Mike Hints at Phish Fall Tour, New Year's Eve Dates

The Poughkeepsie Journal is reporting that Mike Gordon told the newspaper today, Sept. 1, that Phish has plans for a Fall Tour and that he is "very excited about the upcoming, yet-to-be announced Phish tour dates."

Mike added that after the Halloween shows, Phish will take some time off during which he plans to focus on writing and touring with his solo band, the newspaper reports.

Click here to read the rumored Fall Tour and New Year's Eve shows

MIX MAGAZINE INTERVIEW'S PHISH'S ROAD CREW
A very interesting article featuring the people who work behind the scenes to bring us Phish shows each and every night is online at Mix Magazine. Included in the article are interviews with Front-of-House Engineer Garry Brown and Monitor Engineer Mark Bradley, where they discuss Phish's upgraded sound system and how everything is recorded for both the LivePhish.com series and for the band's archives. Click here to read the Phish Tour Profile.

PHISH AS GUILTY PLEASURE
Entertainment Weekly has this thing going on where readers get to pick The Greatest Guilty Pleasure Musical Act of All Time. Right now, it's Mariah Carey vs. Phish. If we're gonna place let's at least win this thing. Click here to vote.

FREE HARTFORD SOUNDCHECK DOWNLOAD
Currently, you can download Phish's Hartford soundcheck for free via LivePhish.com. Hartford is, of course, the show where they broke out Col. Forbin's Ascent -> Fly Famous Mockingbird, as well as Icculus and Psycho Killer. The soundcheck is pretty funny, nonsensical stuff, with Trey singing about "There's a party at the lamp post ..." and "They had coconut juice to go with the couscous ..." just making up ridiculous stuff as they go. Grab the MP3 of the soundcheck by clicking below.

Phish Free Live Phish MP3 Download: Hartford Soundcheck 8-14-09 Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

JOY LEAKED
Speaking of downloads, it appears Joy has been leaked from an unknown source. If you do grab a copy of Joy illegally, at least do the cool thing and buy the album when it's officially released on Sept. 8.

NPR NAMES BACKWARDS DOWN THE NUMBER LINE SONG OF THE DAY
National Public Radio, better known as NPR, has been known to turn the spotlight on Phish every now and then and generate discussions about the band as a serious musical entity -- not the typical Phish-as-stoner-utopia coverage commonly published by daily newspapers across the U.S. (For an example, check out this recent entry on The Wagger.)

Discussing the new Phish album, Joy, and the song Backwards Down the Number Line, the NPR report says, "When Anastasio winds up for one of his trademark, reach-for-the-skies guitar solos — as McConnell shouts the wonderfully cryptic refrain, 'All my friends, go backwards down the number line' — the hairs on the arms of Phish's naysayers will finally be standing on end."

Click here to read the entire NPR report, which includes links to eight other NPR-related stories on Phish.

FISHMAN & DIVINE MUSIC FOR THE SOUL
Jon Fishman is part of the musical lineup for "Divine: Music for the Soul," a benefit concert being staged by the Dhatri Foundation, a Burlington, Vermont-based nonprofit whose mission is to "increase awareness and engagement of complementary approaches for wellness and healing." Dhatri's first benefit concert is for its founder, Laura Mann.

The evening's musical lineup features: Fishman on drums; Stephen Kiernan - guitar; Karen McFeeters - vocals; Bobby Kendes and his band The Peace; Will Burhans - Guitar/Vocals; Peter Engisch - Piano; Timothy Cummings - Bagpipes and Celtic Whistles; John Creech - Guitar; Adam Frehm - Slide Guitar and Dobro; Craig Anderson - Guitar; Nyarkoa Mesah-Jordan - Vocals; Peter Krag - keyboard.

The show takes place on Saturday, Sept. 12 from 7pm -9pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church at 152 Pearl Street in Burlington. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.

REGRETS ABOUT SUMMER TOUR
Here is a funny blog post about a long-time fan discussing growing older and deciding to skip a Phish show in his home town, only to discover the setlist the next morning and totally regretting staying home. Read "Never Miss A Hartford Phish Show" on the Exile on South Main Street blog.

HIDDEN TRACK'S NAME THAT ALBUM
Hidden Track put together snippets of 35 albums that they guess one of which will be selected as Phish's musical costume in Indio this Oct. 31. Got 15 minutes? Give it a listen and see how many you can guess correctly. So far, readers have identified all but four of the albums. Festival 8: Let's Pretend it's 8PM on Halloween - What Will They Play?

EVOLUTION OF SPLIT OPEN AND MELT
Dog Gone Blog posted an interesting retrospective on Phish having difficulties coming to grips with how to approach Split Open and Melt. The post includes a link to an interview with Mike Gordon, where he talks about the difficulty of nailing the song, to the point where Phish actually decided to put it on the back burner it for a little while. The interview includes this quote: "Split Open and Melt went from being a big pain in our butt to like, this was it, this was how you play Split Open and Melt."

Dog Gone Blog focuses on the period of SOAMelt's evolution from 4/21/93 in Columbus, Ohio, the version whose jam appears on Hoist at the end of Demand, to 6/11/94 at Red Rocks, which also marked the period of Phish's transition from its "speed-jazz" era to its gradual slide into the "cow-funk" era. Click here to read the "Down, Down, Down...Melt" post at Dog Gone Blog (which is quickly becoming one of my favorite Phish blogs, by the way).

LATEST NEWS ARTICLES
Psst. Want a Ticket? Hey, I'm Legit. Really. (New York Times)
Phish, "Joy" (JEMP Records) [2.5 out of 4 STARS] (Chicago Sun-Times)
Joy, the new Phish album leaked across the Internet (Phish Examiner)
Joy Album Review (TimeOut New York)
Norwalk native to premiere Phish film in New Jersey (Wilton Villager)

Phish Releases Track Listing for Party Time; Trey Makes Guest Appearance on Rich Pagano Debut; Bearsville Sessions Download Link

Phish's gradual and relentless marketing campaign rolling out the debut of Joy continued this week with the announcement of the track listing for Party Time, the bonus album of outtakes featuring songs from the Bearsville Sessions (Story of the Ghost days; download a copy here), the Undermind sessions, and various side projects.

The track listing for Party Time will be:

Party Time (2:43)
Alaska (7:16)
Windy City (5:20)
In A Misty Glade (2:51)
Gone (4:10)
Only A Dream (4:10)
The Birdwatcher (2:16)
Let Me Lie (3:57)
If I Told You (3:53)
Splinters Of Hail (3:33)
Can't Come Back (4:38)
Shrine (1:54)
Liquid Time (4:23)

Currently, you can stream versions of In a Misty Glade, Gone, The Birdwatcher, Shrine and If I Told You, and read about the history behind those five tracks, over at Dog Gone Blog.

Party Time is only available as part of the Joy Box set, which you can pre-order now through Phish Dry Goods. Also announced is the Joy Box will include a DVD featuring performances from the first leg of Summer Tour 2009. I bet it will lean heavily on the Bonnaroo sets, since those performances were the only ones with a professional film crew on site with cameras rolling through all three sets in order to broadcast straight to the video screens on either side of the stage.

The Joy Box does not ship until early October, so Phish is making all 10 tracks from Joy available for download for free to everyone who pre-orders the box set.

THREE-CAMERA PERSPECTIVE HAMPTON VIDEO
For your viewing pleasure, here is a high definition, three-camera video shoot of the encore from March 8, 2009 in Hampton, featuring the reworked Bug and ending with Tweeprise.

FESTIVAL 8 T-SHIRT DESIGN CONTEST
In other recent news from Phish.com, "all wanna-be designers and graphic artists: design a T-shirt for "Festival 8", the band's upcoming three-day Halloween festival in Southern California, and you could be the lucky winner of two tickets to the event." For more information check out the contest rules posted on Phish's web site.

TREY GUESTS ON RICH PAGANO SOLO DEBUT
Also in the news, Trey Anastasio recorded guitar tracks, including a solo, on the forthcoming self-titled debut album by Rich Pagano and the sugarCane Cups called "You Want To Stay High." (What's up with the irony in picking Trey for that song?) Pagano is best known as the drummer for Beatles cover band the Fab Faux, which includes bass player Will Lee from Late Night with David Letterman and guitarist Jimmy Vivino from The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. Others who contributed to the album, due next month, include Mott the Hoople’s Ian Hunter and David Johansen of New York Dolls fame. You can listen to Pagano's song by clicking here, courtesy of The Music Mix Blog.

PHISH FALL TOUR & NEW YEAR'S EVE TOUR DATES
And in case you missed it, here are the rumored tour dates for the rest of 2009, including New Year's Eve.

Rumored Phish 2009 New Year's Eve, Fall Tour Dates; Andelman's Yardsale

I've been hearing these Phish Fall and New Year's tour dates going back a couple of months, and there is nothing that seems to be debunking the rumor, so I think it warrants serious consideration. Phone calls placed by The Wagger to these arenas confirm that each venue is booked on the dates in question, but each location declined to confirm what event will take place on that evening:

Fall Tour 2009
November 20: US Bank Arena – Cincinnati, Ohio
November 21: US Bank Arena – Cincinnati, Ohio
November 24: Wachovia Center – Philadelphia, PA
November 25: Wachovia Center – Philadelphia, PA
November 27: Times Union Center – Albany, NY
November 28: Times Union Center – Albany, NY
December 2: Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
December 3: Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
December 4: Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
December 5: John Paul Jones Arena – Charlottesville, VA

New Years Run 2009
December 28 – American Airlines Arena – Miami, FL
December 29 – American Airlines Arena – Miami, FL
December 30 – American Airlines Arena – Miami, FL
December 31 – American Airlines Arena – Miami, FL

The Albany date especially makes sense right around the Thanksgiving holiday as the capitol city is just up the road from Trey's new home in Snedens Landing, New York.

It would be nice if they returned to Big Cypress for the New Year's run rather then downtown Miami ... Speaking of Big Cypress, I stumbled upon this little YouTube film (I've not seen it before, so I apologize if I'm late to this dance) looking at Big Cypress. Entertaining, if nothing else. But I digress ...

Anyway, Phish has been announcing tour dates right about the time they ready for a run of shows, making it difficult to commit cash to going to the next shows and plunking down funds to buy tickets for the next round of dates. So, with Festival 8 right around the corner, it seems like a safe bet that the above dates, or some semblance thereof, will be announced soon. Some of these shows I first saw rumored way back in January when Phish announced the first half of Summer Tour 2009.

There also is word that Phish will do a mini West Coast/Southwest Tour leading up to Festival 8, with Las Vegas, Phoenix, Irvine Meadows and the Hollywood Bowl all possible stops. They are scheduled to play The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, whose wife is a long-time Phish-head, on October 29. I'm guessing they'll break out Backwards Down the Number Line for that one.

Additionally, it sounds like a return to Europe for Spring 2010 is being considered. Stay tuned ...

In other news, Mike created an online scavenger hunt on his web site, Mike HYPHEN Gordon.com, called the Andelman's Yardsale.

From Phish.com: Mike spent two months working alone, all day, every weekday, playing all the parts when he wrote and recorded Andelmans' Yard from his album The Green Sparrow. Here is a secret porthole into the process. To find the ten examples, you will navigate through an online scavenger hunt. You'll have access to the original demo, practice runs, guitar lick mastering, keyboard choices and more. The deeper you get, the more you'll hear. Welcome to, if you will, the Andelmans' Yardsale.

Mike Gordon and his band hit the road in just two weeks for another month-long club tour. Visit the tour page on Mike's web site for complete details and ticketing info.

Tickets for all shows are ON SALE NOW.

Roundup of the Latest Phish News; Mike Gordon Set to Tour; Backwards Down the Number Line Released

In typical mainstream media fashion the latest news being written about Phish doesn't focus on their widely successful return to the stage, that Trey Anastasio is staying clean and sober and can actually be considered a role model because of it, nor the fact that everywhere Phish played this summer the band and its Phans provided a much-needed jolt to local economies (although this story details a StubHub list of the top 20 metro areas with the highest ticket sales, saying that newcomers to the list all hosted a Phish show this year).

Nope, none of that.

Instead, articles published in local newspapers where Phish stopped on its Late Summer Tour this month focus on 20 drug-related arrests out of 20,000-or-so people in a tired story that undoubtedly occurs in those towns at other concerts, but because of the reputation Phish-heads continue to endure the media loves to continue to portray each and every Phish-head as a drug-taking, numbed-out hippie.

The fact that the Albany Times Union basically ran the same story twice with different headlines, and with conflicting information without running a correction, shows the laziness and sensationalist tendencies of that newspaper. What's even more infuriating is when you look through the list of arrests there were in fact 22 people arrested but not all were on drug charges, so the headlines are not only sensationalist, they are incorrect.

Here are links to several stories demonstrating what I mean. Funny that only the local Saratoga Springs newspaper carried a positive review of the show, even if the writer doesn't have a clue what she's talking about (I'll start with a link to it):
Review: Clear-Headed Phish Makes for Heady Concert (The Saratogian)
31 People Arrested at Maryland Phish Concert (Washington Post)
Drug Arrests Mark Columbia Phish Concert (Baltimore Sun)
22 Arrests Made at Phish Concert (Albany Times Union)
Police Arrest 22 at Phish Show (Glens Falls Post Star)
23 Arrested at Phish Concert (WRGB 6)
Phish Concert Arrests Detailed (Albany Times Union)
Phish Fans Rock at SPAC, then Attempt to Steal Rocks from Quarry (Albany Times Union ... AGAIN!)

That last story seems particularly bogus.

In other Phish-related items found around the Internet ...

An article published in the Syracuse New Times, that city's alternative newsweekly, provides a fairly accurate glimpse into an evening spent at a Phish show, even though it is sprinkled with tired, old cliches about Phish-heads and pot smoking:
Phish-ing for Compliments (Syracuse New Times)

Meanwhile, here are a couple of posts from fellow Phish Bloggers. Mr. Minor details the Aug. 7 show at The Gorge (the only show I've caught this year, but what a show it was to catch), calling it The Show of the Summer. And Dog Gone Blog posted an essay about Phish's evolution as songwriters. Both posts provide insightful, well-written material.

Here is Josh Sternberg's much-linked-to article on Mashable.com titled What Twitter and Facebook Can Learn from Phish. Seems like I saw a similar article somewhere earlier this year ...

The University of Maine at Presque Isle will host A Phish Retrospective in the Reed Fine Art Gallery in the Campus Center beginning Sunday, Oct. 4 at 4pm and running through Nov. 21. The retrospective will honor the band's three festivals, The Great Went, Lemonwheel and IT, at the former Loring AFB in Limestone. According to the university's web site, The IT Men - the two, large green figures that greeted festival goers as they entered the grounds for the 2003 festival - have been restored and installed on the west end of Pullen Hall. Theu will be officially unveiled to the public on Friday, Sept. 18 at 3:45pm during the U of M's homecoming weekend.

A 60-minute documentary filmed by Chris Pepino of True Form Pictures about his journey to Coventry, titled We Enjoy Yourself, will premiere Sept. 4 and 5 at the New Jersey Film Festival, which is taking place at Rutgers University. Here is the official trailer for the film, as well as information about the film festival.

In other news, Mike Gordon is getting ready for a string of 21 shows with his solo act starting Sept. 8 in Brooklyn, N.Y, winding its way down to Jacksonville, Fla., back up to Madison, Wis. and ending 26 days after it started on Oct. 4 in Burlington. The Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey opens the last seven dates of the tour. In case you haven't already seen it, there is a video posted on Vimeo.com called Get Bassed - Mike Gordon Fall Tour 2009 with typical Mike wackiness.

In an unrelated item, here is an article appearing in an obscure publication called Koach College Outreach discussing Mike's Jewish ancestry and the role music plays in his faith.

And of course Trey is slated to perform with the New York Philharmonic "for orchestrations of classic Anastasio compositions and the New York premiere of his composition Time Turns Elastic. An Evening with Trey Anastasio and the New York Philharmonic begins at 8pm on Saturday, Sept. 12 at Carnegie Hall." It appears there may still be individual tickets on sale, but I could not confirm this through the Carnegie Hall web site. Call the venue box office for more information at 212/247.7800

Finally, Backwards Down the Number Line is now available to purchase and download through iTunes for 99 cents. A quick listen confirms that Joy is going to be slickly produced, closer to the production of Farmhouse and Undermind than the rough cuts found on Round Room.

Phish at Saratoga Springs (SPAC), New York Setlist

Phish's 2009 Summer Tour ended tonight. The tour encompassed approximately 8,200 miles of possible driving between shows, with 1,910 of those miles occuring between The Gorge and Chicago alone.

And what tour closer in the rain at SPAC it was!!! Honestly, could the final song choices have summed up their comeback any better? Trey, Mike, Page and Jon -- thanks for a summer full of incredible musical (and otherwise) memories.

PHISH AT SPAC SET LIST
August 16, 2009

SET ONE
Llama*, The Moma Dance, Guyute, **Anything But Me, ***Cars Trucks Buses, Chalk Dust Torture, Golgi Apparatus, David Bowie, Cavern, Possum, Ocelot, Run Like An Antelope

SET TWO
Backwards Down the Number Line, Twenty Years Later, ^Halley's Comet -> Rock & Roll -> Jam -> ^^Harpua -> #I Kissed A Girl -> Hold Your Head Up -> Harpua, You Enjoy Myself

ENCORE
Grind, ^^^I Been Around, Highway To Hell

SHOW NOTES
*Last performed 6/23/04, and only the 12th Llama since 5/19/00; **Last Anything But Me 8/14/04, 11th time played since 1/4/03 debut; ***5th Cars Trucks Buses since 7/26/03; ^First ever Halley's Comet -> Rock and Roll or vice-versa; ^^10th Harpua since 6/23/95, last played 7/29/03; #First I Kissed A Girl (of course it is ... The Katy Perry pop song), ^^^First time played.

DOWNLOADS
Get yer crispy audience recording of tonight's tour closer courtesy of PhishThoughts.com's "No Spoilers" summer series. Excellent job guys.

Or, you can download the multi-track soundboard mix from LivePhish.com

Phish 8/16/09 Saratoga Performing Arts Center.. Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW

LATEST NEWS & LINKS
Concert Review: Phish at Merriweather Post Pavilion (Baltimore Sun)
Phish 8.15 Merriweather Post (Jambase)
The jam began on the roads (Albany Times-Union)
No Limit to Lure of Phish (Albany Times-Union)
Fans Dance the Night Away as Phish Performs at Comcast Theatre (Hartford Courant)

Phish at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia Setlist

Tonight was the 1,212 show Phish has performed in its history. HoodStream.com provides a web site that aggregates streaming web casts of tonight's show -- if memory serves me correctly there is a strong Internet connection inside and around Merriweather Post.

PHISH AT MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION SET LIST
August 15, 2009

SOUNDCHECK
About 3:30pm EST
Wilson

SET ONE
*Crowd Control, Kill Devil Falls, **The Sloth, ***Beauty Of A Broken Heart, ****Axilla, ^Foam, ^^Esther, ^^^Ha Ha Ha, ^^^^Party Time, Tube, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, Strange Design, Time Turns Elastic

SET TWO
Tweezer -> Taste, Alaska, Let Me Lie, 46 Days, #Oh! Sweet Nuthin', Harry Hood

ENCORE
Good Times, Bad Times -> Tweeprise

SHOW NOTES
*Only the fifth Crowd Control in history and first since Phish's return to the stage this year; **First time played since Phish's return. Last performed on 7/31/03, 57 shows ago, the longest gap between performances since debuting on 8/9/87; ***Each time Beauty of a Broken Heart has been performed it followed a rare-ish song 3/7/09-Halley's Comet, 8/2/09-Grind, 8/15/09-The Sloth; ****Axilla was last performed almost five years ago to the date on 8/14/04. Surprisingly, it's been played just 60 times in history since debuting on 11/19/92 in Colchester, Vermont, a show that included many, many firsts; ^Only the 12th time played since 6/16/95 in Raleigh, N.C.; ^^Only played five times since 10/19/96; ^^^Just the 24th time Ha Ha Ha has been played since debuting May 16, 1995 in Lowell, Mass. at Phish's sole political-event performance; ^^^^Debut performance of new Fishman song Party Time; #Second Oh! Sweet Nuthin' since Halloween 1998.

DOWNLOADS
An audience copy of tonight's show is available for download courtesy of PhishThoughts.com's "No Spoilers" series.

Or download the official multi-track soundboard recording, which now comes directly from the stage as opposed to the front-of-house, soundboard-audience mic matrix recording of the past (in layman's terms, it sounds better than ever!) from LivePhish.com for around $11.

Phish 8/15/09 Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW

LATEST NEWS & LINKS
Eight Arrested at Phish Concert, 18 Nitrous Oxide Tanks Seized (Hartford Courant)
Review: Phish 8.14.09 Hartford, CT (Jambase)
Recap: Phish at the Comcast Theatre on Aug. 14, 2009 (Metromix Connecticut)
Concert Review: Phish hit right notes at Darien (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)
Phish to Trigger Traffic Jams (WBAL AM 1090)
Live Review: Phish at Toyota Park (Time Out Chicago)

A BRIEF HISTORY OF MERRIWEATHER POST

If the Merriweather Post Pavilion had ears, it would tell stories about some incredible shows that have taken place inside its wooded retreat. In fact, The Grateful Dead and the Jerry Garcia Band (both of whom were eventually banned from the venue due to the Nazi Columbia police, I'm sure, who were prompted by drug arrests of fans) played so well there, and so often, there is a plaque on a tree as you walk up to the venue noting the number of shows the band played there, and the years they set up shop for those multi-night runs.

Of course, Phish has its own history with Merriweather Post, including the 9/17/00 show, which had the second-to-last Fluffhead until Hampton of this year, into The Curtain With into Chalk Dust Torture to end set one. The second set consists of one of my three favorite sets of Phish music that I personally witnessed over 144 shows. This show is a must have for collectors of gems from 2000. Arguably, and in my opinion, it is the best show of Fall Tour 2000.

Finally, do you know where the Merriweather Post Pavilion's name comes from? The 19,316-seat venue that sits amid the 40-acre Symphony Woods site, originally planned as a home for the National Symphony Orchestra, was named for Marjorie Merriweather Post, an American socialite, philanthropist (the main reason the venue was named for her) and founder of General Foods, Inc., which over the years owned goodies like Kellogg's cereal, Jell-O, Minute Rice and Birdseye Frozen Foods. At one time during the mid-20th Century she was the wealthiest woman in America -- her fortune reached $250 million, on par with about $1 billion today.

PHOTOS
Hartford Slide Show from Metromix Connecticut

VIDEO
Phish 8-14-09 Read the Book (Hartford w/ Icculus!!!)

Setlist for Phish at Hartford's Comcast Theater

Finally, after the Hiatus and ensuing five-year break up, Phish broke out Col. Forbin's -> Famous Mockingbird tonight (and I dig the bird/bird pairing of Mockingbird/Birds of a Feather) for the first time since it appeared in the second set of the 9/30/00 Vegas show that was broadcast over the Internet (speaking of, have you caught a show this summer streamed live on HoodStream.com?) as a way to speak directly to Phans everywhere prior to the official start of the Hiatus. That was the Col. Forbin's -> Famous Mockingbird where Trey talked about biting into an apple while having just one enormous tooth.

For me, this breakout is much more significant than a Harpua would be, simply because Trey has mentioned previously that Fly Famous Mockingbird is the most difficult song they play when it comes to having to have your chops up. So, with it, Fluffhead and other rarities now back out in the open (Destiny Unbound, Dinner and a Movie, My Friend, My Friend, etc.), Phish's return truly is triumphant. And with the band breaking out at least one rarely-played song each night during the second leg of summer tour, God himself doesn't even know what Phish has in store for us during the last two nights of Summer Tour.

Can you still have fun? Hell-fuck-yes!!!

PHISH AT HARTFORD'S COMCAST CENTER SET LIST
August 14, 2009

SET ONE
Punch You in the Eye, AC/DC Bag, NICU, Colonel Forbin's Ascent -> Fly Famous Mockingbird*, Birds Of A Feather, Lawn Boy, Stash, I Didn't Know, Middle Of The Road, Character Zero

SET TWO
Down With Disease -> Wilson -> Slave To The Traffic Light, Piper -> Water In The Sky, Ghost -> Psycho Killer** -> Catapult*** -> Icculus -> You Enjoy Myself

ENCORE
While My Guitar Gently Weeps

SHOW NOTES
*First Forbin's -> Mockingbird since 9/30/00 in Vegas, and only the fifth tme played since 12/30/95, part of the famous Madison Square Garden run that more-or-less punctuated the second or third chapter of Phish's career. Tonight's version had no narration -- possibly the first time in history (not confirmed); **Second Psycho Killer in history, the only other time being 12/7/97 in Dayton, Ohio (a must-have show from that era) during the 1995 Fall Tour that oozed and dripped with Cow Funk and mad, tension-release jamming; ***Only the third Catapult played since 11/23/96 and the first since Phish's return; ****18th time Icculus has been played in history, debuting 4/1/86 at Hunt's in Burlington (I believe this is the version heard on re-releases of Junta), and last heard on 7/18/99 at Camp Oswego -- prior to that it had not been performed since opening the Halloween 1995 show in Chicago.

DOWNLOADS
You can download an audience recording of tonight's show courtesy of PhishThoughts.com's "No Spoilers" 2009 Summer Tour download series. Thanks to Mr. Minor for making each and every show since the first night of Hampton available for download within just a couple of hours of the end of each show. Truly an amazing feat. And the recordings are so good they are often mistaken for soundboards at first glance.

Or, if your prefer, for about $11 you can download an official two-track soundboard recording of tonight's show via LivePhish.com

Phish 8/14/09 Meadows Music Theater, Hartford.. Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW

LATEST NEWS
Phish phaithful well-rewarded at Darien show (The Buffalo News)
Phish 8.13 Darien Lake, NY (Jambase)
Review: Phish performance syncs with Darien Lake crowd (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)
Police prepare for Phish concert at SPAC (WNYT.com Channel 13)
Change coming to SPAC: Beer garden gates to stay open (Saratoga Springs News Station 10)
Phish, Dragon Boats and Oysters (NBC Connecticut)
Phish plans Festival 8: Which album should they cover this Halloween? (Entertainment Weekly

PHOTOS
Phish reunites at Darien Lake Aug. 13 (Syracuse New Times)

Phish at Darien Lake Setlist

The boys are back in the fertile territory of the Northeast. Three of the next four shows are at classic venues. There's been a lot of breakouts this tour, so we'll have to see what Phish has in store for us the rest of this week.

HoodStream.com will be live tonight, and hopefully a web cast of the show will air now that the band is back in the land of strong Wi-Fi connections.

PHISH AT DARIEN LAKE SET LIST
August 13, 2009

SET ONE
Sample In A Jar, Dinner and a Movie, Wolfman's Brother, My Friend, My Friend, Possum, Farmhouse, Sugar Shack, Brian And Robert, David Bowie, Bathtub Gin, How High The Moon, Golgi Apparatus

SET TWO
Drowned -> Prince Caspian -> Rift, The Horse -> Silent in the Morning, Sparkle, Run Like An Antelope, Suzy Greenberg, Fluffhead

ENCORE
Joy, First Tube

SHOW NOTES

DOWNLOADS
Grab an audience recording of tonight's show, courtesy of PhishThoughts.com's "No Spoilers."

LATEST NEWS & LINKS
Several ways to catch Phish and 'Joy' (Newsday)
Phish's Joy Out September 8 (Rolling Stone)
Phish to deliver new album 'Joy' in September (Reuters)
Phish to deliver Box of Joy in September (AZCentral.com)
Reunited Phish is back with a marathon show (Chicago Tribune)
Sold -- Hook, Line and Sinker (Hartford Advocate)
Phish concert expected to snarl Columbia traffic (ExploreHoward.com)
Pass the Patchouli: Phish (Washington Post Express)
Phish to release first studio album in five years (Paste)
Three-day helping of Phish jams (New York Times)

Phish at Toyota Park, Chicago Setlist

Phish broke out Paul and Silas tonight for the first time in 11 years, played some other rarities, and debuted a new song. Not only are they firing on all cylanders performance-wise, they are reaching deep into their catalogue and breaking out songs everyone could only dream about hearing again before their 2004 split. All in all they played five new songs tonight, something they haven't done since the Billy Breathes era.

PHISH AT TOYOTA PARK IN CHICAGO SET LIST
August 11, 2009

SET ONE
Kill Devil Falls, Sample In A Jar, Ocelot, Paul and Silas*, Windy City**, The Curtain With***, Train Song, Gumbo, Heavy Things, Time Turns Elastic

SET TWO
Backwards Down the Number Line -> Carini**** -> Gotta Jibboo, Theme From The Bottom, Wilson, 2001 -> Chalk Dust Torture^, Harry Hood, The Squirming Coil

ENCORE
Loving Cup

SHOW NOTES
*Paul and Silas last played 11/29/98, and only played eight times since 12/30/93; **First time played; ***Only the 13th performance of The Curtain With in history (debuted 8/9/87), and only played seven times since 6/19/88; ****Last played 8/15/04, only played eight times since 10/6/00; ^Now played three out of the last four shows.

DOWNLOADS
An audience recording of tonight's show will be available here shortly after the last notes drift away into the Chicago-land night, courtesy of Mr. Minor and PhishThoughts.com's "No Spoilers."
Or get the official soundboard recording from LivePhish.com by clicking below.

Phish 8/11/09 Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW

LATEST NEWS & LINKS
California Dreamin' with Phish (Relix)
Three-Day Helping of Phish Jams (New York Times)
Jam Bands Play the Part of Community Organizers (Washington Post)
Landing Phish a Coup for Valley (The Desert Sun)
Bill Kreutzmann Joins Phish Finale at Red Rocks (Relix)
Destiny at The Gorge (Jambands.com)
Mango and Middle of the Road in George (Relix)
Phish backs WNY land (The Daily News Online)
Joy Now Available for Pre-Order (Phish.com)
Phish keeps creating a brand of music all its own (The Buffalo News)
The Evolution of Trey's Tone (Dogoneblog)
On to Chicago (PhishThoughts.com)
Trey to Play "Time Turns Elastic" with New York Philharmonic Sept. 12 (PhishAndTheDead Blog)

PHOTOS
Shoreline slide show (LiveDaily.com)

Phish at The Gorge Setlist, Night Two

Phish started out Saturday's show at The Gorge, following Friday night's "rarities" theme of playing songs seldom heard or placing songs in rare positions within the set, by opening up with The Mango Song; only the second time it's opened a show and just the third time Phish has played the Picture of Nectar favorite since 7/18/03. (Interestingly, the last two times Phish busted out The Mango Song it was coupled with another rarity; followed by Roggae on 7/18/03 and preceding Dog Log on 8/2/03.)

But the show took a different turn as the setlist shaped up more like a typical Saturday night "arena rock" show. However, Phish's performance was anything but typical. Phish is back, full-bore ladies and gentlemen, more adventurous, tight and confident than ever, and The Gorge shows exemplify this more than any other run they've played since returning.

All in all, listening back both nights of The Gorge are filled with music and an energy we will all be debating and discussing for years to come as the possible moment where Phish gelled as a tangible entity like never before, and turned the corner on a new phase of their collective existence.

PHISH AT THE GORGE SET LIST
August 8, 2009

SET ONE
The Mango Song*, Chalk Dust Torture, Middle of the Road**, Tweezer#, Driver***, Twenty Years Later, Ya Mar, It’s Ice****, Wolfman’s Brother, Character Zero, Run Like an Antelope^

SET TWO
Rock and Roll -> Makisupa Policeman^^, Alaska, The Wedge, You Enjoy Myself, Backwards Down The Number Line -> Piper^^^, Grind

ENCORE
Good Times Bad Times -> Tweeprise

SONG STATS
*Second time ever Mango opened a show, third time played since 7/18/03; **Mike Gordon/Leo Kottke song, first time played; #The jam came to a rare, complete stop and differently than the stop on Nectar; ***Fourth time played since 2/20/03, just the 22nd time ever played, and the song was played in the key of B-flat rather than the usual G-major, possibly because the melody sung in B-flat comes across stronger than when sung in the lower register of G-major; ****Fifth time played since 1/2/03; ^With several Mango Song teases; ^^Mike and Trey switched instruments, each taking a solo on the other's guitar; ^^^unfinished with Llama-like teases from Fishman.

DOWNLOADS
Grab an audience recording of the show. These sound just as good as a soundboard, and probably better than a soundboard because the audience recording captures the "vibe" of the venue rather than a flat, lifeless soundboard recording. And these audience downloads, offered courtesy of PhishThoughts.com's "No Spoilers" series, are quite simply the best I have ever heard since I started to collect tapes after my first Grateful Dead show in 1989. Seriously ...

Of course, you can choose for yourself and purchase the official download from LivePhish.com for about $11 by clicking below.

Phish 8/8/09 The Gorge, George, WA Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW

LATEST NEWS & LINKS
Joy now available for pre-order
More focused than ever, Phish offers fans an experience at The Gorge (Seattle Times)
My Phish Tour is Complete (Live Music Blog)
University of Maine Phish Festival Retrospective (Relix)


PHOTOS
Jambase Gorge II Photos

VIDEO
Page playing solo piano

Phish at The Gorge Setlist, Night One

This night was everything you could possibly want in a Phish show, except story time from Trey. Musically, it was adventurous, daring, and raucous. Trey was jumping up and down to start the show, and before his lead in several songs. There were incredible improvised moments, like coming out of Light before going into Taste that had a Calypso-island flavor -- the jam was so structured Trey actually started to "ooooo" a melody over the top of the music -- and others that reached down, deep and dark, like Stash. Oh, and not to mention breakouts Destiny Unbound (I heard several people asking their neighbors/friends, "What song is this?") and Sneakin' Sally, the latter complete with a YEM-style Vocal Jam. I'll write a full review of this show very soon, after I give it another listen.

PHISH AT THE GORGE SET LIST
August 7, 2009

SET ONE
Down With Disease*, Ocelot, Pebbles and Marbles**, Possum, Sleep***, Destiny Unbound****, Stash, Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley^ -> Cavern

SET TWO
The Moma Dance# -> Light -> Taste -> Fluffhead^^, Joy, Bathtub Gin -> Harry Hood

ENCORE
Slave to the Traffic Light^^^

SHOW NOTES
*Last Down with Disease show opener 2/24/03, and only the 12th time in history it has opened a show; **Only the 10th time ever played, and the first time played since Phish's return. Last played 8/12/04; ***13th time ever played; **** 29th time ever played, and only the third time played since 11/15/91; #A ton of glowsticks were released from all around the venue, but the Glowstick War itself was anti-climactic at best; ^Only the sixteenth time played since 1989 and the first time ever the song contained a vocal jam; ^^Fifth time played this year, and only the eighth time played since 7/3/00; ^^^Eighth time in history Slave has been played as an encore, and the first time in history Harry Hood and Slave have been played back-to-back.

DOWNLOADS
Download a crispy audience recording of this show, courtesy of PhishThoughts.com. Or grab the official soundboard from LivePhish.com by clicking below.

LATEST NEWS & LINKS
Police arrest four in drug sting at Phish show (Mountain View Voice)
The Gorge, Night One (Jambase)

PHOTOS
Gorge 1 Photos on Jambase

Phish 8/7/09 The Gorge, George, WA Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW

Phish Shoreline Amphitheater Setlist, Show Notes, Song Stats, Latest News Stories and More

Phish finally returns to the Shoreline Amphitheater, site of the last show before the original Hiatus, and numerous other memorable musical moments over the years, including 9/17/99 when Phil Lesh sat in, playing a second bass guitar and joining in the YEM trampoline segment -- truly a sight to behold.

This stop at Shoreline means something else to me entirely this year -- two more days until my first show since Saratoga Springs 2004. That's right; The Gorge will be my first shows since Phish's return, and I am about to burst with excitement.

BTW, in case you missed it, tickets for The Gorge were re-released today.

PHISH AT SHORELINE AMPHITHEATER SET LIST
August 5, 2009

SET ONE
Golgi Apparatus, Halley's Comet, Chalk Dust Torture, The Divided Sky, *When the Circus Comes, Time Turns Elastic, Ya Mar, Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan, Suzy Greenberg, David Bowie

SET TWO
Backwards Down the Number Line, Down with Disease -> Ambient Jam -> Limb by Limb, Oh Sweet Nothin', Cities -> Maze, **Mike's Song -> Simple -> Weekapaug Groove

ENCORE
Let Me Lie, Axis: Bold As Love

SHOW NOTES
Prior to the show they sound checked a song that no one could identify; *Trey switched guitars; ** Trey and Mike banter at the end of the jam;

DOWNLOADS
Grab yourself a crispy audience recording of tonight's show, courtesy of PhishThoughts.com's "No Spoilers."

Or get the official soundboard from LivePhish.com by clicking below.

Phish 8/5/09 Shoreline Amphitheatre , Mountain View, CA Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW

PHOTOS
Shoreline parking lot
Marquee in front of Shoreline
As Mickey Hart once said to Bill Graham, "It looks like an upsidedown bra."
Moonrise over Shoreline
Setbreak
Chalk Dust Torture
Maze
Simple

LINKS
NPR's Carrie Brownstein's blog about getting to know Phish for the first time called "How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Phish."
Original Phish artwork by a Phan. Pretty cool stuff.
Hilarious spoof Blog

LATEST NEWS STORIES
Bill Kreutzmann Joins Phish Finale at Red Rocks (Relix)
Four Nights of Phish, a Red Rocks Review Part II (Portland Examiner)
Four Nights of Phish, a Red Rocks Review Part I (Portland Examiner)
Phish Bring Out the Dead at Red Rocks (Spinner)
Phish returns to Red Rocks in Morrison (Vail Daily)
What do you think about Phish? (Seattle Times)
Phish was fantastic (Denver Daily News)
Reunited Rockers Return to Bay Area (KTVU)
Phish Heads get treat, businesses see a godsend (San Diego Tribune)

Phish Red Rocks Setlist Night Four

What a run, What a run, What a run! Goes without saying, I guess, but Phish at Red Rocks to kick off Late Summer Tour 2009 is noteworthy not because of the band's return to the venue, but because of the band's return.
The boys made a statement at these shows. They played with a ferocity and focus not seen since, arguably, Big Cypress, or maybe even before that, going back to the Funk of 1997. In my honest opinion, the Red Rocks 2009 run will go down as the moment in Phishtory when Page, Mike, Fishman and Trey reclaimed the Phish name and squarely pointed the band's nose into the future.
Yes, boys and girls, it really was that good. Need to hear it for yourself? Download crispy audience recordings of all four nights of Phish's Red Rocks run courtesy of PhishThoughts.com

PHISH AT RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATER SET LIST
August 2, 2009

SET ONE
Roses Are Free, Wilson, NICU, Prince Caspian, Back On The Train, Reba, Grind,Beauty Of A Broken Heart, Sample In A Jar, Sugar Shack, Waste, Kill Devil Falls

SET TWO
Boogie On Reggae Woman, You Enjoy Myself -> *Undermind -> *Drums -> *Seven Below -> *2001 -> *Waves -> *Character Zero

ENCORE
^^Bittersweet Motel, Bouncing Around The Room, Slave To The Traffic Light

SHOW NOTES
*With Bill Kreutzmann on drums; ^Only the 14th time ever played, last played 6/25/04 and before that 10/1/00. Debuted 12/11/97; ^^Only the 15th time every played, last played 7/29/03 and before that 9/15/00. Debuted 7/21/98.

PHOTOS
Phish's From the Road Slideshow

Phish Red Rocks Setlist Night Three

Welcome to August 2009, and Happy 67th Birthday to Jerry Garcia!
And welcome back to the third night of pure unadulterated joy, also known as night three of Phish's Late Summer Tour 2009 stop at Red Rocks.
Have you downloaded a copy of night one or night two yet? If not, you can grab a crispy audience recording here. From the sound of things, the boys are back to rehearsing in between tours again. They sound tighter than ever, and are starting to stretch things out more than they did during the first part of summer. CK5 has some new tricks up his sleeve, too, stuff that's hard to describe, really.

PHISH AT RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATER SET LIST
August 1, 2009

SET ONE
AC/DC Bag, *The Curtain With, **Mound, Gotta Jibboo, Guyute, Punch You in the Eye, Tube, Alaska, Run Like An Antelope

SET TWO
Rock and Roll, Down With Disease -> Free, ***Esther, ****Dirt, Harry Hood

ENCORE
Sleeping Monkey, First Tube

SHOW NOTES
*First time played since Coventry; **Third time played since 11/19/96; First time played since 9/30/00 and only the fourth Esther since 10/19/96; ****Second time played since 11/29/03 and only the seventh time played since the original Hiatus.

DOWNLOADS
Grab an audience recording of tonight's show courtesy of PhishThoughts.com

Or download the official soundboard from LivePhish.com once it's available.

Phish 8/1/09 Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW

LINKS, NEWS & REVIEWS
Review of July 31 (Hidden Track)
Mr. Minor's review (PhishThoughts.com)
Demystifying Phish Prior to Sold-Out Show (San Jose Mercury News)
Swimming in Cash (Denver Daily News)
Fans Remember Red Rocks as Phish Enters Town (Portland Examiner w/ video from 1996 riot)
Phish Back at Red Rocks for First Time Since Riots (TheDenverChannel.com)
Triumphant Return to Red Rocks for Phish (Denver Post)

PHOTOS
Phish's From the Road Slideshow