Phish at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville Setlist, Photos and More

Tonight is the last night of Fall Tour 2009, and it's been a great one. Reminds me of late 1990s fall runs. John Paul Jones is also the name of Led Zeppelin's bass player. Will there be a Zep bust out tonight? Stay tuned ...

On a side note, I can't believe the New York Times has nothing about the shows, considering it's the first sold-out run at the Garden in 2009.

PHISH AT JOHN PAUL JONES ARENA IN CHARLOTTESVILLE SETLIST

SET ONE
AC/DC Bag, Chalk Dust Torture, Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan, The Divided Sky, Ya Mar*, Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley -> Vocal Jam, Old Home Place, Cavern, Funky Bitch, David Bowie, The Wedge, Axis: Bold As Love

SET TWO
Tweezer -> Light -> Piper -> Free, Sweet Virginia, Harry Hood, Suzy Greenberg, Golgi Apparatus, Run Like an Antelope**

ENCORE
Loving Cup, Tweeprise

SHOW NOTES
*Naked dude ran onstage, "Let's hear it for the naked dude!" -Trey ... "He was a Naked Pa .."; **"You've got to run like a naked guy out of control!"

PHOTOS
In front of the arena
Waiting to get in line
From the second row
Supposed decibel reading at MSG last night
The Butter Room's Charlottesville Tab from today!!! True Professionals!!!
Angeled view of the arena
Exit ... Stage Fishman
Divided Sky
The note
Naked guy during Ya Mar
Sneakin' Sally
If you dance too hard!
Old Home Place
Light
Harry Hood
In, looking out
Golgi Apparatus

DOWNLOAD THE SHOW
Mr. Minor's No Spoilers Audience Recording

LATEST NEWS FROM AROUND THE WEB
Phish 12.04.09 Night Three Madison Square Garden (Jambase)
Phish, Reba (1990), with Partial Transcription (4GBs)
Phish HATER Review of MSG (Rock NYC)

Phish at Madison Square Garden Night Three Setlist, Photos and Download Links

Last night's second set was purely awesome Phish. It's a must-have download from Fall Tour 2009. The Down with Disease -> Piper -> Fluffhead is a perfect example of Phish 3.0 firing on all cylinders. Click here to download an audience recording of the show. And, of course, you can listen and watch tonight's show via HoodStream. The last two nights the sound and video stream have been great, so check it out. The chat room is fun as hell, too.

PHISH AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN NIGHT THREE SETLIST

SET ONE
Heavy Things, Possum, Wilson, Kill Devil Falls, Glide, 46 Days, Bouncing Around the Room, Reba, Dinner and a Movie, Guyute, Maze*, First Tube

SET TWO
Scents and Subtle Sounds**, Rock and Roll -> Seven Below -> Twist, Mike's Song -> I Am Hydrogen -> Weekapaug Groove, The Horse -> Silent in the Morning, You Enjoy Myself

ENCORE
Shine a Light

SHOW NOTES
*Absolutely explosive solos by both Trey and Page ... much more so than usual; **Last time played 8/12/04, and this only the 14th time ever played;

PHOTOS
PhishChic, a near and dear friend of The Wagger's, standing in front of Trey Wednesday night
PhishChic again, a little later that night
Waiting on showtime
Kill Devil Falls
Guyute
Port City Music Hall urinal
Heavy Things
Outside the Garden
Lot goodies
A setlist book

LATEST NEWS FROM AROUND THE WEB
Phish Play Madison Square Garden for First Time in Seven Years (Spinner)
Seeing Phish Play Madison Square Garden Once (Esquire)
Video: Phish -- Peaches en Regalia (Hidden Track)
Phish Fall Tour Update -- The Setlist Recap (LiveMusicBlog.com)
Phish: 2.Dec.09 - Madison Square Garden, New York (PopMatters.com)
Todd Snider Gets Phishy with His Top 10 Albums of 2009 (Spinner)
Phish 12.03.09 MSG Night 2 (Jambase)
Recap: Phish at Madison Square Garden (A.V. Club)
Phish Turn Up the Volume but Can't Turn Back the Clock in New York (MTV.com)
Bonnaroo Poster Signed by Phish and Springsteen Added to Charity Auction (Jambands.com)
Dozens Facing Drug Charges After Phish Concert (Maine Public Broadcast Network)
Guests Join Post-Phish Brooklyn Bowl Jams (Jambands.com)
Phish Returns to Madison Square Garden: Photo Gallery and Setlists (The Monitor)
Video: Phish Playing Golden Age by TV On the Radio in Albany (YouTube)
Why Phisheads Are Social Media Pioneers (Wicks Picks)

Phish at Madison Square Garden Night Two Setlist

It's the stuff dreams are made of ...

PHISH AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN NIGHT TWO SETLIST

SET ONE
Punch You in the Eye, Backwards Down the Number Line, Axilla, Taste, Boogie on Reggae Woman, Stash, Lawn Boy, Time Turns Elastic, Back on the Train, Julius

SET TWO
Down with Disease -> Piper -> Fluffhead, Cities, Free, Halley's Comet -> 2001 -> David Bowie

ENCORE
Character Zero

DOWNLOAD THE SHOW
Mr. Minor's No Spoilers Audience Jem

Phish at Madison Square Garden Setlist, 26th Anniversary Show

Tonight is night one of Phish in New York City, which always feels a little like Christmas Eve did when you were a kid. Tonight is also the 26th anniversary of the first Phish show. Will the boys do anything to mark the occasion?

While we're waiting, here is an incredible video playlist from the Portland show, thanks to the YEMBlog. Live stream tonight at HoodStream. Dig it!!!

PHISH AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN SETLIST

SET ONE
AC/DC Bag, Chalk Dust Torture, Wolfman's Brother, NICU, Ocelot, Brian and Robert, Poor Heart, Sample in a Jar, Peaches en Regalia*, The Divided Sky, Cavern

SET TWO
Golgi Apparatus -> Light -> Slave to the Traffic Light -> Tweezer -> Joy, Sparkle, Harry Hood -> Wading in the Velvet Sea, Suzy Greenberg, Run Like an Antelope**

ENCORE
A Day in the Life, Tweeprise

SHOW NOTES
*Last time played 9/24/99, 185 shows ago, in Austin, Texas; **Absolutely explosive!!!

PHOTOS
Page's side
New spin on an old product

DOWNLOAD THE SHOW
Mr. Minor's No Spoilers Audience Hook Up
LivePhish.com

Phish 12/2/09 Madison Square Garden, New York, NY Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW

PHISH'S GRAMMY NOMINATION AND OTHER NEWS FROM AROUND THE WEB
In case you missed it, according to Phish.com, Phish was nominated in one category for the 52nd annual GRAMMY awards: Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package for their 7-DVD Boxed Set, The Clifford Ball.The GRAMMY Awards will be broadcast on CBS stations on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010 at 8 p.m. ET/PT (although it's doubtful that the awards for these highly prestigious categories will be aired). This is Phish's third GRAMMY nomination, including Best Rock Instrumental Performance for the song "First Tube" off of Farmhouse, and Best Boxed Set Packaging for phish's 1999 6-CD boxed set, Hampton Comes Alive.

Sing Phish Happy Birthday (Jambands.com)
Phish Rocks Portland (Examiner.com)
43 Phish Fans Charged at Maine Concert (Associated Press)
With Ghosts and All, Phish Delivers Goods (The Berkshire Eagle)
Phish "Camel Walk" in Philadelphia (Relix)

Break on Phish Tour: The Wagger Interviews Leo Kottke

Since we have a day before Phish implodes Madison Square Garden I decided to post a brief interview I did with Leo Kottke back in October to promote a show he was playing here in Bend, Oregon. He doesn't take phone calls so I was asked to submit questions for him to answer via email. The following is the result. Mind you, I was not going to publish this here but have been encouraged by friends because of Leo's relation to Mike and Phish.

I also have an interview planned with drummer Todd Isler from Mike's band in the near future, so stay tuned.

You can access the Leo Kottke article in its original online format, with a photo, here.

The Gift of Kottke: The guitar legend on recording, collaborations and Brett Favre

To see guitarist/songwriter Leo Kottke perform live is a lot like walking downstairs on Christmas morning and seeing all of the brightly wrapped presents under the tree–you’ll receive several gifts you expected, some flat-out surprises and a few more that make everyone in the room glance at each other with beaming smiles.

Kottke, whose personal life is as ambiguous as his chord phrasings, doesn’t give many interviews, but he talked to The Source via e-mail about his long career and his recent exposure to a younger audience.

Has performing live always been more attractive to you than making and marketing recordings?

Yes. Recording is like being interrogated. I don’t like the red light.

There were not many people making a living in the US playing finger-style guitar when you began in the ‘60s; why was the listening audience ready for it in 1967?

They were ready for it in 1915. It was called “parlor guitar” then, and some of it was pretty interesting. There were a lot of women players then as well.

Your original fans came to your music via LP records and live shows, but some new listeners have just recently discovered your music via the Internet. Do you have any control over what they see or what is put out?

None, but I like that, sort of. I always wish I could delete the garbage but why bother? I did it. I also did the good stuff. I prefer artists who screw up now and then. That’s my excuse

You made a record with Phish bass player Mike Gordon, introducing you to a younger audience. Twenty or 30 years ago you recorded with Los Lobos, and also with Lyle Lovett. What leads to you pairing up with such a variety of musicians?

It’s all the same music, including Balinese gong bands. The distinctions are arbitrary – the sources aren’t. I’m not a session player, so I get to play only with music and people I like. I first heard Lyle through a dressing room wall and Mike and I met at a show. Los Lobos, I think I met before we were born. It’s really friendship, kinship, that makes it happen. Mike and I have made two records and are threatening to make another one. It’s hard to have more fun than that. It’s a good way to forget the red light.

Until you’ve seen Rickie Lee Jones on the floor of the vocal booth, laughing too hard to get up, you have not lived. Musicians are wonderful people, but they’re always leaving town.

Los Angeles, New York and Nashville are the big centers for the music industry, and it seems like not many working musicians live in Minnesota, like you do. What is it like living so far from the commercial mainstream?

The commercial mainstream is concerts. You’re referring to industry centers, the mainstream for the labels. Prince and Dylan and Brett Favre and Brian Setzer live in Minnesota. Some of Bad Plus live here.

How do you approach writing new material? Chord progression first? How do you work through getting “stuck” during the songwriting process?

Writing is like running full speed into a wall. You do it again and again, expecting not to get hurt. It’s the only thing I know where that approach actually works … sometimes.

Leo Kottke

7pm Saturday, October 17.
Tower Theatre, 835 NW Wall St., $40/$51 reserved seats. Visit towertheatre.org or call 317-0700 for tickets.

Phish at Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, ME Setlist

Sorry for the late post but I was on the road traveling home yesterday from California.

PHISH AT CUMBERLAND COUNTY CIVIC CENTER, PORTLAND, ME SETLIST

SOUNDCHECK
Dog Log, Undermind, Glide, My Friend My Friend, Uncle Pen

SET ONE
Possum, Down With Disease, Nellie Kane*, Weigh**, When the Circus Comes, Kill Devil Falls, Water In The Sky, Stash, Meat***, Undermind, Mike's Song -> I Am Hydrogen -> Weekapaug Groove

SET TWO
The Moma Dance -> Rock & Roll -> Light -> Crimes Of The Mind**** -> Pebbles And Marbles -> 2001 -> Golgi Apparatus -> Cavern -> Run Like An Antelope

ENCORE
Free Bird#, Carini -> Waste

SHOW NOTES
*Last played 7/1/00; **Last played 12/30/03; ***Last played 7/21/03; ****Last played 11/28/03 and only the seventh time ever played in history; #A capella. Last played 6/22/00 electric with Wynona Judd on lead vocals. Last performed a capella 12/29/98.

DOWNLOAD THE SHOW
Mr. Minor's No Spoilers Audience Copy
LivePhish.com

Phish 11/29/09 Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, ME Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW

PHISH AT TIMES UNION CENTER, NIGHT TWO FROM ALBANY, NY

Last night's shown doesn't even look as good on a paper as it sounded. Any photos or anything else of interest you find, please post me a message as I am currently on vacation in Napa Valley and don't have a computer I can just sit in front of the for duration of the show.

There is a KILLER live stream tonight, both audio and video, courtesy of PhishSpac. Thanks, man!! Great show tonight with a great live feed.

PHISH AT TIMES UNION CENTER, NIGHT TWO FROM ALBANY, NY

SET ONE
Party Time, Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan, Uncle Pen, Sanity, Foam, Walk Away*, NICU, Alaska, Split Open and Melt, Joy, Vultures, Backwards Down the Number Line

SET TWO
Seven Below -> Ghost, Cool it Down, Gotta Jibboo, Let Me Lie, Wolfman's Brother, Julius

ENCORE
You Enjoy Myself

SHOW NOTES
Last Walk Away was 6/18/09 and prior to that it had not been played since 10/5/oo, sandwiched between Haley's Comet and Piper.

DOWNLOADS
Mr. Minor's "No Spoilers" series of crispy audience recordings.

PHOTOS


LATEST NEWS FROM AROUND THE WEB
Phish at Times Union Center, Albany, 11/27/09 (Albany Times-Union)
Phish Nods to TV on the Radio, Little Feat (Jambands.com)
Phish's Albany Adventure (HiddenTrack)
Phish: Scorching Guitar Work and Plain 'ol Noodling (Philadelphia Inquirer)

PHISH AT TIMES UNION CENTER ALBANY SETLIST

The day after Thanksgiving brings the boys back to hallowed stomping grounds in Albany, just up the road from Trey's new home. This Fall Tour 2009 is shaping up like a fall tour from when you were in your early 20s, waiting for Rosemary's Digest to give you the low down -- except, WTF is up with Tomorrow's Song???. And you people in the Northeast are so lucky -- all those show within a four-hour drive. Sheesh.

PHISH AT TIMES UNION CENTER ALBANY SETLIST
November 27, 2009

SET ONE
AC/DC Bag, Maze, Driver, My Mind's Got A Mind Of Its Own, Gumbo, Bouncing Around The Room, It's Ice, Two Versions Of Me, Timber Ho!, Limb By Limb, Cavern, Light

SET TWO
My Friend, My Friend -> Golden Age, On Your Way Down, Fluffhead, Piper -> Tomorrow's Song, Prince Caspian, Harry Hood, Suzy Greenberg, The Squirming Coil, I Been Around

ENCORE
Fire

Phish at Wachovia Center in Philadelphia Night Two Setlist and More

I missed the show last night driving down to Napa Valley for Thanksgiving. Real time setlists will continue after the weekend. As for tonight's setlist, cool to see Sleep Again make a second appearance since the acoustic set at Festival 8. I'd like to see that one stay in rotation.

PHISH AT WACHOVIA CENTER IN PHILADELPHIA NIGHT TWO SETLIST

SET ONE
Kill Devil Falls, 46 Days, Sugar Shack, Halley's Comet -> The Divided Sky, Sleep Again, Ocelot, Train Song, Wilson, Run Like An Antelope

SET TWO
Birds Of A Feather, Farmhouse, Tweezer, You Enjoy Myself, Esther, Time Turns Elastic, Tweeprise

ENCORE
Oh! Sweet Nothin'

Phish at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia Night One Setlist, Photos and News

Phish returns to Philly tonight for a run of two shows leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday. I love Fall Tour. Something about Phish indoors in the cold brings out the nostalgia in everyone. And tonight was a barn burner, fo sho!!

PHISH AT WACHOVIA CENTER IN PHILADELPHIA NIGHT ONE SETLIST

SET ONE
Chalk Dust Torture, Bathtub Gin, Cities -> Camel Walk, The Curtain With, The Wedge, The Moma Dance, Reba*, Golgi Apparatus, Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan

SET TWO
Possum, Down with Disease -> Twenty Years Later, Harry Hood -> The Mango Song, Mike's Song -> Simple -> Slave to the Traffic Light -> Weekapaug Groove**

ENCORE
A Day in the Life***

SHOW NOTES
*Without whistling; **Stopped and started again; ***Weekapaug drum beat teased before song started.

DOWNLOAD THE SHOW
Mr. Minor's No Spoilers Audience Recording

LATEST NEWS FROM AROUND THE WEB
Speaking of nostalgia, out of the blue today I received a welcome e-mail from the old PhishNet Digest, truly a relic from the past, announcing that the Phish.net Forum is now open for posting. The e-mail states: "The Phish.net Digest, if you haven't realized from 5 years of no posts, is now defunct. However, as part of the awesome redesign of Phish.net (by Adam Scheinberg for the Mockingbird Foundation) there is now a web-based forum available for discussion of all things Phish. Point your browser to phish.net/discuss/ to check it out. We are trying to recapture a little bit of that old rec.music.phish magic, so create an account and get posting!

Phish Frolic Through Rocks Back Pages in Cincinnati (MTV)
Big Black Furry Creature for Phish (Relix)
Phish Holds Sold Out Concert (WSYR)
Phish, Fans Find Joy in Visit to Jon Fishman's Hometown Arena in Syracuse (The Post-Standard)

Phish at War Memorial At OnCenter in Syracuse Setlist, Photos and More

Night four of fall tour finds Phish moving north into old territory, Fishman's hometown of Syracuse, NY, and a tiny, 7,000-seat venue. Last night's show in Cincinnati, to me, was sick as shit. I was having so much fun I sent out some incoherent tweets at the end. Oh well. Phish will do that to you sometimes.

There's been a live stream the last three nights at HoodStream. Let's hope for a fourth. There have been a lot of complainers about the stream quality. Please try to remember Phish has nothing to do with this stream. It's a Phan holding up the phone all night for us to hear. Be patient and grateful.

PHISH AT WAR MEMORIAL AT ONCENTER IN SYRACUSE SETLIST
November 22, 2009

Click here for the live stream with both audio and video tonight!

SET ONE
David Bowie*, Julius, Sparkle, Kill Devil Falls, Lawn Boy, Heavy Things, Funky Bitch**, Sample in a Jar, Boogie on Reggae Woman, Let Me Lie, Beauty of a Broken Heart, Stash

SET TWO
Drowned -> Twist -> Piper -> Big Black Furry Creature From Mars***, Tube, Theme from the Bottom, Maze, The Horse -> Silent in the Morning, Character Zero, First Tube

ENCORE
Good Times Bad Times

SHOW NOTES
Only the sixth Bowie opener in history. Last two were on 12/28/03 and 12/30/93 -- so only twice in 16 years!; **Only the second Funky Bitch played since Phish returned to the stage back in March; ***Last played 7/15/03, and only the fifth time since 11/21/98 ... with a lot of stage banter and a drum solo from "Dr. Fishman."

DOWNLOAD THE SHOW
Mr. Minor's No Spoilers Audience Recording
LivePhish.com

Phish 11/22/09 Oncenter, Syracuse, NY Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW

PHOTOS
2009 Summer Tour Montage
Cincy slideshow
Drowned
Piper
Maze
Back of the venue during Character Zero
On the floor
Kuroda magic

LATEST NEWS FROM AROUND THE WEB
Phish Fans Pour into Syracuse for Sold Out Show (CNYcentral.com)
Phish's Second Night in Cincinnati Turns to Classic Rock (Cincinnati Enquirer)
Phish Fans Remain Feverish About Favorite Jam Band (The Post-Standard)
THE BULLSHIT ARREST LIST in Cincy (KYPost.com)

Phish at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati Setlist Night Two, Photos and More

Welcome to night two of Phish's Fall Tour 2009 stop in Cincy. Last night saw the boys play three mega compositions in the first set -- Divided Sky, Time Turns Elastic and Fluffhead -- which left people complaining there was not enough jamming. Whatever. Funny, the Cincy newspaper declared just the opposite. Read below.

PHISH AT U.S. BANK ARENA IN CINCINNATI NIGHT TWO SETLIST
November 21, 2009

SET ONE
Wilson, NICU, Wolfman's Brother, Ocelot, Torn and Frayed, Strange Design, Ginseng Sullivan, Albuquerque*, Split Open and Melt, Dirt, Limb by Limb, Run Like an Antelope

SET TWO
Rock and Roll -> Ghost -> If I Could, Backwards Down the Number Line -> Prince Caspian, Suzi Greenberg, 2001, The Squirming Coil

ENCORE
Sleeping Monkey, Axilla**

SHOW NOTES
*First time played since 9/14/00 and 14th time ever; **Trey said they would play the request of people holding this sign up front. Only the second time played since they got back together. Other time was 8/15/09.

DOWNLOAD THE SHOW
PhishThought's No Spoilers Audience Download
LivePhish.com

Phish 11/21/09 U.S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati, OH Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW

PHOTOS
Outside the show
Ridin' The Rail
Barnyard noises
Outside in the cold
Right side, behind the board
Sheesh

LATEST NEWS FROM AROUND THE WEB
Fans Find Few Faults with Phish's Cincinnati Concert (Cincinnati Enquirer)
Phish in Cincinnati: Tonight's the Night (Hidden Track)

Phish at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati Setlist, Photos and More

The second night of Fall Tour 2009 finds Phish stopping for a two-night run at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, site of some sleeper shows from the past. The boys kicked off with a pretty good show in Detroit, and should continue with another high energy show tonight

PHISH AT U.S. BANK ARENA IN CINCINNATI SETLIST
November 20, 2009

SET ONE
Chalk Dust Torture, Moma Dance, The Divided Sky, Alaska, Water in the Sky, Fast Enough For You, Time Turns Elastic, Gotta Jibboo, Fluffhead

SET TWO
Punch You in the Eye -> Tweezer -> Light -> Back on the Train -> Possum, Slave to the Traffic Light, You Enjoy Myself

ENCORE
Joy, Golgi Apparatus -> Tweeprise

PHOTOS
Waiting for showtime
Lower bowl
Upper deck
Behind the stage
Chalk Dust Torture
More Chalk Dust
KILLER Festival 8 time-lapse video

DOWNLOAD THE SHOW
Mr. Minor's No Spoilers for the crispy audience copy.

Or, through LivePhish.com

Phish 11/20/09 U.S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati, OH Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW

LATEST NEWS FROM AROUND THE WEB
Phish Gives Cobo Another Memorable Night (ABC News12)
Fluffhead or Bust: A Journey to See Phish (Toledo Blade)
Bonnaroo 2010 Dates, Presale Announced (Billboard)
Phish Reunites with the Faithful in a Light Mood (Detroit Free Press)
Phish Return Welcomed by Cobo Crowd (Royal Oak Daily Tribune)
Phish Delivers Sold Out Show at Detroit's Cobo Arena (MichiganLive.com)
Phenomenal Phish (Stanford Daily)

Phish at Cobo Hall in Detroit Setlist, Photos

The only rule is, it begins ...

Fall tour is officially underway tonight in Detroit. There is a live audio stream, with video kicking in every now and then, of tonight's show at Bonnaboobs. Click here to listen. The boys killed it tonight! I'm calling the post 46 Days funk jam as the must-hear highlight. Download a crispy audience recording (hopefully) of tonight's show via the No Spoilers series.

And I just found out I scored tickets to all four nights of the New Years run in Miami. I even landed floor seats to three of the four shows, including Dec. 31. Woo-Hooo!!

PHISH AT COBO HALL IN DETROIT SETLIST
November 18, 2009

SET ONE
AC/DC Bag, Foam, Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan, Bouncing Around the Room, Sample in a Jar, Kill Devil Falls, It's Ice, Horn, Mountains in the Mist*, Poor Heart, 46 Days** -> David Bowie***

SET TWO
Runaway Jim, Down with Disease -> Free -> Waste, Taste, Bug, Wading in the Velvet Sea, Mike's Song -> I am Hydrogen -> Weekapaug Groove, Cavern

ENCORE
Character Zero

SHOW NOTES
*Just the 15th time ever played, and second time since 8/3/03; **Exceptionally wild lights during the funk jam at the end; ***Played super fast with a major key jam in the middle.

PHOTOS
Jambase slideshow
46 Days
Checking out Twitter, waiting for the show to start
Set break
Runaway Jim
Trashed at Cobo Hall (Who would throw away a perfectly good hippie like that?)
Train full of Phish-heads
Phishing for free ice cream. WTF???
Sometime during the second set
Found camera at Festival 8. Do you know these people?

DOWNLOAD TONIGHT'S SHOW
For some reason Cavern is omitted ...

Phish 11/18/09 Cobo Arena, Detroit, MI Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW

LATEST NEWS FROM AROUND THE WEB
Phish show at Cobo packs fans in like sardines (Detroit Free Press)
Phish, Umphrey's, Yonder and Dave Matthews Items up for Mimi Fishman Foundation Auction (Jambands.com)
The Carrie Brownstein Project (Jambands.com)

Phish New Year's Eve 2009 Tickets, Fall Tour Kicks Off, and the Latest from Around the Web

The mail order, ahem, excuse me, ticket lottery window has closed for scoring admission to see Phish play December 28 - 31 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. Good luck to everyone who put in for tickets. Tickets for the New Years run go on sale through Ticketbastard this Saturday morning at 10am EDT, or 7am PDT.

Good luck to all!

I've never, ever, not once, received tickets through their online ticketing system, but here's hoping they come through for me this time. This is, after all, a New Years run in Miami, about an hour south of my hometown of West Palm Beach, and just across the bridge from the Cameo Theatre, where I saw Phish for the first time (<--video link to David Bowie with the Theme from Jeopardy) in 1993.

Also, FYI, there is a quaint, outdoor venue across the street from the American Airlines Arena called Bayfront Park, where I saw Phish play later in August 1993 to a half-full, at best, amphitheater. (I clearly remember that night somebody wheeling a hand cart into the backstage area that was stacked with six cases of Bush beer in a can -- apparently that was Trey's favorite beer -- and then the band walking out and ripping our faces off with a Runaway Jim for the ages!)

If you go to the New Years run make sure to check out Bayfront Park. It's a trip to look at this tiny venue across the street from one of the massive arenas they play in today.

FALL TOUR 2009
Phish's 2009 Fall Tour kicks off this Wednesday night in Detroit. Hard to believe the 2009 Fall Tour is already upon us. What a year this has been!

Stay tuned to The Wagger for real-time setlist updates, photos from each show, links to download crispy copies of audience recordings, and hopefully a link to a live feed or two. And please, e-mail me your photos from tour to phishwagger at G mail dot com and I will post them here for everyone to see.

See you on the road this fall!

VIDEO FROM INDIO & THE BURBLE ON FACEBOOK
If you're interested in checking out video from the Halloween run, head on over to YouTube and type "Phish Indio" into the search box (or simply click on the preceding link) and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Also, The Burble now has its own Facebook page! Check it out.

LATEST NEWS FROM AROUND THE WEB
Backwards Down the Number Line (Jambands.com) This post includes an article Trey wrote for his high school newspaper titled "Space Antelope: Biological Mutiny," and with it are some photos of Trey from back in the day. It's a trip.
Getting to Know Phish (Detroit Free Press)
Phish Heads Unite (Detroit Free Press)
The Phish Essay (Title to Come Blog)
Phish Fall Tour Preview (Welcome to Now Blog)
Phish's Mike Gordon Jams with Umphree's McGee (Spinner.com)
Phish Reunion Tour Hits Syracuse (The Post-Standard/Syracuse.com)
Phish Memories: Your First Show (The Post-Standard/Syracuse.com)
Sharon Jones: The Dap Kings, Phish and Other Daptone Gold (Jambands.com)
Phish Set Lists: 1994 was a Pretty Good Year (The Post-Standard/Syracuse.com)
Phish's 5th Member, Let's Get to Know Chris Kuroda (PhishAndTheDead Blog)
5 Rockers Who Beat Drugs (Newser.com)

Phish Confirms 2009 New Year's Eve Run in Miami

By now, most of you know that official word came down the pike yesterday in the form of another great splash page that Phish is definitely playing December 28 - 31, 2009 in Miami at the American Airlines Arena, site of the 2003 New Year's Eve extravaganza, and the first New Years run since that one!

Tickets already are on sale through the Phish ticket lottery system, and are going for $50 for the 28th-30th and $60 for New Year's Eve. I put in for one ticket for each night, but in all my years of doing this I have never once received a single ticket for any show I put in a request for through the lottery system. I don't know why they just can't go back to the good ol' days of first-come-first-served mail order tickets.

You can apply for tickets by following this link. The ticket request period ends Sunday, November 15 at 11:59pm EDT. The public on sale date through Ticketbastard is Saturday, Nov. 21 at 10am EDT.

And for Phish's 2009 Fall Tour there are still tickets available for the shows in Detroit, Cincinnati and the first night in Philadelphia. You can purchase tickets through the Ticketbastard web site. Hard to believe that all shows did not sell out immediately. Perhaps the fervor for seeing the boys since the end of their five-year break up is finally dying down?

Phish always rips it up in Cincy, so I would recommend hitting those shows if you have the ways and means.

LATEST NEWS FROM AROUND THE INTERNET
Phish will celebrate New Year's Even in Miami (BeatCrave.com)
Phish playing Miami New Year's Eve (PollStar.com)
Phish to celebrate New Year's Eve with four Miami concerts (Rolling Stone)
Phish to celebrate New Year's Eve in Miami again with a four-night stand, act now for tickets (Miami New Times)
Phish schedules four shows in Miami (Tampa Tribune)
Phish returns to Florida for New Year's Eve (Glide Magazine)
Phish to play American Airlines Arena in Miami for four-night New Year's Eve run (PortlandExaminer.com)
Phish, Shabbat Mingle in Coachella (JewishJournal.com)
Phish's Party Time, Space Antelope's "Biological Mutiny" (Relix)

Phish New Year's Eve 2009 in Miami, Phish in 3D and Other News

As reported on Day Two of Festival 8, part of the showbill handed out that day included the flyer below, which seems to be Phish's stealthy way of announcing plans to play the American Airlines Arena in Miami December 28 - 31, 2009. But nothing has been officially announced as of yet.

I've been getting a lot of email from people asking me about onsale dates. Rumor has it that the public onsale date for tickets will be November 20. But that doesn't leave much time at all for online ticket requests, considering the Phish organization always lets people know if they scored the shows they requested before the public onsale date.

The Miami run has been rumored since January, when Phish first announced plans for early Summer Tour 2009. I guess if this is going to happen there is going to be an announcement any day now. All I can say is, be ready! When the announcement comes it will include word that online ticket requests are already being taken, so be ready!

FESTIVAL 8 FILMED IN 3D, 2010 THEATRICAL RELEASE POSSIBLE
AEG Network Live, one of the largest touring and concert promotions companies in the world, filmed all eight sets of Festival 8 in high definition 3D, and according to this article in The Desert Sun newspaper, it is set for "wide theatrical release next year."

LATEST NEWS ARTICLES
Routes Music, Indio: A Look at Phish Festival 8 (Creative Loafing)
Ode to Joy: The Tom Marshall Interview (Jambands.com)
Festival 8 Tales, Part I: I Feel The Feeling I Forgot (ConcertConfessions.com)
Express Lane to Phish Trivia (Jambands.com) <-- This has some hard ones!!! Twenty Years Later: Thoughts on Phish's Late Summer 2009 Tour (Jambands.com)
Parke Puterbaugh Glimpses Phish's Forest (Jambands.com)
Watch Phish Cover Exile on Main Street (Paste Magazine)
Phish Festival 8: Day Two (Melophobe)

Phish Festival 8 Day Three Setlist, Photos, Latest News, Download the Show

What an experience Festival 8 turned out to be. Other than Big Cypress (which nothing will ever top or even compare to) Festival 8 was easily the best Phish event they've ever done, especially musically speaking. Phish played better than they have in a long time, and in fact Set One, Day Two is arguably one of the top five sets of music the band has ever played. I'm still blown out from Night Two, and the acoustic set. How about that Curtain With? That song set the gearshift for the high gear of my soul!

FESTVAL 8 DAY THREE SET LISTS
Click here to download crispy audience recordings of every Festival 8 set, courtesy of PhishThoughts.com.

NOON ACOUSTIC SET
*Water in the Sky, **Back on the Train, ***Brian and Robert, Invisible, Strange Design, Mist, The Curtain With, Army of One, Sleep Again, My Sweet One, Let Me Lie, Bouncin' Around the Room, Train Song, Wilson, McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters

ACOUSTIC ENCORE
Driver, Talk, Secret Smile

SET TWO
AC/DC Bag -> #Rift, Gotta Jibboo, Heavy Things, Reba, The Wedge, Guelah Papyrus, Undermind, Sparkle, Split Open and Melt

SET THREE
Tweezer -> Maze, Free, Sugar Shack, Limb by Limb, Theme From the Bottom -> ##Mike's Song -> 2001 -> Light -> Spacey Jam -> Slave to the Traffic Light

EPIC ENCORE
Grind, Esther, Tweeprise

SHOW NOTES
*Someone in the crowd yelled, "Thanks for last night," and Trey replied off mic "Thank You." **Someone yelled, "Reba," and Trey said, "You're going to have to wait for that one." ***You guys sure you don't want to sit down, huh? It's the last time I'll say it but we are going to be playing a lot of mellow tunes (people did sit down) ... I've never played to a sitting down Phish crowd before."
#First time ever Rift and The Curtain With were played in the same show. ##Phish never came back to Weekapaug Groove. It would be super cool if they opened with that in Detroit to start Fall Tour 2009.

PHOTOS & VIDEO
Rolling Stone photo montage
What you need to get around
Slave to the Traffic Light
Maze Burble
From the crowd
Phsih crossword puzzle
Sparkle
Day Three slideshow
Move that 3D camera!
Filming the acoustic set in 3D
Epic photo essay
Sierra Nevada Foam
"God says, 'Jerry's fine. It's OK to like Phish now.'"
Back of the concert grounds at sunset
Magic bus?
Gotta Jibboo?
Art
Watching the World Series
End set six
Doggone Dog
JumboTron of Trey during Train Song
My Sweet One
Stage left
During Mist
Streaming images from Day Three
Acoustic set from a 1/4 mile away
Looking back at the seated crowd
Trey gets the crowd to sit down
Brian and Robert
Water in the Sky
Video played last night before the Musical Costume
In the front row this morning
Waiting for the acoustic set
YEM Blog has links to tons of videos
Phish's "From the Road" slideshow

LATEST NEWS
Phish has Halloween fun and serves marketing lessons (MarketingWithMeaning.com)
Phunky females go Phishin' (The Desert Sun)
Phish Festival 8 makes full circle: band hopes to do it again (The Desert Sun)
Live: Phish at Empire Polo Club in Indio (Los Angeles Times)
Local businesses real in success from Phish
Phish plays Halloween set to crowd of 40,000 (The Desert Sun)
Phish Festival 8 in 140 characters or less (Phoenix New Times)
Phish Festival 8: The Balloon Burble (CelebStoner.com)
Phish pick fans up at 8 in Indio (Los Angeles Times)
Party Time: Phish at Festival 8 (Festival Express)
Phish Cover The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street at Festival 8 (Rolling Stone)
Foodies delight in Phish festival's varied fare (The Desert Sun)
Second Night of Festival 8 a Crowd Pleaser (The Desert Sun)
My favorite Phish show of all time (FestivalCrashers.com)

LISTEN TO FESTIVAL 8 LIVE & DOWNLOAD THE SHOW
Join the live chat room at Hidden Track.

Click here to listen to the show live via Phish's own on-site FM radio station The Bunny through LivePhish.com, or click here to listen to the show via Jam On on Sirius Satellite Radio. It's free, but you have to sign up to listen. Sound quality is better through LivePhish.com but it cuts out from time to time while the Jam On feed does not drop out.

Official download from LivePhish.com

Phish 11/1/09 Festival 8, Indio, CA Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW

Phish Festival 8 Day Two Setlist, Photos, Latest News, Download the Show

SET ONE
Sample in a Jar, The Divided Sky, *Lawn Boy, Kill Devil Falls, Bathtub Gin, Squirming Coil, Runaway Jim, Possum, Run Like an Antelope

MUSICAL COSTUME
Exile on Main Street
Rocks Off, Rip This Joint, Shake Your Hips, Casino Boogie, Tumbling Dice, Sweet Virginia, Torn and Frayed, Sweet Black Angel, Loving Cup, Happy, Turd On The Run, Ventilator Blues ->, I Just Want To See His Face, Let It Loose, All Down The Line, Stop Breaking Down, Shine A Light, Soul Survivor

SET THREE
Backwards Down the Number Line -> Fluffhead, Ghost, When the Circus Comes, You Enjoy Myself

ENCORE
Suzy Greenberg -> Ghost Jam/Suzy reprise

SHOW NOTES
*Trey says, "This would be a good time for us to acknowledge this beautiful venue. It's been a long time since we played on grass. So, let's have Page play a love song now for the grass you are standing on. Page, what do you say?"

BREAKING NEWS
Phish to play four shows in Miami (where I grew up -- see everyone there!) at the American Airlines Arena, site of the 2003 NYE fest, Dec. 28-31, 2009. The poster to the right came inside the handbill for today's show. Stay tuned for on sale dates.

FESTIVAL 8 SET LIST, DAY TWO
Welcome to Day Two of Festival 8. Musical Costume confirmed = The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street, which was my initial guess when they first announced this thing, but I kept changing my mind. D'oh!

Check out the Burble that hovered over the crowd last night during Harry Hood.

Today's Set Times: 3PM - Set One, 7:30PM - Halloween Set, 10:30PM - Third set

Click here for streaming photos and live audio.

PHOTOS
Thumbs Up
Look hard and you can see the Moon above the stage
Squirming Coil
Preventing Wook Flu
Awesome slide show
The Roach
Human Whoopie Cushion
Stage Right
Divided Sky the Wind Blows High
Top Secret Box
Exactly what is this costume supposed to be?
Time Turns Elastic Sweatpants
Waiting for the gates to open
Live feed of photos from Festival 8
Where the Wild Phish Are
Free Phish Food ice cream tent
Fairywings
Resorts now occupied by heads
Down front, Fishman's side
Down front, Page's side ... what's up with the tarps?
The walk in

LATEST NEWS & OTHER LINKS
Jambands.com calls Festival 8 "the perfect festival" (Jambands.com)
Festival 8 Day One Review (FestivalCrashers.com)
More than music, Festival 8 is feast for eyes (The Desert Sun)
Phish fans sing praises of Indio site (The Desert Sun - they seem to be going all out on coverage of Festival 8)
HippieShop to give away classic VW Bus at Phish concert Nov. 1 (The Progress)
Driving to Phish Festival 8 in a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid (Gas 2.0)
Phish Festival 8 kicks off this Halloween weekend (BeatCrave.com)
Before you go: a guide to Phish-speak (The Desert Sun)
Jambase coverage of Festival 8 (Jambase.com)
Festival 8 at Empire Polo Club (InstantRiverside.com)
Phish Festival 8 kicks off with new surprises (Thaindian.com)
Schools benefit from Phish fans (The Desert Sun)
Phish aims to set the standard for "green" concert events (The Desert Sun)
VIDEO: Festival 8 Views & Grounds
VIDEO: Trey talks Big Cypress on Jam On
Festival 8 on Facebook

LISTEN TO FESTIVAL 8 LIVE & WHERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SHOW
Click here to download the show once it's over, thanks to "No Spoilers" from PhishThoughts.com
Join the live chat room at Hidden Track.
Click here to listen to the show live via Phish's own on-site FM radio station The Bunny through LivePhish.com, or click here to listen to the show via Jam On on Sirius Satellite Radio. It's free, but you have to sign up to listen. Sound quality is better through LivePhish.com but it cuts out from time to time while the Jam On feed does not drop out.

Official download from LivePhish.com

Phish 10/31/09 Festival 8, Indio, CA Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW

Phish Festival 8 Day One & Soundcheck Setlists, Latest News, Photos, and Links to Download the Show

FESTIVAL 8 SET LIST, DAY ONE
Bag it and tag it -- Day One is a wrap! Scroll down for photos, news and more. By the way ... at the beginning of David Bowie, Trey said, "We're going to give you a little hint about the Halloween album now." So, it looks like they are going to play Hunky Dory!

SET ONE
Party Time, Chalk Dust Torture, The Moma Dance, NICU, Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan, Stash, I Didn't Know*, Poor Heart, Cavern, Beauty of a Broken Heart, Ocelot, Time Turns Elastic

SET TWO
Punch You in the Eye, Down with Disease -> Jam -> Prince Caspian -> Wolfman's Brother -> Spacey Jam -> Piper -> Jam -> Joy, David Bowie** -> Harry Hood -> Golgi Apparatus

ENCORE
Character Zero

SHOW NOTES
*Trey said, "Ladies and gentlemen, Henrietta will now, for the first time in recorded human history, simultaneously suck and blow into a vacuum cleaner that's in the shape of an 8."; **During the song's intro, Trey said, "We're going to give you a little hint about the Halloween album now."

LISTEN TO FESTIVAL 8 LIVE & WHERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SHOW
Click here to download the show once it's over, thanks to "No Spoilers" from PhishThoughts.com
Join the live chat room at Hidden Track.
Click here to listen to the show live via Phish's own on-site FM radio station The Bunny through LivePhish.com, or click here to listen to the show via Jam On on Sirius Satellite Radio. It's free, but you have to sign up to listen. Sound quality is better through LivePhish.com but it cuts out from time to time while the Jam On feed does not drop out.

THURSDAY'S SOUNDCHECK SET LIST
Back on the Train*, Let Me Lie*, Jam, Undermind -> Devil With a Blue Dress Jam, Starship Trooper Jam, Gone, Liquid Time

*acoustic

Download Thursday's soundcheck here.

Stay tuned to The Wagger throughout the weekend for real-time setlists, photos, downloads and news from Indio. By the way, the only albums that have not been killed off yet are Exile on Main Street (The Rolling Stones), Hunky Dory (David Bowie), Electric Ladyland (The Jimi Hendrix Experience), The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (Genesis), and MGMT. My original guess was that they would play Exile on Main Street. Check out the last albums left alive here. Hold your breath -- Phish's Musical Costume is close to being revealed!!!

Official download from LivePhish.com

Phish 10/30/09 Festival 8, Indio, CA Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW

PHOTOS FROM FESTIVAL 8
The main entrance
Inside the Empire Polo Grounds
Another photo from inside
Halloween masks created by Jim Pollack
Slide show from inside Festival 8
Here's a map with directions to the show
The main concert grounds
The Ferris Wheel at Festival 8
Art inside the festival
Sunset at Festival 8
Couple getting married at Festival 8
Stage within a stage
Vending booths inside Festival 8
Inside the House of Live Phish tent
Silhouette of more art at Festival 8
View of the back of the concert grounds at night
Shots from set one of tonight's show
Back of the concert field at night
During Harry Hood
Trey feelin' it

LATEST NEWS & OTHER LINKS
DAY ONE REVIEW: Phish on Friday Proves a Tasty Treat (The Desert Sun)
Follow Jambase's Coverage from Festival 8 (Jambase.com) Tons of photos.
Reunited Phish living a more serene band life now (San Jose Mercury News)
The Elite 8 (Jambands.com)
Phish surprises fans with soundcheck broadcast at Festival 8 (Spinner.com)
A survival guide to Phish's Festival 8 (Los Angeles Times)
UC Irvine cheerleaders salute Phish on Tonight Show (Jambands.com)
School of Phish: What you need to know about this weekend's festival (The Desert Sun)
Phish Festival 8 Soundcheck Setlist, Extended Recap and Audio (Hidden Track)
Phish Near Halloween Set, "Purple Rain," MGMT Still Contenders (Rolling Stone)
Phish Festival 8 Goes Down This Weekend (Consequence of Sound)
Thursday's Earful: Festival 8 (Earvolution)
Gone Phishing at Empire Polo Club (The Desert Sun)
Indio Police Offer Tips to Avoid Phish Fest Traffic (The Press Enterprise)
Phish fest to alter traffic (The Desert Sun)
Valley hotels hook plenty of Phish fans for three-day music festival (The Desert Sun)
Phish Scale Back the Backstage Party (KWTX.com)
Talk the Phish Talk, Walk the Phish Walk (The Desert Sun)
Survive Phish Festival with Common Sense, These Tips (The Desert Sun)
Cops: Leave the Weed at Home, Phish Fans (NBC Los Angeles)
The Goods: Phish Festival 8 (WNYMedia.net)

Phish 2009 Fall Tour Dates, Tickets and Other News

Phish posted a wild-ass video message on their website (is there some sort of hint about the Halloween album in there? Trees = Joshua Tree? Read below for more on this ...), finally announcing the 2009 Fall Tour dates, which pretty much coincide with the dates published here at The Wagger, and other blogs, several weeks ago. Still no word on a New Years Run, but rumor still has it the boys are playing Miami's American Airlines Arena, site of the 2003 New Year's Run, Dec. 28-31. Stay tuned ...

Here are the official 2009 Fall Tour dates (excluding Festival 8):

11/18 - Detroit, MI Cobo Arena
11/20 - Cincinnati, OH U.S. Bank Arena
11/21 - Cincinnati, OH U.S. Bank Arena
11/22 - Syracuse, NY War Memorial at Oncenter
11/24 - Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
11/25 - Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
11/27 - Albany, NY Times Union Center
11/28 - Albany, NY Times Union Center
11/29 - Portland, ME Cumberland County Civic Center
12/2 - New York, NY Madison Square Garden
12/3 - New York, NY Madison Square Garden
12/4 - New York, NY Madison Square Garden
12/5 - Charlottesville, VA John Paul Jones Arena (expect Dave Matthews to sit in for this one)

Public on sale dates for Phish's three-night Madison Square Garden run, and two-night Cincinnati run, have changed. Tickets for all three MSG shows will now go on sale Friday, October 23rd at 11am EST, and both Cincinnati shows will go on sale Saturday, October 24th at 11am EST.

Of course, a limited number of tickets for all 2009 Fall Tour dates are available directly through Phish's online ticketing system at http://phish.portals.musictoday.com. The ticket request period is currently underway and will end tomorrow, Friday, October 16th at 5:00pm EST.

Tickets finally cracked the $50 mark. Geez. I remember my first show was like $8 or something back in 1993.

The three nights at Madison Square Garden mark the longest run the band ever has played at the storied venue, believe it or not.

Also, on a side note, I've been thinking about Festival 8, the Musical Costume and the acoustic set. Does anyone else think that the acoustic set may be the Musical Costume set? Then again, tickets for Festival 8 have a joshua tree printed on them, leading to speculation that the U2 album of the same name, which appears on the list of possible albums at Phish.com, will be the Musical Costume that night ... And I guess there are no acoustic albums appearing on the list, but you never know what these guys will do. It would be hilarious to see Phish do something like come out and perform Metallica's Master of Puppets acoustically. Stay tuned ...

In other news, Trey has been appearing on satellite radio's Jam On channel promoting Festival 8 by playing clips from prior Phish festivals. Honestly, I can't believe they actually feel like they have to put effort into promoting the shows. That is a first, for sure, but with the economy and the fact that they selected a venue about as far away from the region where most of their fan base resides (the East Coast and particularly the Northeast) I guess it was inevitable. From what I am hearing ticket sales are nowhere near what they expected, and wanted, so it will be interesting to see what the turnout is like later this month.

Just the fact that there are still tickets on sale is a first for the band -- at least, I'm pretty sure all previous festivals sold out, with the possible exception of The Clifford Ball. Anyone know if this is correct or not?