Phish Played Over 200 Songs On Their 20-Show Summer Tour

Last night, Phish wrapped up a fun summer tour that saw the band play a total of 20 shows in 13 cities. While the band still has more performances on the docket, including two nights at LOCKN’ Festival and three nights at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park over Labor Day weekend, the bulk of the band’s scheduled travels are now complete. Naturally, while we wait for rumored fall tours and new albums to be announced, we wanted to reflect on the tour as a whole.

In total, the band performed 205 songs over 20 shows, including a full eighty-four songs that were only played once all summer. In contrast, last year Phish played only 171 songs from the start of their summer tour through Magnaball, which was a total of 22 shows. In 2014, their 25-show tour brought 156 songs. Sufficed to say, Phish dug deep into their catalog and brought out a lot of classics, including jams like “The Sloth,” “The Lizards,” “Tela,” “McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters.” They also brought out tunes like “Let Me Lie,” “Round Room,” and “Demand,” as well as the full Fuego album (including bust outs of “Sing Monica” and “Wombat”) for the tour.

The band also found some new covers for their 2016 rotation, including the biggest bust out, “Dear Prudence,” as well as “Cry Baby Cry” from The White Album. They also played another Beatles song, “I Am The Walrus.” “I Found A Reason” from Velvet Underground’s Loaded album made its first appearance since 1998, but the biggest surprise for covers was the debut of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” The a cappella arrangement that has been performed throughout this summer has been a perfectly Phish-y tribute to the late great Thin White Duke.

As far as debuts go, the band brought out a total of eight new original compositions. Here they are, in order of their debut: “Miss You,” “Breath and Burning,” “Things People Do,” “Waking Up Dead,” “Friends,” “Tide Turns,” “Let’s Go” and “Ass Handed.” The jury is still out as to whether “Ass Handed Reprise” from last night’s closer counts as its own song. Regardless, with Trey Anastasio recently telling fans that their album was finished, it should only be a matter of time before we have new information about this upcoming release. Lest we not forget that a whole host of new Phish songs, including “Blaze On,” “No Men In No Man’s Land,” “Shade,” “Mercury,” “How Many People Are You,” “Can’t Always Listen,” “Steam” and more, have yet to find homes in the studio. And there’s still a “15-minute piece with classical percussion” that we have yet to hear, if we’re to believe Hamilton percussionist Andrés Forero. Read more about that here.

Interestingly, a few songs were left off the table in 2016, including fan-favorites like “Foam,” “Dirt,” “Esther,” “Colonel Forbin’s Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird,” and more. While “Fluffhead” did make its triumphant return this year, the absence of “Roses Are Free” suggests that something may be in store for LOCKN’, with Ween and Phish both performing. Fingers crossed.

Of course, with over 200 songs played, the one notable absence from the tour was the long jam. The band’s setlists seemed more focused on going from song to song, as opposed to stretching any particular number out. The band relied heavily on instrument swapping this summer though, bringing out the Marimba Lumina on a near-nightly basis. Having witnessed the “Drive-In Jam” at Magnaball and the New Years’ “No Men In No Man’s Land” at MSG, it’s safe to say that the band isn’t quite tapped out from their exploratory jamming, but its absence from the summer run was surprising. With a handful of exceptions, like the SPAC “Moma” and “Chalk Dust,” the Hartford “Disease” or the BGCA “Sally,” there weren’t any individual jam moments that truly stood out along this tour.

That all being said, some of these sets really gel collectively, especially the first set of the final Bill Graham show or the tease-filled second set at The Gorge opener. When we consider how many years Phish was absent from our lives in the earlier part of the 2000’s, the fact that they’re still trying new things – sharing new music, busting out old songs, etc. – is a testament to the band’s incredible legacy. Long live Phish.

All stats here appear courtesy of IHOZ/Zzyzx. You can see the full 205 songs, with a count of how many times each one was played, listed below:

Blaze On – 6 (30%)
Fuego – 6 (30%)
46 Days – 5 (25%)
555 – 5 (25%)
Backwards Down the Number Line – 5 (25%)
Breath and Burning – 5 (25%)
Carini – 5 (25%)
Chalk Dust Torture – 5 (25%)
Ghost – 5 (25%)
Harry Hood – 5 (25%)
Martian Monster – 5 (25%)
Mike’s Song – 5 (25%)
No Men In No Man’s Land – 5 (25%)
Run Like an Antelope – 5 (25%)
The Line – 5 (25%)
The Moma Dance – 5 (25%)
Twist – 5 (25%)
Weekapaug Groove – 5 (25%)
Wolfman’s Brother – 5 (25%)
Also Sprach Zarathustra – 4 (20%)
Back on the Train – 4 (20%)
Bathtub Gin – 4 (20%)
Bouncing Around the Room – 4 (20%)
Character Zero – 4 (20%)
Down with Disease – 4 (20%)
Free – 4 (20%)
Halfway to the Moon – 4 (20%)
Heavy Things – 4 (20%)
Horn – 4 (20%)
Kill Devil Falls – 4 (20%)
Light – 4 (20%)
Sample in a Jar – 4 (20%)
Sand – 4 (20%)
Stash – 4 (20%)
Tube – 4 (20%)
Tweezer Reprise – 4 (20%)
Walls of the Cave – 4 (20%)
Birds of a Feather – 3 (15%)
Cavern – 3 (15%)
Cities – 3 (15%)
Divided Sky – 3 (15%)
Farmhouse – 3 (15%)
First Tube – 3 (15%)
Fluffhead – 3 (15%)
Golden Age – 3 (15%)
Golgi Apparatus – 3 (15%)
Halley’s Comet – 3 (15%)
Julius – 3 (15%)
Lawn Boy – 3 (15%)
Loving Cup – 3 (15%)
My Friend, My Friend – 3 (15%)
Piper – 3 (15%)
Possum – 3 (15%)
Rift – 3 (15%)
Rock and Roll – 3 (15%)
Saw It Again – 3 (15%)
Simple – 3 (15%)
Slave to the Traffic Light – 3 (15%)
Space Oddity – 3 (15%)
The Wedge – 3 (15%)
Theme From the Bottom – 3 (15%)
Tide Turns – 3 (15%)
Tweezer – 3 (15%)
Uncle Pen – 3 (15%)
Waiting All Night – 3 (15%)
Water in the Sky – 3 (15%)
Wingsuit – 3 (15%)
Yarmouth Road – 3 (15%)
You Enjoy Myself – 3 (15%)
A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing – 2 (10%)
AC/DC Bag – 2 (10%)
Ass Handed – 2 (10%)
Axilla – 2 (10%)
Billy Breathes – 2 (10%)
Boogie On Reggae Woman – 2 (10%)
Bug – 2 (10%)
Crosseyed and Painless – 2 (10%)
Daniel Saw the Stone – 2 (10%)
David Bowie – 2 (10%)
Dear Prudence – 2 (10%)
Devotion To a Dream – 2 (10%)
Friends – 2 (10%)
Good Times Bad Times – 2 (10%)
Gotta Jibboo – 2 (10%)
I Am the Walrus – 2 (10%)
It’s Ice – 2 (10%)
Joy – 2 (10%)
Limb By Limb – 2 (10%)
Maze – 2 (10%)
Meatstick – 2 (10%)
Miss You – 2 (10%)
My Sweet One – 2 (10%)
Ocelot – 2 (10%)
Party Time – 2 (10%)
Pigtail – 2 (10%)
Poor Heart – 2 (10%)
Prince Caspian – 2 (10%)
Reba – 2 (10%)
Roggae – 2 (10%)
Scent of a Mule – 2 (10%)
Seven Below – 2 (10%)
Shade – 2 (10%)
Shine a Light – 2 (10%)
Sleep Again – 2 (10%)
Sleeping Monkey – 2 (10%)
Sparkle – 2 (10%)
Split Open and Melt – 2 (10%)
Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan – 2 (10%)
Sugar Shack – 2 (10%)
Suzy Greenberg – 2 (10%)
The Dogs – 2 (10%)
The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony – 2 (10%)
The Sloth – 2 (10%)
Things People Do – 2 (10%)
Timber (Jerry) – 2 (10%)
Twenty Years Later – 2 (10%)
Undermind – 2 (10%)
Wading in the Velvet Sea – 2 (10%)
Waste – 2 (10%)
What’s the Use? – 2 (10%)
Wilson – 2 (10%)
A Day in the Life – 1 (5%)
Alumni Blues – 1 (5%)
Army of One – 1 (5%)
Big Black Furry Creature from Mars – 1 (5%)
Bittersweet Motel – 1 (5%)
Bold As Love – 1 (5%)
Buried Alive – 1 (5%)
Camel Walk – 1 (5%)
Cars Trucks Buses – 1 (5%)
Contact – 1 (5%)
Crowd Control – 1 (5%)
Cry Baby Cry – 1 (5%)
Dem Bones – 1 (5%)
Demand – 1 (5%)
Destiny Unbound – 1 (5%)
Driver – 1 (5%)
Drowned – 1 (5%)
Fast Enough for You – 1 (5%)
Fee – 1 (5%)
Fire – 1 (5%)
Frankenstein – 1 (5%)
Fuck Your Face – 1 (5%)
Funky Bitch – 1 (5%)
Grind – 1 (5%)
Guelah Papyrus – 1 (5%)
Gumbo – 1 (5%)
Guyute – 1 (5%)
Ha Ha Ha – 1 (5%)
Happy Birthday to You – 1 (5%)
Hold Your Head Up – 1 (5%)
How Many People Are You – 1 (5%)
I Am Hydrogen – 1 (5%)
I Didn’t Know – 1 (5%)
I Found a Reason – 1 (5%)
Let Me Lie – 1 (5%)
Let’s Go – 1 (5%)
Letter to Jimmy Page – 1 (5%)
Llama – 1 (5%)
Love You – 1 (5%)
Makisupa Policeman – 1 (5%)
Manteca – 1 (5%)
McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters – 1 (5%)
Meat – 1 (5%)
Mound – 1 (5%)
NICU – 1 (5%)
Nellie Kane – 1 (5%)
No Quarter – 1 (5%)
Paul and Silas – 1 (5%)
Punch You In the Eye – 1 (5%)
Quinn the Eskimo – 1 (5%)
Rocky Top – 1 (5%)
Round Room – 1 (5%)
Runaway Jim – 1 (5%)
Sanity – 1 (5%)
Scents and Subtle Sounds – 1 (5%)
Show of Life – 1 (5%)
Silent in the Morning – 1 (5%)
Sing Monica – 1 (5%)
Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley – 1 (5%)
Soul Shakedown Party – 1 (5%)
Steam – 1 (5%)
Strange Design – 1 (5%)
Taste – 1 (5%)
Tela – 1 (5%)
The Ballad of Curtis Loew – 1 (5%)
The Birds – 1 (5%)
The Curtain With – 1 (5%)
The Horse – 1 (5%)
The Landlady – 1 (5%)
The Lizards – 1 (5%)
The Mango Song – 1 (5%)
The Old Home Place – 1 (5%)
The Squirming Coil – 1 (5%)
The Very Long Fuse – 1 (5%)
Timber – 1 (5%)
Vultures – 1 (5%)
Waking Up Dead – 1 (5%)
Walk Away – 1 (5%)
Waves – 1 (5%)
When the Circus Comes – 1 (5%)
Winterqueen – 1 (5%)
Wombat – 1 (5%)
Ya Mar – 1 (5%)
Your Pet Cat – 1 (5%)