Obviously this guy didn’t listen to the show because trey was horrible. playing wrong chord off time all night.

take off, hoser….trey and the rest of the guys sound fluent and on key the entire night

take off, hoser….trey and the rest of the guys sound fluent and on key the entire night

Yeah, for 1500 dollar tickets, they’d better be pulling gold bars outta their kiesters and handing them out to the crowd. Im a HUGE phish fan, but between the monopoly of ticketmaster/ticketsnow! and then the BS of Scalpers/Fake tickets, I decided to just opt out of Phish’s ‘Re-Union’ tour… and any other Phish Concert where they decide to rape their fans for the price of a ticket.

These shows were simply amazing. Great article.

punch when is your band playing?

punchuintheeye…sorry phish didn’t please you…maybe New Kids on the Block would be a better fit for you.

We need to show the boys some love. The phish drought was probably brought on in part by the online haters. Every other 2 bit act out there reherses the same setlist over and over and sure enough, they can play it (a simple 4 chord progression) perfectly and seemlessly without missing a note or a change…the only problem is, it’s FREAKIN BORING! There’s no energy or spontaneity. These hampton shows were great! Thank you Trey, Mike, Page and Fish!

P.S. dude who is upset about ticket prices, that’s the brokers and perhaps ticketmaster and/or live nation (for not having a system in place that reduces the broker presence)…the only thing left for the band to try is maybe playing some stadiums…brokers don’t want to touch events that might not sell out.

they played nothing rare at all. Where’d that idea come from?

Oh, yeah. Reba! They never play that!

I was just glad to be there. They sounded amazing,looked amazing….. half the time i was on the floor i couldn’t see a thing except bouncing heads and smiling faces. The energy of the crowd was amazing. I always said i go to shows and enjoy them as if i will never get to hear or see these guys again……i am glad to have that feeling back.

“Ohhhh what a beautiful buzz, what a beautiful buzz!”

I was just glad to be there. They sounded amazing,looked amazing….. half the time i was on the floor i couldn’t see a thing except bouncing heads and smiling faces. The energy of the crowd was amazing. I always said i go to shows and enjoy them as if i will never get to hear or see these guys again……i am glad to have that feeling back.

“Ohhhh what a beautiful buzz, what a beautiful buzz!”

I’m pissed. I have seen these guys ply for less than 25$, and had no problem getting tickets to there last show Coventry. (Hell I parked on the interstate and walk 10 miles to see there “last show”) Then they just come back and I can’t go because all the scalpers got all the tixs and what ever. I guess I’m bitter. Well the new lot rat ghetto kids can have it. Phish should have not got back together for another 10 or 15 or 20 years. Then maybe the real fans could go to a show in there home state and not have to pay a scalper way to much money to see a show just like one I saw them play in the 90’s.I’m over phish

$1500 come on…if you want to pay that money, pay it…if you don’t, stay @ home. They went on sale for $50, Phish has nothing to do with what you do with your $. I’m sure Trey, Mike, Page, and Fish weren’t concerned you couldn’t make it.
ps-they don’t own anyone anything and it’s their music…take it or leave it…I for one am taking it. See you good vibn peeps @ alpine!

anyone who has anything remotely negative to say about the shows should poke themselves in the eyeballs. if you don’t like phish, that’s totally understandable, but for those of us who LOVE them, these shows were a god send.

Having them back regardless is exciting, watching for setlist updates from my hotel in in the Bay was nostalgic and bittersweet. They lost it after cypress, moments of clarity for sure but they brought themselves to their knees. They were my favorite thing and I drove, bussed, trained, flew for all shows friends and family in the 90’s. Be BOLD boys, your tourdates are sad and defeated. Take a chance like you used too. Stop catering to the easy money and get out there and bring the PHUNK. IF YOU KILL IT We will come!!! Play WESTCOAST&Desert!!!

Good article. We went to the show with a mixture of excitement and some pre-show nerves. Not sure what we would get in terms of the crowds, the music. Are we too old at 35, are our Phish days over? Hell no! The first night they were spot on with every note, second and last nights were amazing. Moma Dance rocked. We left Hampton feeling a little sad per usual after a run of shows, but mostly humbled and thankful to have seen Phish and spent time with some great fans. Looking way forward to more shows this summer and hopefully fall. Hope you all get there!

I got my 3-day passes on Ticketmaster for face value. When 200,000 people try to log on to get 15,000 available tickets, shit happens, folks! Quit yer bitchin and go to Bonnaroo. This weekends’ shows were the best I have seen since ‘96. Flat out great time, great music and the crowd was phenominal. I traveled all the way from SF and it was worth every dime.

The only “rarity” that was played was Fluffhead on the first night. Yes phish is back but they are not “back” jams are sounding pretty good, but the meat of the song just not their yet. Trey still messes up a lot. They are very quiet on the vocals too. But they do sound better than 04 Hampton

Dear Phish, Halloween 2009 Madison Square Garden. Make it happen…please

Dear Phish, Halloween 2009 Madison Square Garden. Make it happen…please

i’m going on Strange Design tour!

Phish Halloween-The Times Union Center in Albany

all of you are funny. i can’t believe i’m posting this. I was at all three shows. simply amazing. yes, their were flubs….so what, who the hell cares. YEM had to restart, but after the restart…they nailed it. (Unlike the restart last go round). Punch, opps…one missed spot, i guess now the whole show sux because of one little mess up. Let’s see any of you haters take five years off, write and play different music during that time, then practice for a few months and nail 95% of the 85 songs they played. Have a good listen to Reba & Guelah….both were spot on. That shit’s tough to play, no matter how long you’ve been practicing. If you’re still a hater, then quit showing up and let people who want to be there…be there. But we all know you won’t quit coming. You secretly love it and have to be there. You’re also the ones while in the show are dancing your asses off. You’re real problem is, that you think you know them so well, and you’ve seen so many shows, that’s it cool to be a negative critic and think your opinion is the right one. So, to all you haters….. i guess we’ll see ya at the next show, because you love it and we know it!

all of you are funny. i can’t believe i’m posting this. I was at all three shows. simply amazing. yes, their were flubs….so what, who the hell cares. YEM had to restart, but after the restart…they nailed it. (Unlike the restart last go round). Punch, opps…one missed spot, i guess now the whole show sux because of one little mess up. Let’s see any of you haters take five years off, write and play different music during that time, then practice for a few months and nail 95% of the 85 songs they played. Have a good listen to Reba & Guelah….both were spot on. That shit’s tough to play, no matter how long you’ve been practicing. If you’re still a hater, then quit showing up and let people who want to be there…be there. But we all know you won’t quit coming. You secretly love it and have to be there. You’re also the ones while in the show are dancing your asses off. You’re real problem is, that you think you know them so well, and you’ve seen so many shows, that’s it cool to be a negative critic and think your opinion is the right one. So, to all you haters….. i guess we’ll see ya at the next show, because you love it and we know it!

I’m glad Phish are back, hope they stay back and no more phony farewell shows….no, I’m not hating on Phish, only ticketmaster and live nation.
Personally I kind of like Phish. Long time Dead head and no I don’t care to debate who is better.I wished I could appreciate Phish more, but thus far I can’t seem to.

guelah papyrus, oh kee pa, grind, fluffhead…sanity? that’s not a rarity??? come on now…

hampton rocked.

I like yellow cake. With chocolate frosting.

I enjoyed RS’s review, particularly the comparison to My Bloody Valentine, as not only am I a fan of them, but so are Trey and Fish (7/6/97) soundcheck, and the album ‘Loveless’ was a potential contender for Halloween ‘98. As for the actual shows, like them or not, they are what they are: 4 friends playing onstage together for the first time in almost 5 years, after a series of personal battles. How well would any of us do in that situation? I am happy they’re back, as long as they feel committed to, and happy about, what they are doing.

The only real rarity this night was Guelah Papyrus which had not been played since the first Hiatus in 2000. Gumbo, Its Ice, and Halley’s were fairly rare post hiatus though.

The Hampton shows rocked, if you didn’t like them, please dont come out for summer.

People saying it’s about the money are idiots. Phish charges the same price for every ticket in the house unlike a lot of other bands. They gave us 12 hours of music in 3 days. I was in Sat and Sun and it was one of the best runs I’ve had in 15 years of seeing Phish. I’ve got tickets for the whole summer tour except Jones Beach, who’s got my JB?

A Day in the Life is pretty rare too

I went to all 3 nights, and they were completely amazing. Phish had nothing to do with scalper prices…as they sold tickets for $49.00. All I can say is that I cannot wait for the Fox St. Louis show and Deer Creek!!!! See ya there, and thank you for such an amazing weekend in Hampton!@!!!

Sunday rocked my sox. By far the best show of the weekend, and possibly of the decade.

Sunday rocked my sox. By far the best show of the weekend, possibly the decade.

Highly unlikely, I know, but…Euro tour next year!

phish suck… the shows where way off… for phans to say they were the ” great” they never heard phish back in the day… you phans r pathetic..hampton shows sucked major ass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

who cares when the last fluffhead was and when they played this or that, god people get a life…its all the same, dumbasses!

i went 2 all 3 shows and they sucked ass!!!!!!! 2 many cops… musically i’ve heard it all before and much better versions 2 boot…
phish r way past their prime…2 many lame obsessed OCD-ish phans
love headband

ok, i’ve read my way through and time to weigh in. I was introduced to phish through livephish.com. I had NEVER been to a show before hampton. But I have heard multiple shows from every year, beginning to end. I can ALMOST ALWAYS tell which time period a song is from in just the first few lines/passages so don’t start in with “you weren’t there mannn”. I am a musician myself(guitar, bass and drums..for quite some time now) and all of my initial respect and admiration for this band was for the absolute mastery of their instruments and the art of song writing. I KNOW how good they were in 94 and 95, you can easily tell from the recordings. But comparing their FIRST SHOW back to those years is just ridiculous. They were playing 100+ shows a year at that time, 100% dedicated to the band with no side projects. There was no way they were going to practice for 6 months, without playing live and come out in the same shape they were in for NYE 95. (Not to mention they’re playing SOBER now…supposedly at least)

That being said, the Hampton run was indisputable perfection. Yes there were wrong notes. Yes they stopped and started or flubbed a line here and there. And yes, some of the jams just fizzled or dragged out. But they came out COMMITTED to the music. They sang it like they believe in it again. They played only the best of their best songs (although I was hoping for Guyute and to make an appearance). The bottom line is they showed everyone that they mean business. And they weren’t afraid to put themselves out there in a “rusty” form for all the world to see. What other musicians do you know would have the stones to get up in front of 13,000 people thinking “GOD I hope this works”. It’s hard as hell to pick up these songs after so many years away and nail 95+% as they did. And on top of that, the jams they DID come together on were some of the best I have heard since 2000. The potential is there. They STILL have that magic that makes them one of, if not the best band of all time. I am dumbfounded that anyone, ESPECIALLY you “long time Phans” can listen to these shows and be anything by elated at the prospect of what’s to come as they get more and more practices through touring.

I was already a loyal fan before the concerts. The experience of being there in the crowd on night three only cemented that. I now know the recordings I poured over only capture 2-3% of the energy in a performance and I will see them as many times as I can to continue building my appreciation for what they do. As others have mentioned, if you can’t appreciate “Phish 3.0″ then stay home and listen to your UNH field house 93′, etc. over and over again.

anybody here seen IZABELLA? They are from Cali and they are the only band that can melt faces like Phish! gotta check em out, the guitarist shreds! seriously, they will be the hottest band on the scene someday soon….

If you’re looking for a new jam band, check out Willies Light in Baltimore.

for not playing since 2004 these guys sounded damn good. I hope they tear it up at bonnaroo. Too many kids are showing up just for the drugs now. Its a wookfest. I mean when they played Destiny Unbound at Fenway, NO ONE KNEW WHAT IT WAS!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!

How can anyone say these shows were no good? These three nights were the absolute fire from start to finish; Easily the best shows I’ve seen in ten years or more.
No rarities? What about that Fluffhead opener? or Sanity on Sunday night? or Guelah? or either of those two Beatles covers? If you just don’t like this band, that’s one thing, but if you think they could have brought more to the stage at Hampton than what they did, I’ll have to disagree.