DICKS2 RECAP: BAG IT, TAG IT
[Thank you to Dr. Stephanie Jenkins for this recap, and to her friend Yaron Marcus for the fabulous photography.]
This year’s Philosophy School of Phish concluded in late August. For the fourth summer in a row, I’ve had the privilege of teaching this course, offered through Oregon State University’s Ecampus program. During this session, I introduced fifteen non- (or not yet-) phans to our favorite band through an eight-week survey of the philosophy of art and music. Witnessing student’s reactions to their first Phish shows and answering their questions about what Dr. Jnan Blau has termed the “Phish phenomenon” helps me to remember what it’s like to be a Phish neophyte and gain some reflective distance on what it means to be a phan of Phish.
In preparation for writing this recap, I’ve been reflecting on the significance of Phish’s annual Labor Day tradition. Without question, Dick’s is my favorite spot for seeing Phish; it’s the only venue for which I’ve had the honor of attending every show. Each year, the stadium has been blessed with numerous unanticipated song placements, contenders for “best of” versions (such as the 9/1/2012 “Light”, 8/31/2012 “Undermind,” 8/29/14 “Simple,” 9/2/2011 “Slave,” and many more), top-notch jamming, and creative setlist pranks. Over the course of seven years, Dick’s has acquired a mysterious, otherworldly atmosphere that evades linguistic description. It’s certainly not the only sacred site for Phish phans; Madison Square Garden, Watkins Glen, and, of course, Big Cypress, for example, carry their own mystical charm and historic weight. What is so special about Dick’s? Why does my annual journey to Commerce City feel like a pilgrimage?
DICKS1 RECAP: HOLD ON TO YOUR BUTTS
[Recap courtesy of Pete Hoherd, user @FunkyCFunkyDo.]
If you haven’t already peeked at the setlist from last night’s show, good. If you have, who can blame you. If you have, but haven’t listened to the show, having only been able to restrain your jaw from gravity’s (read: Phish’s) best efforts to detach it from your body, please read on, as this may well serve as a review and medical advice.
"HOW PHISH HAS HEALED MY SOUL"
[The following is written by user @Ertle_Turtle.]
One early summer morning, I awoke to a man I did not know standing over me while I slept. As a single mother to two small children, the trauma I experienced from having an intruder in my home while all three of us were sleeping soundly is one I do not wish on my worst enemy. Thankfully, we are all safe.
REBA: SITTING ON THE BENCH AT DICK'S
[We'd like to thank Paul Jakus (@paulj) for this guest installment on "Reba"'s absence at Dick's – ed.]
In 2011, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park became a venue of lore almost instantaneously, a place where Phish’s Greatest Hits appear in unconventional set placements with spectacular jamming. Except, curiously, "Reba." The lack of a Dick’s "Reba" was a topic of discussion going into last year’s run, and it seemed quite unusual when, once again, it was not played. Maybe so, but then again, maybe not.
Since 2011, "Reba" has been played 33 times in 254 shows, or about once every 7.7 shows. "Reba" has taken long vacations before—a couple of double-digit gaps in 1997, and again in 1999 when she had a 25 show gap—and she’s just come off the longest gap to date: 31 shows between July 23, 2016 and July 21, 2017. Given these long gaps, is "Reba"’s absence from Dick’s really all that odd?
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 289
Welcome to the 289th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the hardest and most difficult of August, which I randomly decided would be the easiest MJM month this year. 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 guesses correctly, I will post a hint on Tuesday around 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET, after which each person gets one more guess before I reveal the correct answer on Wednesday. Good luck!
Hint:
Photo © telafree, used under Creative Commons license
Answer: Congrats to @stillwaitin, who no longer has to wait for another LivePhish code after winnig his or her second MJM (and first in more than two years). After seeing Trey wearing the ice hockey uniform of the Philadelphia Flyers, who played at The Spectrum for many years, @stillwaitin correctly identified the 12/15/95 "It's Ice" (played at The Spectrum). Come back Monday when we keep it easy for MJM290.
WIN TWO 3-DAY CID BUS SHUTTLE PASSES TO DICK'S
From now until August 27th at 11:59PM PT, enter our #ILOVEPHISHDICKS Giveaway for a chance to win Two (2) 3-Day Round Trip Shuttle Passes to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park from CID Colorado.
How to Enter
1. Upload a photo/video or provide your text response to: Why I Love Phish Dick’s? To a public Twitter or Instagram post using #ILOVEPHISHDICKS; or
2. Use this entry form
A Winner will be drawn at random and notified on August 28th by 11:59PM PT. One entry per person. The winner will receive Two (2) 3-Day Round Trip CID Shuttle Passes good from either of the Denver pick-up locations (Thirsty Lion at Union Station and Illegal Pete’s Colfax) to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on September 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Can’t wait? CID Shuttle passes are on sale now!
We ALL love Dick’s. Check out all giveaway entries here.
Questions? Contact Phish.net user @IAMASTONE or email Ali at AliStone@mbird.org.
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 288
Welcome to the 288th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the second-hardest of the easiest MJM month of this year – where that leaves it overall is an exercise best left to the reader. 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 guesses correctly, I will post a hint on Tuesday around 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET, after which each person gets one more guess before I reveal the correct answer on Wednesday. Good luck!
Hint: The word that comes to mind: portmanteau.
Answer: Congrats to first-time winner @wforwumbo who knew what a portmanteau was and correctly identified the 11/27/96 "Down with Disease" (-> JJLC > SOAMule, Tweezer -> Sweet Emotion -> DWD), known by many as the "Diseezer." While it isn't the most popular year from a fan or MJM clip selection perspective, there are certainly some great jams / sets / shows across 1996, the year before Phish became a weapon of mass destruction. Come back Monday for MJM289, the hardest of the month.
PHISH TO SUPPORT MOCKINGBIRD GOLF TOURNAMENT
The Mockingbird Foundation is pleased to announce that at the Second Annual Runaway Open, a charity golf tournament exclusively for Phish fans on Saturday, September 2nd at Buffalo Run Golf Course in Commerce City:
"A THANK YOU TO PHISH" (FROM SAL ORSINO)
[A relatively new Phish fan, Sal Orsino, who first saw Phish at MSG on January 2, 2016, was so inspired by the Baker's Dozen, and by the ten shows he's now seen, to write this piece, which is his answer to the question, "What do the Baker's Dozen shows mean to the community?" Sal is a senior computer science student at Montclair State University in New Jersey. If Phish has inspired you and you're interested in writing something for the dot net blog, email it to charlie at phish dot net. While there is no guarantee it'll be posted to the blog, you'll always be able to post it in the Forum, of course (and we encourage you to continue posting about the greatness of the run there). Thank you, Sal.]
The Baker’s Dozen has ended. We return to our normal lives for those who took off work for the whole run, and for those that didn’t our work week has become that much less exciting without five, absolutely jaw-dropping concerts to attend each week. But that matters not, because we know what just happened this past month. We felt what happened this month, and we lived at these shows. These shows weren’t just a stunt done by the band to give out free doughnuts, or to confuse the hell out of all those outside of the Phish community. While those were simply added bonuses, this run of shows meant so, so much more than that to the band, to the phans, and more importantly, to the community that connects us, and them.
CHARLIE MILLER'S AUD RECORDINGS OF BAKER'S DOZEN
FYI, you can download Charlie Miller's aud recordings of the Baker's Dozen shows in one (1) giant etree torrent. Charlie taped every show from the same spot, Section 2 Row 1 Seat 20 with the mic stand 9 feet high beside CK's booth, using Schoeps CMC6/MK4's.
HELPING FRIENDLY PODCAST: BAKER'S DOZEN WRAP UP W/TOM MARSHALL
[Post is courtesy of dot net user @swittersdc.]
Today, the team at the Helping Friendly Podcast released a Baker’s Dozen wrap up episode, featuring an interview with Tom Marshall from the live event we hosted in New York on Saturday, July 29.
We also recorded conversations with three fans who had been to all 13 shows. They gave us their perspectives on the entire run. We also played a few tracks from the run as well. It was a fun episode to record!
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 287
Welcome to the 287th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the second and second-easiest of August, the easiest MJM month of this year (just because). 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 guesses correctly, I will post a hint on Tuesday around 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET, after which each person gets one more guess before I reveal the correct answer on Wednesday. Good luck!
Answer: Congrats to @Hamphish, who now has as many wins as @MiguelSanchez (two) by idenitfying this week's MJM: the 12/6/97 "Tweezer" (intro). If you're new to the band or have been living under a rock the past 20 years, go ahead and spin that second set, featuring one of the band's greatest song pairings in history (recent bust-out "Izabella" follows this glorious "Tweezer," forming what many call "Tweezabella"). F5 phish.net at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET on Monday, when the MJM288 drops – we'll stick with a single clip all month, but next week's will (hopefully!) last more than six minutes.
DONATE SPARE CHANGE TO MOCKINGBIRD WITH BSTOW
Katie B., user @phtreehuggr, was interviewed by Bstow early this year in connection with her donations through Bstow to The Mockingbird Foundation, the all-volunteer-run 501(c)(3) organization that runs this site. Bstow is an easy way you can donate what would be the spare change on your purchases (e.g., 30 cents on a charge of $20.70 to your credit or debit card) to a particular non-profit. Check out her interview.
We greatly appreciate Katie's ongoing donations to Mockingbird, as well as those of you who are subscription donors, of course. We encourage those of you who have yet to donate to the Foundation to do so in any way you can manage. Thank you!
HELPING FRIENDLY PODCAST: BAKER'S DOZEN RECAPS FOR ALL 13 SHOWS
[Post is courtesy of dot net user @swittersdc.]
The team at the Helping Friendly Podcast (mdphunk, rowjimmy and brad10s) and I were hard at work throughout the Baker’s Dozen, doing a Quick Hit podcast recap of every show the day after. We also included guests who were there as often as possible. We also did a Quick Hit on the 5 shows before Baker’s Dozen.
You can listen to them all through the player below (click the icon with the three lines to see all the episodes), but here are some highlights:
MSG13 RECAP: THE LIFE WE LOVE IS MAKING MUSIC WITH OUR FRIENDS
[The recap of the final Baker’s Dozen show is brought to you by James Palatini / @TheBull288]
There are rare occasions in life that we truly appreciate as we experience them. More often than not, only after a significant amount of time has passed, are we able to take a step back and realize how fortunate we were. The Baker’s Dozen is, and was, the former in spades.
Quickly in this run, it became impossible to ignore the fact that we were living something incredibly special. Tonight, our collective Baker’s Dozen journey with notes of Will There Be Repeats? (No) > Will I Get A Donut? (Debatable) > Will Jam-Filled Donut Night Be Jam-Filled? (Yes) > Will I FINALLY Get “Izabella”? (Yes x2) concluded with a joy-filled finale on Night 13 on “Phish Day,” dubbed as such per mayoral decree in New York City.
There was a palpable celebratory energy in The Garden tonight – an energy I’ve never felt at any Phish show before. We’re always happy attend a show with 20,000 of our closest friends, there’s always anticipation before a show, etc., but this felt different. This energy was akin to Game 4 of a Stanley Cup Final, when you’re at home and you’re leading the series 3-0, or leading the World Series-clincher by five runs heading into the ninth inning – victory is a forgone conclusion. Phish had won 12 straight at The Garden – and we knew we were in store for one final victory.
Phish.net
The Mockingbird Foundation