I'm Blue I'm Lonesome Again and Again

I hope you're feeling really blue and really lonesome tonight because I've got a doubleshot of I'm Blue, I'm Lonesome. The song was written by some guy name Bill Monroe (maybe you've heard of him?!). The first Phish cover is from 12/30/94 at Madison Square Garden, in the renowned mecca of bluegrass- New York City. Note Fishman on mandolin and Page on standup bass.

The second version is from 6/22/00 from a little country town called Nashville, TN. This one is special because it features just a few bluegrass legends as special guests: Ronnie McCoury on mandolin, Rob McCoury on banjo, and Sam Bush on fiddle, Del McCoury on guitar, Ricky Skaggs on mandolin, Mike Bub on bass, and Jason Carter on fiddle. This was the last appearance of the song and one of the few post-95 shows at which it was played (less than 5).

12/30/94 Purple Rain!!!!

Never meant to cause you any sorrow, never meant to cause you any pain. I only want to one time see you laughing, only want to see you laughing in the purple rain. Purple Rain might be my all time favorite Fishman song and unfortunately one that I never was able to see live. This classic Prince cover, complete with vacuum solo is from 12/30/94 at Madison Square Garden. And of course, there's some HYHU and minor Fish bowing at the end.

Phish Love: Love You, Love Me

Today we've got a Valentine's Day Phish Double Date for everyone. We'll start it off with some Fishman love. The first video is Love You (aka Honey Love), a Syd Barrett song. This performance is from 3/31/92 at the Blue Note in Columbia, MO. It starts off with the somewhat rare Cold As Ice (Foreigner) intro and outro for our favorite drummer instead of the more normal HYHU. Some humorous swinging introductions from Jon F. and then a thick vacuum solo in the middle. Nice.

The second part of our double is the much rarer Love Me (aka Treat Me Like a Fool). This version is from 11/8/98 at the horseshoe shaped UIC Pavilion in Chicago. Mike "Cactus" Gordon takes the vocal lead for this Elvis cover. They've got some pretty decent background harmonies going on too. Lots of good closeups for all you Gordo fanatics out there.

Mmmbop: Like an 11 Year Old Sex Machine

Phish.com calls this the rare example (maybe the ONLY example?) of a Phish soundcheck that is better known than the actual show. This soundcheck was open to the public and is some of the loosest most carefree fun Phish you will hear (click for pics of the limbo karaoke contest!). Check out the setlist for the soundcheck courtesy of Phish.net:

07-06-97 Spiaggia di Rivoltella, Desenzano (Brescia), Italy

Soundcheck: Jam, Oblivious Fool, Beauty of My Dreams, Hell's Bells (attempt)*, You Shook Me All Night Long#, MMMBop^, Another One Bites the Dust (Queen)$&, And It Stoned Me (Van Morrison)$, Only Shallow (My Bloody Valentine)$, Day-O

*As the show is outside (on a beach), bells ringing at a nearby church prompt this attempt at this AC/DC tune. #Sung by Fish after Trey can't remember the words. Trey makes a comment afterwords about writing just one song like this one. ^Hanson cover, sung by Fish as James Brown ("Like an 11-year-old sex machine"). $The Soundcheck Limbo Karaoke Contest (sung by audience members). &Sung as "Another one rides the bus".

Today we've got a video of the MMMBop, which is just hysterical. Trey (in his oft-worn eyeball top hat shirt) looks like he's having blast. Fishman, unfortunately blocked by fans' heads here, is doing his typical crown prince/court jester. Page looks mildly amused. Mike- are you there? So here ya go-Phish doing James Brown's version of Hanson's Mmmbop. Take it to the bridge.. 23 times...hit me....116 times:

He is Legend: Gettin Jiggy Wit It 11/20/98

There is nothing like a full grown man in a tattered purple circle print dress and viking horns covering a Will Smith song complete with vacuum solo. Hampton (Coliseum aka the Mothership) really came alive this night, alive with laughter at the ridiculousness of this Jon Fishman spectacle. Fun times. I think we're beyond words really with this one... let's roll the videotape: