Welcome to the 338th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the second of August. The winner will receive THREE MP3 download codes courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net (and @johnnyd, who threw his double code victory back into the pot last week). To win, be the first person to identify the songs and dates of the two mystery clips, which are connected by a theme that needn't be part of the correct answer. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, a hint will be posted. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. Good luck!

Answer: Congrats to @Hamphish on crossing the halfway mark to MJM Emeritus status with his fourth win (and second this summer)! As some may have noticed, he typo'd in his first response, which he quickly corrected before anyone else had posted. While he did technically submit a second guess, after discussing with my fellow MJM crew members, @HarborSeal (who technically submitted the first correct answer), and @Hamphish himself, I have decided that @Hamphish is the genuine winner, taking two of the three codes home, while @HarborSeal will be rewarded the third code for being technically correct first. While I am super reluctant to deviate from the letter of the law, the spirit of the rules was not breached in this case: @Hamphish clearly meant to answer with the 12/31/98 "Mike's Song" and the 7/26/17 "Carini" – there was no "Mike's Song" played on 12/31/99, he stated the correct and super specific theme (jams from the two shows during which Phish played "1999"), and he corrected himself before anyone else came it to swoop the prize. Let this be a reminder to folks to double check your work before submitting, as next time we might not have so extra codes built up to dole out! Off to Curveball... shit.

[Recap is courtesy of user @SmilerControl, Brandy Davis. -Ed.]

Phish returned to Columbia, Maryland, last night for a traditional Saturday/Sunday two-night run at Merriweather Post Pavillion, a celebrated venue that the band started headlining 20 years ago (1998-08-08, well worth a nostalgic listen). MPP has made some significant changes in the three years since Phish last visited. Most are improvements, including a raised pavilion roof for better sight lines from the lawn, and a renovated parking infrastructure that made getting in and out a bit easier. Many fans are saddened, however, by the trading-in of field and forest for a more corporate-park vibe. Tailgating was still on, though, even in the new “Lot 2” parking garage that’s only a short walk from the gate. Despite its corporate feel, the venue seems to have done much to accommodate the Phish community and our shenanigans, and even named one of their new streets “Divided Sky Drive” in the band’s honor.

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[Thanks to Josh Martin (@JSAUCE) for recapping Raleigh for the blog. -Ed.]

Greetings, everyone. Jsauce, of the Gorge 2 review, here to give you the lowdown on last night's proceedings in Raleigh.

When Phish goes on tour, I pay a lot of attention and I’m sure there are many, many people besides myself who’ve listened to every note of this tour this far. We care. That’s great. An inevitable consequence of caring is that people are going to disagree. That’s also great. That’s how lively debate happens. However, I can’t help but get a little down when I read the comments section underneath the .net reviews. Maybe it’s always been this way and I just never noticed, but it seems as though it’s gotten way more, you know, PERSONAL all of a sudden. Go back and read the comments on the review of 8/5. Half the people seem to think it was one of the heaters of the tour (my votes would be for 7/20 or 8/3) while the other half seem to think the show was flub city bordering on unprofessional. Am I wrong for thinking that opinions seem to be skewing to one direction or the other in a way they didn’t before? Maybe so, maybe not. More on that later.

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[Many thanks to Ryan Harrell for recapping Camden2 for the site. -Ed.]

The BB&T Pavilion in Camden, New Jersey, is storied not for its architecture or aesthetic, but rather for the high quality of shows Phish has brought to its stage over the years. This was my first run at this venue, and what struck me the most was the great sound quality one could find at almost any place on its large lawn. In particular, the drums and bass guitar sounded noticeably crisp and tight. I wondered if the individual band members have any venue-specific knowledge about how their instruments carry out to the crowd. While I have no idea if they have such knowledge, given the strong, confident performances by Mike and Fish last night, it wouldn't surprise me if they did.

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[Thanks very much to Dianna Hank for writing the recap of last night's show. -Ed.]

East Coast tour continued last night with yet another hot and humid show at Camden’s BB&T Pavilion. Phish opened with this year’s debut of “Crowd Control,” perhaps acknowledging all the "fools" staying on the hill who were about to get poured on by the incoming storm. Next up, synth-funk Page stepped up to bat to lead the band in a concise--albeit solid--“No Men In No Man's Land” groove, with Mike playing a heavy supporting role. In fact, this entire show saw Trey taking a bit of a back seat to this fiery Page/Mike combo, and some really incredible things were able to happen because of that. So thank you for that, Trey.

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[The following was submitted to the Phish.net Support Team from a User, "Sweet Caroline," who explicitly requested it be posted as a "rebuttal," presumably to the Alpharetta3 recap. -Ed.]

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Beyond the Pond is a bi-weekly podcast in which Brian Brinkman (@sufferingjuke) and David Goldstein (@daveg924) use the music of Phish as a gateway to introduce the listener to many other bands, the vast majority of which are not jambands. An episode generally begins with a deep dive into a designated portion of Phish improvisation, and then can spin off to any variety of musical themes and other acts, the overarching purpose being introducing the listener to as many new and different bands as possible.

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We’re 13 shows into an 18-show summer tour, and by this point in the arc of a campaign we would expect to see a band in firm command of its powers. It’s also Sunday, so we’d also expect to see Phish do what they so often do on Sundays: stretch out, bust out, and show out. Let’s plunge right in.

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Welcome to the 337th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the first and easiest of August. The winner will receive an MP3 two download codes 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, a hint will be posted. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. Good luck!

Reminder: For the first MJM of each month, only folks who have never won an MJM are allowed to answer before the hint. If you have never won an MJM, please answer as a blog comment below. If you have previously won an MJM, but you'd like to submit a guess beforethe 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 I threw together to help guide you. If you're not sure if you've won before, check in the MJM Results spreadsheet linked below.

Answer: Congrats to first-time winner @johnnyd, who was actually in attendance for this week's clip: the 7/12/96 "Jam" that precedes "NICU." As John points out in his comment (and as mentioned on the setlist), this jam came from audience members yelling out random chords, and the band jamming around the made-up progression. While that does sound unique and quite interesting, especially considering the show was played in Amsterdamn, 7/12/96 is known as one of the worst Phish shows of all time – people who think ripcords are bad in 3.0 should check out this second set. Per John's request, we'll float the prize to next week's MJM, meaning that the winner of MJM338 will take home THREE codes! See you Monday?

[Thanks to Brandy Davis, @smilercontrol, for recapping last night's show for the blog. -Ed.]

As I am sure you have heard by now, Phish started the east coast leg of the 2018 Summer Tour hot in Hotlanta on Friday night, leaving fans greatly satisfied, but also wondering what kind of Saturday night throw-down could top it. Before the show last night (the second of three shows at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre At Encore Park in Alpharetta, Georgia), fans basked in the afterglow of greatness, and Shakedown and the lot surrounding the venue were full of suspense and a definitive party vibe. The tailgating game was strong in the afternoon, with fans new and old coming together to celebrate a successful start to a historically great weekend for the Phish from Vermont.

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[We'd like to thank Dianna Hank, @Dianna_2Ns, for recapping last night's show - ed.]

Last night at the hot and humid Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park in Alpharetta, GA, Phish threw down an absolute scorcher of a show -- one that most fans will probably agree (Imagine? Phish fans agreeing on something??) is the show of the summer thus far.

Being my first time seeing “Southern” Phish (excluding Miami & New Orleans, because those aren’t really the South I’m talking about), I was unsure of what to expect from the whole experience. I knew from prior tours that, more often than not, the band seems to bring a certain special something to their 3-night runs down in Georgia, which is why I wanted to cross this trip off my list in the first place.Arriving on lot was a bit of a cluster, with long lines of traffic being directed into lots by disinterested high school kids in neon shirts who clearly had already had it up to here with this Grade A wookery the band had brought to town -- and this was just the first night! After parking, we wandered over to Shakedown and I quickly remembered what Summer Phish felt like in the pre-Baker’s Dozen years. The smell of pesto grilled cheese and veggie burritos frying up on flat top griddles wafted by as competing stereos blasted The Brothers Johnson’s “Strawberry Letter 23” and the Talking Heads’ “Life During Wartime.” Friends from all over the country bumped into each other and stopped to hug, causing sweaty, dusty wook traffic jams. Folks ambled by with pin boards and koozies, slanging their wares in hopes to pay for those insanely overpriced beers inside the venue. I felt the feeling I forgot. This is what New York City Summer Phish was missing.

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There's no real denying that, during the 3.0 years, Phish has had a tumultuous relationship with the state of Texas. 2010 had the one-off ACL festival set which, while a good festival set, wasn't anything to write home about. Fast forward five years later and there were two summer shows in 2015, one in Austin and one in Grand Prairie. The first two set shows that Texas had seen since 1999. Expectations were understandably high. Austin was incredibly song-focused, and GP was good but definitely not great. Fall 2016 had two shows, again in Grand Prairie. The first was a fun, high energy show, but the second had, in this attendee's opinion, a travesty of a second set. The old adage for Phish shows -- "At least you had fun"-- still held true for these shows, though. And as a 12-year native of Austin, I attended all of them. And I did have fun for all of them (even during a second set "Friday"!) but to try to paraphrase Orwell, "All shows are fun, but some shows are more fun than others." Enjoying being in the moment and witnessing a band that is still playing well after 35 years of concerts is one thing, but there hadn't been anything truly transcendent in any of these shows. Which set the stage for 2018.

Would the band play another "Texas show," or would the magic --that we all know can occur-- happen?

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Welcome to the 336th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the most difficult 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 songs and dates of the four mystery clips, which are connected by a theme that needn't be part of the correct answer (but will certainly help!). Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, a hint will be posted. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. Good luck!

Hint:

Photo by Mark Sarfati

Answer: Pencils down! For only the 23rd time in history, the Blog is victorious! This week, folks figured out that the hint was a picture of Bill Graham, alluding to Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, where Phish recently completed a two night run. But what folks didn't realize is that BGCA wasn't the site of the four clips, but rather, the four songs in the clips spelled out "BGCA": 11/19/96 "Bathtub Gin," 11/28/03 "Ghost," 7/29/15 "Chalk Dust Torture," and 7/7/99 "Also Sprach Zarathustra." Stay tuned for MJM337 on Monday, where we'll give away two codes.

[we'd like to thank Willie Orbison, @twelvethousandmotherfker, for writing this recap for the blog - ed.]

When you think about the fact that this Soul Planet of ours has been around for about four and a half billion years, it’s nothing short of a gosh darn miracle that we’re living in the time of Phish. This wasn’t – and won’t always be – the case. So, perhaps it’s important to remember on nights like this, while we sift and scrutinize, that Phish shows aren’t inevitable. They don’t just happen. They are precious and rare events that deserve to be celebrated for the simple fact that they occur. We could have been living in the time of the ancient Egyptians. Or in the Dark Ages. Or in some future hellscape where the only music is made by computers.

Instead, we’re here. Now. And Phish is on tour. And that is a wonderful thing.

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Phish posted up today for a pair of shows that conclude tomorrow, in the shadow of the construction of a $4 trillion NFL stadium, for a team that three people in L.A. will ever really care about. Surprisingly, it’s the first multiple show run ever for Los Angeles, a city that has exchanged a lot of love with the band over the years, and tonight’s crowd greets the band with waves of encouragement as it slices into a nifty little “Chalk Dust Torture,” the second of the tour.

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