[For this recap we'd like to welcome guest bloggers @2chix1fightbell (Kristen and Kate) -PZ]

We had to be here for Phish’s return to The Mann Center for the first time since 1995. There wasn’t another option.

We walked into a breezy, beautiful venue tonight without the knowledge of quite the X factor on the way: storm. Big one headed directly towards us. It was so bad that the crowd on the lawn and terrace were asked to return to their cars in order to protect their own safety. This is a crowd that doesn’t exactly like being told what to do. Or people getting in the way of their Phish experience. But we waited out the storm without choice, comforted by the knowledge that ‘X factors’ have produced great Phish shows plenty of times in this band’s history. Page thanked the fan base early in the first set for riding out the storm and reminded us all that it’s not their fault.

© Photo by Eliot Byron

The storm and crowd shuffling produced a bit of an eerie and uneasy vibe in the crowd. “Axilla” as the opener matched this perfectly and was a welcome release of tension. Followed by “Gumbo,” Phish started simmering a pot of funk that would burble over onto us here and there throughout the first set. The first version of “Taste” since Reading ’13 was welcomed. Fog that surrounds nods to the steam building in the venue. Hey speaking of “Steam”… thought we might get our first of 2014 tonight. Still waiting.

“555,” the third version in first five shows of summer ’14, was dark and dank. It was very appropriate for what was happening at the Mann. While it held true to form, it certainly has potential to go beyond that and be a completely unique jam vehicle. “Tube” – who doesn’t get pumped as soon as this song drops and then wonder if it is going to sizzle out to a three minute set filler these days? While it hasn’t made its return to the golden era, this “Tube” was highlighted by digital age playing, fueled with Trey loops & toys and just enough funk to maintain some integrity.

© Photo by Elliot Byron

“Halfway to the Moon” – although this song is the oldest of all the new album material, fans are still getting used to this deep Page tune. Still finding its place, it fit well with the other songs flow-wise in the set. Skip to the meat though after the lyrics and explore the deep Trey tones more… we want it, know it’s there and ready. You clearly hear a fan yelling, “Camel Walk,” over and over in the space between songs. To that fan's credit, Trey also hears it and obliges the request, saying that this was for him. Solid funky version that didn’t stray. Do we have to talk about “Sparkle?” It’s just that it’s been the third one of 2014. “Halley’s” was played followed by “It’s Ice” that continued little song winks at the evening’s storm, and also birthed a funk jam that we always welcome. Fishman is playing like a man on fire, so no one cares that he had a little mis-start in the midsection of “Walls of the Cave.” This was an energetic set closer as it always is in this spot.

Skipping over the "46 Days" second set opener as we really want to talk about “Fuego” as apparently the band did as well. The second version of this song to break form brought us more highly encouraging jamming. It’s great to see the crowd enthusiasm supporting this song, and Phish took the opportunity to patiently craft a deep space jam out of the initial fiery energy that the song naturally produces. The title track of Phish’s newest album is primed for versions to top themselves over and over for the rest of summer tour and beyond. This “Fuego” channeled everything in the Phish catalogue from “Free” to “Two Versions of Me” to “What’s the Use?” Let’s throw a “Cars, Trucks Buses” tease in there for good measure.

© Photo courtesy Phish From the Road

“The Line” > “Backwards Down the Number Line”... if you hate that kind of thing, you probably really hated that.

Then the the thunder was brought directly inside the venue with a “Tweezer” -> “Ghost” > “2001” > “Hood” > “Tweezer Reprise” setlist that fans dream of. The “Tweezer” was starting to go in its now-a-days, typical direction, lighting the crowd on fire, slow and steady. But it ended up a bit brief (shortest version since 2011) and churning out what became one of our highlights of the show, “Ghost.” After the choppy transition, they let each other get to the meat of the jam pretty quickly, and we soon forgot that they were stepping on each other’s toes for a minute there and they began to dance instead. Then we soared in unison.

“2001” was a nice little pop of more funk… completely unexpected, but very much wanted. When they dropped into “Hood” it we knew we just witnessed a second set with a lot of big players. How could this “Hood” compare to what transpired a few shows before at Great Woods? Instead of breaking form like its predecessor, this was them nailing it. When we reached full saturation point in the evening and couldn’t get sweatier, goosebumps poured all over as they slowed this down to intricate, patient and building that brought tears to our eyes and of course, more sweat. “Hood” > “Tweeprise.” Perfection. A “Possum” encore sent the fans home happy.

© Photo courtesy Phish From the Road

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Welcome to another edition of Phish.Net's, ahem, "weekly" Mystery Jam Monday contest. 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!

Hint (Posted 2014-07-08 10:23 am):

Answer: First-time winner @GhostDawg came up with the correct identity of this week's clip: the 11/8/91 Jam that followed Jesus Just Left Chicago, which itself followed the "slice of pizza, bucket of lard" Weekapaug Groove. It might technically be a loss, but as it was hint-aided, the Blog breaks its seven-month-long losing streak. Check back here Monday for the next installment of MJM.

For today's recap we welcome guest blogger Dianna Hank.

Being a native New Yorker, the announcement of SPAC shows is always a little bittersweet for me. Sure, it’s easy enough to get to and the crowd will be full of people I know; but it will also be full of a lot of people I don’t want to know who only come up to the shows to party at Lee’s for three days and annoy the rest of us who actually show up to listen to music. Imagine? That being said, after a soggy yet incredibly fun dance party on the lawn the first night with only minor disturbances, this year I was lucky enough to be able to take in the second and third shows of the run from the pavilion. While I am a SPAC lawn defender – the sound and view are great as long as you get a good spot up front and don’t have to deal with obnoxious drunk kids – seeing a show from four rows back in the pavilion is a whole other ballgame. Because of the structure of the pavilion, the sound up there seems to engulf you and vibrate through your entire body. It’s loud but not in a painful way. It’s clear, crisp, and precise and “it feels good.”

Going into night three of the run, I was pretty excited about what was still left for Phish to play. The prior two nights had delivered a number of seriously impressive jams that I can’t wait to go back and listen to over and over again and I assumed and hoped that night three would be no different. My only hopes for the evening were a raging “David Bowie," a blissful “Slave to the Traffic Light” and a funky “Wombat” to complete the track list of Fuego songs that had already been played this tour. Lucky for me, I got not only these three things but so much more!

© Scott Harris Photography.

The show kicked off with one of my favorite show openers, “Crowd Control.” While on the softer, poppier side of Phish, it also gets the show started off in a positive, joyful way and usually brings about something short yet sweet from Trey. Next up was “My Friend, My Friend," bringing the crowd energy up significantly and showing us that they meant business. “Scent of a Mule” continued the energy build, getting everyone doing their best do-si-dos. Page provides a fiery intro to a marimba lumina solo by Fish which makes this version one to definitely check out. While the marimba solo sounded a bit like Phish’s attempt at EDM, I was just happy to see it being used. A few composed sections of songs (such as Mule’s ending) were a bit flubbed by Trey, but the energy and creativity which he brought to the table for the jams made those flubs seem insignificant.

A standard yet clean “Undermind” showed that the boys were still having fun, with Trey introducing Fishman as “Moses Heaps” for the first time since 1988 Short yet efficient, “A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing” brought some heat before we got back to silly Phish with “I Didn’t Know.” Trey introduces Fish as “Moses DeWitt” for the first time since 1991 and Trey’s face during the vacuum solo further proved just how much fun they were all having on stage. “Foam”’s first appearance since last summer was a pleasant surprise followed by the drop into “Wombat” which evoked a huge cheer from the crowd. A massive funk dance party erupted as the final song off of Fuego finally made a 2014 appearance and the only complaint I have was that I wished it was twice as long. “Divided Sky” was standard and beautiful, with a huge glowstick war erupting throughout the venue during the overly extended pause. As someone who has been disappointed by its placement many times in the past, I was actually pretty ok with this slot for “Wading in the Velvet Sea.” It gave the crowd a little chance to breathe after a high energy “Divided Sky” and before the raging, set-closing “David Bowie."

The real meat of this show came in the second set. As soon as the band got back on stage after setbreak, they got to work, quickly bursting into “Carini” and evoking a massive roar from the crowd. After the last balcony-shaking performance of this song, hopes were high that this one would pack as much punch as the Letterman version did. As a “Carini” convert who prefers blissful, beautiful Phish to dark, scary Phish most of the time, this Carini did exactly what most recent “Carinis” have been doing – brought the fire in the beginning of the song before lifting off and floating away into the serene abyss. While seemingly cut a little short by the > “Waves," it was a welcome transition and this segment of music set the tone for the rest of the set. Similarly ethereal, this “Waves” fit perfectly after the euphoric “Carini” jam.

© Scott Harris Photography.

Next up, “Wingsuit” continued this airy theme while delivering a powerful punch in the second half of the tune. After two satisfying jams with “Carini” and “Waves,” this “Wingsuit” was a bit more well received than the Mansfield version, promising to be a bit more jammed out considering its place in the second set. A beautiful “Piper” continued this dreamlike setlist, followed by a well executed “Fluffhead.” “Heavy Things” threw me for a bit of a loop, coming late in the second set. While this tune can contain a short but sweet little jam from Trey, it seemed to me that it was only in response to the onslaught of glowsticks that rained down on the crowd during the “Fluffhead” peak. Back to business after “Heavy Things," the band dropped into “Slave to the Traffic Light” which I assumed would be the set closer. A personal favorite song of mine, this “Slave” provides all the heart-warming, soul-opening, major chord bliss that most if not all other Slaves do. I’ve never met a Slave I didn’t like.

After a glorious peak, Phish did what they do best and surprised us with yet another tune, the crowd favorite “You Enjoy Myself.” Few things feel better than realizing that not only is the set not over yet, but that it won’t be over for another 20 minutes or so. This “YEM” was the perfect set closer to a dare I say epic set of music from Phish. If it wasn’t apparent through their playing, Trey’s dance moves during Mike’s solo proved just how much fun these guys were having on stage. This is one of those second sets I think I will be listening to straight through over and over again for a while.

“Suzy Greenberg” closed out the show and while not particularly a special encore, it felt appropriately celebratory after a weekend of great music. With the first four shows of the tour in the books and highlights from each already evident, I can’t wait to see what else is in store for this summer.

© Scott Harris Photography.

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"Friday is for the fans, Saturday is for the bros, Sunday is for the band. Think about it." – Ancient Wook Proverb

DISCLAIMER: The author watched the webcast from his home last night, after smoking pure DMT crystals off a katana he got from Sharper Image, using an arc welder formerly owned by Tommy Chong. He had spent the week leading up to the show sending messages to other phish.net Working Group members about his plans to "brutally savage" Friday's show in this recap, promising "carnage" and expressing an intention "to tear the show a third asshole, since it's so full of shit it already has two." He apologizes for not getting this recap up sooner, but it's the World Cup quarterfinals for Christ's sake, give him a break.

Two big questions hung over the middle SPAC show like ominous twin stalactites, and both got answered with "hell yes, apparently." The first question was, is Phish ever going to play a good show this year. No, no, I'm just playing.

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Photo by Dave Vann © Phish 2014. All rights reserved.

The first question was, how legit is "Fuego" going to be? We all were hoping. Each of us has his or her favorites, but it's fair to say "Fuego" was the consensus best-in-show and most-likely-to-succeed from the Wingsuit set. The band seemed to think so anyway, changing the name of the ensuing LP release to Fuego and slotting in the now-title track in the favored spot after "Auld Lang Syne" on New Year's Eve, like NBC premiering The A-Team right after the Super Bowl. It seemed designed to be the next "Down with Disease" or "Ghost," an open-ended jam that can carry an entire set on its shoulders. But there was no real jam on New Year's, and the other night's limp performance at Great Woods had some posing the disquieting question whether "Fuego" was going to be "DwD" or "Ghost," or if it was more like "Walls of the Cave," which gets plenty fiery but apart from some early exploratory versions has always colored reliably within the lines.

But there was no need to worry, and now those of us that did maybe feel a little silly. Remembering that Phish doesn't go far out when it plays "Down with Disease" in the first set either, the Great Woods performance was no omen. Sure, last night's "Fuego" eased into the chilly evening waters with almost comical hesitancy, feinting and building, probing and dying down. But they stayed with it, and then as often forms the basis of great Phish improvisational moments these days, Trey found a simple ascending progression and the band surged patiently to a deliberate but awesome peak. I actually found the subsequent "Down with Disease" more satisfying than the "Fuego," but they've been playing "Disease" twenty years as opposed to eight months, so this is no slight on the first exploratory "Fuego." I am sure we will get many more over the next few weeks.

Photo by Dave Vann © Phish 2014. All rights reserved.

The rest of the second set was your basic throwdown, without ballads or breathers, along the lines of the third show from last fall's Hampton run. A spare and patient "Twist" didn't overstay its welcome but gave way to "Light" – why does Trey have trouble finding the right key at the start of "Light"? – which did what "Light" does, generating huge momentum through weird harmonics. "First Tube" was the sledgehammer driving the last spike.

Which brings me to the second question: this no covers thing is for real, huh? Yeah, homie, it appears to be. Don't quibble like a pedant about "The Star-Spangled Banner." It's essentially a traditional like "Auld Lang Syne" and they do it once a year on a particular day. It doesn't count. Other than the odd exception of "Funky Bitch" Phish hasn't played a cover since the "Sneaking Sally" encore that closed Phish.net's consensus favorite show of last year.

And this year it's not just no covers. No Gamehendge songs except for "Possum," which isn't really part of the narrative anyway. Also and more significantly, no Junta songs. No "YEM," though tonight seemed poised for a big one following "Theme." We haven't seen my personal second-favorite Phish song "David Bowie" close any first sets. Again, they could have gone that way Friday night, but they turned left with "Split Open and Melt" instead. No "Divided Sky" or "Fluffhead" or "Golgi." Nobody can imagine all these songs staying out of the rotation for long, but Trey has talked in interviews about the frustrations created by such a large repertoire, with too many children vying for the attention of an older, less intense band that plays fewer shows these days. If limiting the repertoire, even arbitrarily, is a way to keep the band focused, I say roll with it. As long as they're playing music together Phish is always going to play awesome jams, and it's okay with me if those jams come out of "Fuego" or "Seven Below" or "Twenty Years Later" rather than "Crosseyed" or "Rock and Roll" or "Golden Age."

I'm not going to assign last night's show a number. You could quibble with certain things. Sure, the first sets could be stronger, more improvisational. I am not going to defend another lifeless "Moma Dance" at this point and I can take or leave "Kill Devil Falls" and I have hated "Rift" forever. The "Jim" and "46 Days" were perfunctory. But the "Reba" jam was gorgeous, with burbling melody and surging in temperature until its brutal Fishcording. And take your hat off to the tone-perfect 1993-era closing sequence, with a dark and viscous "Split" jam (listen to Page!) that even stuck the landing, then the brisk early-morning jog and long cooldown of "The Squirming Coil." It has come to my attention that some people think "Coil" is a buzzkill, and you can't see me but I'm shaking my head at all of you right now. Don't like "Backwards Down the Number Line" deep in the fourth quarter? I'm not going to fight about it, but today actually is my birthday so I'm pretty sure Trey was playing it specifically for me. This version actually raged, also. Bottom line, this was a very, very good Phish show, right up there with the best of last fall's incredibly strong nor'easter.

Photo by Dave Vann © Phish 2014. All rights reserved.

CHEERS to Jon Fishman, who is playing his ass off, dictating the scope and tempo of jams, slowing "The Moma Dance" to a crawl, which didn't really work, but later catching "Split" on the hook of his wrecker and dragging it bodily into the swamp, and shutting the place down by bringing a little New Orleans (or maybe Nashville) to a swaggering "Character Zero."

CHEERS to Chris Kuroda, constantly reinventing himself to the point where it's not clear if he's an obsessive perfectionist or just gets bored easily. He's now rocking four stations across the stage, one for each band member, with a horizontal grid up high and a rack descending vertically toward the floor, plus big racks on each side. Last year's setup is gone. His go-to look last night seemed to be big, bold horizontal stripes of immaculate color across the white backdrop.

JEERS to vodka-enthusiast turd man Billy Joel for too many reasons to count, but I guess if his oafish self-regard leads Phish to a career reinvention by focusing on their own idiosyncratic repertoire, then possibly also CHEERS to Billy Joel, America's beloved "Piano Man."

JEERS to the LivePhish app, last updated during the Eisenhower Administration.

CHEERS to the Randall's tickets sitting next to me on the desk.

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As the Tour De Phish entered its second stage, its riders, of the rail variety or otherwise were faced with some stormy conditions. The weather was severe enough that the venue doors were opened late as a safety precaution. As far as the recapper’s experience goes, I was faced with technical difficulties associated with a poor wifi connection in my Lake Tahoe vacation rental. The webcast was therefore unwatchable and the following will be based entirely on listening to the show when I awoke this morning to find out that my wife and I had managed to chase off her parents, leaving us to celebrate our Independence. What follows is a live blogged relistening as I chug coffee in advance of some fireworks.

The “Farmhouse” opener is a warm welcome with a semi-awkward embrace and a soothing backrub to get some blood flowing and some feeling back into the soggy appendages. This slow warm-up was the perfect prelude to the funktastic “Wolfman’s Brother” which followed. It found a killer groove and is edgy and raw. I would imagine I would have been dancing as hard to this one as I did in Bangor a year ago. Walking into the “Maze” I was expecting the energy to remain elevated but this version is quite a mess. The interplay between Page and Trey for the bulk of the song reminds me of the conversation my wife and I had with her parents last night...everybody has something to say...but nobody was doing any listening. Just poor communication. Jarring, wonky, not really a good time.

Things did not improve with the traverse along “Yarmouth Road” unfortunately. The whole band sounds really tired...which is not a good thing four songs into the first set. “Strange Design”...simply describes the setlist so far. The energy is already low...so please pour this molasses on my head as I chug some sizzurp. I’m not saying it wasn’t played well. It’s just doing nothing to keep me awake. Perhaps even lulling me to sleep, perchance to “Devotion to a Dream.” The first of four Fuego tracks to be performed this evening finally breathes some life back into the set. “Ocelot” then slouches back down into another shady glen for another completely unnecessary mellow breather. It’s like being on a hike at altitude, getting oxygen deprived and lungless from very minimal exertion. Where is the fire? Please get me some “Chalkdust” to end this torture. Energetic but discordant. I feel alive but uncomfortable. Heart rate elevated sufficiently. Now lets do something with this renewed vitality. Yeah! We can climb this “Mound” and find out what both we and it are made of. Quite an interesting version, a chaotic jumble of angular blocks of deep thought that shouldn’t quite fit together in one place but somehow do in a very pleasing manner. A fitting counterpoint to the soothing deep brain massage offered by the “Roggae” which follows. Glossy and smooth with a patiently building groove that is only slightly marred by some minor flubbery on Trey’s part. I would have dropped this into the “Strange Design” slot above. Relaxed but glowing and alive. Back on track...just in time to end the set. I love “Possum” and would be happy hearing it at every show. This specimen features some sweet piano work and a little bit of machine gun fire. You got me again...I’ll stick around for the second set...just in case things get more interesting.

“Bathtub Gin” to open the second set? Alright, things just got more interesting. The first pour is a slooooow gin fizz. A rhapsody in Sapphire. Shaken and stirred. Cool and refreshing. Well balanced and smooth. An aromatic blend of rich exotic spices with a hypnotic finish that fades to a stunning “Limb by Limb.” Definitely a must hear version of the song. The jam goes way out beyond the trail markers to find a pulsing mass of thick phosphorescent goo which stands a menacing guard at the gates to the land of the “Winterqueen.” The second Fuego tune of the night is perfectly placed, well played, and does nothing to mar the magnificence of what preceded it. It is a moment to breathe deep and admire all which surrounds in the circus of light...as we step to “The Line.”

Considering the subject matter of the song and the nature of Trey’s time spent in the Saratoga area...hearing this third Fuego track of the night during the SPAC run is not a surprise. A great reminder that we can overcome our failures. Even those as recent as a largely lifeless and disjointed first set. Especially when you are going to drop a late game “Tweezer” after an already solid third quarter. The “Tweezer” jam is average great. Which is to say it treads no new ground...but there is still nothing I would rather listen to than this song. Play it every show, every set, I’m loving it every time. It always touches me in my “no-no square” whenever it appears. The late-game butt fumble for this show is the rather perfunctory “Prince Caspian” paired with a typically cracked out “Sparkle” which followed. The fumble is recovered by a high energy “Antelope” and returned the length of the field for a potentially game winning touchdown to close the set. The success of the PAT conversion during the encore would make the difference between a win, loss, or tie for this contest. Obviously we should be getting a “Tweezer Reprise” but with what would it be paired? I had been calling for a “Showprise” conclusion all day but instead we got the fourth Fuego song of the night an awkward thank you from Page and “Sing Monica” as our prize. It was a solid performance of the song they wrote about a girl they don’t know. I know I don’t have to tell you that “Tweeprise” was FUCKING AWESOME. So the encore was scored as a solid kick right between the uprights earning a single point and a tie for the game. As the saying goes...it’s like kissing your sister.

Expecting drier conditions and some fireworks tonight. I’ll be raging Lights on the Lake with an estimated crowd of a million that will undoubtedly be dispersed by national guard troops before the evening concludes. Be safe. Murica!

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Greetings, Phish fans! Summer tour 2014 kicked off last night at Great Woods – a venue that has been housing Phish performances for over twenty years and through which a CliffNotes history of the band is told – with a performance that featured a mix of classic and familiar songs as well a measured dose of material from their new album, Fuego.

Fuego has been received favorably by the vast majority of fans as well as the mainstream press. The band seems enthused and determined to focus on that material and allow it to breathe and grow in their live performances. So, let’s splurge! Bring us some fresh wine! The freshest you’ve got – this year! No more of this old stuff!

If there is one song from the album that is already universally loved it is clearly the title track. “Fuego” (the song) seems destined to “go big” and upon the opening notes there was a palpable excitement in the air. Three live performances is far too early to project the role it may play in the repertoire, but it hasn’t yet stretched out beyond its very dense structure – any latent potential of the song remains just that, a potential, a subjunctive, a question. Is “Fuego” destined for an expansive improvisational launchpad role akin to “Light,” or is it more “Walls of the Cave” – a beloved composition that adheres closely to a fixed structure?

The move of “Wingsuit” from the opener on 10/31/13 to the closing slot on the album suggested a natural slot for the walk-off set closer, where it succeeded spectacularly at Great Woods. The song offers expansive and inviting lyrical themes and is pregnant with the emotional weight of a true rock anthem. Will it go Big, or will it be “Bug?” The upside potential is limitless – the song’s, the band’s, yours and mine. Time will tell.

A more curious and interesting case is provided by “Waiting All Night.” A lovely studio track that benefited greatly from the guidance of Fuego’s producer, Bob Ezrin, “Waiting All Night” may stand alone in a first set jukebox, launch into something more powerful, or settle nerves after an improvisational roller-coaster. Tuesday’s performance was fine in isolation but (IMHO) suffered slightly from its placement following an unusually by-the-book opening half of the second set. The “Mike’s” > “Simple” > “Free” segment was, generously and politely, a workman-like sequence that dispensed with the notion that a Phish gig’s second stanza requires improvisation, or anything new. It is really a lovely piece that will perhaps require tryouts in a number of utility roles to find its proper footing.

Turning to the improvisational meat of the show, there are three: “Stash,” the brilliant segue from “Ghost” to “Weekapaug,” and “Harry Hood.” “Stash” was fantastic and measures well against other 3.0 standouts (7/30/09 Red Rocks, 7/14/13 MPP, 10/31/10 and 10/31/13 Atlantic City), and was further enhanced by the flexing of new muscles from Chris Kuroda in new-to-2014 fractal-based mind-spinning awesomeness. “Ghost” was asleep at the switch until Fish drove the band back into “Weekapaug” – a.k.a. “Mike’s Song Second Jam” – a reprise of sorts to the same “Ghost-a-Paug” from 12/30/13 at MSG.

Then the “Hood”... wow. You basically have the whole story of this show, or any show, in this 18+ minute “Hood” – confident and competent composed section, a daring leap into the unknown, a jumbled wad of confusion and uncertainty, then deep-space-nine that sucker, get weird, and pour your heart and soul out to complete the package. The performance immediately summons a comparison to 8/5/13 Hollywood, both as a top-tier 3.0 version and because it bucked script and placed the big improvisational moment of the money set late instead of early. Works for me.

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As is becoming a bit of a habit, for our “point-counterpoint” segment I’m joined by my dear friend, Lily Morton, who will take it home with her view… and then we invite yours. Happy summer, be safe, play hard, fly high! -PZ.

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last night's concert is the starting point of a glorious summer. my impression overall was one of superb unity going forward. this thought is also reflective of the unity of the new songs of fuego with the old phish standards we all know and love. the show was strongly bass-driven and all songs held tightly in the framework of the rhythm section. cheers to Fishman - the timing clock-master.

the set one standouts in my experience - 555, a winner of a song among the new record releases and stash, an old friend. within stash i noted an inspired tension and brotherly wrestling between the bass and guitar. most fun.

bouncing around the room and cheers to chris kuroda for lighting cool enough to drop the temperature a few degrees. the lighting of both sets was dominated in cool colors, blues, purples, greens as this palate helped offset the steamy steamy heat of july's beginning in the northeast. love the light.

birds of a feather into wingsuit slowed down the momentum as the first set came to a conclusion, a necessary reprieve to the intensity of warmth. wingsuit is a dear lovely song, a most beautiful concept. it has a future for potential improvisation particularly where the guitar is likely to stretch and take flight. wingsuit is a calm collected composition that seems to be evolving moments of intensity and exploration. the song isn't necessarily calm throughout, making things yet more interesting. moments beginning in calm flight take alternate changes and turns. wingsuit will evolve with extended jam stretches, sound flight navigated of the guitar… just a prediction.

set two was all about mike. with mike's song opening straight up with no surprises into simple when things got very surprising as simple was hot hot hot, smoking hot as there was a noted 'something' in last nights simple. perhaps it was a noted tension again between the base and guitar. very nice.

waiting all night, a most pleasant calm moment (a beautiful calm) to recollect into a ghost that felt singular and in perfect company to the great ghosts of the past. this ghost felt unique and singular and in my experience was the peak of last night's concert experience. epic ghost.

into mike's into hood. there were moments that carried my ears off into something in the hood... somewhere late in the composition. i can't recall exactly what it was. i simply noted that it happened.

julius was an awesome encore. a one song encore as this seemed quite long, so upbeat and i was most happily elevated in my spirit after last night's opening concert this summer tour. it is going to be a hot hot summer. things are going to remain very interesting... we have superb unity here.

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IT doesn’t happen often enough. Phish takes the stage, begins playing, and you’re grateful and fortunate to be seeing them once again. Whether it’s your first tour opener or your thirtieth, Phish is smiling, everyone around you is THRILLED—even vibrating with anticipation—and the encircling energy fills you with profound joy.

“I wish I could see a Phish show every day,” you might think to yourself, grinning. “All aboard for the tour”!

But you can’t see Phish every day. Even on tour there are days off. You have seen Phish before, though, likely quite a lot, and you’ve heard enough of their music to have strong opinions about it. You probably also know that Phish shows can be, have been, and continue to be overrated now and then beyond all possible bounds of decency, because they’re so AWESOME to begin with. It’s easy to do and everyone does it, including those who listen to Phish all the time, and have heard everything that Phish has ever performed (that circulates).

Phish puts on a GREAT show as compared with other rock concerts. The “average” or typical Phish show is GREAT as compared with other rock concerts. But when comparing Phish shows against each other, the typical or the average show is great, and inevitably one show is overrated by some and underrated by others in your opinion (and in the opinion of the many other fans who share your view as well). Thankfully, we don’t all share the same views, and it’s fun to read the sometimes radically-divergent opinions of fellow fans about shows. And if I’ve learned anything in life, including after having discussed improvisational music with people for decades, it’s that context is critically important: positivity begets positivity and—you guessed it!—negativity begets negativity. Focusing on the negatives about a show in a review is certain to bring negative comments and “flames.” It is inevitable. You know that, I know that, everyone knows that. Or do they?

It came as somewhat of a surprise to learn today that during one week in January 2012, Facebook manipulated the “News Feeds” of nearly 700,000 of its users, in an “experiment” such that some users primarily saw “positive” messages and others primarily saw “negative” messages in their feeds. The manipulation by FB of the feeds in this manner unsurprisingly led to the posting of (a) generally “positive” or “happy” messages by users whose feeds contained primarily “positive” content, and (b) generally “negative” or “sad” messages by users whose feeds contained primarily “negative” content.

Seriously? FB decided to manipulate the feeds of hundreds of thousands of people to reach an obvious conclusion about human nature? Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure what FB did was legal, but setting aside the ethical issues that FB’s “experiment” raises, why did they need to do it? It’s common sense that attitude has a profound effect on living, on experience. “Life is a state of mind” may be a quaint expression, but it’s also inescapable for anyone alive with a mental state intelligent enough to be self-reflexive.

Anyone who reads anything online about Phish’s music knows a thing or two, or three, about this. For example, if you were to read a review of the upcoming tour opener in Great Woods that contained two or more of the following statements, even if you agreed with them, you’d likely post a negative Comment, or at least consider doing so, whether or not you finished reading the thing:

• First set opened with a "Runaway Jim" so perfunctory that it made me want to punch myself, and Trey, in the face.
• “Ocelot” was so boring that I imagined putting one in a cage, and poking it with sticks, in a futile effort to entertain myself.
• It’s a shame that Fish loves "Rift" so much, because it doesn’t jam and has been performed ten thousand times already. Christ.
• Imagine that, “Moma Dance” and “Funky Bitch” being played nearly note-for-note like you’ve heard them many times before, despite having enormous potential to jam.
• With the sun setting, and the lawn alight in dusk’s warm glow, the evening’s “Stash” went where you’ve heard it go a number of times in the last decade, i.e., nowhere.
• While "Bouncin" is among Phish’s most popular songs, with a catchy melody and chorus, it’s not quite long enough for a reliable bathroom trip, and must be endured, as painful as this may often be.
• Oh, hey, an "Antelope" first set closer! I wonder where Trey got the idea for such an ingenious set placement? Sadly, even Marco Esquandolas himself won’t want to listen to this weak version again.

And that’s just the first set… still reading?

Negativity sucks, especially when it comes to the music of our favorite band (or at least one of our favorite bands!). But that said, there’s nevertheless a place for it. It would be beyond dull if all of the show reviews you read are only smiles und sunshine. If you read a show review and you like it, wonderful! Think about sharing it, or letting the author know you enjoyed it. Don’t like what the review said? Don't share it. Or perhaps write your own or just Comment. But did it challenge any of your assumptions, or make you think even a little deeper about something, anything, e.g., how not to write a Phish show review, or what you dislike the most about music criticism? And don’t be shy about explaining why you think a show didn’t meet Phish’s typical, average-great (high) standards. You’re not a “h8tr,” you’re a human being and entitled to your opinion, even if it's "negative" and therefore likely unpopular. Our online community benefits from a diversity of opinions, no matter how ignorant and full of haughty BS you might believe them to be. Our common bond is Phish's music and our love for it, even when we think it's below "average-great."

So, here’s to hoping that as great as Phish’s music will be this summer, the commentary on Phish’s music—yours included!— is more thoughtful and crazy and senseless and creative than it’s ever been, “positive” OR “negative,” “happy” or “sad!” $0.02.

NOTE: The Monday Mystery Jam will return on Monday, July 7.

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We've known him as ZZYZX (a monicker he adopted from a southwestern road name for his persona on Phish.net and elsewhere), the guy with the (original) Phish Stats site (and don't miss IHOZ more generally, nor the related page on Facebook), "The Timer" (for recording song lengths, stopwatch and clipboard in hand), and David Steinberg (his birthname, or what we know of it). Now, we know him as author.

David's This Has All Been Wonderful - A Travel Monologue from Summer 1994: The Year Phish Became Phish was released in late April. And ever since Relix dropped a bomb of an excerpt May 7, reviews have been raves, with ratings on Amazon higher than for Puterbaugh's quasi-official Biography (4.5 vs 4.3; gotta have the stats!)

Unlike most of what you may know from him, it's not (much) about stats, but about the man and the experiences. It's a great, smooth read, about a lost time in Phish fandom. Plus, a portion of sales support the non-profit, volunteer-run Mockingbird Foundation. All for only nine bucks!!

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There's been some chatter online recently about "the second jam in Mike's Song," because in the radio interview that Fish conducted in Maine last week on June 20, 2014 (see JamBase article), a caller asked Fish why the band was no longer playing the second jam in "Mike's Song."

Fish was rightfully confused by the question, in part because the caller said the second jam hadn't been played since ~1998 (incorrect), but also because he didn't articulate to Fish what he meant by "the second jam in Mike's Song" in terms that Fish understood. But, in a similar vein, last year, Andrew Hitz (a professional tubist, Mockingbird Foundation Board member, and Working Group member of this site), had a chance to ask Trey about the "second jam in Mike's Song," around the time when Drew played tuba with Trey and the National Symphony Orchestra on May 22, 2013, and even Trey seemed baffled by the question, possibly since they've been playing "Mike's" a particular way, with one jam segment, since 1.0. (Listen to Drew discuss this experience with Trey and the NSO, here.) So, what do fans mean when they refer to the "second jam" in "Mike's Song"?

Well, you may already know, but if you don't or aren't sure, you can read the song history on this site. But here's a different version:

After "Mike's" more or less became the song you know it to be today, Trey and Mike used to play the first section or segment of the opening jam of "Mike's" on trampolines, while fog poured forth over the stage, and Chris created ominous and wild lightscapes. It was a pretty cool effect, especially in a small room. This section of the song became known among some fans as the "tramps segment" or "tramps jam," and even after Trey and Mike ceased to jump on tramps during this "segment," the name stuck, in no small part because the fog sometimes appeared during the segment and/or the jam took on a dizzyingly-dark and dissonant character. (The last time I recall seeing Trey and Mike on tramps during "Mike's" was 7/2/94, though I was emailed in the mid-1990s by people claiming to have seen them on tramps in "Mike's" after that date...so I am not sure when the last time was that Trey and Mike were on tramps during "Mike's" -- do you know? -- but it would be entertaining to see the tramps return.)

After the (tramps) jam section of "Mike's" occurs in the typical version, the improv continues, of course. It was and still is usually led by Trey, soloing melodically on his custom Languedoc guitar. This opening jam segment often ended, and still ends, with a few composed measures of notes and chords that would either (a) conclude with a set of descending chords, a chromatic walkdown, that sounds like part of Rush's "La Villa Strangiato" (watch and listen at both 6:36 and 6:47 at that link), as all of the recent versions of "Mike's" have done; or, (b) conclude with a key (F) modulation and the first note of what came to begin "Simple" in some versions, but, in other versions, instead of playing and jamming on "Simple," the band would begin :::drum roll::: A SECOND JAM. Allow me to explain with help from PhishTracks (but FTR, I am 100% certain that PhishTracks song-in-progress times/timings change slightly when I go back to them, even close-in-time when I re-check them out, and so please consider the following timings with a two or three second error factor):

For example, open up 5/28/89 Ian's Farm in another browser:

3:03 Jam segment begins (no tramps in '89)
4:18 Trey teases the old HBO movie theme
4:54 Trey teases something I should know but am forgetting
5:37 Jam segment closing chords begin
5:58 Second jam begins (but not with note that eventually started "Simple")
6:48 Jam segment closing chords (again)
7:07 Chromatic walkdown begins (descending chords a la "La Villa Strangiato")
7:12 Final closing chords
7:33 Mike's Song ends, Hydrogen begins. (Total time is 7:33 or so.)

Similarly, open up 11/19/92's "Mike's" in another browser:

3:09 Tramps Jam begins
5:54 Tramps segment closing chords begin
6:11 Second jam begins (with note that eventually started "Simple")
9:00 Tramps jam segment closing chords (again)
9:17 Chromatic walkdown begins (descending chords a la "La Villa Strangiato")
9:22 Final closing chords
9:42 Mike's Song ends. (Total time is 9:42 or so.)

So 5/28/89 and 11/19/92 both have two jam segments, but 11/19/92's second jam segment opened up with the same note that eventually started "Simple" in many versions of "Mike's Groove," unlike 5/28/89's second jam segment.

And now, compare those two-jam-segment versions with the following:

7/24/1988 Nectar's:

2:13 Jam segment begins
7:05 Page plays the chromatic walkdown
7:09 Final closing chords
7:28 ends.

3/12/89 Nectar's:

2:27 Jam Segment begins (approximate time given tape cut)
5:40 Jam segment closing chords begin
6:19 Chromatic walkdown (Trey only)
6:25 Final closing chords
6:46 ends, Hydrogen begins.

7/12/96 Milkweg, Amsterdam:

2:36 Jam segment begins
{no closing chords at all}

9/12/2000 Great Woods:

2:41 Jam segment begins
6:45 Jam segment closing chords begin
7:03 Note that starts second jam
{extremely brief jam into "Hydrogen," so no real "second jam"}
{and no chromatic walkdown and final closing chords}

9/20/2000 Riverbend (SIIICK version, by the way):

2:37 Jam segment begins
9:35 Jam segment closing chords begin
9:53 "Simple" begins

9/25/00 Bonner Springs:

2:47 Jam segment begins
7:46 Jam segment closing chords begin
8:04 Note that starts second jam
{brief jam into "Hydrogen," so no real "second jam"}
{and no chromatic walkdown and final closing chords}

9/30/00 Thomas & Mack, Vegas (very strong version!):

2:44 Jam segment begins
8:26 Jam segment closing chords begin
8:45 "Simple" begins

10/7/2000 Shoreline:

2:41 Jam segment begins
9:03 Jam segment closing chords begin
9:21 Note that starts second jam
{extremely brief jam into "Hydrogen," so no real "second jam"}
{and no chromatic walkdown and final closing chords}

6/17/04 KeySpan Park, Brooklyn, NY:

2:52 Jam segment begins
8:25 Chromatic walkdown begins
8:29 Final closing chords
8:51 Total time. {there were no jam segment closing chords}

And, of course, the most recent "Mike's", 12/30/2013 MSG:

2:45 Jam begins
6:15 Jam segment closing chords begin
6:52 Chromatic walkdown begins
6:56 Final closing chords
7:39 "Mike's Song" ends with sustain before DTAD.

In other words, 7/24/88 and 6/17/04 basically have the same structure as each other, as do 3/12/89 and 12/30/13. Phish has thus been playing "Mike's Song" in the last decade largely the same way it was commonly played in its first five years as a song, but not as it was most often played in "1.0" during the 1990s.

Of course, many versions of "Mike's" don't follow the above structures. "Mike's" is so improvisational that it's had multiple jam segments and single jam segments, and sometimes there haven't even been "closing chords" for the song at all. See, e.g., the magnificent 12/31/97 version, when, at 9:18, Page sustains the chord that typically begins the "Mike's Song" closing chords and chromatic walkdown, but the jam continues, and continues in a gorgeous manner, and there are no closing chords at its end; it's just one jam segment. And two-jam-segment versions of "Mike's Song" from the 1990s that you should hear, if you haven't already, include: 12/30/93, 6/22/94 (three jam segments??), 12/1/95, 12/7/95, 12/31/95, 11/6/96 (!!!), 11/13/97, and 12/31/98.

And here are two odd versions from 1989, when the structure of "Mike's Song" was still in transition:

2/7/89 at The Front in Burlington (only one jam segment):

2:23 Jam segment begins
6:59 Page starts jam segment closing chords while Trey wails away
7:05 Page plays chromatic walkdown while Trey keeps wailing away
7:17 Final closing chords
7:38 "Mike's Song" ends, "Hydrogen" begins. (Total time is 7:38 or so.)

3/24/89 Paradise (recording fwiw is from my first live (mixed) Phish tape):

2:28 Jam segment begins
5:04 Jam segment closing chords begin
5:23 Second jam begins (but not with the note that starts "Simple")
(the second jam lasts only like 20 seconds!)
5:43 Jam segment closing chords again
6:21 Chromatic walkdown begins but it's Trey only
6:27 Final closing chords
6:48 "Mike's Song" ends.

Some of the greatest versions of "Mike's Song" also only have ONE jam segment, like 2/7/89, noted above, which is a very fierce early version. It is therefore False that a two-jam-segment "Mike's" is necessarily better than a one-jam-segment "Mike's." See, e.g., the must-hear one-jam-segment 12/16/95, 7/22/97, 12/2/97, 12/31/97, and 12/30/99 versions. And, frankly, I couldn't care less if they ever play another two-jam-segment "Mike's," because what I crave is simply any version, with any structure, that competes musically with the finest in Phish history.

The last time Phish peformed a two-jam-segment "Mike's Song" of consequence, I believe, was at Polaris Amphitheater on 7/14/2000. (Correct me in the Comments if you believe I'm wrong and that there's one in 2.0. As noted above, 9/12, 9/25 and 10/7/00 had brief, arguably inconsequential, "second jams" that segued into "Hydrogen," and so I'm not counting them. And while the 1/4/2003 "Mike's" has no closing chords but does feature the "note" that ordinarily begins a second jam, the second jam is just a long, mellow segue into "Mountains in the Mist.")

If you're interested in timings for the structure of 7/14/2000, here you go:

2:50 Jam segment begins
8:59 Jam segment closing chords begin
9:17 Second jam segment begins
{no further closing chords at all}
16:35 Jam dissolves and is over. "Mike's Song" (unfinished) ends.

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In what's becoming a nice little tradition, Waterwheel hosted an album release party for "Fuego" at Nectar's last night (Sunday, June 22).

(Fairly anti-climactic given the NPR track releases, then the album stream, and then pre-orders arriving. But I guess that's where we're at with that kind of stuff...)

Band archivist Kevin Shapiro presented a nice little introduction of the album. I don't know that he said anything specific that's not out there in the body of knowledge for those of us that stay tuned in to all the details on this kind of stuff, but here are a couple of the points that stuck out:

• Thanking Nectar's as the "home of phish since 1984."
• He really emphasized the album as a home-grown, Vermont project. That a huge amount of work and creativity and development took place in the Barn.
• The full-band collaborative nature of the project. His comparison point was "not since Story of the Ghost" has the band worked together so fully on an album.
• The fact that 5 different recording locations were incorporated into the album - The Barn, Boardwalk Hall (at the "dress rehearsal" on 10.30), 2 studios in Nashville, and Fame in Muscle Shoals.
• There was particular note of the band covering themselves on Halloween, and so at the dress rehearsal, were dressed as themselves. In line with what was noted in the "Wingsuit" Phishbill, everyone seemed very happy and satisfied that they were able to incorporate a substantive chunk played live by the 4 of them at Boardwalk Hall into the title track.
• He characterized the trip to Muscle Shoals as a "road trip" in a way that I thought connotated an element of spontanaity. After the album was done playing I asked about that a bit - the genesis of the idea to head down that way and add some horns and backup vocals. Like, were they in Nashville and just hopped in the Voyager, or to what degree was that all scheduled and planned in advance? He didn't have any specific knowledge of how that came to be.
• Then, it was kind of funny, as an afterthought, or perhaps more accurately, a forgotten main point - he did his introduction of the album, thanked a bunch of people and organizations, and I think had actually dropped the needle and stepped away from the turntable. Ran back real quick before the music started, and was like, "How can I forget...?" and thanked the band for continuing to make music. Of course.

Sound was fantastic. Nectar's, as one would expect, has a real-deal sound system (2 of them actually) and an exceptional sound engineer.

The couple main things on the album that stood out (over repeated listens to the NPR stream) were:

• Some electronic sounds behind Waiting all Night which I had not noticed at all. I have no idea what instrument or effect they are.
• The massive bass and tympani (I think) behind Winterqueen, which are a great juxtaposition to the delicate guitar and vocals.
• The power of Wingsuit - there's a stretch at the end where it sounds like it could merge into Tweeprise
• And the huge pickslide (again, I think) right at the end of Sing Monica. I knew that was coming because I got a kick out of it on the stream, but that to me is just an extremely fun and rockin addition there coming out of the bounceback vocals.

The main room was relatively empty. There were only about 20 people there, most around the bar. I soaked up most of the album from the sweet spot in the middle of the floor, and was alone there for most of it. Continually surprised how few people turn out for these things. I find them quite enjoyable. Kevin said something like, "Even if I wasn't 'supposed to' be here, this is where I'd be."

Nice raffle prizes from Waterwheel, including a pair of "VIP" tix to SPAC, 3 signed posters (Rochester, Glens Falls, SPAC), one of the flags from Superball, some CDs, and a year's supply of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. After the raffle, Kevin once again thanked Nectar's and Waterwheel for making the event happen, and the band for their "Devotion to their Dream" of making music, and in turn, our dreams. Warm fuzzies on a beautiful Burlington evening.

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IT is an exciting time! With Summer tour about to begin, one can't help but wonder what Phish will bless us with this time around.

Will this tour's shows feature original set openers and encores, e.g., a set-opening "Fuego" or "Devotion to a Dream" or "Leprechaun?" Or a set-closing "Tweezer -> Waiting All Night" or "555" or "Leprechaun?" Or a 25-minute "Halfway to the Moon -> Leprechaun-> Halfway to the Moon" encore? Will Phish jam-out versions of songs that ne'er have been jammed-out before, like a 10-minute "Sample" or "Lifeboy?" Will we bear witness to improvisation that attains the titanic peaks of the Tahoe "Tweezer"? Will the shows this Summer bliss us out with bust-outs, and will we merrily sing their praises for weeks, even months, to come?

Or will Great Woods open on July 1 with versions of "Chalk Dust Torture" and "Wilson" so plebeian, and so meh, that All Hope Will Be Lost, and living while young and still having fun seem pathetically ironic, and you spill beer on yourself and others as you grab your head, collapse and sob inconsolably?

Who knows, but it's entertaining to think about, and will be far more entertaining to soon experience. And, frankly, I cannot be more grateful that in my 25th year of seeing this band, they're continuing to play well enough and passionately enough that it's worth the time and coin to hear every note, be it LIVE, be it on COUCH, or be it by DOWNLOAD.

And it's in this gracious, and readicculus, spirit that I offer the following list of show-going "Do's and Don'ts" for your consideration, whether you're about to attend your first, your tenth, or your whateverth show:

DO:

• APPLAUD for the opener, at least while the band gets on stage, and then for the first measure or two of "AC/DC Bag;"
• CLAP during "Mound" and "Stash" (only at the appropriate times);
• RUN to the bathroom ideally on the first note, but at least within the first two measures, of "Alaska;"
• WHISTLE along with Trey during "Guyute;"
• DANCE without hitting anyone around you (unless your name is "Greg Phelps," in which case you get a free pass for being a rail-riding-flailing antelope for an embarrassingly-long time);
• SHOUT-OUT the name of a song within its first measure, and smile broadly and wide-eyed at those around you, so they can admire how awesome and clever you are;
• SCREAM at the top of your lungs during the dramatically-ascending chords in the measure before "BOY!" during "YEM;"
• STFU during the jam segments of jamming songs, especially "Reba" god damn it;
• SMILE as much as possible, even during your sixtieth version of "Cavern" or "Rift" (think of how Fish LOVES "Rift"!), and be kind to and considerate of your fellow fans, unless they're drunk, deaf, noob fratboys who blow smoke in the faces of those around them and whose favorite song is "Picture of Nectar" (scorn them-- with extreme prejudice).

DON'T:

• THROW glowsticks anywhere near the band members, unless you are a jackass;
• CUT in front of other fans in a bathroom, poster, merch, beer, or other line (unless you want bad karma, and eternal damnation);
• SCREAM during the quiet acapella tunes, or the serene parts of songs like "Hood" and "Slave;"
• VOMIT on your fellow fans or anything they own (at least have the decency to vomit on yourself and your friends first);
• SPILL a fellow fan's beer without immediately apologizing and offering to buy him or her a new one;
• YELL "Hood" back at the band after Trey sings "Harry" (this asinine practice was started at Red Rocks in '96 in part thanks to yours truly, and I will never forgive myself...or its creator, Darius Zelkha);
• CRASH the stage, especially if you're a naked man, unless you want everyone to think you're mentally ill;
• RUN to the bathroom after the first few measures of "Alaska" (you missed your chance, and will just get in everyone's way, and the bathroom line will be too long by the time you get there, loser);
• POP balloons willfully and with malice, you god damn sociopath;
• PUSH your way through other fans in an effort to collect and hoard glowsticks (a classic, albeit hilarious, Noob-Wook maneuver);
• SHOUT-OUT the name of a song that Phish just began playing if someone else beat you to it, UNLESS it is the first time it's been played in 50 or more shows, in which case don't stop shouting-out the song's name until one of your friends grabs you and shakes you and slaps you across the face;
• YELL the name of a song as it begins when it's an obvious song that everyone around you knows, like "YEM," even during Trey's 1-2,1-2-3-4 count off, noob;
• SIT or STAND or DANCE in the aisle, unless you're highly skilled at considerately avoiding getting-in-the-way-of your fellow fans, especially those carrying $16 beers;
• SAY condescending, douchebaggy things that your fellow fans around you can hear, including (in addition to the above remarks) "You are why I don't go to shows anymore," "3.0 is so 3.0," "I miss versions of 'Mike's Song' that are worth hearing more than once," "I can't believe I paid for this shit," "Everything was better pre-hiatus," and "Set was good, but there wasn't the feeling that you had a good chance of catching 'IT,' or that 'IT' could happen at any moment."

Next time, when NoobSkool continues, you'll learn how to identify a "Below Average-Great Show," and how to best articulate to your friends why they're deaf and suck at the Phish.

Future NoobSkool Lessons May Include:

1. Proper, And Grossly Improper, Showgoing Attire
2. How To, And How Not To, Use The Bathroom At A Show, Including How To Find It When You're Blind-Drunk
3. The Differences Between Bowie's Hi-Hat Intro And Maze's Hi-Hat Intro
4. When To, And When Not To, Applaud After A Painfully-Ordinary Version Of A Song
5. Communication With Wooks
6. Finding Your Seat When You're So High You Can't Read Your Ticket, Assuming You Still Even Have Your Ticket, Holy Shit Where's My Ticket
7. Getting Arrested, And Avoiding Life In Prison
8. Was That Set Average-Great, Merely Solid, Or Something Else Entirely
9. How To Carry Four Beers, Several Sausages, Three Waters, A Poster, And Your Ticket Stub (In Order To Show The Aisle Nazi To Let You Get To Your Rightful Seat) At The Same Time, Without Spilling A Beer Or Soiling Your Poster
10. How To Differentiate Type 2 From Type 1 Jamming, And Vice Versa
11. Advanced Communication With Wooks
12. Drug Etiquette, Including What Not To Do With The Joint You Were Just Passed
13. How To Politely Tell Your Neighbors To STFU During The Jam Segment
14. Best Places To Pass Out At A Show
15. Telepathic Communication With Wooks
16. Recovering From The Ripcord (In Twelve Steps)
17. Cash Or Trade? Know The Market!
18. Navigating Shakedown: A Survey Of Merch Options And Prices
19. The Art Of Dancing Without Touching Anyone Around You Like An Inconsiderate Asshat
20. To PT Or Not To PT
21. Ways To Enjoy Yourself During "Wading In The Velvet Sea"
22. Hotels: Checking In Through Checking Out, With Tips On How Not To Lose Money, Friends
23. Sitting In Someone Else's Awesome Seat And Getting Away With It
24. The Seven Types Of Fan, Including Their Diet, Size, Habitat, And Range
25. A Survey Of North American PhanArt From The 20th Century Through The Present (With Co-Instructor Pete Mason)
26. Babysitting Your Friends When They're Dosed Beyond All Comprehension
27. Over-The-Counter Medications That You Should Never Tour Without
28. Glowstick Handling, Avoiding
29. Where To Find Your Lost Backpack
30. Tips For The Designated Driver
31. Calling Whales: Using Your Pitch Shifter To Make A Jam Sound Atrocious When You Don't Want To Play The Beautiful Melody That Almost Everyone Really Would Prefer To Hear You Play
32. Lot Food: Steals And Deals
33. Touring With Diarrhea
34. Touring With An Asshole
35. Touring With No Money
36. Touring With An Asshole With No Money And Diarrhea
37. "Fuego:" Great Album, or Greatest Album?
38. ...[see Comments below]

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The PhanArt Poster and Pin Exhibition: Chicago, featuring a wide variety of artists who draw inspiration from the music of Phish, will be held on Sunday, July 20th, 2014 from 12pm-5pm at the historic Congress Plaza Hotel, 520 South Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL located near Grant Park. This one of a kind art show, created and produced by Pete Mason, will be held on the final day of Phish's three night stand at Chicago's FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island.

The initial lineup announced for the PhanArt Poster and Pin Exhibition: Chicago represents a wide array of artists from among the Phish art community. Longtime Phish artists Ryan Kerrigan, TRiPP, Isadora Bullock, Michael Boyer and Jeff Nesbit are all familiar names with fans from past shows. Each will have a large portfolio of current and past concert poster art to exhibit from a wide range of musical acts.

Phil Kutno, best known for his expressive oil, pencil and lithographs of American music icons will have his work on display. Screenprint artist Paul Bohensky brings a unique styles of posters to the PhanArt show for the first time, while Melissa Goldenberg's line of Phish inspired jewelry, clothing and accessories will surely find an audience. Graphic Translations Tees and Fred Sutter will each have a wide array of t-shirt designs normally found on lot.

Pin makers and designers Adam Davidoff of Phishcoins, Noah Phence, Adrian Sharpe of StuPINdous Creations, Pin me Down, Andrew Bryant, and Party Time Pins will feature ever-popular pin series and designs, as well as other items made specifically for the Chicago shows and Summer Tour 2014.

Non-profits include The Mockingbird Foundation, the Phish fan charity which also maintains and operates the Phish.net website and published the popular series of The Phish Companion books (the 3rd edition set to be released at the end of 2014) and which has awarded grants for music education totaling more than $700,000 over the past 15 years; Screens 'n' Suds, whose mission to spread the appreciation of craft beer and screen printed art has raised over $115,000 for the National MS Society and other charities, and PhanArt, a book and website created as a way to showcase the art made by Phish fans, raising money for The Mockingbird Foundation through donations from artists and fans, totaling over $15,000 since 2009.

For the first time at a PhanArt Exhibition, a curated playlist from Wyllys, specific for the show, will set the tone for the day, providing an audio component to accompany the visual aspects of the art show. Wyllys has proved himself on an international level as a DJ and band leader with dates in Jamaica, Amsterdam, British Colombia, and the Mayan Riviera as well as some of the biggest festivals in the US such as Bonnaroo, Electric Forest, and Mountain Jam. Of late the prolific DJ has scaled back touring to work on original material in the studio but still manages to make regular stops at Brooklyn Bowl and Tonic Room in Chicago. This playlist highlights some of his favorite funk and new disco tracks as well as some new genres like Future Hop.

For this particular playlist, Wyllys represents Blank Space Media, a collaborative digital agency, business incubator and talent cooperative carefully engineered to capitalize on the realities of today's economy. The culture of "Silicon Valley" has embedded itself into the highest echelons of American thought and behavior. Sometimes the best ideas lose out to those with better execution or simply bigger bank accounts. There isn't enough {blank space} to go around. For more information: blankspacestrategies.com

Phish Art shows have been held since 2003 with great success. Unique posters, pins, shirts, stickers and much more are made for Phish shows, making the PhanArt Poster and Pin Exhibition: Chicago, a must-attend event during Phish tour. Produced by Pete Mason, founder of PhanArt and author of PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish, and presented by The Mothership Art Collective, a group comprised of artists and organizations who promote the art inspired by the eclectic band Phish, the art exhibition represents a continued effort to promote and exhibit original and unique concert art from a wide variety of artists. The eclectic artists featured at this event show the broad scope of Phish related art and capture the inspiration of the band in their art. Phish's creative fan base makes amazing art inspired by the band, their music and the locales they play.

In keeping with the great tradition and success of past art shows, the PhanArt Poster and Pin Exhibition: Chicago, will offer free entry to all patrons and tubes available for purchase. More artists will be announced in late-June, as well as special edition works only available at the show, which will be available for viewing on PhanArt.net.

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“There’s nothing to say / And nothing to lose.”

It’s been nearly eight months since Phish stepped to the line and unveiled nine of the ten songs that would come to make up Fuego. Lots of words have been written and lots of air expelled in the intervening time debating whether they got nothing but air or nothing but net that night. Finally, the album’s release gives us all an opportunity to release from those modes ourselves, and examine these songs anew. As they richly deserve.

I’m not sure why it took the band this long to get around to it, but I can guess. Whatever your take on the Joy songs in the live setting, it was a milestone album for Phish. It is their resurrection hymnal, their Easter Mass – both a celebration of their new life and an exhalation of relief for having stared down artistic and human mortality as brothers and prevailed (at least for now).

So how do you follow that act? Another concept album? About what collective passage or triumph, exactly? What do you have to say?

What’s your point?

[Oh, and please hurry up! The fans are waiting.]

If Joy bore witness to Phish’s urgent rebirth, Fuego bears witness to their settled maturity. They are now a band with very little if anything to prove. That state of mind has pros and cons. You’ve got permission to fall flat on your face without the fear that you won’t be able to get back up. But it can also diminish your edge, your urgency, your desire to go out there every night and deliver your audience the proper rock rogering they deserve.

Both dynamics are on display here, among many others. With the exception of a few tracks, this is not a party record. There is no “Down with Disease,” or even a “Moma Dance.” A gauze of melancholy drapes over most of the material. Fist pumping opportunities do not abound. On the other hand, Phish is most definitely taking bigger risks than they were in the Joy sessions, and some of them pay off.

The opening title track is one such risk. You have to look back at least as far as “Scents and Subtle Sounds," and “Walls of the Cave” before that, to find a Phish composition as densely proggy and with as much potential for improvisation as “Fuego.” Producer Bob Ezrin – a bona fide wizard and Badass Motherfucker – gets out of the way here, resists the temptation to gild the lily, and lets the song’s Rorschach inkblot essence emerge.

The result is absolutely spectacular. “Fuego” can be deeply appreciated from a number of different angles: its hooks, its movement, or its lyrics, which offer plenty of slack line for delving interpretation, but can just as easily be experienced viscerally, like an abstract painting. Hear it as GAF View-Master flashes of a midlife crisis gone horribly awry. Hear it as the triumph of abandon over madness. Hear it your way, but hear it, because it’s the goods.

What follows “Fuego” is a six song progression that might be described as relentlessly polite. Or purposefully sedate. Phish for waiting rooms. These songs are not bad, in fact they all have their charms. They simply tend to blend into one another.

Phish has a few cool “moment of truth” songs – from “Llama” to “Limb By Limb” – and “The Line” is a swell addition to that quiver. As a college hoops nerd, I fantasize that one day it will replace “One Shining Moment,” and I’m not convinced that wasn’t Phish’s ulterior motive for writing it.

“Devotion to a Dream” benefits quite well from the studio treatment; I just wish I could put my finger on what it reminds me of once and for all. The elegant “Halfway to the Moon” boasts a chord progression that goes down like a complex whiskey, revealing new flavors ever so subtly as it rolls past your tongue and into your throat. Gun to my head, it’s my second favorite track on the album. Superb.

“Winterqueen,” a delicate ballad in the vein of “Anything But Me," marks Fuego’s energetic low ebb, but suddenly we are awakened by new sounds: horns! We’ll hear these horns a few times more, but here they herald the start of the climb upward toward the album’s climax. Densely layered keyboards lend a bit of gravity to the pop confection of “Sing Monica," and “555” serves to remind us that Phish still has a dangerous rhythm section. More horns and a cascade of gospel voices lift this joint right over the top – so convincingly that it’s already hard to imagine the song without them.

“Waiting All Night” is eerie and impossible to ignore, like one of those hyper-produced 10CC breakup songs from the mid-70s. Phish paints something here that I’m not sure I’ve ever seen: a lingering, cool, but intensely psychedelic portrait of distilled sadness. Yes, there are reasons not to love this tune on paper, but it is compelling through headphones.

Though it earns bonus points for its goofball ambition, the first half of “Wombat” suffers from a dearth of musicality. It’s not the first time the band has sounded as if they’re satirizing themselves or taking the piss, but it sounds the way an ill-fitting suit looks. The second half (“post explosion” – those who’ve listened will know what I’m talking about) is viral and greasy but over all too soon. It will be interesting to see what direction this tune goes over the next tour or two.

“Wingsuit” makes a much better ending than it did a beginning, back when it was a “title track.” The song is, after all, a benediction – an exhortation to cast aside fear and live fully. Trey’s concluding solo is nothing short of breathtaking, and a graceful denouement to it all.

Of all the Phish fans I know, precious few regularly listen to the band’s studio output. Fuego may not do much to change that, but maybe that’s beside the point. Maybe the point is illustrated by the album’s cover, which depicts a team of giant old-timey baseball players warming themselves around a thermonuclear fireball.

Or maybe there is no point. And maybe that’s okay.

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