Looking Back at Phish Festival Surprises

There are few things that make us happier than a Phish show. So many friends, smiles and music, we can barely contain ourselves. So you can probably imagine how excited we are that Magnaball, the 10th festival in Phish history, is just around the corner!

While we’re busy packing our pints and getting ready to hit the road, we can’t help ourselves from looking back at the some of the greatest surprises Phish unleashed at their previous 9 festivals:

1. Clifford Ball – Plattsburg, NY – 1996

It was 3:30 AM on Friday night (or Saturday morning, if you want to get technical with us). Lots of people were asleep, but those who weren’t were treated to the band driving around and jamming on the back of a flatbed truck.

2. The Great Went – Limestone, ME – 1997

If you’re going to play a disco set at 2 AM, you do it with fake names. At least that’s what Phish did. Flyers announcing the “show” promoted MC Neoncellgap (Page), Groomed Ink (Mike), DJ Heavy P (Fishman), and DJ Lemore Lalip (Trey).

3. The Lemonwheel – Limestone, ME – 1998

Phish played a surprise 4th set on Saturday night. Instead of using their usual lighting rig, candles and propane flames lighted the stage for the ambient jams.

4. Camp Oswego – Volney, NY – 1999

There were no surprise sets during Camp Oswego. That was sad. There was a surprise fireworks show during the Harry Hood encore on Sunday night. That was fun.

5. Big Cypress – Big Cypress Indian Reservation, FL – 2000

For the second festival in a row, no secret sets were played. No one was too upset about it, though, because Phish played for 7.5 hours straight from midnight to sunrise on New Year’s Day.

6. It – Limestone, ME – 2003

Phish returned to Limestone for the third time. How did they celebrate? By climbing up to the top of the air traffic control tower for their hour-long Tower Jam.

7. Coventry – Coventry, VT – 2004

The biggest surprise about their “last shows ever” was that they weren’t actually their last shows ever. We think that’s better than anything else they could have done.

8. Festival 8 – Indo, CA – 2009

This was their first post-hiatus festival, and we’re going to say the location itself was the surprise since they’d never set up shop on the West Coast before.

9. Superball – Watkins Glen, NY – 2011

Hidden behind opaque windows, inside a self-storage building, Phish unleashed their surprise set late on Saturday night. They even set up their speakers so that different instruments came from different directions, adding an extra psychedelic edge to an already ambient jam.

10. Magnaball – Watkins Glen, NY – 2015

We can’t tell you what surprises Phish has in store, but we can fill you in on ours. We’ll be on the festival grounds scooping free samples of Phish Food ice cream. Come find us and say hi!

Do you have any ideas of what to expect in Watkins Glen? Share your thoughts in the comments below!