[Thank you to user @sterlingpiper83 Sterling Diesel for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

Three days of Phish is heaven for me. Especially when it's a weekend run at Alpharetta. Sure the band always bring the goods, but in Alpharetta they are generally served up scorching hot. Tonight was no exception.

So I've just made my last choice for pick 5, I'm tied 2-2 from last night with my Friend Alana. I start thinking I should have picked "It's Ice" since Mike was doing a video about it just a bit ago. No time to change it though, the band has just come out to play for us.

"Runaway Jim" is a wonderful way to start any show, right? It has fun lyrics, the music is lively and bouncing, and the jam potential is strong. I love the quick trills Trey pulls around 6:25, they build to a fun bouncy peak with a bit of dark sounding counterpoint which I just love. The gnarly almost wah tone coming out of Trey's guitar right now is easily one of my favorite sounds He makes. The band is locked in tight on this groove, an excellent rendition if I do say so.

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STTF #78: Summer Tour 2023 is now available for immediate download! Free or by donation! You can also ORDER A PAPER COPY OR SEVERAL BY MAIL by sending $ via PayPal to [email protected]. $5 for the first copy, $2 for each additional copy in the same envelope; don't forget to put your mailing address in notes! Of course, STTF is always free on lot... but you have to find us! We don't set up on Shakedown... all our vendors are roving... good luck!)

This issue is full of good stuff for you! It includes information about this year's Summer Tour 2023 - where to eat, things to do, and things you need to know about each area and venue. You can read reviews of Spring Tour 2023 in this one, too.

Further, we offer articles on a variety of interesting topics that we know you'll just love and so much more! And, this issue also includes our regular features like recipes, My First Show, My Favorite Jam Ever, 20 Years Later, Phish Changed My Life, Everybody Loves Statistics, Vendor Profile, horoscopes, Read the Book book reviews, Celebrations, fan fiction, a puzzle, and other things we think you'll enjoy.

Please check out this issue and tell your friends, and have a great time on Summer Tour 2023, everyone!

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[Thank you to user LizardwithaZ, for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

Some people have all the luck.

In my case, attending a Phish show in Alpharetta, which just happens to be my 13th show, might have given me pause. After all, 13 is not exactly known for being a lucky number. The number 13 for me, however, has always been just fine, and in many cases, the opposite of unlucky.

I was hoping that this would prove true for this weekend’s shows as well. After all, this is the spot where I ended my extended Phish drought (from 6/24/2000 until 8/3/2018) and where the band blew my mind all over again two years ago. This venue has gained the reputation of being a “can’t miss” stop, earning that reputation especially with the last 2 runs in 2018 and 2021. Is it “MSG South?” I might not go that far, but only because Alpharetta is its own thing entirely.

So that brings us to last night, and the first 3-night run of Summer 2023. Looking at the weather, 91 degrees seemed like it would be manageable, but as is often the case in the South, the real story is the humidity. As the venue slowly filled in leading up to start time, we found ourselves dripping in sweat, with nary a breeze in sight. If luck were on our side, the band would give us a scorcher of a show to thank us for putting up with the heat.

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[Thank you to user @MM2001, for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

The Orion Amphitheater is an intimate, coliseum style, slice of heaven in north Alabama. From the food trucks outside the amphitheater to the multiple bars throughout the venue offering unique selections of craft cocktails and craft beer, this venue gets an A+. Seriously, Huntsville, AL deserves a huge thank you for creating this space for music lovers. There is not a bad seat in the house.

You could feel the anxiety as heat lightning radiated around the venue, never getting close enough to cause a delay. A lot of prayers were said as a delightfully refreshing, misty drizzle provided a bit of relief from the heat. Alas, there were no delays for weather as if mother nature was smiling down on everyone present.

The opening song, its debut as such, was “Plasma.” This may have been one of the most well executed versions in all of Phishtory. It was beautiful all the way through the peak which had the crowd begging for more. As they moved on and into “Sigma Oasis,” the style of jam to this point really set the tone for the evening. Unlike the previous night’s dark and gritty style, tonight was bound to be light, airy, and fun. “Sigma Oasis” flowed easily into a lovely ambient jam. It was soothing to hear and watch the patience with which it was built. In the end, Mike took a stance and slowed everything down as they launched “Wolfman’s Brother.” It was a fairly typical, but entertaining as usual, rendition. In keeping with the tone set, they avoided diving into the darker undertones and kept a refreshing pace.

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[Thank you to user @THEWATCHFULHOSEMAKER (McGrupp), Ryan Mannix, for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

One aspect of Phish Shows that I feel rise above any other live performing artist, is their ability to construct a Narrative over the course of a show. Many great artists are able to approximate this by crafting a tried and true song list of their strongest material and setting them in stone for entire tours, or even careers.

What Phish does, as you well know, is something else entirely. Every night themes emerge and evolve naturally, and morph and disintegrate again; at their best, they can take you on a musical journey just as satisfying as a good book (which you should read by the way).

A small musical tease in the improvisation can completely alter the course of the evening (think the 11/27/98 “Wipe Out” show).

Or, a lyric can nudge the music in a different direction, like on 9/03/21 during the “Chalkdust Torture” Jam, “Runaway, Runaway, Runaway” lyrics from “A Song I Heard The Ocean Sing” (played earlier in the set) appear, prompting a total left turn into “Runaway Jim.”

Of course, I can’t mention Narrative without the Show from 9/6/15 which features not only an actual story told in “Harpua,” but the coded message of “Thank You” in the setlist, which was a wonderful conclusion to the tale of “Spelling Things at Dick’s” (Note for Editor: we could use a stronger title).

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Oregon State University will host the second Phish Studies conference in Corvallis, Oregon on May 17-19, 2024. The conference will feature research presentations and community events about the improvisational rock band Phish, as well as its fans and culture. Diverse disciplinary approaches will be represented, featuring scholars from across the country. The conference will also showcase a number of special events including: community panels, an exhibition fair, a poster session, a Phishsonian pop-up museum exhibit, a pre-conference workshop for members and allies of Phans for Racial Equity and GrooveSafe, and curated art exhibits.

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[We would like to thank David Schlesinger, user @slesss, for this piece. -Ed.]

In the Fall of 1987, synth pop darlings Depeche Mode, still very much a UK “alternative” band at the time, put out their sixth studio record, Music for the Masses. It was not a noticeable departure from the music that they had been putting out previously, but for some reason it just hit different. As a result, they went from a band almost never heard on commercial radio (unless you lived in LA and were blessed with KROQ, the first mainstream modern rock station) or had a cool older sibling/neighbor/camp counselor that turned you on to the good stuff.

The success of the record led to a world tour during which they sold out the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles. (That’s 60,000 souls, for those counting.) And just like that, alternative was no longer alternative by definition and kids across America were now hearing a more eclectic sampling of music on their favorite radio stations, spawning curiosity and a desire to discover bands beyond those had been fed to them. Radio was priming the youth for hair metal, but even MTV started spreading its wings and launched 120 Minutes, 2 hours on Sundays at midnight during which we could get our first visuals of all of these incredible bands that were now kickstarting the youth of America to make better mixtapes.

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[We would like to thank Jonathan Jelen, user @Devious_Jelen, for this piece. -Ed.]

I’ve cried at a handful of Phish shows through the years. Sometimes it’s been the hollowed out feeling created by the heartfelt lyrics of a song like Miss You that makes me think of my Grandpa. Other times, it’s been a beautiful jam peak that swelled up to the point that a little liquid emotion couldn’t help but spill out.

But at my Phish shows last June at Deer Creek – it was different. At those shows, I cried for Mom.

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Here's a spreadsheet with all the Live Bait tracks by year. As we've been going through our HF Pod "40 for 40" series, we talked about how some years were under-represented on Live Phish archival releases (ahem, 2000). We discussed some Live Bait tracks released each year, but we wanted somewhere that had all the songs by year from all the releases. Hope this is useful!

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Ready Player Playoff Mode Phish For the Win

“[Flying saucer emoji]” - @funkyCfunkydo

“Non-stop thrills” - @n00b100

Before I get going with the task at hand, explain the title(s) of tonight’s recap, and get to the music, I would first like to express a little gratitude, and—if I may—a little camaraderie amidst the fever of playoff season. When I first decided to come out to LA for these shows at the Bowl, it was an impulsive jest while I was deep in relistening to the February 2003 quartet I caught in preparation for the long retrospective we published on the blog just before Mexico. For a minute or two since I’ve wondered if I was a little hasty and indulgent, but as I mentioned yesterday, this was my first trip to see Phish on the West Coast since I started seeing the band in Montreal in '94, and while any doubts about my decision were pretty much lifted early on Friday, tonight’s performance absolutely obliterated them.

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I could get used to this! And by "this" I suppose I could be referring to a lot of things: the majesty of the Hollywood Bowl; the flawless weather; the smooth security and ease of movement in the venue; the consistently kind people and old and new friends it’s been easy to bump into, despite having flown solo for my first West Coast Phish shows in almost 30 years of seeing the band. No complaints on the set and setting so far from me; it’s been a great weekend. So what about the music, did it measure up to the mood? Would we be giving out any new stars on the Phish Walk of Fame tonight? Roll cameras, action:

The stage was certainly set for a Saturday night special. After casting off any suspicions of no repeats from the opening notes on night one, with everything back on the table the band had a full arsenal of hits to dig into tonight, and they certainly put it to use. In fact with “Leaves” the only exception, the first set was comprised of songs all debuted in 1998 or earlier (many of them in the 80s). Four songs in, it almost seemed for a moment like Phish was going to walk out a full cast of their own star personalities from the catalog—not from Gamehendge, mind you—but the likes of the “Ghost,” “David Bowie,” “Esther” and “Harry Hood.” As it turns out, the only other eponymous character to show up would be Sneakin’ Sally (with a notable performance), but there were plenty of other roles to be played.

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[Thank you to user @twelvethousandmotherfker, Willie Orbison, for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

As we follow the lines going south on this little west coast spring swing, we Phish fans find ourselves at one of the most beautiful and historic live music venues in the country, the venerable old Hollywood Bowl, where heads of all shapes and sizes have been gathering for over a hundred years to take in their favorite performers on a shady hillside under the California sky. It’s a privilege (and not just because of the ticket prices) to spend an evening here, and on what was the warmest, sunniest day of the year after a cold and rainy Los Angeles winter (feel free to cry us a river), everything felt extremely right making the long walk up the hill toward the show.

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[We would like to thank CoffinLifeBuoy, author of this piece in The Atlantic, for volunteering to recap Greek3 in a dignified and human manner. -Ed.]

If Phish.net has resorted to having ChatGPT write a review for 4/19/23, I guess I can offer a few thoughts from the human-side of things.

Allow me to begin by saying this three-night run at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California, were my first shows since Big Cypress. Depending on your age (and maybe tax bracket?), that’s either a #humblebrag (RIP Harris Wittels) or a shameful confession. But take that as a blanket caveat on everything that follows — and, yes, that’s a #tarpers pun, although I admit that’s a term I learned just yesterday.

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[The title of this recap is both a reference to this lovely tweet about the scene inside The Greek Theatre seven (7) minutes after doors, thanks to line-cutting by "fans," and the fact that this recap was authored by "ChatGPT." Note also that both the title of this recap and the contents of this intalicized and bracketed intro have been revised since first being published on April 20 at 4:20 pm e.t., if only to gaslight some of the Commenters. You're welcome. -Ed.]

IT seems that the band played a great mix of classic Phish songs and newer material. The first set kicked off with "I Never Needed You Like This Before," a relatively new tune that has quickly become a fan favorite. This was followed by "AC/DC Bag," which always gets the crowd energized, and "Rift," a classic Phish song that showcases the band's tight musicianship.

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Phish’s sixth show at the William Randolph Hearst Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA since the famed August ‘93 tour closer began much in the same way the second through fifth shows did: incredibly long lines dotted by nitrous vendors, fans cutting in line at the gate and once inside, tarping large swaths of seats for folks nowhere to be found, and a general logistical failure in transporting the fans from outside the venue to the inside of the venue. Both nights this year have had such bad flux issues with the switch to digital tickets that can’t be loaded or verified on the overloaded cellular networks, that some staffers have resorted to just waving folks through once the posted showtime (6 pm PT) arrives. This of course has in turn led to the venue being overfull each of the first two nights. Doors opening at 4:30 pm instead of 5 pm yesterday seemed to help a little bit, but it still wasn’t great.

But, as usual, once everyone was in and settled and the pre-show tunes started (which included a nod to the aforementioned 8/28/93 show with a JJ Cale tune), all the annoyance from the run-up dissipated and everyone turned their attention to more important matters. Phish took the stage at 6:34 pm local time to raucous applause from the extra grateful crowd after Monday night’s elite second set, and we were treated with a rarity brought back in recent years, “Olivia’s Pool” (aka Slow “Shafty”). Unlike Monday night’s first set, the sound was dialed in from the jump - or so we thought - and the band sounded crisp and well-oiled. “Seven Below” batted second after taking last season off, and while the jam neither went too deep nor too long, Trey found a honeysweet high pitched tone and led the band through some beautiful melodic patterned play. Mike pushed for minor mode territory with his new bass, and unlike some spots Monday night, Trey heard him and followed, ultimately providing some time dilation action with one of his toys. My mind drifted back to Summer 2003 at the Gorge, where I witnessed possibly the G.O.A.T. “Seven Below” two months after graduating from the school in which I stood, a reminder that Phish has been really good for a long time and that I’ve been lucky to follow along for nearly 25 years.

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