History YMMV / Phish

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The Big Cypress festival. Around 85,000 people attended what ended up being the largest New Year's concert going on, which was a big deal considering it was about to be the new millennium. On the second night, the band played for seven and a half hours, midnight-to-sunrise, without any breaks. Not only that, but the show is widely considered to be one of Phish's all-time best concerts, with the band bringing both quantity and quality. Tell me with a straight face that isn't impressive. The band certainly thought it was, and were convinced when they walked off stage that morning that they would never top it. 12/31/99 has remained the highest rated Phish show of all time, as [[http://phish.net/music/ratings ranked by fans]] on Phish.net, for well over a decade and by a considerable margin too (It's currently sitting at a 4.75 out of 5; By comparison, the second highest rated is currently a 4.64)
** The Fall 1995 tour is generally considered to be Phish's best-ever tour, with the December concerts highlighted as one of the best stretches of shows they've ever performed. Five of these shows were later released as live albums, and the 12/31/95 New Year's Eve show is particularly cited as one the band's ever best concerts (It was released in full on the ''New Year's Eve 1995: Live at Madison Square Garden'' box set). Brian Brinkman of Phish.net wrote a [[https://www.phish.net/blog/1543784156/the-three-decembers-1995-part-i.html two-part]] [[https://www.phish.net/blog/1544054926/the-three-decembers-1995-part-ii.html retrospective]] that goes in depth on the quality of the December '95 concerts.
** The Bakers' Dozen shows in 2017, in which they played 13 concerts at Madison Square Garden, and ''never repeated a song the entire time.'' In total, they played ''237'' different songs over the course of the concert series. The highlight of the run for many was the "jam filled" night, filled with huge jams, even in otherwise shorter songs like "Sample in a Jar" and "Lawn Boy", which got stretched out to ''30 minutes'' (it is ordinarily around three minutes long).
** Phish was on hand to induct Music/{{Genesis}} into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They could have taken the easy way out and play them in with one of the Music/PhilCollins-era pop hits (although they did eventually play "No Reply at All" too). Instead, they played a full-length [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQPh2EM0Ack "Watcher of the Skies"]], a song just progressive enough to be a subtle TakeThat to all of those who've kept Genesis and other prog-rock bands out of the Hall of Fame for so long.
** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFiDu-rNZrI performance of "Bathtub Gin"]] at the Great Went festival in 1997 is regularly singled out as one of Phish's best jams. There's even a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0ifIs3_7Zw video essay]] that dissects every portion of the jam to explain why it sounds so good.
** The DVD ''Phish: Walnut Creek'' features the band's performance at the Walnut Creek Amphitheatre in Raleigh, North Carolina on July 22, 1997. Aside from being a great show from one of Phish's best years, what makes the concert particularly noteworthy is that the band played it outdoors during a ''torrential thunderstorm''. Lightning struck the stage three times during the first set[[note]]That is, it struck lightning rods already in place at the outdoor venue[[/note]], and the third one, midway through a much-loved version of "Taste," convinced the band to wrap up the set early. After an hour delay, the band came back and played a full second set, with a special treat for fans that braved the weather: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFbunIrHf10 a 20-minute "Down with Disease"]] that segued virtually seamlessly into a four-part "Mike's Groove" (the regular three songs plus "Simple"). To this day, it remains the only time those two classics have ever been played back-to-back at a Phish show.
** The band's four show ''Island Tour'' in 1998 - named because it comprised of two shows in Long Island, New York and two more in Providence, Rhode Island - is widely considered to be one of the band's career highlights. The concerts are held in high regard for the band's energetic playing, the extended jams of nearly every song, and their focus on "cowfunk", a specific psychedelic-funk jamming style that is especially favored by the band's fans.
** A favorite show of hardcore fans is the June 14, 2000 concert at the Drum Logos club in Fukuoka, Japan, captured on ''Live Phish 4''. The show is part of Phish's Japanese tour, where they played in small clubs to audiences full of Japanese noise-rock fans and American fans so devoted to the band that they traveled ''halfway around the world'' to see them play, giving the show a very homey, relaxed vibe. According to lore, Phish partook in some particularly psychedelic magic mushrooms before the show, and that caused the band to take their music in spacey, unexpected directions that night. The first set is well loved for its offbeat psychedelic jazz feel, while the second set is one of the most exploratory sets the band ever played, featuring an 18 minute ambient version of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DUhX_x5GeU Twist]]" (which segues into a separate, unique jam that brings the total time up to 34 minutes) that is considered to be definitive version of that song. On Phish.net, Fukuoka is ranked as the best show the band ever played outside of the United States and is consistently rated as one of the 30 best shows of all time.
** Compared to the classic 1.0 era or 3.0's triumphant return, 2.0 doesn't get a lot of glowing praise, with some fans even putting the entire period as part of the band's DorkAge. That said, there's one major exception from this era: ''2/28/03'' at Nassau Colosseum, which was officially released as ''Live Phish 2.28.03''. The show is beloved for a multitude of reasons, but the two main ones are the revival of "Destiny Unbound," which hadn't been played since 1991, and for featuring a "Tweezer" jam that is frequently considered one of the band's best jams ever. Because of this, it is consistently the highest-ranking 2.0 show on Phish.net's [[http://phish.net/music/ratings top shows]].
** A major highlight of the band's post-reunion career is their concert on Halloween 2014. Since the 90s, its been a tradition for the band to play three-set shows on Halloween with the second being a performance of an album in its entirety. For 2014, that album was the 1964 Walt Disney Records release ''Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House'', a collection of spoken word monologues and sound effects that barely passes the 15-minute mark. The band used the album's contents as the basis of new instrumental compositions, which were accompanied by an elaborate stage show. The set was an instant hit with fans and its reputation has only grown in the years following. It is the ''[[http://phish.net/music/ratings seventh]]'' highest rated Phish concert of all time, and the fourth highest rated show post-2000, on the fan site Phish.net. Phish has continued to perform the songs live afterwards, particularly "Martian Monster", which has become a fan favorite: You can hear the crowd ''roar'' in delight when they hear the Disney spoken word intro before [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ3HPkiEYKw this performance]] in 2015.
** Phish one-upped the ''Chilling, Thrilling'' set on Halloween 2018, when they [[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/phish-halloween-show-fake-scandinavian-band-kasvot-vaxt-750678/ played a set]] of brand-new music that they claimed was a "cover" of the album ''í rokk'' by Kasvot Växt, a [[FakeBand fictional]] [[{{Retraux}} 1980s]] ProgressiveRock band from Scandinavia that they had created. Fans loved the intentionally ludicrous backstory and the [[AlternateRealityGame clues]] Phish hid around the internet about the band, and the music itself was highly acclaimed by fans.
** On 12/29/2018, the second night of their annual four-show New Year's run at Madison Square Garden, the band played a show so great that it immediately jumped to ''second place all-time'' in the Phish.net rankings (its now much lower, but still in the Top 100 all-time list). The show wowed many fans for both the quality of musicianship and several big jams in songs like "Wolfman's Brother" and "Tweezer".
** The band's summer 2019 tour had a bit of a mixed reception with fans because of its perceived lack of long jams. That changed on 7/14 at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in Wisconsin, when the band played a show that became an instant classic. The first set featured solid performances of several rarities, including "Olivia's Pool", "Spock's Brain" and "Strange Design", while the second set featured a 38-minute version of "Ruby Waves" that was the longest jam the band had played since they reunited in 2009.
** Anytime they play non-stop for more than 50 minutes is usually singled out as a highlight in their discography. Notable examples include the 5/7/1994 "Tweezer" medley (commonly nicknamed "Tweezerfest"), the 11/29/1997 "Runaway Jim" (commonly nicknamed the "Jim Symphony"), the 8/15/1998 Ambient Jam at Lemonwheel, the 8/2/2003 Tower Jam at the IT Festival, and the 7/2/2011 Storage Unit Jam at [=SuperBall=] IX.

* MisattributedSong: A country music group named The Gourds did a novelty cover of Snoop Dogg's "Gin & Juice". For some dumbass reason, Phish's name was slapped onto the song on file sharing networks and persists on Youtube, even though The Gourds sound NOTHING like Phish. While Phish have dozens of covers in their repertoire, they've never performed "Gin & Juice" live.

** The band's summer 2019 tour had a bit of a mixed reception with fans because of its perceived lack of long jams. That changed on 7/14 at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in Wisconsin, when the band played a show that became an instant classic. The first set featured solid performances of several rarities, including "Olivia's Pool", "Spock's Brain" and "Strange Design", while the second set featured a 38-minute version of "Ruby Waves" that became one of the longest jams the band has every played.

* FanCommunityNicknames: "Phans" or "Phish Heads".
* FollowTheLeader: In the early '90s, Phish and other jam bands were considered to be following in the Music/GratefulDead's footsteps by the music press. Phish played Dead songs in concert during the early part of their career, but had stopped doing so by the late 1980s. Despite this, the comparisons to the Dead only grew as Phish rose in popularity. The focus on comparing the two bands usually took up more space in articles than mention of Phish's other influences, like jazz fusion and prog rock. In interviews, Phish's members were usually hesitant to talk about the Dead and actively resisted most comparisons. That changed in the late '90s, by which time Phish had firmly established themselves as something completely different from the Dead, and the members became more open to talking about the Dead's influence on their music. This newfound acceptance culminated at a 1998 concert where, on the third anniversary of Jerry Garcia's death, Phish encored with a cover of "Terrapin Station".

** The Bakers' Dozen shows in 2017, in which they played 13 concerts at Madison Square Garden, and ''never repeated a song the entire time.'' In total, they played ''237'' different songs over the course of the concert series.

** On 12/29/2018, the second night of their annual four-show New Year's run at Madison Square Garden, the band played a show so great that it immediately jumped to ''second place all-time'' in the Phish.net rankings (it is now tied for third). The show wowed many fans for both the quality of musicianship and several big jams in songs like "Wolfman's Brother" and "Tweezer".

** The Coventry Festival, which ended that 2004 tour and were the band's last shows until they reunited, is considered to be the lowest point of the band's career. The festival was a TroubledProduction, hampered by sound issues, horrible weather and gridlocked traffic. As far as the actual music, it was often very clear that the band were too upset to perform at certain points; Both [=McConnell=] and Anastasio broke down in tears on stage while playing "Wading in the Velvet Sea" and could not finish singing the ballad. This culminated in a horrible, messy version of "Glide" during the festival's final concert that is usually considered to be the band's worst onstage moment. The band would recover with a great "Split Open and Melt" right after that, but that final show in general is considered to be one of the worst they ever played. Even the finale of the show was botched, with the band having to restart their final number "The Curtain (With)" because Trey realized the band was coming into the band's jam section in the wrong key. Although Coventry is an important part of the band's history and does have a few songs worth recommending, it is not considered to be an easy listen. Happily, the band has been in ''significantly'' better form since they reunited in 2009.

** The Coventry Festival, which ended that 2004 tour and were the band's last shows until they reunited, is considered to be the lowest point of the band's career. The festival was a TroubledProduction, hampered by sound issues, horrible weather and gridlocked traffic. As far as the actual music, it was often very clear that the band were too upset to perform at certain points; Both [=McConnell=] and Anastasio broke down in tears on stage while playing "Wading in the Velvet Sea" and could not finish singing the ballad. This culminated in a horrible, messy version of "Glide" during the festival's final concert that is usually considered to be the band's worst onstage moment. The band would recover with a great "Split Open and Melt" right after that, but that final show in general is considered to be one of the worst they ever played. Although Coventry is an important part of the band's history and does have a few songs worth recommending, it is not considered to be an easy listen. Happily, the band has been in ''significantly'' better form since they reunited in 2009.

* DorkAge: The band's 2004 tour, their last before they broke up for five years, is considered by fans to be their worst stretch of shows. There's plenty of good shows in that run, including the one documented on the ''Live in Brooklyn'' DVD, but there's also concerts that are rated very poorly by fans, like the Las Vegas concerts that opened the tour.

** The Fall 1995 tour is generally considered to be Phish's best-ever tour, with the December concerts highlighted as one of the best stretches of shows they've ever performed. The 12/31/95 is also considered to be one of the band's best concerts, and was released in full on the ''New Year's Eve 1995: Live at Madison Square Garden'' box set. Brian Brinkman of Phish.net wrote a [[https://www.phish.net/blog/1543784156/the-three-decembers-1995-part-i.html two-part]] [[https://www.phish.net/blog/1544054926/the-three-decembers-1995-part-ii.html retrospective]] that goes in depth on the quality of the December '95 concerts.

* MisattributedSong: A country music group named The Gourds did a novelty cover of Snoop Dogg's "Gin & Juice". For some dumbass reason, Phish's name was slapped onto the song on file sharing networks and persists on Youtube, even though The Gourds sound NOTHING like Phish.

** A favorite show of hardcore fans is the June 14, 2000 concert at the Drum Logos club in Fukuoka, Japan, captured on ''Live Phish 4''. The show is part of Phish's Japanese tour, where they played in small clubs to audiences full of Japanese noise-rock fans and American fans so devoted to the band that they traveled ''across the planet'' to see them play, giving the show a very homey, relaxed vibe. According to lore, Phish partook in some particularly psychedelic magic mushrooms before the show, and that caused the band to take their music in spacey, unexpected directions that night. The first set is well loved for its offbeat psychedelic jazz feel, while the second set is one of the most exploratory sets the band ever played, featuring an 18 minute ambient version of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DUhX_x5GeU Twist]]" (which segues into a separate, unique jam that brings the total time up to 34 minutes) that is considered to be definitive version of that song. On Phish.net, Fukuoka is ranked as the best show the band ever played outside of the United States and is consistently rated as one of the 30 best shows of all time.

* FollowTheLeader: In the early '90s, Phish and other jam bands were considered to be following in the Music/GratefulDead's footsteps by the music press. As Phish rose in popularity, they were often compared to the Dead, usually at the expense of the other influences on their sound like jazz fusion and prog rock. In interviews, Phish's members were usually hesitant to talk about the Dead and actively resisted most comparisons. That changed in the late '90s, by which time Phish had firmly established themselves as something completely different from the Dead, and the members became more open to talking about the Dead's influence on their music.

* FollowTheLeader: In the early 90s, Phish and other jam bands were considered to be following in the Music/GratefulDead's footsteps by the music press. As Phish rose in popularity, they were often compared to the Dead, usually at the expense of the other influences on their sound like jazz fusion and prog rock. In interviews, Phish's members were usually hesitant to talk about the Dead and actively resisted most comparisons. That changed after Jerry Garcia died in 1995, by which time Phish had firmly established themselves as something completely different from the Dead, and the members became more open to talking about the Dead's influence on their music.

* FollowTheLeader: In the early 90s, Phish and other jam bands were considered to be following in the Music/GratefulDead's footsteps by the music press. As Phish rose in popularity, they were often compared to the Dead, usually at the expense of the other influences on their sound like jazz fusion and prog rock. In interviews, Phish's members were usually hesitant to talk about the Dead and actively resisted most comparisons. That changed after Jerry Garcia died and had Phish firmly established themselves as something completely different from the Dead, and the members became more open to talking about the Dead's influence on their music.

* BrokenBase: The fanbase isn't only split about what Phish's best single best concert was, but also their best year, best month, the best version of each song, which songs were performed the best in a certain concert, and so on and so forth.

** On December 29, 2018, the second night of their annual four-show New Year's run at Madison Square Garden, the band played a show so great that it immediately jumped to ''second place all-time'' in the Phish.net rankings (it is now tied for third). The show wowed many fans for both the quality of musicianship and several big jams in songs like "Wolfman's Brother" and "Tweezer".

** On December 29, 2018, the second night of their annual four-show New Year's run at Madison Square Garden, the band played a show so great that it immediately jumped to ''second place all-time'' in the Phish.net and ha

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The Big Cypress festival. Around 85,000 people attended what ended up being the largest New Year's concert going on, which was a big deal considering it was about to be the new millennium. On the second night, the band played for seven and a half hours, midnight-to-sunrise, without any breaks. Not only that, but the show is widely considered to be one of Phish's all-time best concerts, with the band bringing both quantity and quality. Tell me with a straight face that isn't impressive. The band certainly thought it was, and were convinced when they walked off stage that morning that they would never top it.

** A major highlight of the band's post-reunion career is their concert on Halloween 2014. Since the 90s, its been a tradition for the band to play three-set shows on Halloween with the second being a performance of an album in its entirety. For 2014, that album was the 1964 Walt Disney Records release ''Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House'', a collection of spoken word monologues and sound effects that barely passes the 15-minute mark. The band used the album's contents as the basis of new instrumental compositions, which were accompanied by an elaborate stage show. The set was an instant hit with fans and its reputation has only grown in the years following. It is the ''[[http://phish.net/music/ratings seventh]]'' highest rated Phish concert of all time, and the second highest rated show post-2000, on the fan site Phish.net. Phish has continued to perform the songs live afterwards, particularly "Martian Monster", which has become a fan favorite: You can hear the crowd ''roar'' in delight when they hear the Disney spoken word intro before [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ3HPkiEYKw this performance]] in 2015.

** A favorite show of hardcore fans is the June 14, 2000 concert at the Drum Logos club in Fukuoka, Japan, captured on ''Live Phish 4''. The show is part of Phish's Japanese tour, where they played in small clubs to audiences full of Japanese noise-rock fans and American fans so devoted to the band that they traveled ''across the planet'' to see them play, giving the show a very homey, relaxed vibe. According to lore, Phish partook in some particularly psychedelic magic mushrooms before the show, and that caused the band to take their music in spacey, unexpected directions that night. The first set is well loved for its offbeat psychedelic jazz feel, while the second set is one of the most exploratory sets the band ever played, featuring an 18 minute ambient version of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DUhX_x5GeU Twist]]" (which segues into a separate, unique jam that brings the total time up to 34 minutes) that is considered to be definitive version of that song.

** A major highlight of the band's post-reunion career is their concert on Halloween 2014. Since the 90s, its been a tradition for the band to play three-set shows on Halloween with the second being a performance of an album in its entirety. For 2014, that album was the 1964 Walt Disney Records release ''Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House'', a collection of spoken word monologues and sound effects that barely passes the 15-minute mark. The band used the album's contents as the basis of new instrumental compositions, which were accompanied by an elaborate stage show. The set was an instant hit with fans and its reputation has only grown in the years following. It is the ''[[http://phish.net/music/ratings tenth]]'' highest rated Phish concert of all time, and the second highest rated show post-2000, on the fan site Phish.net. Phish has continued to perform the songs live afterwards, particularly "Martian Monster", which has become a fan favorite: You can hear the crowd ''roar'' in delight when they hear the Disney spoken word intro before [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ3HPkiEYKw this performance]] in 2015.

** The band's four show Island Tour in 1998 - named because it comprised of two shows in Long Island, New York and two more in Providence, Rhode Island - is widely considered to be one of the band's career highlights. The concerts are held in high regard for the band's energetic playing, the extended jams of nearly every song, and their focus on "cowfunk", a specific psychedelic-funk jamming style that is especially favored by the band's fans.
** A favorite show of hardcore fans is the June 14, 2000 concert at the Drum Logos club in Fukuoka, Japan, captured on ''Live Phish 4''. The show is part of Phish's only Japanese tour, where they played in small clubs to audiences full of Japanese noise-rock fans and American fans so devoted to the band that they traveled ''across the planet'' to see them play, giving the show a very homey, relaxed vibe. According to lore, Phish partook in some particularly psychedelic magic mushrooms before the show, and that caused the band to take their music in spacey, unexpected directions that night. The first set is well loved for its offbeat psychedelic jazz feel, while the second set is one of the most exploratory sets the band ever played, featuring an 18 minute ambient version of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DUhX_x5GeU Twist]]" (which segues into a separate, unique jam that brings the total time up to 34 minutes) that is considered to be definitive version of that song.

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: None of the band members use psychedelic drugs anymore, but their sobriety has had absolutely no effect on their music, and they play their songs just as trippy, strange, dark or wild as they would have before the reunion. Some of their newer songs, like "Blaze On", "Fuego" and "No Men in No Man's Land", can go in very psychedelic places live.

** The DVD ''Phish: Walnut Creek'' features the band's performance at the Walnut Creek Amphitheatre in Raleigh, North Carolina on July 22, 1997. Aside from being a great show from one of Phish's best years, what makes the concert particularly noteworthy is that the band played it outdoors during a ''torrential thunderstorm''. Lightning struck the stage three times during the first set, and the third one, midway through "Taste," convinced the band to wrap up the set early. After an hour delay, the band came back and played a full second set, with a special treat for fans that braved the weather: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFbunIrHf10 a 20-minute "Down with Disease"]] that segued virtually seamlessly into a four-part "Mike's Groove" (the regular three songs plus "Simple"). To this day, it remains the only time those two classics have ever been played back-to-back at a Phish show.

** A favorite show of hardcore fans is the June 14, 2000 concert at the Drum Logos club in Fukuoka, Japan, captured on ''Live Phish 4''. The show is part of Phish's second Japanese tour, where they played in small clubs to audiences full of Japanese noise-rock fans and American fans so devoted to the band that they traveled ''across the planet'' to see them play, giving the show a very homey, relaxed vibe. According to lore, Phish partook in some particularly psychedelic magic mushrooms before the show, and that caused the band to take their music in spacey, unexpected directions that night. The first set is well loved for its offbeat psychedelic jazz feel, while the second set is one of the most exploratory sets the band ever played, featuring an 18 minute ambient version of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DUhX_x5GeU Twist]]" (which segues into a separate, unique jam that brings the total time up to 34 minutes) that is considered to be definitive version of that song.

** The Coventry Festival, which ended that 2004 tour and were the band's last shows until they reunited, is considered to be the lowest point of the band's career. The festival was a TroubledProduction, hampered by sound issues, horrible weather and gridlocked traffic. As far as the actual music, it was often very clear that the band were too upset to perform at certain points, particularly when both [=McConnell=] and Anastasio broke down in tears on stage while playing "Wading in the Velvet Sea" and could not finish the song. This culminated in a horrible, messy version of "Glide" during the festival's final concert that is usually considered to be the band's worst onstage moment. The band would recover with a great "Split Open and Melt" right after that, but that final show in general is considered to be one of the worst they ever played. Although Coventry is an important part of the band's history and does have a few songs worth recommending, it is not considered to be an easy listen. Happily, the band has been in ''significantly'' better form since they reunited in 2009.