WARNING: This post is the long-winded ramblings of a Phish nerd.
Phish finally put out their summer tour schedule yesterday.
OK, yeah, I know the middle of February is actually earlier than they release their schedule most years since the band reunited in 2009.
At least that’s according to the handy infographic logging the timing of Phish tour announcements from Tomorrow’s Verse.
But let’s get back to this 23-show tour that Phish just released.
A two-night run in Alabama to kick off the tour at Orion Amphitheater in Huntsville on July 11 and 12 seems like a break from what is often one night only in the locale of the opener (EDIT: There’s been no consistent pattern with tour openers since 2009, with the band most commonly playing one or two nights). That extra night should help draw more folks down south for shows that fall on a Tuesday and Wednesday at a venue the band has never played before.
Then it’s a three-night run at Ameris Bank Amphitheater in Alpharetta, Ga. Phish seems to always bring the heat to Alpharetta (or maybe it’s just Phish responding to the reliably hot summer weather here), since they first played this venue (formerly known as Verizon Wireless Amphitheater at Encore Park). But I’m thinking the placement so early in the tour could factor in to just how hot their playing gets down in Georgia. Their highest rated run at the venue (according to Phish.net ratings) was in the summer of 2018. That three-night affair landed in the middle of the tour.
Then it’s off to another venue the band has never played before (though Trey Anastasio Band did in 2021), Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront Park in Wilmington. These shows on July 18 and 19 also fall on a Tuesday and Wednesday.
I’d love to hit these weeknight shows in this cool coastal Carolina city if they weren’t in the sweltering summer humidity of North Carolina (I learned my lesson returning to my one-time home Raleigh last July). But don’t let that stop those of you who suffer the heat better than me. At least the ocean breeze will be near.
Then Phish does a double move the following weekend with two nights outside Pittsburgh in Burgettstown, Pa., at The Pavilion at Star Lake on July 21 and 22, a Friday and Saturday. It’s the first time the band has played two nights in a row at this venue where they have been known to throw down some noted performances since 1997.
The band finishes off the weekend at St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview in Syracuse, N.Y. on Sunday, July 23. Phish has a history of playing this Upstate New York city dating back to 1989, but it has played this venue only once before in 2016.
Phish heads to Philadelphia from there, for another pair of Tuesday and Wednesday shows (July 25 and 26) at TD Pavilion at the Mann. Phish had been skipping this venue in recent years for the bigger shed in Camden, N.J., but returned last summer for two sweltering shows, one of which included the Tweezer sandwich coined “the Mannwich.” I was lucky enough to catch those shows last summer, but they also happened to fall on what might have been the hottest summer weekend in Philly, an aspect I did not enjoy (surprisingy, I know).
Phish ended up playing 8 shows at Madison Square Garden in 2022. With 7 more scheduled this summer, it will be interesting to see how many they end up with at a venue that they prefer for New Year’s festivities.
Finally, we come to the part of the schedule that was most rumored for the last several months on message boards such as phantasytour.com: the fabled sequel to Phish’s 2017 Baker’s Dozen at Madison Square Garden. Last time, the band played 13 shows and 237 songs with no repeats, earning a banner in the rafters of the World’s Most Famous Arena.
The Phish rumor mill had any number of potential variances, which may or may have not been on the table at Phish headquarters (I have no sources with Phish tour information other than knowing the handful of handles on phantasytour.com that have provided reliable information over the years). A third consecutive Atlantic City run on the beach did not pan out and seemed unlikely with the MSG rumors.
My favorite MSG rumor was that the band would play 16 shows at MSG starting in July, to one-up Harry Styles, who played 15 sellouts at MSG last summer, also earning a banner in the venue’s rafters. I have a hard time believing that one, though.
As it turned out, Phish scheduled 7 shows there starting with a three-night, Friday-to-Sunday run July 28-30. Then it’s a pair of two-night affairs, the first on Aug. 1 and 2 (Tuesday and Wednesday) and then Aug. 4 and 5 (Friday and Saturday).
The band then takes the most of the month off before returning to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo., for the 12th time over Labor Day weekend since the band reunited in 2009. For the second year in a row, the band is playing four nights in a row here. Those dates are from Aug. 31 to Sept. 3.
It’s an odd-looking tour with that 7-night MSG run, which still should have Phish fans guessing whether the band will try anything like the donut themes of the Baker’s Dozen. My guess is yes, they will, but let’s say that’s a guess more than an expectation.
My bigger guess (and I always wonder when and where Phish will throw down the hardest) is that it will come somewhere between Star Lake and MSG. Lately, the band has played its best shows on the back end of their summer tour (generally, not including the annual Labor Day weekend Dick’s run). That gets me thinking about that Alpharetta run in the first half of the tour.
Skipping the Midwest entirely (the West Coast was also skipped following this April’s 8-show run out west) has fueled speculation that a rumored a post-Thanksgiving anniversary tour (the band was formed in 1983) might hit Chicago as well as returning to the band’s northeast roots and perhaps Hampton Coliseum.
Phish hasn’t hit the Chicago market since Fall 2018. They seemingly alluded to that in their lyrics to “Egg in a Hole,” one of the songs they wrote for the Sci-Fi Soldier Halloween gag in Las Vegas 2021.