Phish has been on a roll, opening their 2016 summer tour with big show after big show. Beginning with a bust-out-laden show at the Xcel Center in St. Paul, MN, the band hit a two night home run in Chicago at the legendary Wrigley Field, played a fun Sunday show at the phan favorite venue formerly-known-as Deer Creek, and followed that up with back-to-back traditional multi-night runs at The Mann Center, and Saratoga Performing Arts Center, aka SPAC. Through it all, Phish have showcased the synced-up playing, deep catalog, fun covers, and impressive improvisation that the band is known for.

As we prepare for Phish to close out the East Coast leg of their Summer tour this coming weekend, we took a look at the stats from the first nine shows of the tour, courtesy of International House of ZZYZX and phish.net, looking for any patterns, standout moments, or anything else of significance. What we found was a ton of songs, a number of big-time jams, and several mind-blowing bust-outs that show the band is still playing at the top of their game.

“Twist” from Wrigley Field, 6/24/16

Phish have played a huge number of songs on their summer tour so far. Having performed 149 unique songs over 9 shows, the band has opened up their catalog early and often this summer, making for some interesting setlists and big bust-outs. Their first show in St. Paul, MN saw the band eschew new material in favor of a bust-out-heavy show, anchored by covers of The Beatles‘ “Dear Prudence” and The Velvet Underground‘s “I Found A Reason”, which were both played for the first time since their respective bands were covered by Phish for Halloween shows in the 90s. “Dear Prudence” hadn’t been played in a whopping 796 shows, which easily makes it the biggest bust-out of the summer. All in all, the band played six songs that night for the first time in over 100 shows, and in following nights we saw the first “I Am The Walrus” in 229 shows to close out night two of the Wrigley Field run, and “Sleep Again” was played during the first night at The Mann Center for the first time in 224 shows.

With so many unique songs being played, only a few were played twice, and a small handful made it into the rotation three times. New song “Breath and Burning” seems to be in heavy rotation with several early appearances, 2014 album title track “Fuego” has become a reliable favorite, Phish classic “Harry Hood” is always a welcome addition to any setlist, and the newer jam vehicle “No Men In No Men’s Land” continues to impress. In contrast to the four most-played songs, a whopping 104 songs were only performed one time. With 22 songs-per-show played so far, and an average of 11.5 unique songs being played each night, that means that each show, on average, featured a setlist where at least 50% of the set are rarities or deeper cuts. That is truly impressive! 

“The Moma Dance”, from SPAC night 3, 7/3/16

Phish has played some standout jams on this tour, as they have already stretched 6 songs past the 15-minute mark this summer. Fans at SPAC this weekend were blessed with the two longest jams of the tour, with an impressive “Chalk Dust Torture” clocking in at 22 minutes and 37 seconds on Friday night, and Sunday night’s gorgeous 17-minute and 34 second masterpiece version of “The Moma Dance”. Wrigley Field saw a number of lengthy jams, with Friday’s “Down with Disease” and “Twist, and Saturday’s “Divided Sky” and “Fluffhead” (the first one in 52 shows) standing out as some of the best moments of the tour so far.

One interesting note is the addition of the Marimba Lumina into the jam arsenal. What had typically been reserved for drummer Jon Fishman‘s solo on “Scent of a Mule” (which made one appearance during the first night at The Mann Center), Trey Anastasio has surprisingly jumped on to the percussive MIDI controller on three occasions, adding an interesting element to “You Enjoy Myself” during night 1 in Philadelphia, and during “Chalk Dust Torture” and “Martian Monster” during the SPAC run. Time will only tell if the Marimba Lumina will continue to be used so regularly by Trey during imrpov sections.

“Chalk Dust Torture” from SPAC Night 1, 7/1/16

Check out all the numbers below, and see for yourselves just how awesome Phish has been through the first nine shows of their summer tour.

Shows

9

Venues

5 – The Xcel Center, St. Paul, MN; Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL; Klipsch Music Center (aka Deer Creek), Noblesville, IN; The Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA; Saratoga Performing Arts Center (aka SPAC), Saratoga Springs, NY.

Songs Played

198

Unique Songs Played

149

Number of Songs Played One Time Only 

104

Song Played The Most Times

“Breath and Burning”, “Fuego”, “Harry Hood”, “No Men In No Men’s Land” – 3 times each.

Biggest Bust-Outs of Tour

“Dear Prudence” (Beatles) – 796 shows – 6/22/16, Xcel Center

“I Found A Reason” (Velvet Underground) – 493 Shows – 6/22/16, Xcel Center

“I Am the Walrus” (Beatles) – 229 shows – 6/25/16, Wrigley Field

“Sleep Again” – 224 shows – 6/28/16, The Mann Center

“Pigtail” – 195 shows – 6/22/16, Xcel Center

“Round Room” – 192 shows – 6/22/16, Xcel Center

“Daniel Saw The Stone” – 140 shows – 6/22/16, Xcel Center

“Uncle Pen” – 123 Shows – 6/22/16, Xcel Center

Times Marimba Lumina Was Used:

“You Enjoy Myself” – 6/28/16, The Mann Center

“Chalk Dust Torture” – 7/1/16, Saratoga Springs Performing Arts Center

“Martian Monster” – 7/2/16, Saratoga Springs Performing Arts Center

“Scent of a Mule” – 7/3/16, Saratoga Springs Performing Arts Center

Longest Songs:

“Chalk Dust Torture”, 22:37, 7/1/16, Saratoga Performing Arts Center

“The Moma Dance”, 17:34, 7/3/16, Saratoga Performing Arts Center

“Down with Disease”, 16:52, 6/24/16, Wrigley Field

“Crosseyed and Painless”, 16:20, 6/29/16, The Mann Center

“Fuego”, 16:04, 6/28/16, The Mann Center

“Twist”, 15:13, 6/25/16, Wrigley Field

“Divided Sky”, 15:08, 6/25/16, Wrigley Field

“Fluffhead”, 14:59, 6/25/16, Wrigley Field

“Harry Hood”, 14:50, 6/29/16, The Mann Center