Phish - Summer 2016 Tour

For over 30 years, Phish has been playing unique jams and musical insanity. The culture that has grown around the band in those years has become vast and creative too. From the independent vendors in the parking lot to the Phish poster collectors, the community is a big part of many peoples lives. Some people say they took over the Grateful Dead fan-base after Jerry Garcia's death, I however would beg to differ. The bands share a similar following, but the feel of the crowd is much different.

After the band's legendary 2015 tour, the phans were left wondering how they could surpass it. The excitement started in March when summer tour was announced. A variety of different venues were selected, some played before, others new to the Phish repertoire such as Wrigley Field in Chicago. As tour grew near, the excitement level was getting more prominent. People guessing songs that might be played at the shows and general hype for tour were common occurences.

In light of this tour being one of the most talked about in years, I sent one of my  operatives to go the front line. His extensive knowledge of Phish made this review possible.  

The fun started in St. Paul, Minnesota where they played an awesome tour opener. The fun adjourned in Chicago at the great Wrigley Field for two nights. In previous years this venue's sound has been sub-par for concerts, however, Phish brought their a-game (as well as their own sound system) thus making these shows sound better than any show Wrigley has had in a long time. 

The Phish scene took a new form in Chicago, most Phans are used to the openness of a parking lot to sell their... um.. shirts. Instead, Addison street became shakedown for a short time. It was magical seeing Phish fans roam the streets of Chicago. 

When we got to Deer Creek, (now known as Klipsch Music Center) the scene returned to normal and everything seemed to go back to the Phish we are used to. The show was amazing, and that concluded my leg of the tour. I went on to live-webcast the rest of the tour, each show having its awesome bust-outs and debuts from the long awaited new album.

The tour ended at Dick's Sporting Goods Center in Commerce City, Colorado this past labor day weekend, and it was awesome! The musical maturity over the span of a tour is always wonderful to experience. Despite not having a, "gag" this year, the amount of extended jams they played surely made up for it. I look forward to seeing them on next year's summer tour at Alpine Valley. 

This tour gets 8.9/10 Guru Points.