The Moment Begins: Phish Launches Mondegreen Festival In Delaware

On August 15, 2004, Phish closed the book on a momentous 23-year career as a band with a final performance of “The Curtain With” at Coventry. It was an emotional farewell to an incredible band that had reached the conclusion of their arc and told all the stories that they were to tell.

On August 15, 2024, Phish emerged to a colossal crowd in Dover, Delaware to kick off their Mondegreen festival, the band’s first in nine years, marking an occasion of monumental celebration for a band now closing in on its 42nd anniversary.

I was first hooked on Phish by the “Reba” from Superball after my dad attended the festival in 2011, marking the beginning of what has turned into my livelihood and identity, all stemming from this feeling of shared community and love of music.

Walking into The Woodlands and the festival grounds for the first time yesterday felt like a surreal experience before a single note of music had been played. The excitement in the air was palpable as showtime approached, with fans exploring all the interesting art installations and other attractions set up in the area. This was the first opportunity in nearly a decade to experience what we are here for this weekend, and the first ever for many fans like me who were too young to be at Magnaball.

As showtime grew closer and people began to turn their attention toward the stage, I was struck by despite how huge the crowd was, there was always ample space to move and dance and there was an air of friendliness and community you don’t always get at every festival or concert – a distinct feeling of gratitude coming off of each and every person at Mondegreen last night.

Phish opted to kick off the four-night festival with “The Moma Dance,” an appropriate pick given its mondegreen lyric, and something many fans had expected to make an appearance on the first night. The rendition that followed was anything but standard, as the band opened up and began to depart “Moma” proper almost as soon as the jam began. Guitarist Trey Anastasio pushed for an early major-key modulation atop sparkling piano work from Page McConnell, locking on some passages of “hey hole” jamming, finding each other on a series of upbeat melodies.

It’s a testament to how good this summer tour has been that the immediate interplay displayed on “Moma” was just the tip of the iceberg, drummer Jon Fishman’s steady flow letting the band coast through a strong peak and return in the early-evening light. “Back on the Train” saw some spirited soloing from Anastasio before the seemingly standard first set fare continued with a call for “Wolfman’s Brother.”

Dropping into a typical sparse funk groove to start, bassist Mike Gordon stepped out front with some aggressive slap work – FOH engineer Garry Brown deserves a tremendous amount of praise for the sound at the festival, where every instrument was crystal clear no matter where you were on the concert field.

The funk eventually mellowed atop McConnell’s switch to Wurlitzer electric piano, encouraging Anastasio to push for another clean major shift. This was not to last, however, as the band descended into several more minutes of dissonant play, Anastasio and McConnell weaving around each other while Gordon dipped into some heavy synth effects, causing the guitarist to follow him in that direction for a spell.

Anastasio then hung back as the quartet smoothly went back to happier pastures, McConnell leading the way with some bright and mellow textures on Moog One synthesizer. Hitting a solid, peak the band modulated one more time into a zone reminiscent of “Heavy Things,” though Anastasio pushed through the easy segue call in favor of continuing to jam. Picking up speed and intensity, the “Wolfman’s” hit an excellent peak with the band working as one – a somewhat rocky re-entry couldn’t even take away the momentum of this centerpiece first-set jam.

“Funky Bitch” and a perfectly-placed “Roggae” led into an exuberant “NICU,” before the first set closed with 30 minutes of “A Wave of Hope” and “Sand.”

As if they were warming up for the second set and giving us a taste of what was to come, “A Wave of Hope” quickly began to lift off with McConnell doubling Fender Rhodes and piano for a cool combination of sounds as Fish pushed an aggressive tempo. Continuing to pick up speed and momentum, the band hit a zone not unlike a “Kill Devil Falls” peak before smashing into the end of “A Wave of Hope” with a burst of energy.

At 75 minutes, the set easily could have ended here, but it’s a festival – so the band kicked into “Sand” as the setting sun finally let it get dark enough to witness the majesty of Chris Kuroda’s festival lighting rig. In addition to the fully moving trusses, he had lights stashed through the forest on either side of the stage, remarkably expanding his reach and scale.

As the jam began, Anastasio set some 1999-style whale-call loops over the groove, hanging back from lead work for a while in favor of some minor-key wah vamping. Before we knew it, Phish took us back to a happy zone one more time and blasted through a set-closing peak to raucous cheers from the crowd.

Read on after The Skinny for the rest of the recap and more.

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Continuing the trend of shorter set breaks seen so far this summer, the band reemerged and began the second set with a colossal “What’s Going Through Your Mind,” just in its second performance in a Phish show after being debuted with Billy Strings last week in Grand Rapids.

There’s something deeply emotional about hearing the harmonies on the chorus of this tune, the lyrics describing a deep connection to someone that has faded over time, yet the bond remains just as strong – “never think that I don’t know what’s going through your mind.”

Quickly picking up where they left off in the first set, McConnell buoyed the initial “WGTYM” jam on Rhodes as Fish smoothly transitioned from the song’s funky stomp into a more free-flowing zone, giving ample space for the other band members to work. Contrary to the emphasis on happier jamming in the first set, McConnell’s gradual seeping-in of Prophet Rev2 synthesizer spurred Anastasio to layer some chirping loops in the background as a darker tone began to take over.

While it seemed as though they may have been bailing on a more evil direction for brighter pastures, Anastasio quickly corrected course and locked in with the rhythm section as they began to pick up speed in a propulsive zone that morphed into some disco-funk. Waves of delayed guitar spread forth as McConnell locked in on the groove with his Prophet, hitting into some vicious riffs alongside Anastasio.

The rhythm section continued to be the MVPs of the night, both Fish and Gordon playing without an ounce of give in them, the drummer especially not letting the momentum drop even a fraction of an inch as the band slowly emerged from darkness back to the light.

Anastasio began to lead the band along a path to an emotionally-charged peak, cementing over the course of the next several minutes both “WGTYM” as the latest great jam vehicle entry into the Phish catalog and that there would be no holds barred at Mondegreen – not that there was ever any doubt of the band playing their asses off.

As the peak began to die away into a minute or so of scuzz, I found myself wondering where you even go after a jam like that – hitting all over the musical spectrum and nailing such a gorgeous peak, it felt as though there was no way to possibly top it. Of course, at the urging of Fish’s propulsion that emerged from the haze, Anastasio called for an on-a-dime drop into “Chalk Dust Torture” that will have you ready to run through several brick walls.

Gordon was feeling it early on in “CDT” and made his presence known with some heavy and aggressive fills throughout the song proper. Another incredible part of last night’s show was how much of the crowd was singing along to every word – especially the exclamatory “Can’t I live while I’m young” chorus, punctuated by the look of pure elation on Anastasio’s face.

The quick and fiery Type 1.5 “Chalk Dust” found its way home in favor of a segue into “Light” though McConnell’s infusion of Prophet into the outro suggested that a premature segue was far from the end of the set’s improv. In fact, this deceptively short 11-minute rendition had some of the most incredible and out-there music of the night, but not before some delicate and melodic play from Anastasio as he ran through the Allman Brothers-like zone he’s so fond of these days.

Descending quickly into madness, Gordon’s arsenal of synth pedals was put to work as McConnell and Anastasio worked hypnotic layers of sound as Fish increased the intensity of his fluid playing, managing to be everywhere on his kit at once somehow. With ring modulator tones galore and a droning loop underneath, controlled chaos ensued for several minutes that would not have been out of place in a “Split Open and Melt” jam before resurfacing above the waves by way of “Prince Caspian.”

There seems to be something about a modern-era festival “Caspian,” and the last one from Magnaball was at the forefront of my mind as the band had a make-or-break decision for the set – to jam or not to jam?

The answer was decidedly the former after some high-energy Type I play led into some rocking riffing courtesy of Anastasio. Fish swung into a more shuffling beat and the band hit a theme somewhere in the neighborhood of a “Wolfman’s” jam before morphing into a decidedly “Loving Cup”-esque mode. A quick run through some stop/start action – complete with woos – landed on yet another awe-inspiring bliss jam, McConnell once again at the forefront with Moog One textures. The buoyant jam bopped along in a relaxed manner from there, bouncing toward a natural conclusion before the band blitzed into “Crosseyed And Painless.”

While not anything impressive improvisationally, the longtime Talking Heads staple acted as a conduit for the energy of the set, blazing through a hot peak as Anastasio hit some vicious turns on the “still waiting” melody and Fish growled the lyric into his mic throughout the final minutes of the jam.

There are few landing pads I love more than “Lonely Trip,” and the Mondegreen crowd was captivated by the gentle ballad, giving Anastasio a chance to explore a slower song in a well-earned breather after the nonstop action of the first hour of the set.

“Everything’s Right” has filled a set-closing role so far this summer and did so once again last night, giving us an exclamation point on the outstanding show with 13 minutes of sustained energy, ending off with a crowd-wide singalong to the “Na na na” chorus. Is it cheesy? Absolutely. Do any of us really care when we’re at the show and singing along with 45,000 other people? Not really.

Returning for the encore, the band took a few moments to point and laugh at the camera suspended on cables above the crowd – a target for many fans’ glow sticks throughout the night – before smashing into “Saw it Again.” The shit-eating grin on Anastasio’s face was a joy to watch as he interspersed shouts of “two moons,” “a Phish festival from this point of view,” and “a gorilla in a Fishman dress” through the song – possible hints for things to come later this weekend or just the guitarist having fun.

The grin on the guitarist’s face only got wider as he lit into “Possum,” ripping through what very easily could have been the end to an amazing show – but instead, we were treated to a gorgeous “Slave to the Traffic Light” as an emphatic victory lap as Phish brought the first night of Mondegreen to a close.

Against all odds, it’s hard to believe that the same band that walked off stage at Coventry 20 years ago is in the midst of a new golden era – beginning 2024 with Gamehendge and breaking new ground at the Sphere before one of their most consistently amazing summer tours in years, culminating in the first festival since 2015.

While some may have expected some sort of nod to August 15, 2004, given the significance of kicking off a festival exactly two decades later – maybe a “Curtain With” encore – the band instead chose to exist firmly in the present, letting us know that the most important thing and what we should be focusing on is this incredible weekend in Delaware. With three nights to go and undoubtedly a host of surprises in store alongside the shows themselves, Mondegreen has already proved to be a triumph to the spirit of Phish, their music, and their community.

I’m damn grateful to be here.

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Phish’s Mondegreen festival continues through Sunday. Livestreams for the entire Summer Tour 2024 are available via LivePhish.com.

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Photos by Stu Kelly

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