phish

Well, two days after ringing in the New Year, and I'm just finally getting over my hangover. Maybe it's because I spent the entire first day of the year laughing over an assortment of cocktails throughout the day with some of best people ever. Now, still a bit foggy, I sit here at my computer reading through all accounts of the many New Year's Eve musical celebrations I missed throughout the country. There was one show that I payed attention to throughout the night, though, and that was Phish's big gig at New York City's Madison Square Garden. Shortly after the midnight hour, I checked Twitter to see how my favorite band celebrated, and all it said was "Meatstick" followed by the traditional "Auld Lang Syne" into the Eric Clapton-popularized, JJ Cale-penned "After Midnight," a very similar choice of setlist as their famed Big Cypress Millennium show which found them playing a near 8-hour set from before midnight up until the sunrise. The simple tweet saying "Meatstick" couldn't explain less what actually happened the other night. The video tells all...

This might be one of the best things I've ever seen in my life. So pissed I wasn't in attendance!

In one week from today, mine, Bacon and Toast's favorite band in the land will be descending on the state of Texas for the first time in over 11 years. Phish will embark on the Austin City Limits Music Festival on Friday in front of a host of both old crusty phans, and (hopefully) a bountiful amount of new listeners as well. Unfortunately, ACL is Phish's only Texas appearance (as of now), so us Texans are going to have to make the most of it – show Phish that they need to come back soon. I'm not sure what kind of set they'll bring to the table, hopefully one for the history books. Even if they bring a standard set of their most popular material, it will be quality. Phish in Texas. Yes.

Recently, Hash Browns put up a bunch of pictures from our trip to Atlanta to catch Phish over the 3rd and 4th of July. It was one of the best times of my life, so to relive the event while browsing through these photos has been amazing. Check 'em out after the jump...

Over a month has passed since Bacon and my last Phish experience at Alpharetta, GA's Encore Park Amphitheatre on the 3rd and 4th of July, and we are still suffering from minor hangovers. To help us finally get over them, Phish has released a high quality HD video of their Farmhouse tune "Gotta Jibboo." Used as a set closer for the third of four sets of the weekend, Phish extended the usual jam in "Jibboo" for a funky 12 minutes of booty-shaking that sent everyone in the crowd into the fourth and final set with their dancing shoes on. For me, this version was overshadowed by the ferocious final set that night, but after watching this video and seeing the quality and intensity of playing, I realize how great of a choice for set closer it really was. Give it a watch, and judge for yourself...

Now, if only Phish would release that segment in the final set that was smashed in between Mike's Groove. I would die to see a clear video of that "Harpua," which included a full interpolation of Rage Against The Machine's "Killing In The Name." That shit was the shit.

If you're a regular reader of BOT, you know that there is one band that dominates a very big portion of Toast, Bacon and my own love affair with music. If you have to guess from here, this video's not for you. Phish made a return to late night television last night for the first time in over six years. They brought with them one of their strongest covers in their storied repertoire, The Rolling Stones' "Loving Cup" from the stellar album Exile In Main Street. As part of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon's "Stones Week," Phish performed the cover with vigor in front of a rowdy audience of phans. It's good to see healthy Phish performing a song they love with smiles adorning their aging grins, especially when the song is introduced by one of it's co-writers in form of the pirate-zombie known as Keith Richards.

In less than a month, I'll be seeing my first Phish show of 2010, when they come within ten minutes of my parents house in Ohio. I'll also be catching both the Atlanta Fourth of July gigs, and the crown jewel run of shows in Colorado's majestic town of Telluride. See you soon my Phishy friends!

Phish, some at BoT's primary impetus for every good thing in their musical journey, have announced their Summer 2010 Tour Dates. No info about on sale, but for a smile-inducing video check out Phish.com. Dates below!

June 11 Chicago, IL Toyota Park
June 12 Cuyahoga Falls, OH Blossom Music Center
June 13 Hershey, PA Hersheypark Stadium
June 15 Portsmouth, VA nTelos Pavilion at Harbor Center
June 17 Hartford, CT Comcast Theatre
June 18 Hartford, CT Comcast Theatre
June 19 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
June 20 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
June 22 Mansfield, MA Comcast Center
June 24 Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center
June 25 Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center
June 26 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 27 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 29 Canandaigua, NY CMAC
July 1 Raleigh, NC Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion
July 2 Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
July 3 Alpharetta, GA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park
July 4 Alpharetta, GA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park
August 5 Berkeley, CA Greek Theatre
August 6 Berkeley, CA Greek Theatre
August 7 Berkeley, CA Greek Theatre
August 9 Telluride, CO Telluride Town Park
August 10 Telluride, CO Telluride Town Park
August 12 Noblesville, IN Verizon Wireless Music Center
August 13 Noblesville, IN Verizon Wireless Music Center
August 14 East Troy, WI Alpine Valley Music Theatre
August 15 East Troy, WI Alpine Valley Music Theatre
August 17 Wantagh, NY Nikon Theater at Jones Beach
August 18 Wantagh, NY Nikon Theater at Jones Beach

The most promising to me - given the proximity of family, friends, and/or epic nature to the venue - look to be Atlanta, Berkeley, and Telluride... and I know my midwestern writing mates will be at Chicago and Cuyahoga. I'm quite sure this means that we'll get more West Coast dates (and a fest?) in the Fall, hopefully just before or after a 4-date Texas run. Please give us two nights in The Woodlands!

Here we go again. Phish have released a string of fall tour dates that start just a few weeks after they take the stage in Indio, CA for their own Festival 8. This string of dates, which starts at Detroit's Cobo Arena, will find them traversing the heart of America including stops in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maine, before a trio of dates at New York's famed Madison Square Garden. The tour will all come to a wrap December 5th, at Charlottesville, Virginia's John Paul Jones Arena. Unfortunately, there are no Texas dates this run, or for that matter, no dates anywhere near Texas. Looks like I'm gonna have to save up some money over the next few weeks...

Check out the full list of Phish's fall tour dates after the jump

Leading up to Phish's next round of shows, Halloween weekend's Festival 8, the band has been releasing archival clips from some of their more storied festival performances. So far they've released ten different videos from their past events, including footage from Lemonwheel, The Great Went, IT, and now probably their most highly regarded festival, Big Cypress. Taking place at an Indian reservation in southern Florida over the eve of the Millenium, Phish performed four sets, with their final set stretching for over seven-and-a-half hours and lasting until dawn. Before Phish opened up their marathon set, they closed their first set of the night with a ripping version of the JJ Cale-written, Eric Clapton-popularized tune "After Midnight," letting their fans know that after the New Year hit, they were "gonna let it all hang out." Recent additions to the Phish Festival 8 The8tre include a version of "Free" from BC, but also a clip of the stretched-out jam leading out of "After Midnight," which I've embedded below. Give it a watch!

With this quality footage, one could only hope that they'd release a nice DVD box set of Big Cypress in the very near future. We can only wait and see, but for now these clips should suffice.

Phish performed their final show of the summer run on Sunday in Saratoga, NY at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, better known as SPAC. The setlist featured several bust-outs, including a "Llama" opener, Page McConnell's "Cars Trucks Buses" and the first performance of the song "I've Been Around" from their forthcoming LP Joy. While those would have been great to see, I'm most jealous of the first run-through of the fabled "Harpua" since their return, all wrapped around an all-too-goofy cover of Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl" which had drummer John Fishman front and center, belting out the lyrics before running circles around the stage throwing high fives to the front row patrons. So ridiculous, but at the same time, so freaking great.

Some kind soul brought along a very nice camera, with even better sound to capture the hi-jinks from the balcony. Give both clips a watch for some serious Phish madness.

I love at the beginning of the first clip how much the crowd cheers upon the first "Ooom-pah-pah." So much energy.

In all my travels to concerts and festivals over the years, my experience is always heightened by a lively campground experience. I've been to some of the best camping festivals in the U.S., but usually the festivals 24 hour events take away from the activeness in the campgrounds. For my first ever trip to George, WA's The Gorge to see Phish, I knew I'd be camping, but didn't expect how much fun I would get out of the entire camping experience. The astonishing views, sizable campsites, free-for-all goods trade, late-night music offerings and overall gypsy lifestyle that came with the camping was like no other festival or show I've ever been to. With only one band playing, it gave everyone time to establish friendships with their neighbors in the mornings and afternoons, while still having time to explore the tent city and 'Shakedown Street' for any good or service you could imagine. Vegan burrito at 4am – no problem. Sheets of The Merry Prankster's original blotter paper at noon – right away. Glass paraphernalia, drugs, tickets, posters, t-shirts, any type of food you could imagine, bloody mary's, mimosas, full bars, smokes, henna tats, LP's, healing sessions, cheetos, Sierra Nevada's, cheap wine, expensive wine, liquor-induced snow cones, camaraderie, dogs, more dogs, funk and just about anything else you could think of was for sale or trade the entire weekend. Phish fans have made their own community that could technically support itself if laws would allow so. So what if kids are experimenting with a few psychedelics, this bohemian lifestyle works if the people allow it to work for them. That is exactly what was on display during this two night Phish run. The cops allowed the campers to run the site all weekend, and it proved to work very well. From the moment we arrived, until the drive out of there, Mr. and Mrs. Bacon and myself enjoyed the shit out of every minute of it.

I brought my camera up to Washington to capture the amazing natural venue, and the campground lifestyle. We'll have full reviews of both Phish shows at the Gorge including a bunch of Bacon's photos and videos, but for now peep my shots from the grounds after the jump.

For the first time in thirteen years, jam-titans Phish made their way to Morrison, Colorado's Red Rocks Ampitheatre for a run of four shows starting on July 30th. We were lucky enough to experience the first of the four nights, and had a blast in the process. Bacon, AnnieB and myself met up with a few old friends, and headed towards the famed venue with a bit of a swerve on. After securing a ticket for Annie 325, and some party favors for the night, we made our way into the show just in time to snatch a great seat – 24 rows from the stage.

The show was fire. From the opening notes of "Divided Sky," all the way to the "Loving Cup" encore, Phish were on top of their game, almost as if they had something to prove. The highlight of the night for me was a lengthy jam centered around their classic "Ghost" that featured an extremely noticeable tease of Fatboy Slim's "Praise You." While I wish I could have attended the other three nights, this one-off trip to Denver for my first time at Red Rocks was well worth the time and money spent. We had to ship off early the next day, but knew we had two more Phish shows the following weekend at The Gorge to look forward to. I made it home just in time to start watching the next nights setlist – stricken by a bit of jealousy over several of my friends in attendance.

Bacon brought his new camera to Red Rocks, and we both used it to get a bunch of great shots from before and during the show. Check them out after the jump