10 Little Known Facts About Phish’s Island Tour

As Phish fans all around the globe today get ready to watch a “Dinner And A Movie” broadcast of the band's April 4, 1998 concert — the third night of what’s been dubbed the “Island Tour” (due to four shows taking place in Long Island and Rhode Island in April 1998) — JamBase put together a Top 10 list for our readers. As we started to dig in, we were amazed at just how many significant factoids there were – we didn’t even get to include the super-nerdy stats about how many measures long the intro was in these early versions of “Birds Of A Feather.” Without further ado:

#1: Rare case of teasing a song before it’s been debuted: The April 3, 1998 “Weekapaug Groove” included teases of “Mozambique” which would not be debuted by Phish until September 9, 1999. (Source: Phish.net song history)

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#2: Only “Oh Kee Pa Ceremony” & “You Enjoy Myself”: For such an amazing song pairing that opened the April 5, 1998 show, this has never been repeated. (Source: Phish.net song history)

#3: Phish was so motivated by their performances at the Island Tour shows that they almost immediately headed to Dave O’s Farmhouse for a multi-day recording session in which they laid down tracks that would up on The Story of the Ghost. (Source: Wikipedia – The Story Of The Ghost)

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#4: Phish announced the Island Tour on February 24, just 37 days before the start of the run and a mere four days before tickets went on sale. (Source: rec.music.phish)

#5: First Phish release to be put out simultaneously as a download and in physical format. (Source: Phish.com news item)

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#6: One of two unfinished versions of “2001” (the other notated as such: November 26, 1997) – and what a version it is. (Source: Phish.net song history)

#7: Only unfinished “Possum” – you know they are feeling it when they don’t even finish “Possum.” (Source: Phish.net song history)

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#8: Between February 13, 1997 and April 5, 1998 there were four unfinished versions of “Maze.” There have been none since and there were none prior to February 13, 1997. Source: Phish.net song history)

#9: Despite its legendary status in regards to jamming, only one track appears on the Phish.net “20 minute jam” chart (“Roses Are Free” April 3, 1998) (Source: Phish.net 20 Minute Jam Chart)

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#10: The Island Tour was the first Live Phish release to include soundchecks. (Source: Phish.com news item)

[Originally Published: April 5, 2014]