Golf Is On Again For Denver!
The Mockingbird Foundation is once again offering three options to golf with fellow Phish fans this Labor Day weekend and help fundraise for music education:
- The Ninth Annual Runaway Open charity golf tournament for Phish fans will once again have up to 120 fans, in a shotgun start, preceded by coffee and a group photo. We'll have on-course contests, but this is all about swingin’ sticks with fans for charity. So, don’t sweat it if you’re rusty, new to the game, or prioritizing fun over competition - so are we! Register here, today! Registration covers all cart, greens, and tournament fees, including the shotgun structure (pricey to arrange on a Labor Day Saturday!); coffee, lunch, and a drink ticket; a gift bag of limited-edition event items as well as items contributed by sponsors; and a nominal charitable margin to support music education grants. Some sponsorship options are listed on the registration page, but we welcome your suggestions.
- We're also gearing up for the return of the disc golf tournament which Matt James spun up last year, to satisfy known demand and help raise more funds for music education. The first outing was a huge blast, with more players (and more funds raised!) than we expected, so we look forward to a repeat and hope to see you there. The 2nd Annual Wingsuit Open will also be Saturday August 31st in Denver, and registration is now open.
- Those unable to be on site can still join in the fun and charity fundraising by taking part in the virtual component - our Fifth Annual Virtual Open - using the same 18Birdies app we've used since the Fifth Annual Runaway Open went fully online in 2020. This will be an 18-hole, stroke-play event, on any course you want to play, any day from August 22 to September 4. Those who participate and make a donation of at least $70 to the Mockingbird Foundation before that window closes, will be sent the same limited-edition event merch being handed out on site, all with the Runaway Open logo. To play, join the tournament at 18birdies.onelink.me/IdkR/jccqsyjf, or by using tournament code 82868 on the app, or the QR Code here. Those participating on-site may also be interested in joining the virtual tournament. The app has lots of embedded services, offers a free trial period to test it’s distance and training features, and includes a gallery and chat space for those participating.
SET 1: Cayman Review, A Wave of Hope, Ocelot, What's Going Through Your Mind, The Way I Feel, Mists of the Past [1], Blaze On
SET 2: Oblivion, All Pretending > No Men In No Man's Land, Where They'll Find Us, Monsters, Sand, Brian and Robert [2], Evolve > Wolfman's Brother
ENCORE: Theme From the Bottom [3], Limb By Limb[3], Carini
SET 1: 46 Days, Drifting, In Rounds, Spin, Back on the Train, Gotta Jibboo, Snowflakes in the Sand [1], Everything's Right
SET 2: The Moma Dance > Life Saving Gun, Outside the Lines, Dark And Down, Pillow Jets, Steam, Ghost
ENCORE: When the Words Go Away [2], Brian and Robert[2], First Tube
SET 1: I Never Needed You Like This Before, Undermind, Heavy Things [1], hey stranger, Long Long Time [2], The Greater Good, Blaze On, About to Run
SET 2: Llama [3], Sweet Dreams Melinda, Twist, Quantegy, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, Shade[1], Sand
ENCORE: Strange Design [4], Wolfman's Brother, A Life Beyond The Dream
SET 1: Back on the Train, The Moma Dance, A Wave of Hope, Ocelot, 46 Days, Wolfman's Brother, Sand
SET 2: Oblivion, No Men In No Man's Land, What's Going Through Your Mind [1], Outside the Lines, Poppyhead[1], Demons[1], Everything's Right > First Tube
ENCORE: Cayman Review, Ghost
HELPING FRIENDLY GUIDE TO THE PHISH STUDIES CONFERENCE
[The following is courtesy of The Phish Studies Conference Program Committee. -Ed.]
Your time is near, the mission’s clear! The second ever academic Phish Studies conference, co-sponsored by The Mockingbird Foundation, will take place next week at Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR, conveniently located between Portland and Eugene. In 2019, the first Phish Studies conference took place at the same university and it was a rousing success. Although academic conferences in general have taken a break since COVID, many are now back and we figured it was time to open up the helping friendly book again!
The coolest thing about the Phish Studies Conference is that it’s not just for academics. Our slate of over 50 presenters this year is full of professors and professional scholars, but also a ton of people working outside of academia who are passionate about Phish and trying to figure out ways to seriously analyze and better understand what it is that we all intuitively know and love about this band. We’ve got presentations about the legal ethics of tarping, gendered norms within the jamband scene, Phish’s place within the history of tech communities, and even the intersection of Taylor Swift and Phish culture, presented by scholars from all walks of life and careers.
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SPHERE4 RECAP: A SPHERICAL EXPERIENCE
[This recap is courtesy of Mark C. Lynch, dot net user @Mondo_Butts, and he (and we) would also like to thank his friends users @FunkSuckle, @andrewfreeborncreative, @Sarahlyn710, @phishbiscuits11, and @juju.campbell90 for their support and input. -Ed.]
I woke up Sunday morning tired. Saturday night took a toll on me. Night 3 at the Sphere was a late one that spilled into an even later night hugging the tables. I woke up in a little bit of a fog. Grabbed some coffee and prepped for a work meeting I had scheduled. Coincidently, I spent a couple hours reviewing VFX for a TV show I work on. Later that night I found myself recapping VFX on a much larger scale. Soon thereafter, I realized it would be nearly impossible to accurately describe them in words.
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SPHERE3 RECAP: SQUARING THE SPHERE
[We would like to thank Rob Mitchum for recapping last night's show. Rob is a science and music writer in Oak Park, IL. He tweets about Phish @phishcrit, other stuff @robmitchum, and he has undertaken the Sisyphean task of writing about every Phish show on its 25-year anniversary, which will take him until at least 2047…and counting.Thank you Rob! -Ed.]
For all the billions of dollars invested in audiovisual technology at the Las Vegas Sphere, the thing I was most curious about for these shows was decidedly less flashy: would the members of Phish stand in their usual spots? For 99.9% of Phish shows, they have set themselves up in the same way – four-across on a rectangular stage at one end of the venue. But the few times they deviated from this layout have almost always produced memorable experiences and unusual music, from the alternative stages of late-night festival sets and the inward-facing square of the Chilling Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House costume to the flatbed truck in the round and the hourglass stage of MSG NYE stunts.
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SPHERE2 RECAP: ISO 2 SATURDAYS
[This recap is courtesy of Silas Cole, user @ObviousFool (Instagram @nice_shades), thank you Silas! -Ed.]
There are many things that set Phish shows at Sphere apart from other Phish shows, first and foremost, the visuals. I will do my best to describe the visual accompaniments, but words cannot possibly do justice to the spectacular displays, so I’ll also provide pictures. I also found myself less immersed in the music, for better or worse, and this recap accurately reflects that.
When we first entered the room, we were greeted by an enormous 3.67-acre LED array with a resolution of 16000x16000---the highest resolution LED screen on the planet. Once we sat down, we noticed the glaring lack of a light rig or stacks of speakers, but hidden behind the screen and throughout the venue there are over 168,000 separate speaker drivers, amps, and processing channels, an auditory nirvana.
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SPHERE1 RECAP
[This recap primarily of the scene is courtesy of dot net user @saw_ita_Jen, Jenny Chadbourne. As with all recaps, the views expressed are those of the recapper and may not reflect the views of any of the volunteers who run this site. -Ed.]
With night one on the books, I sit here in my room trying best articulate this experience, which is not easy. It's akin to trying to describe the sky and the colors of the sunset, or what it feels like to be in a redwood forest at sunset. The full emergence of the experience is truly grand, beyond anything you can comprehend. In this case a picture (of Nectar) is really worth a thousand words (so there a bunch in this recap).
The Sphere is a force of color and light on the strip, it’s hard to miss in the day or nighttime. It’s constantly radiating light, and color. A true work of psychedelic genius. For reference, the Hampton Coliseum is 84,827 cubic feet (26,263 square foot arena floor and a 70-foot ceiling), but Sphere is 875,000 cubic feet, as it's 366 feet tall and 516 feet wide. As the cherry on top, we get graphics for Dead and Co---it’s really special to have that steal your face imagery in the mix.
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PHISH STUDIES CONFERENCE UNVEILS 2024 AGENDA, SPHERE PHANART EVENT
[This post is courtesy of Dr. Stephanie Jenkins. -Ed.]
The agenda for the 2024 Phish Studies Conference (May 17-19), hosted by Oregon State University and The Mockingbird Foundation, is now available! The complete schedule of panels, performances, exhibits, and vendors is available at phishstudies.net.
Registration is open to the public -- fans and scholars alike.
ATTENDANCE BIAS PODCAST REVISITS PHIL LESH AND PHRIENDS AT THE WARFIELD, APRIL 15-16-17, 1999
IT has been twenty-five years since April 1999, a musically awe-inspiring month for Bay Area fans of improvisational rock. Those who loved the Grateful Dead, Phish, Steve Kimock (and Zero and KVHW, among the greatest improvisational rock bands in history imnsfho), and Carlos Santana couldn’t be happier. That's because in addition to the three Warfield PhilSH shows mid-month---which you can (re)listen to here or on Archive.Org or even watch video of on YouTube---April 1999 began with two legendary KVHW shows at the Great American Music Hall. The month also featured two Zero shows at the Maritime Hall the weekend of April 9; three Santana Fillmore shows, the third of which on April 18 featured Trey and Page on a few tunes (my review of it on this site is at phish.net/review-archive/shows/4-18-99.html; a stealth-taped fob-daud of this show used to circulate on DAT, CDR and cassette but I can't find it online today); two Jazz Is Dead shows at the Maritime Hall with Kimock on April 23 and 24; and then a Kimock, Vega, Hertz and (Jimmy) Herring (“KVHH”) show on April 30 up 101 north in Petaluma! This was certainly among the greatest months of music in my life and the lives of many others.
The magnificent, transcendent music of the April 1999 Phil Lesh and Friends Warfield shows, featuring Phil on bass, Steve Kimock and Trey on rhythm and lead guitars, Page McConnell on keyboards, and John Molo on drums, has been exhaustively discussed by many, including in detailed reviews posted in the glow of the events 25 years ago. The shows continue to be among the greatest improvisational musical performances I have ever seen, and you'll hear more from me about that than you ever needed or wanted to know if you listen to the Attendance Bias podcast episode about these shows with host Brian Weinstein; you can listen to it wherever you listen to your podcasts.
SURRENDER TO THE FLOW #82: LAS VEGAS 2024
[This post is courtesy of Christy Articola. -Ed.]
This issue is full of good stuff for you! It includes information about this year's Vegas run including where to eat, things to do, and lots of information about this new and exciting venue.
PHISHNET WAS BORN JUNE 22, 1991
PHISH archivist Kevin Shapiro recently---and graciously---tweeted HAPPY 34th BIRTHDAY to PhishNet, because for a very long time we believed PhishNet began thirty-four years ago in March 1990, as indicated in the old dot net "timeline," this News item, and this Jambands article from 2008 when Phish received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Jammys.
But a few years ago, PhishNet's founder Matt Laurence found his first email to the new PhishNet email list and sent it to us:
DIVIDED SKY FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES 2024 FUN(D) RUN AND MUSIC FEST
[Text courtesy of Alex of the Divided Sky Foundation. -Ed.]
For the third year, the Divided Sky Foundation has partnered with the Antelope Running Club to host a charity 5K run in Ludlow, Vermont. This event will occur on May 18th and will help raise awareness about addiction recovery and treatment, and support the recently opened Divided Sky Recovery Center, as well as the Turning Point Centers of Rutland and Springfield, Vermont. We're also excited this year to partner with The Phoenix to organize a post-run Mountain Music Festival, featuring Anders Osbourne, Dogs in a Pile and Saints & Liars.
2024 Summer Tour Announced By The Phish
PHISH has announced a summer tour that begins with three shows at Great Woods on July 19, 20 and 21, and then continues at the Mohegun Sun on July 23 and 24, Alpine Valley on July 26, 27 and 28, St. Louis on July 30 and 31, Deer Creek on August 2, 3, and 4, the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids on August 6 and 7, Bethel Woods on August 9, 10, and 11, the previously announced Mondegreen festival in Delaware August 15th through the 18th, and finally four shows at Dicks from August 29th through September 1st. Tickets through the Phish Tickets lottery process for everything except Mondegreen are available now through Monday, March 11th, at noon e.t. Public onsale begins Friday, March 15th, at 10am e.t. For more information, visit Phish's website.
Phish Announces Festival Mondegreen
PHISH's next festival, MONDEGREEN, will involve four days of shows (so perhaps more than four shows) on August 15-18, 2024, at The Woodlands in Dover, Delaware. For more information about the event, please click here. Although passes for the festival go on sale this Friday, January 19, at 11am e.t., through AXS (create a fan account, or update your current AXS info (perhaps with a New Device) for a smooth purchase experience), travel packages go on sale this Thursday, January 18, at 11am e.t. For more information about mondegreens, there's a YouTube video here, an entertaining New Yorker piece from nearly a decade ago "The Science of Misheard Lyrics" here, and, of course, lest one e'er forget, heaven's just a funky moose.
Phish Releases Video Of 12/31/23 Gamehendge Production
PHISH released video today of its performance of Gamehendge on December 31, 2023, which spanned two of the show's three sets. This video not only contains footage that was broadcast to viewers of the webcast on New Year's Eve, but also previously unseen footage.
Mockingbird Announces Nye Tour Grants
In celebration of Phish’s four-show New Year's Eve run at Madison Square Garden (Dec 28, 29, 30, & 31), the all-volunteer and fan-run Mockingbird Foundation has announced that it is sending an unsolicited $1,000 Tour Grant to four music education programs nearby:
- P721X Stephen D. McSweeney OTC of Bronx, NY, for microphones (with cables and stands), an electric guitar, and an amp.
- NYCDOE of Far Rockaway, Queens, NY, for bongos, shakers, flutes, props, iPads, costumes, and other instruments
- P10X of Bronx, NY, for adapted instruments for students with fine and gross motor difficulties.
- Robert F Wagner Middle School 167 of New York, NY, for a Fender electric bass, strings, bow, and rosin.
This is the 26th round of unsolicited Tour Grants, an effort that now totals over $268,000, which is 11% of all disbursements made by the foundation. These grants are part of a long-standing effort to help support music education in the local communities that Phish touches. They follow Mockingbird's largest competitive grant round ever, and a total of 66 grants this past summer alone! Mockingbird has now made 661 grants in all 50 states, totaling more than $2.3M.
Phish.net
The Mockingbird Foundation