Thanks to John Greene, Matt Laurence, and Clinton Vadnais, Phish.net is pleased to announce the release of the previously-uncirculated video footage that was shot 30 years ago last week for the planned-but-never-completed Gamehendge CD-ROM. This video comes from a VHS cassette labeled "John's Special Tape":
I had the pleasure of interviewing John Greene (formerly of yeP!, currently of Chum) over beers last week in Marin County to get the straight dope on the backstory of this footage. I transcribed the important details and worked them into a more linear narrative, with John’s blessing of course. Here's what John told me:
When I was a college student at UMass (‘88 to ’93), I worked in this animation lab – this is where I met Jack [Carson] from yeP! – my concentration was computer animation, and Jack and I wound up doing music and sound for all these computer animated educational videos. That’s what funded the lab, we made these videos, and that’s how Jack and I essentially started yeP!. Back then, in 1990, the computer software for the Mac IIfx was terrible. These guys in the animation lab had started their own software company to make a better computer animation package for the Mac than what existed. The short version is that they got to demo their software in the Apple booth at MacWorld in San Francisco – this was like January ’91.
Welcome to the 473rd edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the second (and second-to-last) of July. The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of the mystery clip. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. Stay safe!
In celebration of the 30 year anniversary this week of the video footage taken by John Greene (formerly of yeP!, currently of Chum) in July 1991 (7/12/91 - 7/19/91) that was slated to be included in the planned-but-never-completed Gamehendge CD-ROM, Clinton Vadnais (@cleantone here / @cleantones on Twitter and YouTube) will be streaming the footage he restored and cleaned up on his YouTube channel (youtube.com/cleantones) for the fanbase for the first time Saturday (tomorrow) at 8 pm EST / 5 pm PST!
Welcome to the 472nd edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the first and easiest of July - note that the n00b rule is NOT in effect this week: anyone can answer on the blog. The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of the mystery clip. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. Stay safe!
All four episodes of Alive Again, a limited series featuring Trey Anastasio, are now available. The show is available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
We've all heard Trey talk about Phish in print, audio and video, but his solo career has remained largely unexamined—until now. And with the return of live music, the time has come for fans to be alive again.
Today, July 8th, is the anniversary of the fabled 7/8/94 Great Woods Gamehendge show. This is serendipitous indeed, because during last week's Attendance Bias podcast, Brian Weinstein had Jeff Goldberg (our resident sound archeologist), join him on the show. While they took a deep dive discussing that famous show, their analyses were preceded by a discussion about... you guessed it... previously uncirculated Phish material. Here is the link to the show where Jeff and Brian discuss the process and what it’s like to work on Phish material which so few people have ever heard:
Attendance Bias: 7/8/94 Great Woods, with Jeff Goldberg
Why is this significant? Well, thanks once again to Jeff's audio engineering efforts (Phish.net handle: @Jeff_Goldberg), we have some more uncirculated Phish music for your listening pleasure. No recordings were known to exist of the December 2nd, 1990 show at The Front in Vermont… until now. Jon Trafton graciously provided the only known recording of part of Set II of the 12/2 show to Jeff to digitalize and clean up so it could finally circulate.
Welcome to the 471st edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the final contest of June - shoutout to @Zands and @justino for two of the three clips! The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of all three mystery clips, which are connected by a theme. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. Good luck!
[We are grateful to Ashley Baier user @ay_bear for this piece, posted seven years to the day after the release of Fuego (June 24, 2014). -Ed.]
No matter what your opinion is of the song "Fuego," as a jaded vet or a n00b, one thing can’t be denied: the piece features a a tour de force of drumming. In just over nine minutes, Jon Fishman takes the listener on a journey through a ’50 Ways To Leave Your Lover- inspired groove — a truly quintessential pattern composed by Steve Gadd which every drummer eventually studies — and blistering drum’n’bass before setting up a singalong shout course with the type of fill that drummers dream of playing in front of thousands in a rock arena.
You know the fill I’m talking about. The one that’s the precursor to white lights washing over the crowd of dancing and WOAH-ing fans (is it ok to whoa? Asking for an anti-wooer). You’re hugging your bros. The fact that Trey just ripcorded "Tweezer" doesn’t matter. You are… enjoying "Fuego"?
Everyone is loving the moment because Jon Fishman sets you up with the perfect fill every time.
Welcome to the 470th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the third contest of June - shoutout to @Zands for one of the clips! The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of both mystery clips, which are connected by a theme. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. Good luck!
[This guest blog post is courtesy of Adam Lioz (user @RadicalSuit) and Malcolm Howard (user @mhoward205), who are are founding Board members of Phans for Racial Equity.]
Juneteenth commemorates the day the last enslaved people in the U.S. were granted freedom in 1865, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. What’s the relevance of a celebration of Black liberation for the largely White jam band community? Why should we keep Juneteenth in mind as many of us plan to head back out on tour for the first time in more than a year?
We are thrilled to share the premiere of Alive Again, a new podcast exploring the solo career of Trey Anastasio. You’ll hear Trey talk about his musical origins, including his early compositional experiences and musical influences, and the relationship between composition and improvisation.
Welcome to the 469th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the second puzzle of June. The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of both mystery clips, which are connected by a theme. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. Stay safe!
Reminder: For the first MJM of each month, only folks who have never won an MJM are allowed to answer on the blog before the hint. If you have never won an MJM, please answer as a comment below. If you have previously won an MJM, but you'd like to submit a guess before the hint, you may do so by PMing me; once the hint has been posted, everyone should answer on the blog. If that's confusing to you, check out the handy decision tree that I threw together for you. If you're not sure if you've won before, check in the MJM Results spreadsheet linked below.
Welcome to the 468th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the first and easiest of June. The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of the mystery clip. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. Stay safe!
Welcome to the 467th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the fifth and final MJM of May - shout-out to MJM Emeritus @WayIFeel for this week's puzzle! The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of both mystery clips, which are connected by a theme. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. Stay safe!
Welcome to the 466th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the fourth of May - shout-out to our newest MJM Emeritus @sumac22 for one of the clips! The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of both mystery clips, which are connected by a theme. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. Stay safe!
Phish.net is a non-commercial project run by Phish fans and for Phish fans under the auspices of the all-volunteer, non-profit Mockingbird Foundation.
This project serves to compile, preserve, and protect encyclopedic information about Phish and their music.
Credits | Terms Of Use | Legal | DMCA
The Mockingbird Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Phish fans in 1996 to generate charitable proceeds from the Phish community.
And since we're entirely volunteer – with no office, salaries, or paid staff – administrative costs are less than 2% of revenues! So far, we've distributed over $2 million to support music education for children – hundreds of grants in all 50 states, with more on the way.