Oregon State University will host the second Phish Studies conference in Corvallis, Oregon on May 17-19, 2024. The conference will feature research presentations and community events about the improvisational rock band Phish, as well as its fans and culture. Diverse disciplinary approaches will be represented, featuring scholars from across the country. The conference will also showcase a number of special events including: community panels, an exhibition fair, a poster session, a Phishsonian pop-up museum exhibit, a pre-conference workshop for members and allies of Phans for Racial Equity and GrooveSafe, and curated art exhibits.

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[We would like to thank David Schlesinger, user @slesss, for this piece. -Ed.]

In the Fall of 1987, synth pop darlings Depeche Mode, still very much a UK “alternative” band at the time, put out their sixth studio record, Music for the Masses. It was not a noticeable departure from the music that they had been putting out previously, but for some reason it just hit different. As a result, they went from a band almost never heard on commercial radio (unless you lived in LA and were blessed with KROQ, the first mainstream modern rock station) or had a cool older sibling/neighbor/camp counselor that turned you on to the good stuff.

The success of the record led to a world tour during which they sold out the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles. (That’s 60,000 souls, for those counting.) And just like that, alternative was no longer alternative by definition and kids across America were now hearing a more eclectic sampling of music on their favorite radio stations, spawning curiosity and a desire to discover bands beyond those had been fed to them. Radio was priming the youth for hair metal, but even MTV started spreading its wings and launched 120 Minutes, 2 hours on Sundays at midnight during which we could get our first visuals of all of these incredible bands that were now kickstarting the youth of America to make better mixtapes.

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[We would like to thank Jonathan Jelen, user @Devious_Jelen, for this piece. -Ed.]

I’ve cried at a handful of Phish shows through the years. Sometimes it’s been the hollowed out feeling created by the heartfelt lyrics of a song like Miss You that makes me think of my Grandpa. Other times, it’s been a beautiful jam peak that swelled up to the point that a little liquid emotion couldn’t help but spill out.

But at my Phish shows last June at Deer Creek – it was different. At those shows, I cried for Mom.

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Here's a spreadsheet with all the Live Bait tracks by year. As we've been going through our HF Pod "40 for 40" series, we talked about how some years were under-represented on Live Phish archival releases (ahem, 2000). We discussed some Live Bait tracks released each year, but we wanted somewhere that had all the songs by year from all the releases. Hope this is useful!

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Ready Player Playoff Mode Phish For the Win

“[Flying saucer emoji]” - @funkyCfunkydo

“Non-stop thrills” - @n00b100

Before I get going with the task at hand, explain the title(s) of tonight’s recap, and get to the music, I would first like to express a little gratitude, and—if I may—a little camaraderie amidst the fever of playoff season. When I first decided to come out to LA for these shows at the Bowl, it was an impulsive jest while I was deep in relistening to the February 2003 quartet I caught in preparation for the long retrospective we published on the blog just before Mexico. For a minute or two since I’ve wondered if I was a little hasty and indulgent, but as I mentioned yesterday, this was my first trip to see Phish on the West Coast since I started seeing the band in Montreal in '94, and while any doubts about my decision were pretty much lifted early on Friday, tonight’s performance absolutely obliterated them.

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I could get used to this! And by "this" I suppose I could be referring to a lot of things: the majesty of the Hollywood Bowl; the flawless weather; the smooth security and ease of movement in the venue; the consistently kind people and old and new friends it’s been easy to bump into, despite having flown solo for my first West Coast Phish shows in almost 30 years of seeing the band. No complaints on the set and setting so far from me; it’s been a great weekend. So what about the music, did it measure up to the mood? Would we be giving out any new stars on the Phish Walk of Fame tonight? Roll cameras, action:

The stage was certainly set for a Saturday night special. After casting off any suspicions of no repeats from the opening notes on night one, with everything back on the table the band had a full arsenal of hits to dig into tonight, and they certainly put it to use. In fact with “Leaves” the only exception, the first set was comprised of songs all debuted in 1998 or earlier (many of them in the 80s). Four songs in, it almost seemed for a moment like Phish was going to walk out a full cast of their own star personalities from the catalog—not from Gamehendge, mind you—but the likes of the “Ghost,” “David Bowie,” “Esther” and “Harry Hood.” As it turns out, the only other eponymous character to show up would be Sneakin’ Sally (with a notable performance), but there were plenty of other roles to be played.

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[Thank you to user @twelvethousandmotherfker, Willie Orbison, for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

As we follow the lines going south on this little west coast spring swing, we Phish fans find ourselves at one of the most beautiful and historic live music venues in the country, the venerable old Hollywood Bowl, where heads of all shapes and sizes have been gathering for over a hundred years to take in their favorite performers on a shady hillside under the California sky. It’s a privilege (and not just because of the ticket prices) to spend an evening here, and on what was the warmest, sunniest day of the year after a cold and rainy Los Angeles winter (feel free to cry us a river), everything felt extremely right making the long walk up the hill toward the show.

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[We would like to thank CoffinLifeBuoy, author of this piece in The Atlantic, for volunteering to recap Greek3 in a dignified and human manner. -Ed.]

If Phish.net has resorted to having ChatGPT write a review for 4/19/23, I guess I can offer a few thoughts from the human-side of things.

Allow me to begin by saying this three-night run at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California, were my first shows since Big Cypress. Depending on your age (and maybe tax bracket?), that’s either a #humblebrag (RIP Harris Wittels) or a shameful confession. But take that as a blanket caveat on everything that follows — and, yes, that’s a #tarpers pun, although I admit that’s a term I learned just yesterday.

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[The title of this recap is both a reference to this lovely tweet about the scene inside The Greek Theatre seven (7) minutes after doors, thanks to line-cutting by "fans," and the fact that this recap was authored by "ChatGPT." Note also that both the title of this recap and the contents of this intalicized and bracketed intro have been revised since first being published on April 20 at 4:20 pm e.t., if only to gaslight some of the Commenters. You're welcome. -Ed.]

IT seems that the band played a great mix of classic Phish songs and newer material. The first set kicked off with "I Never Needed You Like This Before," a relatively new tune that has quickly become a fan favorite. This was followed by "AC/DC Bag," which always gets the crowd energized, and "Rift," a classic Phish song that showcases the band's tight musicianship.

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Phish’s sixth show at the William Randolph Hearst Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA since the famed August ‘93 tour closer began much in the same way the second through fifth shows did: incredibly long lines dotted by nitrous vendors, fans cutting in line at the gate and once inside, tarping large swaths of seats for folks nowhere to be found, and a general logistical failure in transporting the fans from outside the venue to the inside of the venue. Both nights this year have had such bad flux issues with the switch to digital tickets that can’t be loaded or verified on the overloaded cellular networks, that some staffers have resorted to just waving folks through once the posted showtime (6 pm PT) arrives. This of course has in turn led to the venue being overfull each of the first two nights. Doors opening at 4:30 pm instead of 5 pm yesterday seemed to help a little bit, but it still wasn’t great.

But, as usual, once everyone was in and settled and the pre-show tunes started (which included a nod to the aforementioned 8/28/93 show with a JJ Cale tune), all the annoyance from the run-up dissipated and everyone turned their attention to more important matters. Phish took the stage at 6:34 pm local time to raucous applause from the extra grateful crowd after Monday night’s elite second set, and we were treated with a rarity brought back in recent years, “Olivia’s Pool” (aka Slow “Shafty”). Unlike Monday night’s first set, the sound was dialed in from the jump - or so we thought - and the band sounded crisp and well-oiled. “Seven Below” batted second after taking last season off, and while the jam neither went too deep nor too long, Trey found a honeysweet high pitched tone and led the band through some beautiful melodic patterned play. Mike pushed for minor mode territory with his new bass, and unlike some spots Monday night, Trey heard him and followed, ultimately providing some time dilation action with one of his toys. My mind drifted back to Summer 2003 at the Gorge, where I witnessed possibly the G.O.A.T. “Seven Below” two months after graduating from the school in which I stood, a reminder that Phish has been really good for a long time and that I’ve been lucky to follow along for nearly 25 years.

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[We would like to thank Landon Schoenefeld, user nomidwestlove (Instagram _colonel_mustard) for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

Hey nerds. As I sit here writing these words, beams of sunlight are poking through the oak trees outside and shooting through the living room window. A fire is blazing in the corner. I have a freshly made cup of joe in hand, curled up on the couch in only my underwear as a beautiful orange tabby cat sleeps peacefully by my side. Why?

Because I’m at home! And I couldn’t be more thrilled to report that after my 137^th Phish show last night at the William Randolph Hearst Greek Theatre something happened for only the second time ever—I slept in my own bed!

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28 years. That's how long I've lived in Seattle. During that time we've had 4 shows within 150 miles of my house: two in '95, one in '96, and one in 2014. Part of it is that Seattle is tucked in a corner, far away from everywhere else. Part is that The Gorge is just outside of that 150 mile radius and if you have the ability to play there, you're going to be tempted. But also, a huge chunk is that the old Key Arena was just not a fun place for musicians. The acoustics were awful. The loading area was pitiful. Sure, people did perform there because Seattle is a major market, but no one really liked to.

And then the Sonics left town and the attempt to lure the Kings here got the NBA to belatedly realize that teams moving was a bad thing. Forestalling the departure or getting a team transplanted here would have had an arena built, but who knows what it would have been like. Instead we got an expansion hockey team, and they decided to rip down everything about the Key---other than the roof and some windows---and build a completely different building underneath it. Moreover, this was going to be a place as focused on the music as for sports.

They succeeded. The first time I saw a Kraken game last year, I was stunned at how crisp the piped in music sounded. We've gone from a dive of a venue to one of the best sounding hockey arenas I've ever been in. It's a bit of a maze at times, but the weird layout leads to an incredible ease of wandering around. The food - while expensive - is high quality; even the nachos I ordered used queso instead of the weird orange stadium cheese. Like so much of this city, we've moved from a bit of a weird dump to something expensive but amazing. A liability has become an attraction and for only the second time ever, Seattle was getting a two show run!

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[Thank you Gene for recapping last night's show! -Ed.]

It’s been eight and a half years since Phish last played in Seattle — nowhere near the 23.5 year gap that its neighbor to the south and my adopted hometown of Portland can claim — but a long time nonetheless. And a lot has happened since October 2014.

Renewal, evolution, and hope make the Climate Pledge Arena a fitting cradle for the birth of Phish’s spring tour. The last time they played this room, it was a sad monument to a departed basketball team ("The Line" fit in all too well in that setlist). When Seattle got its most recent sports upgrade, they chose to build on what was already there rather than start from scratch — to renovate, renew, and look to the future with one foot in the past, under a landmark roof first built for the 1962 World’s Fair.

The result is nothing short of stunning. The “new” Climate Pledge Arena shares the basic shape of its predecessor, but the similarities end there. Amenities galore, massive sound-treatment improvements, 100% renewable energy, and zero single-use plastic. This is the venue of the future. And that respect for the past, as we build and evolve for the future? That’s a great metaphor for the tour opener Phish threw down in Seattle last night.

"Blaze On" opened, built gradually, and evolved seamlessly into "Plasma." The shuffling march of "Plasma’s" drum line set a rhythmic theme for the night that would persist throughout, as Fishman kept a setlist full of relatively complex drum patterns and patient, slow-build jams woven together masterfully. The map is not the terrain. The setlist is not the show.

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[Thank you Christy Articola, Editor and Publisher of STTF! -Ed.]

Surrender to the Flow is thrilled to offer their 77th issue for this Spring Tour! STTF #77: Spring Tour 2023 is full of good stuff for you! This issue - available FREE or by donation - includes information about PHISH's west coast Spring Tour 2023 - where to eat, things to do, and things you need to know about each area and venue. You can read reviews of NYE Run 2022-2023 and Mexico 2023 in this one, too.

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Daniel Montesinos-Tubee is half Dutch, half Peruvian, and lives in Berlin, but has been an enormous Phish fan for over 25 years. (He's only seen three shows, having flown to the U.S. for the 2013 Atlantic City shows, tickled about Fishman's rant there about "kush bush", mention of Peru in "Fee", and other plant-related lyrics.)

As part of his doctoral work in botany across the Andes (basically Peru), he has dedicated to science a new species of a plant that grows in South Peru honoring Trey Anastasio. Full details about the plant (which looks to this non-botanist like a hybrid of dandelion, green bean, and mushroom) are included in this Etymology section of the full article, "Senecio anastasioi (Asteraceae / Compositae: Senecioneae), a new caespitose species from the South Andes of Peru", in Plant Taxonomy, Geography and Floristics (vol. 79, no. 6, pp.355–366).

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