[This article was published in the San Francisco Bay Guardian in 1999, so is Copyright © 1994-99 San Francisco Bay Guardian. It is being re-printed here, and now, because it is hilarious and its author Summer Burkes is a great writer. Special thanks to Philip Zerbo (co-editor of the Third Edition of The Phish Companion) for posting the text of this article to Rec.Music.Phish in October 1999. Also want to thank Josh Martin, whose recap of Charleston1 reminded me of this article and how I'd wanted to try to locate it and post it to the blog. -charlie]

Hook, line, and stinker:
Staring in train-wreck horror at the cult of Phish

By Summer Burkes

THEY ARE PHISH, I am chum

I must admit, I'd been unfair. I'd hated Phish with a passion since the
moment they entered my consciousness, even though I couldn't ever recall
actually hearing one of their songs.

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We wanted to wish MICHAEL GORDON a very happy birthday on this, the 11th anniversary of the June 3, 2011, "Down with Disease," that should be (re)listened to at all costs, now, either here on Relisten or on LivePhish.

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[We would like to thank Jen Chadbourne, user @Saw_ita_Jen on both dot net and twitter, for this recap. -Ed.]

It was a very humid day. The forecast called for mostly sunny skies with rain right around doors, so it was a bit of a gamble to figure out the calculus of when to leave for the lot. Luckily, hopping in rides with 1.0 friends made that easy.

We got to the lot around 4:20pm and jumped in line. At about 5:00pm there was incoming lightning, so the venue and band touring crew made the call to go ahead and pull us into the venue to shelter in place in an effort to weather the storm. We all posted up in the hallways to wait it out, and wouldn’t you know it, the lightning blew over without a drop of rain! So the show was not delayed, nor was it shortened to one set, which was the dreaded outcome had the lightning postponed doors.

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[We would like to thank user @Jmart, Josh Martin, for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

Here’s the thing: You like Phish. And if you’re reading this, chances are you actually love Phish with a chunk of your heart so large as to baffle most of your family and other acquaintances.

From your love of Phish, we can deduce something further: You love to dance. You have a repertoire of moves to fit any occasion. Imitating someone else’s moves in your crew is valuable social currency.

How do your dance choices reflect your show experience? Let’s discuss.

(For sake of reference, all dancing was observed from the floor, halfway back on Mike’s side)

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[Phish.net thanks volunteer recapper Rachael Wesley (rachaelwesley.com; Instagram: @rachaelwesleywrites) for recapping last night's show. - Ed.]

We all Phish for our own reasons and rage in our own ways. For me, I love reuniting with my favorite people while exploring parts of the country I might otherwise never visit. So, when Phish announced their tour opening run in Orange Beach that began the day after my 40^th birthday, it was easy for me to decide how to welcome in the new decade. Nor was it difficult to convince my crew to head to Alabama, a new state for several of us, to celebrate with me. We rented a large condo at the Wharf big enough to accommodate us all and spent the weekend swimming, eating, and Phishing. There was no better way a Phish fan could usher in a big birthday.

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[We would like to thank Ian Zigel Phish.net user @RipenessWasAll (Instagram: @Memehendge) for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

At this point, it would just be silly to deny that Phish has hit a new stride in this era we call 4.0. Since returning to the stage in Arkansas on 7/28/21, Phish plays with a conviction and awareness that at any moment, the universe can throw us a curveball; they are playing every show like it could be their last one. With nearly 40 years of touring and hundreds of songs to take turns vying for our attention, Phish continues to amaze and inspire us all by only looking forward, eternally blazing on, growing, and improving with one even more ambitious set of music after another. Phish is in a state of pure creative flow, and that was on full display on this hot summer night in swampy southern Alabama.

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[Thank you Dianna Hank user @Dianna_2Ns for recapping last night's tour-opening show. -Ed.]

Last night, Phish returned to The Wharf Amphitheater in Orange Beach, Alabama, to kick off their 2022 Summer Tour. This was the band’s second ever visit to The Wharf Amphitheater (the first being for a one-night stand at the venue, eight years ago on 8/1/2014), and only the 13th time the band has ever played in the state. Lights went down shortly after 8 PM and for the first time in the song’s history, “Twist” took the show-opening slot, getting right into the meat of the tune within three minutes and leading into 10+ more minutes of exploratory playing. While the jam felt to have been cut slightly shorter than it could’ve been, the band returned back to the "Twist" lyrics cleanly and finished the tune. “Halley’s Comet” followed and the band showed that perhaps they were a little overeager with that choice, forgetting almost an entire verse before cutting the diddy even shorter than usual with less than one minute of “jam” before segueing into “Sand.” Hopes again rose for a nice 1st-set jam out of this consistent jam vehicle, and the band delivered: Again, within three minutes, we found ourselves in a nice groovy pocket, and the four then continued to interplay with one another for another seven minutes of interesting and efficient playing, before sticking the landing and returning to the outro together.

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Last summer we invited everyone to rack up some good karma by making conditional pledges to donate to Mockingbird when their chosen events on Summer Tour occurred.

The most popular choice was to donate an amount for each 20-minute jam, but some fans pledged to donate if a specific song was played at a specific show, or in the hope that a friend would hear a "YEM," or if Mike wore neon shoes. People donated for all sorts of different things/reasons/events, hoping their tour wish(es) would come true! Some were realistic, some not so much, but when the donations were counted, the fundraiser was more successful than any of us ever imagined it would be: over twenty-thousand ($20,000) dollars was raised for music education programs!!!

So this year we’re going to do it all again. The menu options are a little more limited this year, but we hope you’ll find something that will inspire you to donate to Mockingbird.

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Thirty years ago today Phish performed a show in a hockey arena, Achilles Rink, on Page's birthday, that featured inarguably the sickest version of "Brother" e'er performed, as well as a magnificent jam-chart-worthy "Possum," and among the earliest known somewhat-exploratory "Harry Hood"z that may speak to your soul. Thanks to the good people behind relisten.net, you can listen to an aud recording of the show today, right now, at no cost to you, here. You can also read more about the show and listen to the sbd on LivePhish courtesy of band archivist Kevin Shapiro here. Happy birthday Page!

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You put your head down. You look back up. An hour has passed.
You put your head down. You look back up. The clock has stopped.

You close your eyes. You open them. But your eyes are still shut.

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Some fans showed up for the rescheduled YEMSG run with visions of a one-stop Island Tour Redux swimming in their heads. Others perhaps saw it as a late-pandemic milestone, a sign that the clouds are clearing and the time has returned when we can safely gather indoors with 20,000 of our closest friends without worrying about spread of the coronavirus. (Though science tells us that is not the case.)

Whatever expectations or mythology fans built into their perspectives, it’s clear a profound sense of gratitude informed the experience for so many people in the room and on the couch. Actual performances notwithstanding, the return of the ritual itself was deeply meaningful.

And yet, Phish did happen to deliver a musically terrific run. With a series “win” already secured in many fans’ eyes, the band still turned up Saturday as if it had something left to prove.

The show boasted an impeccably constructed, Phish-holiday card of a first set; a second set with lots of action; and a doorslammer of an encore. It felt like old times and new times all mixed together. It was another example of why we do this.

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[Phish.net welcomes and thanks guest writer, Dr. Wook, for this recap. -Ed.]

Giving an ‘official’ recap of a Phish show these days can seem like a fool’s errand. What’s the use when by the time you leave the venue and get someplace, a little rectangle device resting in your hand will already deliver you the setlist with notable statistics, song times, and ability to immediately start relistening for the things you thought you heard hours ago. Dedicated fans, through this and other web sites, some in attendance, some viewing from home, often begin posting knowledgeable, insightful, and varied opinions covering all aspects of the performance before anyone even goes to sleep the night of a show. And as Phish heads through its 39^th year, playing the venue they have played the most times across their storied career (68 at MSG), everyone at least agrees there is simply no singular way that people enjoy Phish. Stone cold sober or spun on psychedelics, on the rail or on the concourse, shedding a tear during "Joy" or peeing during Joy, there are such wildly diverse ways people engage with the immense catalogue of music and the ever-evolving live experience, that a common point of view is hard to come by.

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[Phish.net welcomes and thanks guest writer, Jeremy Willinger (user Jeremy8698), for this recap. -Ed.]

I love YEMSG holiday Phish runs, except this year---and stop me if you heard this one before---we shifted things 112 days due to a resurging pandemic and concern for everyone’s general welfare. So, Happy belated New Year to all; now let’s get down to the nitty gritty.

To get a little more granular, the 12/30 show has always been the standout during recent runs, and I will point you to my previous reviews of this night of music from 2019 and 2018 to showcase how unassailable and correct I am. Will tonight also eclipse what the band had in store for the end of 2020? Only time (that turns elastic) will tell.

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[Thanks to Josh Martin, @JMart, for once again writing a recap for the phish.net blog. And thanks to Matt Bittmann for the sweet photos! - ed.]

Greetings, everyone, and glad tidings from New York City, where Phish played the first of four rescheduled concerts, originally slated to be played Decemeber 29th - January 1st.

Before we begin in earnest, a brief requiem for what might have been: It is overstating nothing to say that Phish in the fall of 2021 was on one of the hottest runs of the post-break up era, no matter what you choose to call it. And while comparisons to the best tours of ANY era may have been a tad premature, one can certainly forgive their being made, as such comparisons are made with the breathless exuberance of a fan who has just witnessed something great. And if you saw a Phish show last year, chances were you did. Add to that momentum the bonkers Sci-Fi Soldiers numerology that Phish started laying on the audience during the Halloween run (4680 days from 3/6/09 to 12/31/21, etc.) and one can’t help but be a bit sad for what might have happened if those dates had gone off as planned. That having been said, if the last two-plus years have taught anyone anything about life, it is that there are things that are simply out of our control and it is our charge to deal with that uncertainty as best as we’re able.

There was no 12/29/21 show, but there was a 4/20/22 show, and that show started at the shockingly early hour of 8:07 PM with “Carini.” Given the level of 4/20-related chatter that had been going on for the past few months, it’s doubtful that very many heads had this as the run opener. This subversive “Carini” modulated is its way out of the dark into a pleasant, if familiar, sonic space. Around 7:30 Trey started upping the ante and Mike was quick to follow. Page jumped on clavinet for a few bars of something that was starting to sound very sinister, but was quickly nixed for a return to calmer pastures. There Trey and Mike fell into two beautiful melodic runs that coalesced into a propulsive chop, beautifully segueing into “Possum.”

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Welcome to the 499th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the second puzzle of April - thanks to @sumac22 for the clip! The winner will receive a $10 gift certificate for LivePhish.com. 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 AM ET. Stay safe!

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