Thank you to the more than 100 golfers who came together on August 31st at Willis Case in Denver in support of music education for children, and to the sponsors who helped make it such a special event. We raised thousands of dollars, and have started planning for the 10th (!!) Annual. Meanwhile, it's time to report results and share photos from the 2024 outing.

All players received a gift bag with an event-branded umbrella and picnic blanket, an assortment of Phish.net items (koozies, patches, stickers, etc.), and other items donated by sponsors. In addition, there were 14 prize bags containing pro shop credit plus event schwag from previous years (hats, visors, and water bottles). Thirteen of those prize bags went to these golf winners:

• 1st place individual (2nd year in a row!): Todd Masten
• 2nd place individual: Josh Mikatich
• 3rd place individual: Ian Partilla
• Longest Drive: Chris Cook
• Closest to Pin: Seth Caswell (whom I hadn't seen since tape-trading at a setbreak in the early 90s!)
• 1st Place Foursome (2nd year in a row, and pictured blow, L-R): Patrick Donnely, Todd Masten, Ian Partilla, and Jason Rubio; and
• Runner-up Foursome: Cory Sawatzki, Chris Cook, Todd Mallers, and Brent Smith.

[We would like to thank Ian Zigel (@ripenesswasall) aka @memehendge on Instagram for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]

Hockey Arena shows in the fall are a quintessential part of the Phish experience, particularly in the northeast where the band cut its teeth 4 decades ago and where the core of the fanbase resides. It’s no secret that Phish delivers the goods musically on fall tour; summer tours tend to be experimental and playful as the band searches for a new sound, slowly building up potential energy, which is actualized in the fall with shows that can be a bit more intense, ballsy, and spooky.

Everything about these autumnal happenings - huddling together on a chilly but sprawling shakedown street, sipping on hot chocolate or apple cider, visible traces of our spirit family’s presence in every imaginable corner of an unsuspecting little town, catching up with your tour friends from around the country, and gasp-inducing sets of music – make up the ineffable but unmistakable vibe of fall tour.

On October 27th 2024, we find ourselves returning to the storied “MVP Arena” in Albany, NY for the third and final night of a charity benefit run for The Divided Sky Foundation. Of course, this run also became a celebration of the life and legacy of Phil Lesh when the heavy news of his passing broke on Friday morning.

Night one’s poignant “Box of Rain” opener and bass-forward, dead-esque vibe was a cathartic and perfect eulogy. Saturday was very much a raging “Saturday special” for a full house that got delightfully evil and deranged throughout the second set.

For a new fan, a fall hockey arena run is a rite of passage, a phish-mitzvah if you will, and I felt that Friday and Saturday night’s shows would both be excellent first shows to introduce a newcomer to this expensive hobby. Dare I say I felt a bit nostalgic this weekend, reminiscing on my first run of fall shows in Providence, RI and Uniondale, NY 5 years ago, a weekend that changed my life for better or worse. My “Dick in a Blender” moment was the glorious, multi-pronged “Harry Hood” unleashed at the Dunkin Donuts Center on 11/30/19. Alas I am still waiting for the band to send me an autographed vitamix, but I’m sure it’s on their to do list *cough cough.*

Once upon a time some late October shows in upstate New York might have meant Fall Tour, or, maybe if you were lucky going back thirty years, a Halloween Run. There was plenty of precedent leading up to this single three-night run to inform what to expect, though maybe the most relevant is the more recent duo of benefit shows at SPAC last summer following the devastating floods in the region. In this case the ‘hometown’ shows were in support of the Divided Sky Foundation, the residential recovery center in Vermont founded by Trey to help support others struggling with addiction. And before I go any further, let me first encourage anyone reading this recap to make a donation to the foundation if you haven’t already. Maybe more importantly, if you or anyone you love is struggling with addiction, please know that help is out there. “All you have to do,” Trey offers, “is walk in the door.”

[We would like to thank Matthew Golia (@mgolia6) for recapping last night's show. Please support The Divided Sky Foundation. -Ed.]

(This recap is dedicated to my Dad and his best friend Mark)

Phish has graced Albany with its presence 18 times, starting in 1989 with a sketchily confirmed appearance at Pauly’s Hotel (setlist lost to the ether). After 3 jaunts at the Palace Theater between ‘92 and ‘93, the band finally arrived, Arena-style, in 1995 at The Knick.

In celebration of Phish’s upcoming 3-show run in Albany (October 25, 26, & 27), the all-volunteer and fan-run Mockingbird Foundation has announced that it is sending an unsolicited $3,000 Tour Grant to the City School District of Albany's Fine Arts Department, for purchase of an English Horn and related supplies, such as reeds.

This is Mockingbird's 219th Tour Grant, and the 29th instance of unsolicited Tour Grants, an effort that now totals $291,000, which is 11% of all disbursements made by the foundation. These grants are part of a long-standing effort to help support music education in the local communities which have welcomed and hosted the Phish community for the band's performances.