red Rocks Great Iguana, we learn that once a thousand years ago a Giant Iguana came up out the spot where the stage is, swallowed all the people there, climbed up the mountain, leaving the big indentation where the audience sits, before flying up into space, where it peeled apart piece by piece, flinging the people toward a tiny green speck, having come full circle. | Transcription |
| 1996-08-17 | Harpua | Listen | The encore of one of the most significant events in the history of Phish, this unfinished Harpua both covers the magical feeling of the weekend and shows appreciation to the fans that made it possible. An acrobatic aerial display accompanies Trey’s narration about Jimmy’s lucid dream and a final noise jam sends the ecstatic crowd out on an appropriately psychedelic note. | Transcription |
| 1996-10-31 | Mockingbird | Listen | Col Forbin finds himself on a familiar mountain, crumbling this time to reveal the face of David Byrne himself wearing the big suit, doing the dance he does, causing rocks to fall down around Col Forbin's head. The Famous Mockingbird comes in the distance, but it is a different Famous Mockingbird, the evil Halloween spirit Famous Mockingbird, who pecks out Col Forbin's eyes. The horrible Famous Mockinbird flies away with his eyeballs, leaving his body and the Helping Friendly Book floating in space, because "this is Halloween" | Transcription |
| 1996-12-06 | Harpua | Listen | Possibly the greatest "Harpua" ever performed, this far ranging version features Larry and Les from Primus, among other very special guests, as Jimmy, bored and anxious, decides to go on a trip across the desert to Las Vegas to lay down all his savings on the roulette table, a journey which includes some campfire yodelling with Poster Nutbag and will require him to perform an Elvis song before he can enter. Meanwhile, Harpua has followed their scent and sees Poster near the roulette table. The ensuing fight requires the evacuation of the casino, but Poster is dead? | Transcription |
| 1996-12-29 | Harpua | Listen | Foregoing the traditional lead story, Trey instead opts to go for the “meat of the issue,” straight to the fight, which violently turns into a tornado that digs a hole straight to Hell, taking all of Gamehendge down, where the Sound of Hell turns out to be Oasis’s "Champagne Supernova" sung by lyricist Tom Marshall. | Transcription |
| 1997-07-02 | Wormtown | Listen | Trey warns the audience to be careful in the little green urinals along the street because you just might get sucked down into the canal, where the giant worms await. | Transcription |
| 1997-12-30 | Harpua | Listen | Unique version does not contain any reference to Gamehendge, Poster Nutbag, or even the dog Harpua. Here, Trey recalls a typical Saturday morning in the fourth grade interruputed by messages from the television show "Lost In Space" that lead him to save a pentagram and a vision of his future, including Tom Marshall singing "500 Miles." | Transcription |
| 1998-08-07 | Mockingbird | Listen | This sweeping and cosmic version starts with Forbin zip-lining into a pond of blue jello, then lucid dreaming himself into a huge banquet where he gets skewered on a cosmic spit, before finally expanding into a spherical ball that floats into space, causing an eclipse. A grand and bizarre Mockingbird that is a fine example of late 90s Trey weirdness. | Transcription |
| 1998-11-02 | Harpua | Listen | Just two days after Phish performed The Velvet Underground's Loaded for their fourth musical costume, they treated a dramatically undersold E Center to a full performance of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, bookended by this "Harpua." The short narration alludes to the '96 Vegas Harpua, using Jimmy's trip through the desert on the way to Las Vegas as a springboard for the action. We break from that timeline when Jimmy can't get a ticket to "a concert" in Las Vegas, at which point he hitches a ride to Salt Lake City and listens to the Pink Floyd record on the way. | Transcription |
| 1999-07-18 | Icculus | Listen | The only narration of 1999, follows thanking the audience for participating in the band's record-breaking "Meatstick" dance. Trey tells everyone that he's excited to be in a record book because books are special, especially one special book, which has important things to say about the "E" chord. Version includes an extended outro containing band introductions. | Transcription |
| 2000-09-30 | Mockingbird | Listen | In this epic, meandering, and slightly uncomfortable version, Trey recalls a dream that involves him having no teeth, the world turning into a raisin, and a snuggle pile involving groping and goo. Dream analysts would have a field day with this narration. | Transcription |
| 2003-07-29 | Harpua | Listen | Jimmy, who it turns out looks a lot like Fishman, felt lost in life so he decides to join a rock band in hopes of finding IT, and this version chronicles Jimmy's varied experience with the ladies through Henrietta's performance of "Fooled Around and Fell in Love." | Transcription |
| 2009-08-14 | Icculus | Listen | On the first tour after the Reunion, Trey narrates an Icculus story for the crazy kids with their iPhones and DVD things about how important it is for them to actually pick up a book. | Transcription |
| 2009-08-16 | Harpua | Listen | After Trey talks about having lived in Saratoga and knowing a number of people in the crowd, he then tells of Jimmy feeling sad and searching for truth from his spirit guide. Fishman is that guide and his words of wisdom may be one of the oddess song selections the band has ever played. An off key version of Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl. | Transcription |
| 2010-07-04 | Harpua | Listen | The true alternate history of the U.S.A. is woven into the lyrics of every Phish song. This is what really happened. A man swam across the ocean with his dog on a log, and after living hundreds of years, he is pissed about how everything has been ruined by people building parking lots and Wal-Marts. His relative Jimmy, and his cat Poster Nutbag listen to the only other band that will tell you the truth in their songs. | Transcription |
| 2011-06-17 | Mockingbird | Listen | Short narration mentions David Mayfield, who is referred to as both the Famous Mockingbird AND Icculus. | Transcription |
| 2011-06-17 | Icculus | Listen | This 3.0 standard-great "Icculus" posits that Icculus is actually local Charlotte musician David Mayfield. | Transcription |
| 2011-06-19 | Harpua | Listen | To celebrate Father’s Day, this rare show opener was light on the story history, but heavy of the family theme. Each of the band members’ fathers came out and alternatingly played ‘Dad’ during the conversation with Jimmy. The final line, “You’re God damned cat died.” is a great conclusion to this silly, but touching, retelling of the tale. | Transcription |
| 2011-07-03 | Mockingbird | Listen | Anticipating the "Storage Jam" later that night, Trey tells the story of the time the band parked their old Plymouth Voyager in a storage unit after it broke down "nearby here," and to keep themselves busy the band started to jam, which got weirder and weirder. | Transcription |
| 2013-07-21 | Harpua | Listen | Among the most divisive of all Phish gags, this Harpua secretly features members of the improv comedy group hailing from Chicago, Second City, as fans of Phish from Philly, and explores how some fans think Phish should do things "the right way." Once these fans unfurl the so called truth of the song, an extended skit which is a cobbled together terrible story, Trey asks who does it the right way before asking Mike to do the narration. Mike's narration follows Poster around the city of Chicago as he looks for a good time, until he unfortunately encounters Harpua at the comedy club where the Second City perform. | Transcription |
| 2013-08-30 | Icculus | Listen | Another standard narration for this 3.0 Icculus mentions the planes flying over Dick's with deep, meaningful messages. | Transcription |
| 2013-12-31 | Mockingbird | Listen | In this tiny narration from atop the JEMP truck on the floor of Madison Square Garden, Trey notes the Famous Mockingbird flies on. | Transcription |
| 2013-12-31 | Icculus | Listen | The 30th anniversary version of Icculus is as much a celebration of the band's career as it is a celebration of the Book. Trey says that they continue to play so that people can continue to get the message, and while the Helping Friendly Book is indeed fictional, the message that the band has to spread is clearly worth thirty years and more. | Transcription |
| 2015-08-09 | Mockingbird | Listen | The narration deviates instead from the adventures of Gamehendge to a more pedestrian event that happened to Trey earlier that day as he walked through the empty amphitheater. Namely, it was a bird pooping on his head that inspired this particular bust-out... | Transcription |
| 2015-09-06 | Harpua | Listen | In this version closing out a run at Dick's and expanding on the tradition of making statements by using the first letter of songs to craft a message for the audience, Jimmy moves from the East Coast to Colorado. He's got everything he needs, including an oxygen tank. He listens to some Clapton ("After Midnight"), but he finds out the hard way that his oxygen tank was actually "NO2." "Keyboard Army" lulls him to into a dream state before awaking to cuddle "Your Pet Cat," Poster Nutbag. A real "Once in a Lifetime" encore and a gift to the audience, directly from the band's heart. "United We Stand" is exactly right . THANK YOU! | Transcription |
| 2017-07-30 | Mockingbird | Listen | Coming during the "Jimmies" night of the Baker's Dozen, this narration carries on the contemporary tradition of short narrations to give a couple of clues about Gamehendge lore, tying once and for all The Squirming Coil to the story and giving the Walrus association to Jimmy (instead of Page). | Transcription |
| 2017-07-30 | Harpua | Listen | On the "Jimmies" night of the Baker's Dozen, Phish approached Harpua in a completely new way, foregoing the traditional Trey-led narration to enable the entire band to take part in a deep conversation about the nature of the universe, which of course forms the shape of a donut. | Transcription |
| 2019-07-14 | Icculus | Listen | On the last night of the 2019 Summer Tour, Phish performed a second set worthy of drooling, and while everyone would return to their lonely rooms in the weeks before the band would play next at Dick's, Trey felt compelled to remind the audience about the importance of the Helping Friendly Book. | Transcription |
| 2019-07-14 | Icculus | Listen | In this short "Icculus Reprise," Trey explains that the book will teach you to stop worrying, so he exhorts all to read the fucking book. | Transcription |
| 2021-08-31 | Mockingbird | Listen | Another truncated 3.0 narration, this one reveals The Famous Mockingbird flying in off the mountain carrying the Helping Friendly Book. | Transcription |
| 2021-10-30 | Harpua | Listen | During the Animals themed show from MGM Halloween run, Trey delivers an epic gag within this version making hilarious fun of fans' determination to figure out the Halloween album. | Transcription |
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