LEG2 KICKOFF: GORGE1 RECAP
The Gorge. A simply stunning landscape coupled with rich Phish history spanning back to 1997, you know it is going to be good. Apparently required disclaimer: I didn’t attend this gig and am writing this recap literally “on the couch” from Cape Cod based on the recording. If this approach offends your sensibilities or invalidates the opinions offered, you are welcome and encouraged to not read it. Thanks! Let’s get to the action.
A crisp, upbeat and metaphor-rich opening sequence of “Kill Devil Falls” and “The Wedge” starts things out with appropriate nods to the spectacular surroundings before yielding to the first jam vehicle of the night, "Bathtub Gin.” Facing a strong headwind of history at this venue (8/3/97 and 8/7/09 are must-hears) “Gin” immediately dispels any notion that rust may have accumulated during the month break after SBIX. Breezily riding the main theme with Trey sailing over the groove, the foundation doesn’t stray but the steady, attacking build and culmination equals total satisfaction. In the words of @ericwyman: “pure power gin last night, rage face on hardcore.” Indeed.
CHASING THE DRAGON... OR AN UGLY PIG
IT never ceases to amaze you. The first taste fills you with a joy so supreme, you want the experience to last forever. The moment of discovery is pure and beautiful. As it happens, there is nothing more important, nothing more meaningful. Your heart races. You forget to breathe. Your soul is blissfully overwhelmed. You cannot get enough of it. You had never met before, but you had known it all your life. It has found you, and you, it.
PARTY TIME BENEFIT FOR MOCKINGBIRD ON DENVER RUN
For over ten years, phans have volunteered a lot of creative fundraising efforts to support the Mockingbird Foundation's mission to bring music education to underserved kids, including tribute band shows, poker tournaments, poster exhibitions and CD release parties.
For Phish's Denver-area run at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in suburban Commerce City, CO over Labor Day weekend, tour operator Greg Yance of Bobby D-Tour is donating the entire proceeds of the on-board bars on his upscale Denver shuttle buses to the Mockingbird Foundation. The rolling bars will feature beer, wine, sodas and snacks "at lot prices".
GORGE TRAFFIC ALERT
Seattle's annual Seafair festival concludes this weekend and includes performances by the Blue Angels. The Federal Aviation Administration requires the closure of Interstate 90 while the Blue Angels perform for the safety of both drivers and pilots. If you are travelling from Seattle to the Gorge for Phish this weekend, be aware of these bridge closures as it may add time to your drive. Note there are closures Sunday as well so if you are driving back to Seattle after the shows you may be affected as well.
Interstate 90 will be closed to all vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, eastbound and westbound, mainline and express lanes, between Interstate 5 in Seattle to Island Crest Way on Mercer Island:
- Thursday, Aug. 4: 9:45 a.m. - noon & 1:15 - 2:30 p.m., (Practice)
- Friday, Aug. 5: 12:45 p.m. - 2:40 p.m., (Practice)
- Saturday, Aug. 6: 12:45 p.m. - 2:40 p.m., (Full show)
- Sunday, Aug. 7: 12:45 p.m. - 2:40 p.m., (Full show)
AMY'S FARM: TWENTY YEARS LATER
Twenty years ago today, in the cozy confines of Larrabee Farm in Auburn, Maine, Phish wrapped up their touring for the Summer of 1991. The entire run, barring Amy’s Farm, consisted of the well received Horn Tour. Commencing with the home-town show at Battery Park in Burlington, VT on July 11th and winding down the East Coast and culminating at the potent one set blowout at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, GA, the Horn Tour was 15 shows that became etched into the collective memory of the fan-base. However, as fun as the Horn Tour was, and as good as the shows were, the definitive show that paints the picture of where Phish was at that time, and portended signs of things to come, was Saturday, August 3rd at Amy’s Farm.
Front page Maine Sun Journal, August 4, 1991
Phish was slowly graduating from smoky clubs, college bars, and fraternity houses to slightly larger venues in 1991. While clubs like the Front in Burlington, the Campus Club in Providence, and Cat’s Cradle in Chapel Hill were still on the docket, so too were venues like the State Theatre in Ithaca (not the Haunt!), the Boulder Theater in Colorado (not JJ McCabes!) and the Capitol Theater in Port Chester (not Club Bene!) The excitement was palpable and though most shows were not sold-out, it was abundantly clear something special was happening. The momentum was building and there was a buzz about the band that was literally deafening. It was tough to talk about music on the nascent Internet, at other shows, around campuses and all along the East Coast without someone bringing up Phish. An exciting time it was to still be able to arrive at a club 30 minutes before show time, pay $10 and get your hand stamped, and know that you were seeing history in the making. At the final show of the Horn Tour, Trey made official what had been rumored since the Spring and all summer long: there would be an end of summer party at Amy’s Farm, and we were all invited.
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 61
Last Mystery Jam before the second leg of Summer Tour! Get it while it's hot!! As usual, we will be playing for an MP3 download courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. The rules haven't changed: you need to correctly identify the song and the date to win. Post your guess in the comments. One guess per person per day (with the second “day” starting after I post the hint). The hint will come on Tuesday and the answer will be posted on Wednesday. Good luck...
Tuesday Hint: Apologies for the lack of a hint. The Blog is on vacation this week. I guess my name is mud around here...
Wednesday Answer: Congrats to Pauly7917 for guessing the 6/14/95 Mud Island "Tweezer." The MJ will be back on Monday...
MP3 Downloads Courtesy of LivePhish.com
PHISH BROKE MOLDS
Then-Manager John Paluska, 7/30/95 New York TimesIt took a lot of convincing, but Elektra finally came around to the idea that Phish is not a hit-single-and-MTV kind of band. We could stop putting out records and continue to grow.
REVISITING "JAMMING TYPES"
Mike Gordon’s “hotline” voicemail (212-330-9092) currently jokes about various jamming types. It begins, however, with “type 3,” and explains a variety of jamming types up through “type 17,” which no band member will discuss “in public or even in private,” and “type 18,” which of course does not exist.
Since Mike does not discuss them, you may be curious about “type 1” and “type 2.” These jamming types were first discussed on Rec.Music.Phish by a fan named John Flynn in January 1997. You can read a great deal of information about them here in the FAQ file. These terms have been in use by many Phish fans for over 14 years, even though perhaps you couldn’t care less about them. What do they mean, again?
CHART: DEAD V PHISH, ANNUAL SHOWS (REVISED!)
Annual counts of Grateful Dead and Phish shows form a similar shape in some regards: early rapid rises, a sharp cut after 8 years or so, and relative continuity for the later 15 or so years. The Dead's curve does have twice as many sudden drops, indicating years with shorter or fewer tours. But their "hiatus" didn't even last an entire year (1975, which also included several shows), while Phish have had more years with no shows, and latter years with half what surviving Dead members peformed. Moreover, excluding their festivals, Phish tours typically hit arenas and sheds, avoiding the stadiums that became a key element of Dead tour.
(Note: An earlier post included incomplete Dead data.)
SBIX ESSAY - @757PHAN
Posted by @757phan in the SBIX Essay Contest. This esay received the most "thumbs up" from phish.net users. This entry concludes the SBIX essay series for the phish.net blog.
A Journey of the Mind, Body, and Soul with Camp.net at SBIX
I want to start off by saying thank you to Phish, Phish.net, Team Camp.net, and to everyone in my life who helped me make this journey, especially my soon to be wife Amy. Amy is a phan and could not go, but encouraged me to go no matter what and made me promise to dance extra hard for her. I love that girl.
Here is a randomly written account of my experience last weekend. This is also a free write exercise in that it has only been edited for spelling and to include photos and some .net handles. Everything else was simply thoughts spilling out onto my computer as they raced through my head. I have included some photos and a few videos, but I really didn’t take many of either. I was too busy trying to live while I’m young. It is way too long, so I tried to chunk it up. If you want to read just one section great, the whole thing cool, or read nothing and look and the pictures it’s all good. Do you.
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 60
Welcome to the 60th installment of the Mystery Jam. As usual, we will be playing for an MP3 download courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. The rules haven't changed: you need to correctly identify the song and the date to win. Post your guess in the comments. One guess per person per day (with the second “day” starting after I post the hint). The hint will come on Tuesday and the answer will be posted on Wednesday. Good luck...
Tuesday Hint: Well, then. Looks like the Blog struck a nerve this week. That said, I should note that this is emphatically not the same clip as MJ15.
Wednesday Answer: It will come as no surprise that it is the 7/3/97 "Ghost." Congrats to frantic0blivion for being the first to ID it. And remember, when it comes to the Mystery Jam, the only rule is that there are no rules. Well, other than the rules up there. But no other rules. See you next Monday with (most likely) a brand new Mystery Jam...
MP3 Downloads Courtesy of LivePhish.com
SBIX ESSAY - @HARRYHOOD213
Posted by @HARRYHOOD213 in the SBIX Essay Contest.
My Super Ball Poem
What can I say?, I was not even there,
But I had a good reason and that I will share.
Its nothing to exciting or overly cool,
It simply responsibilities of a working, family phool.
SBIX ESSAY - @JOHNMANBAND
Posted by @JohnManBand in the SBIX Essay Contest.
Theater of the Mind
When I was younger I used to sit out on the back porch on summer nights with my father listening to an old transistor radio. At night we could pick up stations from far away – somewhere in upstate New York, sometimes even Canada. It had to do with the ozone-skip, my dad explained, the way the AM stations bounced their signals off the ground. Though he’d grown up with television, my dad was nostalgic about the golden age of radio and spoke of the “Theater of the Mind” in which the listener imagined his own movie based on what he’d heard. I guess he passed on some of that aural appreciation to me. I like to listen.
This past 4th of July weekend I sat out behind my own house, listening – enjoying what may soon replace the American summer vacation: couch tour. The sounds of The Bunny on Live Phish’s stream seemed to be broadcasting from a mysterious and distant land, a land called “The Super Ball.” The Bunny obliterated my interest in local radio. I kept it on all weekend. As long as the internet connection held out I’d be okay, and it was more reliable than AM.
SBIX ESSAY - @FORBINS0218
Posted by @forbins0218 in the SBIX Essay Contest.
ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?
What is it?
An experience is born as a result of environmental intake and manipulation. It is the sum total of your surroundings combined with your attitude. To me Superball was just that: new friends, old friends, imaginative escapades, remembrance, embracement, anxiety and fulfillment. I could ramble on about every experience I had, but a few stood out to me that truly captured the event and all its participants. The following are 5 experiences that I will always remember.
Phish.net
The Mockingbird Foundation