Night one of Dick’s. Home to some of the most storied shows of Phish 3.0, with all sorts of setlist shenanigans. The “S” show. “Fuck Your Face.” “Most Shows Spell Something.” The “Lushington” fakeout. What would tonight bring?

A short but sweet “Tube” opened the show, but the fun thing about first night Dick’s is that even when songs stay within the song’s usual confines, the mind starts racing in crossword puzzle mode: “What could they be spelling?” During Page’s initial clavinet solo, Trey and Mike turned to each other and stood close (as they have several times this summer, notably during the Magnaball “Twist"), holding down the rhythm. “Ghost” followed, sending fans scrambling for their Scrabble dictionaries and coming up empty, “tg” not being found at the beginning nor “gt” at the end of many words. Trey's solo during “Ghost" was delicate and patient, and – simply because it wouldn’t be a summer 2015 recap without this statement – seemingly influenced by his time preparing for and playing at the Fare Thee Well shows.

Photo by Patrick Jordan © Phish From the Road

A deep dark slowdown finish to “Ghost” lead into the upbeat opening of “Halley’s Comet.” An allegro tempo and some fun duel-style interplay between Trey and Page started the “Halley’s" jam, which seemed to be going somewhere fast, but screeched to a halt when Trey played the opening riff to “Undermind.” A fun “Undermind,” but – unless they were spelling in Dothraki – it seemed unlikely that either “TGHU” or “UHGT” were at the beginning or end of any words. “Yarmouth Road” followed, and with a fun but relatively straightforward first set underway, “Bathtub Gin” brought hopes of a tentpole jam. One thing that has stood out about 2015 has been the ability of the band to instantly drop into a raging up-tempo jam, with very little noodling to find their way there. This “Gin” is a perfect example of this phenomenon – a very short build to a great raging peak.

After a short onstage discussion, the band decided on “Waiting All Night.” “Waiting” is a departure for Phish – one of several on Fuego that works better in the studio than live. “Horn” set up "The Wedge,” which was stretched out a bit, with a fairly exciting jam tacked on. “46 Days” had the feel of a set closer as soon as it started, got to a point where I thought they were raving up to end the set, and then took an amazing Trey-led turn into type-II territory. Bathed in intense black lights by Kuroda, Page drove the jam with some fantastic work on the organ as the band veered into a spacey place halfway between a "Harry Hood" jam and Pink Floyd’s “Dogs,” before segueing into “Run Like an Antelope.” Page stayed on the Hammond through the opening section of “Antelope,” which gave it an unusual Jimmy Smith feel. This “Antelope” jam was slow to build, with Page back on piano trading licks with Trey, but reached a typically wild set-closing peak with lights from Kuroda to match. During the final “Antelope” rave-up, Trey happily announced “We love Dick’s! We’re happy to be back!"

Photo © @stim_buck

On the webcast, a slideshow of summer tour photos was shown during setbreak, accompanied by music from Neu!’s self-titled debut album. Reflecting on the first set, it was (as they say) first setty, but there were highlights in the brief “Halley’s" jam, the "Bathtub Gin" and the "46 Days" -> “Antelope.” With the first letters from the first set songs spelling TGHUYBWHWFR, it seemed as if the word play from Dick’s in years past was left behind.

“Wolfman’s Brother” came down on me to open the second set. While most 3.0 “Wolfman’s” have been good-to-great – often as a centerpiece jam of a first set – the truly extended jamming the song would sometimes see in 1.0 and 2.0 has been absent. I had high hopes that the prime jamming slot placement of this “Wolfman’s” would lead to such an excursion. This jam didn’t disappoint, even if it stayed within the ten-to-twelve minute confines of most 3.0 versions – Mike held down an incredibly strong bass line throughout that Trey used as a launching pad for some inspired improvisation. A very chill end to the jam with some great keyboard work by Page faded into the bouncy opening of “Blaze On.”

I was pretty down on “Blaze On” following its debut, mostly due to the stoner-pandering lyrics. But the great jams at Shoreline and especially Magnaball, along with the truly infectious happiness with which Trey sings the song has made me a believer. The Dick's “Blaze On” can proudly stand with those versions and cements its place as a great jam vehicle. A spacey Floyd-esque part of the jam instead ended up being a Trey-led transition into "Golden Age.” The composed section, however, was a bit tarnished, with some pretty harsh flubs. It’s fair to say that even in the beginning of the jam, Trey still did not seem to be feeling it. However, this allowed Page to take the lead, which he did with aplomb, leaning heavily on his electric piano. Trey was seemingly content to remain in a rhythm role for the middle portion of the jam, with mike using his meatball pedal to great acclaim from the crowd. Trey eventually regained his footing, and with some great drum fills and changes from Fishman, jumped back into the lead role, playing some anthemic riffs with some judicious use of his whammy pedal. A fantastic version.

Photo by Patrick Jordan © Phish From the Road

Having redeemed “Golden Age” from a rough composed section, the band started another fan favorite cover, “Roses Are Free.” Unfortunately, it also featured a problematic composed section, with no jam to speak of, just a dissonant rave-up that gave way to “Fuego.” Being a song they wrote, they found solid footing in the composed section, which allowed a climb into one of the more interesting “Fuego” jams, with some dark riffing by Trey that built to a climax. This lead to a tender refractory period, featuring Fishman doing some delicate work on the drums, Trey using delay pedals and a Page-led sideways slide into well-executed “Wading in the Velvet Sea.” Continuing the theme of songs starting with a Page piano riff, “Walls of the Cave” was up next, reprising the same set closing sequence from the second day of Magnaball. “Walls” was a rocking set closer, and I’m happy to see this tune enter heavier rotation as opposed to a typical "Character Zero” to end the set.

The smart money was on a standard “Loving Cup” or “Julius” encore, but instead the band returned to play “Hold Your Head Up” while Fishman and Trey – wearing a "LET FISH SUCK" T-shirt – switched places on stage. Fish, following a bit of banter about Syd Barrett, started to sing an inspired version of “Bike.” This was an outstanding version with a truly great and melodic vacuum solo. Another refrain of “HYHU” allowed Fishman to swing his vacuum hose, jump on the piano, bow excitedly, sprint around the stage and generally act like a madman. Trey and Fishman then made their way back to their own instruments, and proving that the smart money is always right, played a rollicking version of “Loving Cup” to close the show.

The absence of setlist wordplay antics may have led to a more standard song selection than previous Friday night Dick’s shows, but there was a lot to like here. Highlights of the second set were the “Wolfman’s” through “Golden Age” sequence, and “Bike," with an honorable mention to what was a very good “Fuego.” The jams were great examples of 2015 Phish, where the band can seemingly find a happy place quickly, with minimal navigation required. While not quite reaching the peaks of Magnaball, the band shrugged off the 11-night layoff. It’s getting to the point where Phish at Dick’s is one of the surest things in rock and roll music, and this portends great things for Saturday and Sunday night.

Photo © Mike Gordon

Phish Summer 2015 – Setlists & Recaps
07/21/15 Setlist – Recap – Bend 1
07/22/15 Setlist – Recap – Bend 2
07/24/15 Setlist – Recap, Recap2 – Shoreline
07/25/15 Setlist – Recap – LA Forum
07/28/15 Setlist – Recap – Austin
07/29/15 Setlist – Recap – Grand Prarie
07/31/15 Setlist – Recap – Atlanta 1
08/01/15 Setlist – Recap – Atlanta 2
08/02/15 Setlist – Recap – Tuscaloosa
08/04/15 Setlist – Recap – Nashville
08/05/15 Setlist – Recap – Kansas City
08/07/15 Setlist – Recap – Blossom
08/08/15 Setlist – Recap – Alpine 1
08/09/15 Setlist – Recap – Apline 2
08/11/15 Setlist – Recap – Mann 1
08/12/15 Setlist – Recap – Mann 2
08/14/15 Setlist – Recap – Raleigh
08/15/15 Setlist – Recap – Merriweather 1
08/16/15 Setlist – Recap – Merriweather 2
08/21/15 Setlist – Recap – Magnaball 1
08/22/15 Setlist – Recap – Magnaball 2
08/23/15 Setlist – Recap – Magnaball 3
09/04/15 Setlist – Recap – Dick's 1
09/05/15 Setlist – Recap – Dick's 2
09/06/15 Setlist – Recap – Dick's 3

Commerce City, CO posters by Rich Kelly. 12x24, Edition of 850 each night.

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Phish has announced a three concert run in Mexico's Riviera Maya at the The Barceló Maya resort on January 15-17, 2016. This unique series of three shows on the beach will be sold as part of an all-inclusive resort vacation, with food, drinks, concert tickets and lodging included in the price. Airfare is not included, but transportation to and from the resorts is. A choice of four resorts is available; no concert tickets will be sold outside of the all-inclusive resort packages. There are three and four night packages available, with a variety of rates (ranging from $1349 pp -$3149 pp) depending on occupancy, room size, length of stay and resort. Reduced rates for children are available.

Tickets go on sale September 10th at 11AM EDT and can be purchased only via the web here: http://cidphishrivieramaya.shop.ticketstoday.com.

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Today's guest blogger is Professor Paul Jakus, of the Department of Applied Economics at Utah State University. We are honored to share his writing and research, and welcome other academics to contribute scholarly analysis of the band's history, as well.

Before the 2015 tour kicked off, @Lemuria analyzed where Phish has played over the years using Census divisions. He argued that not only does the west coast not get screwed; it gets more than its fair share of shows, while New England — the band’s home turf — is the region that gets shafted.

But analysis by Census divisions didn’t seem right to me. Census Divisions in the east are much smaller than those in the west, potentially distorting the analysis. Instead, why not calculate the geography of Phish shows the same way the Census Bureau determines the geographic center of the population?

What is a geographic population center? Think of a map of the U.S. as a table to be balanced on a single leg. Each person is a weight placed on the table where they live: In 1790, more Americans lived on or near the Atlantic coast; so, the leg on which the table is to be balanced must be placed very far to the east. (In 1790, this was in Kent County, MD.) To maintain the balance as Americans migrated west, the leg was moved further and further to the west. This Census Bureau map shows the westward movement of Americans with every Census since 1790:

We can do the same thing with Phish shows, using the latitude, longitude, and the number of shows played in any town. Restricting the analysis to North America, Phish has played at 322 known locations since 1987. I calculated the mean geographic center of Phish shows, by year, using the Census Bureau formulae with the number of shows (instead of population) as the weight. Holiday runs breaking over more than one calendar year were assigned to a single year.

In 1987, the geographic center was located just south of Burlington, VT. The well-known Telluride shows of 1988 pulled the geographic center further west (to near Canandaigua, NY), but then it reverted back to Stratton, VT, in 1989, as Phish spent that year closer to home. The band’s growth as a touring act can be seen when the geographic center rocketed over 600 miles to the west in 1990 (to near Utica, OH). The geographic center has since stayed firmly rooted in the heartland of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois for most years. Prior to 2014, 1996 was the only year that the center moved west of the Mississippi River. But Lemuria’s central argument is correct: In 2014 and 2015, Phish played, on average, further west than it ever had.

What about that green dot near the 2014 and 2015 geographic centers? That turns out to be the 2010 geographic center of the U.S. population (Texas County, MO). Like it or not, Phish’s recent touring years have been almost perfectly balanced with the U.S. population. They’re an American band.

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Just How Good Was the Music at Magnaball?

Before we begin, I want to say upfront that I did not attend Magnaball. Due to other vacations and obligations this summer, I was forced to choose between Magnaball and Dick’s. I chose Dick’s because of the low risk of impacting rain, zero risk of crippling heat and humidity, preference for Colorado over upstate New York, and Dick’s stellar batting average. Along with Star Lake, Dick’s likely has the highest percentage of great shows out of any current venue. As we know now, I may have made a poor choice: Magnaball was blessed with perfect weather, and the band played three shows for the ages.

But were these three shows simply great for an era when the band members are in their fifties? Or, did Magnaball stack up to the great festivals of the 90s? Now, you may be saying to yourself, “How can someone who didn’t attend Magnaball properly rate it?” My response is that is precisely why I’m well-suited to write this. I’m basing this list on the replay value of the music alone – announced sets only – so no Storage Jam, Tower Jam, etc. It has nothing to do with the vibe, weather, traffic, your pimp RV, coming of age moments, or any other factors that can't be captured on the recording. It’s all about how well the music holds up after the festival is long over. Now that we’ve laid the ground rules, let’s run the numbers.

Tiers represent hard borders in the rankings. Shows can be shuffled within a tier with minimal argument. However, moving between tiers requires a much stronger case.

Tier 1
1) Big Cypress
The Meat: I’m not sure what even needs to be said here. 12/31/99 is greatest Phish show ever. You either know this to be true, or you’re tired of hearing it. But how else can it be described? The first set contains a top-two version of “Split,” and that’s just the appetizer. The second set spits out an almost unimaginable collection of Phish’s greatest improvisations ever: 23-minute “Disease,” 31-minute “Rock and Roll,” 21-minute “Crosseyed,” 36-minute “Sand”-> “Quadraphonic Toppling,” 25-minute “Drowned” -> “After Midnight,” 35-minute “Roses Are Free,” and so much more. Any one of those pieces is enough to make a good show great. Now imagine getting all of them, plus several more hours of brilliant music, in one single set.

The Achilles Heel: I guess you can argue that 12/30 was merely spectacular and not the second greatest show that Phish ever played.

X Factors: The 12/31/99 second set went from midnight to sunrise. Enough said.

12/31/99, Big Cypress, FL – Set II, complete.

Tier 2
2) IT
The Meat: This festival is loaded with replay-worthy riches. Start with the “Ya Mar” and “Birds of a Feather” from the opening set. Move on to the “Disease” and “Waves” in set two. Next, play the perfectly flowing fireball set three. When you’re ready, move on to the greatest “Chalk Dust” ever played and the mesmerizing 30-minute “Ghost” from day two. Then, go back and listen to the whole two days from start to finish to discover so much more.

The Achilles Heel: Perhaps the only flaw of this festival is the final set leaned too heavily on a 39-minute “46 Days.” Take a moment to process that.

X Factors: Mike and Fish were absolute beasts for these shows. Nearly every jam had extra gas coming from the rhythm section. It’s perhaps the pair’s finest festival showing.

8/3/03, Limestone, ME – "Chalk Dust Torture"

3) Magnaball
The Meat: These three days are stocked with improv-heavy play from the opening “Simple” to the closing “You Enjoy Myself.” Start with the best “Bathtub Gin” in twelve years. Then, take in the glorious “Tweezerpants,” brilliant “Blaze On,” and smoking “Light.” All four jams are among the best of the year, with the “Gin” and “Tweezerpants” ranking among Phish’s finest improvisations in the 3.0 era. In between those tent-pole moments, there’s plenty more to keep your ears happy for days.

The Achilles Heel: If we are being fair, Saturday’s day set and Sunday’s first set are somewhat of a letdown given the level of play around them. The third night, although still great, was a significant drop in quality from the first two.

X Factors: Before anyone complains that I have Magnaball underrated at third, think about this: a 20-year, 200+ show jaded vet just rated a festival in 2015 higher than The Great Went, Lemonwheel, and Clifford Ball. If it wasn't for somewhat weak first sets on days two and three, Magna would have overtaken IT as the best Phish festival that wasn’t Big Cypress. And if we include the "secret" drive-in set, Saturday goes down as one of the greatest single shows in Phish history. That’s an incredible feat for a band in their thirty-third year of existence.

8/21/15, Watkins Glen, NY – "Bathtub Gin". Video by LazyLightning55a.

4) Coventry
The Meat: If you are not familiar with the music of this festival, you should be. The “AC/DC Bag,” “Drowned,” and “Split Open and Melt” are among the best – if not the best – versions of each song. Then, listen to the “Jibboo,” “Stash,” “Walls of the Cave,” “Twist,” “Down with Disease,” “Chalk Dust,” “Seven Below,” and the “Dickie Scotland” “Piper.” It’s a wealth of thrilling improvisation unlike any Phish festival, other than Big Cypress.

The Achilles Heel: For as great as many of the jams are, much of the music played at Coventry is painful to hear. Just try listening to the “Glide,” the composed section of “Stash,” the “Harry Hood,” or even first half of the “Drowned” – which again is among the best versions ever – you’ll understand the dichotomy when you hear it. This ranking is just about the replay value of the music on the recordings, but it’s near impossible to separate the music from the emotional horror that so many experienced that weekend. The 36-hour traffic jams, being told to turn around and go home, the toxic mud, the fear that Trey’s health was so bad he might not even make it to the end of the shows. And most of all, that this festival would be “the last Phish concerts ever.”

X Factors: To many in the Phish community, giving any praise to Coventry is equivalent to sympathizing with Nazi Germany. It’s understandable. Talk to anyone who was there. We all have horror stories. We all had moments when we broke into tears. But for our purpose here, we are discussing the music. And the compelling music of Coventry is powered with an intense level of emotion that is not part of any other Phish experience. Being able to latch onto what was going on inside the band member’s heads through the sounds coming out of their instruments may still be painful, but it’s also special and in a strange way, magical. We all seek to feel a connection when we listen to Phish, and this is that connection in its darkest and rawest form. If Coventry had been the last Phish shows ever, I might not be able to write what I’m writing now. But knowing the band is now healthy and happy, these two shows offer some of the most intriguing and powerful two days of music for any fan to revist.

8/15/04, Coventry, VT – "Split Open and Melt"

Tier 3
5) The Great Went
The Meat: The Great Went is chock full of magical nuggets of jammy goodness. Your starting point should be the brilliant second set on day two – a set that many fans consider one of the band’s greatest sets ever with its deep “Down with Disease,” soaring “Gin,” funktastic “2001,” and blissful “Harry Hood.” Backing up that pinnacle set are top notch versions of “Theme From the Bottom,” “You Enjoy Myself,” “Wolfman’s” -> “Simple” and “Halley’s Comet” -> “Cities.” To many who love the band’s 1997 sound, this is Phish at its finest.

The Achilles Heel: If we are really being honest with ourselves, the first set on day two is below average for the era, and the closing festival set is nearly devoid of jamming in a year known for legendary jams.

X Factors: A “Makisupa” into “Harpua” (that concluded the “Harpua” from The Clifford Ball) is classic Phish and couldn’t have opened the festival better. And have I mentioned the second set on day two?

8/17/97, Limestone, ME – "Bathtub Gin"

Tier 4
6) Oswego
The Meat: This mini festival is much maligned, but the truth is there's more interesting play in 7/18/99 than in the entire Clifford Ball and Lemonwheel combined. Don’t believe me? Check out the 22-minute “Gin,” 35-minute “Runaway Jim” -> “Free,” and 25-minute “Piper.” Then, head over to night one for a 20-minute “Tweezer,” 23-minute “Down with Disease,” and a brilliant “Wolfman’s Brother” -> “Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley” > “Timber Ho” sequence.

The Achilles Heel: Oswego had only five sets, and the play was somewhat inconsistent. Some odd setlist choices definitely hurt the flow compared to festivals with better crafted sets.

X Factors: The third set contains the first “Icculus” in four years, sending off those who had been chasing the rarity quite happy.

7) Clifford Ball
The Meat: This is a magical event filled with tight, confident play. Highlight jams include a monster “Mike’s Song” and a brilliant “Down with Disease” that still holds up today as one of the band’s finest versions.

The Achilles Heel: Unfortunately, the improv highlights end with the “Mike’s” and “Disease.” Yes, there are plenty of tight versions of other songs. But by 1996, Phish had proven they had the ability to do so much more. Compared to the jamming displays of 1994 and 1995, the play from these two nights in Plattsburg was in many ways a step backwards.

X Factors: The Clifford Ball was a spectacular milestone for Phish with some fantastic highlights. If we are allowing other festival factors to be included, this moves up several places. But sadly, outside of a few tracks, the recordings from these shows probably don't do much more than collect dust unless you want to relive your personal memories of being there.

8/16/96, Plattsburgh, NY – "Down with Disease"

8) Lemonwheel
The Meat: Although it doesn’t contain the peaks of The Great Went one year earlier or Oswego one year later, there is still plenty to enjoy, especially the sublime “Wedge” > “Reba” > “Gumbo” -> “Sanity” > “Tweezer” segment from the second set of day one.

The Achilles Heel: There is nothing bad in six sets. The problem is there's not much that stands out either, especially for the era. This may be Phish’s most consistent and solid festival. Unfortunately, it comes at the expense of being a little boring to go back and listen to unless you’re reliving the memories of a great time in Limestone, ME. This festival is a classic example of how shows that make for great times in the moment might not make for great recordings years later.

X Factors: If the ambient fourth set on day one counted for this exercise, Lemonwheel would move up a few spots in the rankings.

Tier 5
9) Festival 8
The Meat: The band covered Exile on Main St with a full horn section and backup singers for Halloween. They played a very rare acoustic set with some gorgeous versions of Phish classics. They encored with “Suzy Greenberg” with horns.

The Achilles Heel: See those three sentences above. That’s the end of the highlight reel.

X Factors: If this festival was graded on concert grounds and amenities, it would be number one on the list. I still give it a slight edge over Super Ball IX based on the Exile set and rare acoustic set, both of which I find more fun to listen to than just about anything from Super Ball. However, if you dislike the Rolling Stones, feel free to place Festival 8 last. Also, please seek help to understand why you don’t like the Rolling Stones.

10/31/09, Indio, CA – "Loving Cup"

10) Super Ball IX
The Meat: This festival is filled with tight play, fun setlists, and lots of “micro moments.” If you are seeking out jams, there’s some fun play in the “Golden Age,” “Crosseyed and Painless,” and “Down with Disease” to start. But nothing ever leaves the comfort zone. You’re better off focusing your attention on blistering covers (“Monkey Man,” “No Quarter,” “Roses Are Free,” “Soul Shakedown Party”) or rare Phish originals (“Scents and Subtle Sounds,” “Colonel Forbin’s Ascent” > “Fly Famous Mockingbird”).

The Achilles Heel: In seven sets of music, there isn’t a single deep jam to write home about. Everything is a little too "safe."

X Factors: Super Ball proponents should not take this last place ranking as an insult to what was by all accounts a truly spectacular event. As mentioned previously, you can easily bump this festival up a spot if Exile on Main St isn’t your thing. Even a last place Phish festival is still a better time than 99.9% of the other things you could have been doing that weekend. Phish is a great band that has put on ten legendary festivals. One of them had to finish at number ten.

7/2/11, Watkins Glen, NY – "Storage Jam"

If you have your own Phish Festival Power Rankings, we’d love to hear them in the comments below.

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How good of Phish to throw another ball!

The first one, of the Clifford variety, was at the time the biggest marker in the band’s development as a cultural juggernaut. Now comes the tenth, at a time when the band seems to be looking back and looking forward. More than six years into the post-Coventry comeback, barging toward the finale of a tour that’s one of the best of this era (it jousts with fall 2013 for the distinction of best tour in 3.0), it was time for a family gathering of the sort that Phish hadn’t hosted since Superball IX in 2011.

Photo © Aaron Stein

Americans have been using the word “ball” to mean a festive occasion since the 1920s or 30s. Its more specialized connotation, to describe a night of formal dances, was adopted into English in the 17th century from the Old French verb “baller,” which means to dance. Before that, you can trace “ball” through Latin and down to its origin in Greek, in which “ballizein” is taken to mean “to dance” but literally translates as “to throw one’s body,” and to do so in a scandalous way that might be understood only to scholars of biblical history. You see, the Council of Laodicea first used the word in the 360s C.E., while establishing in canon law that Christians should not attend weddings where ballizein – some sort of tossing of the hands in a wanton and lascivious manner – is happening.

Whether Magnaball was seen by its attendees as an invitation to dance all night, perform a wanton throwing of the hands or just to have a plain old good time, I suspect the good people of the Council of Laodicea would have objected gravely to the high ballizein levels at Watkins Glen.

Photo by Patrick Jordan © Phish From the Road

For a span of time in Phish history, festivals were an automatic part of the annual show calendar. They’ve been much harder to come by since the band returned in 2009, with Festival 8 (in Indio, California) and Super Ball IX (also at Watkins Glen) the only prior examples, and it felt like everybody onsite this weekend – band and fan alike – wanted to make the most of it.

This was my seventh Phish festival but my first since Coventry, and I was eager to see what the smaller, allegedly more-manageable festival experience in 3.0 was all about. (Thanks for the ticket, @phishsticks34!) I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t choose to deal with the eight-to-twelve-hour traffic jams again today, but there was something to be said for the slowly building excitement of driving forever into Maine, past residents of tiny towns who’d set up lawn chairs by the side of the road to watch a strange parade.

Photo © Jake Silco

There was a real feeling of leaving one’s everyday life to enter a different sort of space, a strange but familiar country to which the only passport is a ticket stub. The destination was not merely a rock festival, but a wholly fabricated alternate reality. And though the Watkins Glen experience did miss some of the inspired whimsy of the homegrown festivals produced by Great Northeast Productions, the lesson was still clear: that precious alternate reality is one that we bring along with us, no matter where the event happens to be. And the mere hour or so of stop-and-go traffic I experienced upon arrival around 2 p.m. on Friday was definitely an immeasurably valuable improvement!

Looking just at the music, Magnaball was already in very heady company after its first two nights. Judged strictly on the music alone – not considering the totality of the event, including its place in Phish history and experiential factors – it seemed strong enough to compete with IT for the title of best Phish festival other than Big Cypress. The first night’s “Bathtub Gin” and the second night’s “Prince Caspian” (of all things) were on the lips of people having conversations about things like the best-ever jams of the 3.0 era. And moreover, the “we’re all in this together” vibe felt very strong, with Trey calling back to Clifford Ball (the first Phish festival) early on, and the band very clearly seeming to want to live up to the occasion.

Photo by Rene Huemer © Phish From the Road

Sunday’s first set was pretty typical for the era, and pretty much a place-setter for the real action, arriving later. “Punch You In The Eye” may be the best-ever festival opener, so it’s fortunate that Phish wrote it. Aside from “Buffalo Bill” – which brought back memories of the Great Went version – the set contained typical fare, highlighted by a nice combo of “Stash” followed by “Reba,” before an emotional “I Didn’t Know.”

For that one, Trey nodded to the band’s support staff, reading a long list of names and thank-yous. This was only the third Phish festival since 2004, so the truth is we don’t know when we’ll get to do this again. The band itself seems in a very grateful mood, and is not taking anything for granted. Of course, the emotional part of this speech was humorously undercut by the vacuum stylings of Henrietta.

"Waiting All Night" – Photo © Derek Gregory

With the amount of improvisation and goodwill that had gone into the weekend already, there was reason to hope Phish would go for the ring in the closing set of the festival. “Martian Monster” boded very well, appearing as a second-set opener for the first time in its short history. It proved a luxurious, funky runway into “Down with Disease,” which would have been the more familiar opener call.

The “Disease” is quite good, going for a bright, emotional peak. When that jam fell away, the band did what it did many times at Magnaball – it took a moment to breathe and let the next musical idea emerge. As a new jam started to take form and started to sound very hot, Trey found his way into the opening of “Scents and Subtle Sounds” and engineered another in a series of good segues from this summer. This “Scents” is not to be overlooked. Like in the song’s previous appearance at the Mann, it still didn’t feature the typical “Harry Hood”-like closing jam, instead moving straight to five minutes of pure Type-II improv. This made its way into another move familiar from earlier this tour, a drop into “What’s The Use?”

Photo by Rene Huemer © Phish From the Road

After “Dirt,” the clarion call of “Mike’s Song” rang out. The jam is notable as Page forewent his customary organ vamp to explore atypical textures, underlined by Trey’s funky rhythm parts. The composed ending gave way not to the briefly resurrected “second jam,” alas, but to a “Fuego” that colored within the lines.

“Twist” was relatively short but featured a very interesting ending including a Trey/Mike duet (recalling a portion of the Coventry “Harry Hood,” under extremely different circumstances) and an out-of-nowhere blues rave-up. From there, there’s another taste of very stylish, funky, space-age jamming before an excellent transition to “Weekapaug Groove.” Even when Phish didn’t go deep this weekend, it found all sorts of interesting and creative sequences featuring pure improvisation.

"Reba" – Photo © Derek Gregory

“Weekapaug Groove” felt fresh, and the closing round of vocals was circumvented by a Trey-led transition back into “Martian Monster,” in a wonderful dose of bleeding-edge Phishiness. If history was somehow different and this sequence happened in a previous era, people would point to this “Martian Monster” reprise as vintage Phish, the sort of thing we wish they would do again. Well guess what? They’re doing it. A “You Enjoy Myself” encore left many people feeling like they were right at home, on a racetrack in New York State.

On the whole, the last set of Magnaball was a witty one with one very good jam, some excellent transitions into and out of songs, and almost zero downtime. The second-set set list is very sweet, letting the band play to the back of the field while still taking chances and moving in the moment. It’s a level of consistency and quality that should yield major replay value. Sunday’s biggest “problem,” as it were, is that it just wasn’t Saturday and it wasn’t Friday. If the same music was played at a standalone, midweek show earlier in the tour, it would have gotten good reviews and been taken as further evidence that Phish has found yet another late-period high point in creativity. And its tentpole jam, the “Disease,” is quite worthy on its own but is dwarfed by some of its brethren from the weekend, which cover similar territory.

"Reba" – Photo © Jake Silco

Looking deep into the details, the sort that ultra-experienced fans use to sort out the very excellent from the excellent from the great from the good and so on, Sunday’s music is a candidate to be underrated. By happenstance it hit a trifecta of Jaded Vet pet peeves – there not only was no “second jam” in “Mike’s,” but instead of that we got an un-jammed “Fuego.” And the transition into “Scents” bypassed the intro to the song, whose reappearance at the Mann was much celebrated by fans who associate the original arrangement with the song’s brief history as a major jam vehicle in 2003.

But as simply a great Phish show – well, it qualifies, easily. And it was an exuberant finale to one of Phish’s best-ever festivals. For years, Phish kept improving while it was unclear just how big it could get and what its broader cultural impact would be. We're now well into a period in which Phish has shown it can find creative inspiration even while its place as a pop-cultural phenomenon remains more or less static. The band has counted its blessings, and we’ve done the same.

This enchanted weekend proved another welcome indicator that we can all – fans and band included – have a ball when Phish is playing the tune.

"Martian Monster" – Photo © Derek Gregory

Phish Summer 2015 – Setlists & Recaps
07/21/15 Setlist – Recap – Bend 1
07/22/15 Setlist – Recap – Bend 2
07/24/15 Setlist – Recap, Recap2 – Shoreline
07/25/15 Setlist – Recap – LA Forum
07/28/15 Setlist – Recap – Austin
07/29/15 Setlist – Recap – Grand Prarie
07/31/15 Setlist – Recap – Atlanta 1
08/01/15 Setlist – Recap – Atlanta 2
08/02/15 Setlist – Recap – Tuscaloosa
08/04/15 Setlist – Recap – Nashville
08/05/15 Setlist – Recap – Kansas City
08/07/15 Setlist – Recap – Blossom
08/08/15 Setlist – Recap – Alpine 1
08/09/15 Setlist – Recap – Apline 2
08/11/15 Setlist – Recap – Mann 1
08/12/15 Setlist – Recap – Mann 2
08/14/15 Setlist – Recap – Raleigh
08/15/15 Setlist – Recap – Merriweather 1
08/16/15 Setlist – Recap – Merriweather 2
08/21/15 Setlist – Recap – Magnaball 1
08/22/15 Setlist – Recap – Magnaball 2
08/23/15 Setlist – Recap – Magnaball 3
09/04/15 Setlist – Recap – Dick's 1
09/05/15 Setlist – Recap – Dick's 2
09/06/15 Setlist – Recap – Dick's 3

"You Enjoy Myself" – Photo by Rene Huemer © Phish From the Road

Photo © Scott Harris

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In their more than thirty years as a band, Phish has made incredible music from coast to coast and beyond, from Toledo to Trento to Tokyo. But what sets a festival apart from any other concert I’ve seen, different from MSG or Halloween or any other celebrated event, is that the atmosphere is so overwhelmingly “home.” Magnaball, a tiny city of art and music, was created entirely for us. It’s a place for everyone to come meet and revel in all the myriad, unique ways that we express our joy and individuality. These expressions which may make us feel weird in “real” life, but in the context of a festival, with the music as our drawstring, we come together and feel unified. The experience was revelatory for me. But first, the afternoon set.

Photo © Jake Silco

The weather at the southern tip of Seneca Lake has been spectacular this weekend, but when the band came on around 4pm, gloomy clouds clung stubbornly above. “Divided Sky” acted as an invocation and swept the air clean, opening the possibilities of the day. “The Moma Dance” meant it was time to get up and stretch, put on our captain hats, exercise our funk muscles and get ready for a Magna-sized day of music.

“Mound” felt like more calisthenics, hop and clap and get your chops loose. “Army of One” was perfect for that moment: the sun had warmed us through, so soak it while you can, with winter just a few short months (and one more titanic three-night stand) away. The delicate balance of “Scabbard,” a perilously intricate weave of danger and serenity, drew my attention skyward again, one of many blissful moments to come.

Photo © Andrea Nusinov

“Sample” got a huge ovation in our corner of the field, and “Tube” got everyone’s get down revved up for a surprisingly spirited “Halfway to the Moon.” You can tell that Phish does indeed love Page’s composition by the way it’s progressed these last few years, and this version was certainly a standout. The “morning” workout continued with Fish practicing his woodblock tapdancing on some funky “Camel Walk” steps, following which Mike’s “How Many People Are You?” gave us an early thrill, as Fishman’s screaming vocals will attest. “Circus” was a chance to breathe and reflect on the changing beauty of the carnival that has rolled into Watkins Glen, and for just a moment it seemed like Trey would take the Los Lobos song for a Wingsuit ride, but we instead were treated to more percussive excellence with a swaggering “Undermind.”

With all of our stretching and warm ups complete, it was time to drop into fourth gear to make sure all engines were thrumming for the main event. My show neighbor thoughtfully advised me that he would be running like an “Antelope,” and we were off. I have seen this proud beast more than any other Phish song, and this is my instant favorite, hitting all of my “Antelope” G-spots by taking a smooth detour through the trees before hitting full, spine-tingling stride and actually launching itself into low earth orbit. Not even kidding about that a little bit. Trey slyly asked if we were all now awake and ready for a Phish show. Yes, sir, and good morning!

Photo by Patrick Jordan © Phish From the Road

I thought that a huge, exploratory “Wolfman’s” would be a great way to start what I expected to be the centerpiece of our Magnaball experience. The band had different ideas, though this syncopated and fierce lycanthrope shouldn’t be ignored. “Halley’s Comet” bop would also not be the vehicle to take us to our ultimate destination, but it was a celestial harbinger of the arrival of IT. IT came in form of “46 Days,” which was played through the first chorus, but what is normally only the first jam simply became the jam. IT was recognizable by the dark fabric that used to wrap around 2.0 Phish like a holocaust cloak, but the garment IT wears is now tinged with the brighter energy of Joy and Fuego.

Photo by Rene Huemer © Phish From the Road

The most exciting thing about the last two days, for me, has been the band’s willingness to take breathtaking risks. Phish’s confidence is flowing from the stage night after night, and in the most welcoming of environments, where everything has been intended all for our delight, they took full advantage. As the coals of the day ran out, a nebulous, stellar nursery emerged from the cool Finger Lakes evening, rich material for the creation of new cosmic bonfires. I am a fan of “Number Line,” so I was happy happy, even though I thought it might signify a less exploratory set of music than I had expected. I couldn’t have been more wrong about that, and I would later be happy for that touchstone of rock sanity as the band set to taking my mind apart, piece by piece, so it could be reassembled and strengthened in the process.

Photo © Derek Gregory

With “Tweezer,” IT began to work like a Guild Navigator, using the multicolored vortex located within the Ferris wheel to take us to realms both known and unknown, arriving in celebratory fashion at a place where everyone dances with abandon, arms raised and smiles wide. From there, IT ushered us through a dark corridor, an arm around the crowd to protect it from the chaotic forces in the shadows, and we boarded the Dawn Treader. I’m sure if you asked most fans to name the jam of the night, close to zero would have said “Prince Caspian.” And again, I thought those opening chords meant a pleasing though more traditional end to the set. And again, I was utterly, staggeringly wrong.

The “Caspian” jam began traditionally enough, but then just before the five minute mark, “Caspian” donned his crown and showed everyone what he is capable of. There were some hints of the menacing Dick’s version, a brief return to the “Caspian” melody, and then IT revealed what he had brought us to see. With the power of three decades of collaboration, a doctorate in quantum metaphysics, and the psychological wizardry of “Tweezer” still lingering like dry tinder, “Caspian” danced a funk-magic spell that transformed the entire site into a radiant burst of elation, joy, and oneness. During that peak at the end of “Caspian,” I experienced the spiritual unity that is, to me, the core of the Phish experience, in the most pure and transformative way since I started coming to shows in 1995. Those are the best words I can find at the moment, but it’s still only Sunday morning.

"46 Days" – Photo © Derek Gregory

And yet there was still more than an entire set of music to take in. “Meatstick” was a good way to get dancing again after the break, but I was particularly excited for “Blaze On” and its potential for good time grooves. This version did not disappoint, blazing impressive new trails in only its eighth performance. More ambient bliss, more multi-faceted rhythms, and more pressing the envelope ensued, reminding us that jaw-dropping improvisation can and will appear at any time this weekend. “Blaze On” got decidedly bizarre before the band touched home base with a happy segue into “Possum,” but “Cities” took us right back to the outer limits, just this side of the tracks from where all the rules break down.

But “Cities” just danced on the edges, where the plinko meets the darkness, before more “Light” bloomed to banish any fears of getting too far gone. Keep in mind that even being just enough far gone, we’re still floating in the iridescent atmosphere of a gas giant, populated by floating violet alien jellyfish that flit and dart to clavinet, Mu-Tron, echoplex, and otherworldly drumming, and respond with a call like a whale playing a harmonica. Somehow, in the middle of this extraterrestrial dance party, the “555” slides by, getting us out just before the locals decide to eat our minds.

Photo © Jake Silco

After such an excursion, “Wading” is like a pull from the oxygen tank, and another chance to bask in the magic of the many moments Phish has taken from their days and sent off to their fans. “Walls of the Cave” closed the third set with another fist-pumping assertion of the greatness of our four musicians, and a “Boogie On” “Tweeprise” encore put a cap on the non-secret portion of Saturday night.

As for the “Drive-In Jam,” I surely can not do adequate justice to a piece of art this dense and layered before I get carted off back to the laboratory for two final sets of experimentation. The experience was surreal, and yet completely familiar, like a recurring dream made real in the hazy, cool early morning breeze as you drift between the conscious and the other-than-conscious. It began with ample mystery and developed into a transcendent Hearts of Space ambience that I want to revisit again and again. That was just the beginning of the fifty-two minute minutes of magic as the many faces of Phish unfolded beneath the grandstands. This is a movie you’ll have to see for yourself, if you haven’t yet had the pleasure.

Photo © Scott Harris

I’ve only begun to process the experience of my first Phish festival, but I can tell you that the strongest memory I will take home is that of all the friends I encountered, some unknown until this trip, that were given the chance to gather and be quite simply their truest selves for a few brief days. A festival allows Phish, and their fans, a moment to be free to celebrate the power of music in the way we love best. Our trip is short, friends, and I can only say thank you to all of the people who worked so hard to make it as special as it can possibly be. You are all beautiful, and I’ll see you tonight.

Phish Summer 2015 – Setlists & Recaps
07/21/15 Setlist – Recap – Bend 1
07/22/15 Setlist – Recap – Bend 2
07/24/15 Setlist – Recap, Recap2 – Shoreline
07/25/15 Setlist – Recap – LA Forum
07/28/15 Setlist – Recap – Austin
07/29/15 Setlist – Recap – Grand Prarie
07/31/15 Setlist – Recap – Atlanta 1
08/01/15 Setlist – Recap – Atlanta 2
08/02/15 Setlist – Recap – Tuscaloosa
08/04/15 Setlist – Recap – Nashville
08/05/15 Setlist – Recap – Kansas City
08/07/15 Setlist – Recap – Blossom
08/08/15 Setlist – Recap – Alpine 1
08/09/15 Setlist – Recap – Apline 2
08/11/15 Setlist – Recap – Mann 1
08/12/15 Setlist – Recap – Mann 2
08/14/15 Setlist – Recap – Raleigh
08/15/15 Setlist – Recap – Merriweather 1
08/16/15 Setlist – Recap – Merriweather 2
08/21/15 Setlist – Recap – Magnaball 1
08/22/15 Setlist – Recap – Magnaball 2
08/23/15 Setlist – Recap – Magnaball 3
09/04/15 Setlist – Recap – Dick's 1
09/05/15 Setlist – Recap – Dick's 2
09/06/15 Setlist – Recap – Dick's 3

MagnaBall Triptych by Drew Millward

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With a Phish festival and Dick’s in close proximity to each other, many fans had to choose one or the other. I – of course – made my usual call of both, but the trips so close to each other required some sacrifice. Rather than a sane trip, logistics required my flight to be a red-eye into Baltimore-Washington International.

While that sounds like an insane distance, it’s actually closer than most major northeastern cities (and only two hours further than Buffalo) as Baltimore is almost directly due south of Watkins Glen. As I learned driving from Charm City to Buffalo – well Orchard Park, NY – to see the Grateful Dead in 1989, US 15 is a straight shot from Harrisburg, PA to Corning, NY. Back then it was a winding road, pretty, but slowing down for many small towns. Now it’s largely a freeway. The southern section still retains much of its history, having the occasional town slowdown and plenty of “Gentlemen’s Clubs” and tourist traps sitting on the side of the parkway; but by the time you get past the home of the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA, it’s a freeway. It even branded in part as a disembodied section of the controversial Interstate 99* for 12 miles north of the New York state line.

Photo by Rene Huemer © Phish From the Road

The plan was easy. Land at BWI, drive four hours, crash in my hotel. I didn’t count on the storm. It rolled through The City that Reads right before my plane landed, causing accidents everywhere. It over two full hours to make it to the Pennsylvania state line instead of the expected 45 minutes. It was irritating at first, but it then made sense. Weather fueled traffic jams are a festival tradition. It should be expected to hit one! That wasn’t the only reference to past festivals that happened on this drive. In one of the small towns, I passed a car with the plate “GLO STK,” clearly referencing the Great Went epic war.

Not even Camp Oswego was ignored as there was an exit on US-15 with the name Camp Canoe, bringing back memories of the artist who “rowed” a canoe (actually on wheels) down the main drag of that festival in 1999. Beyond that was the fog covered hills in north-central PA which brought forth memories of the ultimate Phish festival idea: it looked like Gamehendge out there!

Photo © Derek Gregory

The trip to Magnaball was a like a highlight show of the travels to earlier events. And while there might have been a terrifying moment as the storm hit its peak and my window fogged up, leaving me desperately hitting random buttons in the unfamiliar rental car as the ethereal voice of Siri floated through the speakers, telling me that now was the moment to somehow merge onto I-180, without a sense of danger and a bit of terror, the reward would be hardly worth it.

After a visit to Barton Hall to pay homage to 5/8/77 and a few traffic hiccups, Magnaball was achieved. It didn’t run nearly as smoothly as Super Ball IX – perhaps due to the rumored on sale of tickets at the show – but it still was reasonably easy to get there hours early. The first day at a festival is always exciting. There are the art exhibits to explore and – new for 2015 – Phish versions of game shows to play. As I walked by, I found a team looking for a fourth person, so I joined them. When we got to play, our question was, “Name a state that Phish hasn’t played.” As long as you can count on a ton of fans not answering “New York” to be annoying, there is no easier question for a Phish fan who loves geography; we swept the board! (AK, AR, HI, ND, SD, WY, for those keeping track at home).

Photo by Partick Jordan © Phish From the Road

A festival isn’t just about drives and art installations. There are also eight known sets of music. That is the underlying point of this exercise, after all. If there were any questions if the band would need a few minutes to settle into the moment, they were answered almost immediately. “Simple” was never common as a show opener, but Magnaball was its second straight time in that role. It wasn’t a perfunctory version, either; there was a brief jam filled with some beautiful Page riffs. It wouldn’t be the jam of the night by any means, but it felt like a promise.

While “The Dogs” had been played at a few shows since the Haunted House set, it usually was just that the main, high-energy jam would get thrown into the middle of another jam. This was the first complete version with the sampled introduction since the debut, showing that the song can work as a standalone as well as the filling of a jam sandwich.

Trey Anastasio and Eliza Anastasio. Photo by Partick Jordan © Phish From the Road

The first big shock of the night came next. For only the third time since Phish returned in 2009, “The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday” was chosen. It wasn’t just queued; it must have been rehearsed. Trey sometimes has problems with these early compositions, especially the ones that are rarely played, but this was nearly flawless, showing off the beauty of the piece. “Avenu Malkenu” also had a bit extra, as Mike threw a second pass into his “If I Were a Rich Man” jam. Four songs into the festival and we’ve had a doses of energy and beauty, showing that this would not be a throwaway or warm-up set by any means.

After a solid “Free,” Trey took a moment to talk about the Clifford Ball. Back then there was only one child born to the band – Eliza. He remarked that there are now eleven children, but today was Eliza’s 20th birthday. Eliza made a brief appearance on stage, Trey led us into a rendition of “Happy Birthday,” and there was a brief pause. If her quasi-eponymous song would ever get performed again, now would be the time. Instead we got “The Wedge.” Perhaps Eliza doesn’t like that the song pre-dates her by nearly five years, but it could have been worse; she could have been ‘Tela Multibeast Purple Humpback Whale Anastasio’. Regardless, “The Wedge” still resonated with the event. Nineteen years since the first major event: the discovery of the cow funk, the Indian Reservation all night set, the hiatus and the breakup, rehab and recreation, military bases, a desert oasis, and a race track, indeed: we could have come so very far in at least as many years.

"Bathtub Gin" – Photo © Derek Gregory

The surprises weren’t over yet. The first “Mock Song” of 3.0, –in fact only the second “Mock Song” ever – followed. I’m not sure that there was much of a clamor for this one, but this was a better arrangement that the one from The Gorge, with a very cool Page solo and more of a reggae feel. In addition, the line “Fewer, Pink, Kyle, Ball” was changed to “Clifford, Super, Magna Ball” – we’ve known them all, indeed. Keep this up and this will become a real song!

One of the most welcome trends of this era of Phish is what it has done for “Roggae.” The jams in it have been stunning, melodic pieces of soaring beauty. This one was no exception. They’ve gotten very good at peaking as a way of counterpointing the underlying power of the theme. It puts pressure on a song when everyone expects bliss, but they haven’t given us a reason not to yet.

Photo by Rene Huemer © Phish From the Road

After what has already felt like an incredibly strong first set, Phish would be forgiven if they just played a quick peak jam in the closing “Bathtub Gin” and called it a break. That is not what happened by any means. The jam immediately leaves the structure of what the song does and runs off and plays. This “Gin” follows the pattern of many favorite jams in that it does more than one thing at a time. It’s completely improvisational, has multiple parts, but still manages to be danceable. Intense at parts, a complete dance party at others, this jam would have been an obvious highlight of many tours, let alone the first set of a festival. When it finally gets to the peak, tens of thousands of people all engaged in a massive dance party for twenty minutes. It was joyous, the kind of moment that causes us all to go to bizarre places and camp for three days. While not sounding at all similar, the bliss was reminiscent of another famous “Bathtub Gin” at a festival, the 8/17/97 Great Went version. The joy given there will not fade any time soon.

After a long setbreak filled with high-fiving and people glowing over the set, the band came back out into the chilly evening and opened with “Chalk Dust.” There used to be two kinds of “Chalk Dust Torture”: those that had a quick high energy jam followed by the chorus, and the kind – usually played to open a second set – that were open ended and never finished. Recently a third category has emerged. The song has its final chorus sung but rather than draw it to a conclusion a second jam emerges. It might not yet have the legend of the “Mike’s Song” second jam, but it is always welcome. This one went on for another eleven minutes or so. If you’re looking for a repeat of the soaring energy bliss of the “Gin,” this doesn’t reprise that, but it rather is dark and melodic. The first is great for dancing rapturously in a field at a racetrack; this is more reflective, a good listen on a Sunday morning as you’re fixing your brunch sort of track. Phish play in many styles after all and appeal to many crowds.

"Harry Hood" – Photo © Derek Gregory

The fun of Phish is that you never know what will happen. If I told you that “Ghost,” “Chalk Dust Torture,” and “Bathtub Gin” were all played in succession and two of the three had very interesting jams, no one would expect that it was “Ghost” that just got the quick run through. The jam is more brief than bad. It hits a few quick interesting spaces before resolving into “Rock and Roll.”

The Velvet Underground cover – along with the traditional prayer of “Avenu Malkenu,” the only non-originals of the night – has largely returned to its previous role of being an upbeat rocker to put an exclamation point on the show. Played this early, it promised a bit more. And indeed, it did deliver. Two or three times Trey tried to signal a return to the final chorus, but they wanted to keep going. A slow funk jam gets created. It’s beautiful and you can dance to it and I could have heard Phish play it all night. That’s why I admit to an initial groan while when the “Hood” fired up. Do you mind people? I was enjoying that!

Photo © Jake Silco

Any lingering regret though can’t really survive “Harry Hood.” If for nothing else, at a festival show with an amazing “Bathtub Gin,” it just felt right to also have a massive glowstick war during “Harry Hood.” It’s less nostalgia than an accidental homage. The “Hood” itself was quite interesting. Sacrificing the build jam for a voyage, this jam wanders all over the track. If you’re the kind of person who needs to find something – anything – to complain about with a Phish show, the “Hood” peak was sacrificed in exchange. However, if you’re reaching the point of saying, “Well they ended one cool jam but immediately followed it with another one, but that one didn’t manage to also hit a soaring peak at the very end,” just to find something to point fingers at, well that shows the power of this show.

It wasn’t over yet. After a quick breather with “Waste,” perhaps the most popular of the new songs of this tour, “No Men in No Man’s Land” had one more jam to come. This was more of a fast funky jam than the reflectiveness of the “Chalk Dust” or the “Hood,” but it’s the perfect way to start to wind things down. We’ve done a lot tonight; now let’s dance our way home! Before we do though, there’s one last thing. We’re going to give you a “Slave!”

Photo © Andrea Nusinov

Sets with both a “Hood” and a “Slave” feel somewhat unfair. We’re not going to give you one of your favorite late set songs. Here, have both of them! It might rob the other two nights of possibilities, but it it’s always great when it happens. You don’t mind if I give you one more moment of euphoria, do you?

After the encore, a pretty “Farmhouse” – appropriate for the rural setting – and the always fun “First Tube,” it was time to reflect on a great night. One of the games people like to play when they talk about Phish shows is to break it up into quarters, putting an imaginary break halfway through each set. The reason why that became popular is that there has been a bit of a rut in the past few years, where the third quarter always had the best – the more cynical would say “only good,” but let’s not listen to them, ok? – music of the night. This tour has broken with that with great first sets and jams late into the second. In fact, with the early “TMWSIY,” the great “Gin,” and the late “Hood,” “No Man’s,” and “Slave” combination, it could be argued that all three of the other quadrants managed to surpass the third, not because the third was bad, but because the others were so good. That may or may not be true, but Phish delivered an amazing complete show to open Magnaball. If this turns out to be the warmup night, Magnaball will be the stuff of legend, passed down from generation to generation to while away the long Finger Lakes region winter nights.

* The Interstate highway system has a naming convention. One aspect of it is that north-south roads have odd numbers that increase from west to east. Interstate 99 is not just kind of a weird highway that doesn’t really connect cities – well it’s now two different highways near each other that don’t connect to each other even – but it’s completely misnumbered. Having I-99 being west of I-81 annoys people who care way too much about such issues. I’d mock such people more but back in the early days of Ihoz.com, I was kind of one of them, as http://ihoz.com/I99.html shows.

Phish Summer 2015 – Setlists & Recaps
07/21/15 Setlist – Recap – Bend 1
07/22/15 Setlist – Recap – Bend 2
07/24/15 Setlist – Recap, Recap2 – Shoreline
07/25/15 Setlist – Recap – LA Forum
07/28/15 Setlist – Recap – Austin
07/29/15 Setlist – Recap – Grand Prarie
07/31/15 Setlist – Recap – Atlanta 1
08/01/15 Setlist – Recap – Atlanta 2
08/02/15 Setlist – Recap – Tuscaloosa
08/04/15 Setlist – Recap – Nashville
08/05/15 Setlist – Recap – Kansas City
08/07/15 Setlist – Recap – Blossom
08/08/15 Setlist – Recap – Alpine 1
08/09/15 Setlist – Recap – Apline 2
08/11/15 Setlist – Recap – Mann 1
08/12/15 Setlist – Recap – Mann 2
08/14/15 Setlist – Recap – Raleigh
08/15/15 Setlist – Recap – Merriweather 1
08/16/15 Setlist – Recap – Merriweather 2
08/21/15 Setlist – Recap – Magnaball 1
08/22/15 Setlist – Recap – Magnaball 2
08/23/15 Setlist – Recap – Magnaball 3
09/04/15 Setlist – Recap – Dick's 1
09/05/15 Setlist – Recap – Dick's 2
09/06/15 Setlist – Recap – Dick's 3

Limited Edition MagnaBall Poster by Jim Pollock

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What would a Phish festival be without The Bunny! It went live Thursday morning and will broadcast for the whole weekend of Magnaball. It will air its usual great mix of eclectic music, Magna-news, archival Phish tracks and of course, all of the live music sets of Phish music including sound checks. You can reach the Bunny in a few different ways:

Mixlr: http://mixlr.com/thebunny

LivePhish: http://webcast.livephish.com/Summer-2015-Webcasts-Magnaball.html

SiriusXM JamOn Channel 29, beginning at 9pm Eastern Time Thursday

Locally in the Watkins Glen area on WNGZ 104.9FM and also via their website: http://www.cbelmira.com/wingz/listen-live/

Once again they are asking you to Feed The Bunny - send in your station IDs and funny bumpers, which may get aired on The Bunny live. Go to http://feedthebunny.com/

Follow The Bunny on Facebook and Twitter:

https://www.facebook.com/bunnyradio

https://twitter.com/bunnyradio

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[Editor’s note: after the celebratory revival of the “Mike’s Song” second jam on 8/4/15 in Nashville, the folks on the Mockingbird and phish.net teams wanted the whole scoop on what happened, since the instigator was one of our staff. We thought the story was simply too good not to share. Many of our readers will already know the basics of how Drew Hitz (professional musician, music business consultant, Mockingbird Foundation board member), with the assistance of his friend and colleague Don Hart (composer, arranger, orchestrator, collaborator with Trey on “Time Turns Elastic”), turned fan dreams into reality. If this story is new to you, check out the .net recap from that Nashville gig. -PZ]

Don Hart asked me if I was coming to Nashville for the show at the brand new Ascend Amphitheater. He ended up securing me a ticket which was DFC in the fourth row of seats behind the pit. I was hopeful that I would get into the soundcheck, but didn't find out that I would be going until that afternoon.

The soundcheck was fascinating for me. They played a bluesy jam to start, and then Fishman asked if they had time to run “Mercury.” After playing it once through, they then rehearsed and ended up rewriting parts of the second half of the tune. It was a fully democratic process. They focused on the transition getting out of Fishman's Marimba Lumina solo into the next section.

8/4/15, Ascend Amphitheater, Nashville, TN. Photo by Drew Hitz.

They were choosing harmonies, who was playing and who wasn't, how Fishman was getting from the solo into his next drumbeat, etc. They also worked on the next section of the tune. Mike asked Trey if one riff in the transition was going to happen once or twice. Trey said that it was supposed to happen once but that every time he went to play it twice. They decided it would be played twice which made Trey remark "And that puts the rhyme in the middle of the bar, which is weird, but I like weird."

They then discussed the background vocals of the next section. They first discussed whether there should be two or three-part harmony, and who was singing what part. Trey proposed a pattern for singing the backgrounds that was singing a pattern four times, and then two times, with the next two times resting. Mike then countered with singing it four times and then three times, with only time time resting, which he said would be symmetry and a callback to the beginning of the tune, which is in seven. Trey said "I love symmetry," and that is what they went with.

The process of rewriting these parts of the tune were 100% democratic. I was getting to watch a chamber group rehearse as if no one was there. There were only five of us in the audience, and one was The Dude of Life. As a musician, I have dreamed of watching Phish rehearse as a fly on the wall, and the fact that I got that kind of soundcheck was really special. But that wasn't exactly the highlight of the day...

For anyone who missed it, Trey told Don through the mic "We will be back here in about a month or so to record an album." I only pass that along because it was confirmed that it was picked up by mics just outside the venue. The “we” wasn't clear whether it was Phish or TAB, but it sure seemed like he was talking about Phish.

8/4/15, Ascend Amphitheater, Nashville, TN. Photo by Drew Hitz.

Immediately after the soundcheck, Trey met Don, myself, and Don's other two guests next to the stage and spoke with us for probably 15-20 minutes. As he has been every time I've had an encounter with him, Trey was gracious, kind, generous with his time, and genuinely interested in who he was talking to. He's really quite a remarkable guy, as many of you know.

Trey and I spoke about the NSO gig (from 5/22/13) and he mentioned how great the orchestra sounded that night and about how great Steven Reineke, the conductor, was in particular. We then spoke about the crowd clapping along in “You Enjoy Myself” and about how the orchestra clenched from the sound delay and how Reineke's eyes got really big, and he just pushed through.

Trey then asked if we (the NSO) had anything cool coming up. I explained to him that I had infiltrated the orchestra by sending an email to my friend, explaining to him that I regretted to inform him that he wasn't playing the gig and that I was in his place. Trey was very amused. He said that if it helped me get another gig with them that he would write a letter saying how the orchestra sounded great, but that the tuba player in particular was phenomenal. He was cracking himself up at this point.

I had been planning the “Mike's Song” conversation for whenever I saw him again, but only if it felt right. At one point, about ten minutes into the conversation, there was a little lull, and I expected Trey to thank us for coming. I wasn't going to interject after that point, so I thought the moment had passed, but everyone kept talking.

8/4/15, Ascend Amphitheater, Nashville, TN. Photo by Rene Huemer © Phish 2015

I finally had my opening and asked him if I could be "a pushy Phish fan for one minute." He nodded so I asked him "Would you like to break Twitter tonight?" He smiled and said "I'd love to."

I then asked him if he remembered our conversation immediately after the Kennedy Center gig about the second jam in “Mike's Song.” He said he vaguely remembered it, and that he didn't remember them ever doing it. I told him that if they played it again, he might bring down the whole internet.

It was then that he asked how it used to go. That is when I whipped out my phone and hit play. It was already cued to about five seconds before the chords that lead into the second jam of the 7/14/00 “Mike's.” I explained that they now played those three chords four times that lead to the composed ending which resolved to “I Am Hydrogen,” or whatever else they were going to play. He nodded along while listening.

I then pointed out that they used to play those chords only twice, and then would modulate down a half-step to F-major. As that happened on the recording, he said "We did?!" He then said it sounded like they were about to go into “Simple,” and I told him that they didn't. He asked what they went into, and I said an open ended jam in F. He said "Ooh, I like jamming in F." I then pointed out that this version went on for another 7:30 before dropping into “Frankie Says.” You could see he was processing.

He then told me what he told me after the Kennedy Center conversation. He said, "Well, if we ever do this, it will only be because of you because I have no memory of it whatsoever." He then said that I could come up on stage with a selfie stick and take a photo. I asked him if I could make a speech, and he said that would be fine.

8/4/15, Ascend Amphitheater, Nashville, TN. Photo by Rene Huemer © Phish 2015

I pointed out to Trey in a joking manner that he didn't even need to tell the other guys, that he could just drop down the half-step and they would follow him. This didn't even need rehearsing.

Five minutes later, at the very end of the conversation, I caught myself very quietly singing “Mike's” to myself, because I was so excited. I apologized to Trey for singing it and told him that it was subliminal, and that I got the request in and that the messaging was over. He laughed. I then told the Dude of Life in front of Trey that I needed him to sing the half-step modulation for Trey in about 30 minutes to reinforce the message. Everyone laughed.

I then watched Fishman practice for about 20 minutes, and thanked Page for getting off his tour bus in the middle of his dinner 20 years ago to talk to me and some other folks. I told him how much that inspired a kid in music school.

After I got out of there, I tweeted:

"I just played Trey the transition into the 2nd jam of the 7/14/00 Mike's Song. The rest is in God's hands." So the entire Phish twitter-verse knew about this before the show happened. My phone started blowing up after retweets from YEMblog and others. At least I thought my phone was blowing up.

The second set started with “Golden Age.” I was mildly bummed they didn't bust into “Mike's” right away, since that would have been a giveaway in that slot that it was going down. Then “Light,” and “Shade.” The ballad in the three-hole usually sets up something big, so I started to get excited, although I was trying to keep my expectations under control.

At that point Trey walked over to Page and talked to him for a few seconds, and it was all Trey talking to Page and Page simply nodding. My heart started beating a little faster. Then he walked over to Mike and they talked for almost 30 seconds, and my heart started racing. Then a brief conversation with Fishman, and he dropped into the opening notes of “Mike's Song,” at which point I almost shit myself.

I covered my mouth with my hands, and Don was staring at me and I told him that this was the tune I spoke to Trey about, and that he talked to all the other guys and I was blabbing. I do remember saying "I think this is actually @#$!ing happening," which put a huge smile on Don's face.

They got to the tramps section and for the first few minutes I was dancing like I was 19 again. But then I just stood there, since the moment of truth was coming at any point. I just stood there, clenched.

Then the three chords came once, twice, and a third time. I was like “NOOOOOOOO,” and then thought that maybe he was going to play them four times and then drop down. Then the composed ending happened and I tweeted ":(".

But then, sure as shit, as soon as they got to the end, Trey plowed right through with a little “Simple” fake out, and we were off and running. I made the touchdown salute, and then started freaking out. Don was on Cloud Nine, as we've become really good friends and he was loving me having a meltdown.

At that point my phone basically became a brick. I showed Don twenty minutes later that the notifications from Twitter were coming into my phone so fast that you literally could not make out a single word on any of them, as they scrolled by as fast as they could. My phone was blowing up for a full 24 hours afterwards. I got 800 new followers and enough offers for a free beer to get us all drunk for a full week.

"Mike's Song" – Phish, 8/4/15, Nashville, TN. Video by LazyLightning55a.

Obviously, the rest of the “Mike's Groove” was absolutely stellar. Don was mesmerized by the “Weekapaug” and the Sabbath-esque jam. And the leading back into “Weekapaug” with the “still waiting's” from the “Crosseyed” thrown in was just all surreal. And just when I begin to get about 5% of my shit under control, they encored with “Slave.”

Seeing that music, at that venue – incredible sound, great location, amazing view of the city and river – with Don (first time I'd seen a show with him) would have been an all-timer experience for me, even without my interaction with Trey or the online Phish community. Add it all up and it was one of the greatest days of my life.

One addendum to the story: After Don saw what a big deal it was to me, and after he saw the Internet meltdown that occurred afterwards, he offered to pass along a thank you email from me to Trey.

In that email I was able to thank him for a bunch of stuff, including all of the money that Phish has given to The Mockingbird Foundation over the years. I told him that it helped us to fulfill our mission and made sure the thank you was from all of us.

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Welcome to the 196th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday. The winner will receive an MP3 download courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of the mystery jam clip. Each person gets one guess per day, with the second “day” starting after I post the hint. A hint will be posted on Tuesday if necessary, with the answer to follow on Wednesday. Good luck!