By now I'm sure you've seen the 2014 summer tour We're excited to see the return of The Mann Music Center to the list. It'll be nearly 19 years since the last time they played at this fun little tucked away venue just outside of Philadelphia. My first show was in 1996 so I just missed this venue by a year but growing up just outside of Philadelphia I saw many summer shows and was always bummed Phish had graduated to the bigger Camden amphitheatre just over the Ben Franklin bridge. For one it's a more intimate venue then Camden but more importantly it's only about a 15 minute drive from my home town. dates. If not, go check them out.
Perhaps the best show from those early years is the last show played - 6/25/95. There's a Mike's Song that is not to be missed if you are a Mike's Song fan. These shows were hot off the heels of the "Fleezer" show, which was performed at Finger Lakes Performing Arts Center in Canandaigua, another venue they are returning to this year. Although they've already made it back to Finger Lakes during the 2010 summer tour.
Many have also taken note of the message that there will be no more east coast dates for the rest of the summer and fall. Pretty bummed about the no fall dates for the east as last year's fall run was pretty epic and while I was smitten with our newborn son who came into the world right as fall tour started, I was hoping to catch some indoor shows this year to make up for last year. But it's never wise to count it out entirely as we are talking about a band that likes to mess with their fans heads. Plus, they just said fall, nothing about holiday tour. But many fans are spreading rumors about the holiday tour.
There's a lot of speculation around the potential for a Hawaii NYE. You may remember that back in '99 the band was minutes away from deciding on playing the Millenium NYE in Hawaii. But due to last minute issues with the locals and fears of not giving fans enough time to prepare, they cut the cord on this plan as noted in this Rolling Stone article. Boy, what a back up it was (Watch Big Cyrpess).
There's also a big gap between Alpharetta, GA (8/3) and the Dick's shows (8/29 - 8/31). Some speculate they will head out west between these dates but some are suggesting a possible Japan tour since the video uses Japanese sub-titles. Phish has done two tours in Japan - Summer of 99 and 00. There are some memorable moments from both runs but perhaps the best show in Japan was on 6/14/00 at Drum Logos where they played a mind blogging Twist into a spaced out jam where combined they stretch out over 30 minutes.
No matter what Phish decides to do beyond these summer dates is anyones guess but you can always count on the fans to throw in their two cents. See you on the road.
