More originals began to make their way into Phish's concert repertoire, including "McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters", "Anarchy", "Alumni Blues", "Dear Mrs. Reagan", "Dog Log", "Prep School Hippie" "Dave's Energy Guide", "Letter To Jimmy Page", and the popular classics "Harry Hood", "Run Like an Antelope", "Mike's Song", and "Possum".
The band's original repertoire continued to grow, with complex pieces such as "Esther", "Foam", "The Lizards", "Colonel Forbin's Ascent", and "Fly Famous Mockingbird" making their debut along with future favorites "Tela", "Weekapaug Groove", "No Dogs Allowed", and "Contact."
The band teamed up with friends Widespread Panic, Blues Traveler, and Aquarium Rescue Unit for various concerts in an effort to spread their music to new audiences, and toured non-stop for the first six months of the year.
Following a three-set tour-closing show at Townshend Family Park (the second of three such annual events), the band visited Wendell Studios, in Boston MA, and recorded a wealth of material.
The Giant Country Horns, made up primarily of local Burlington musicians, featured on the majority of Phish's sets during this tour, both utilizing pre-written charts and factoring into the improvisational segments.
After taking time off in September and October to record the concept album Rift, Phish embarked on a busy November and December, touring the eastern half of the United States, along with two Canadian dates.
Once again, Phish capped off 1994 with a four-show holiday run, culminating in a legendary performance at Boston Garden, which featured the first appearance of the flying hot dog, in which the band rode, as it flew over the heads of the crowd before the stroke of midnight.
...they just thought the [expression] was the funniest idea for a show..."[13] The event combined overhead flights by bombers, fighters, gliders, and various other aerial vehicles with carnival rides, jugglers, and men on stilts.
This year also marked a major shift in the band's sound and style, where improvisation became more prevalent than ever, focusing heavily on funk and groove, with rapid-fire guitar solos taking a back seat.
Phish returned to the United States in July for a month-long summer tour of sold-out amphitheaters, culminating in another huge festival – The Great Went – held in remote Limestone, Maine in the upper northeastern corner of the US.
During Phish's performance of "Vultures," a couple from Putnam, Connecticut, Terry Moggio and Maggie Loobadeery, exchanged wedding vows on the concert grounds in a ceremony executed by local favorite Stick Treadgood.
[19] Following their Conan appearance, Phish embarked on a November/December tour that saw them further exploring dark, groove-based improvisation (dubbed by fans as "cow funk"), with songs stretched out to previously unheard lengths.
Covers were by Cole Porter, Smashing Pumpkins, Van Halen, the Velvet Underground, Allen Toussaint and the Beastie Boys, followed by a rendition of the Grateful Dead's "Terrapin Station" as the band stopped in Virginia Beach on August 9, the third anniversary of the death of Jerry Garcia.
Two days later, Phish appeared on the PBS program Sessions At West 54th, conversing with host David Byrne and performing a set that drew heavily from their soon-to-be-released seventh studio album.
85,000 people attended, making it the largest Millennium Eve concert on earth that night, surpassing shows by Sting, Barbra Streisand, Aerosmith, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, The Eagles, Eminem, Jimmy Buffett, Kiss, Metallica, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Elton John.
By the end of the month, Phish was back in the United States for another month-long summer tour, kicking off with a star-studded opening night in Nashville featuring appearances by Wynonna Judd, Ricky Skaggs, and the Del McCoury Band.
For the broadcast, Phish performed "Scents And Subtle Sounds" (sans intro) and then they played a short set, featuring truncated versions of several of their songs, for the few hundred fans gathered below.
On March 17, 2009, Phish announced another dozen dates as a late summer tour, with a four-night stand in Red Rocks Amphitheatre (their first shows there since being banned in 1996), and ending at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in New York on August 16.
The band closed the summer with three-night runs at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, and Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City over Labor Day Weekend, the latter of which would become a longstanding tradition.
After the show in Los Angeles, the band took a monthlong break before returning to the stage for their third annual three-night run at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado over Labor Day Weekend.
Songs debuted this year include "Yarmouth Road", "Architect", "Frost", "Say Something", "Wingsuit", "Fuego", "The Line", "Sing Monica", "Waiting All Night", "Wombat", "Snow", "Devotion To A Dream", "555", "Winterqueen", "Amidst The Peals Of Laughter", and "You Never Know".
Earlier that year, Rolling Stone conducted a reader's poll to rank the Phish songs in order and there was a fan campaign to stuff the ballot box for "Lushington", in hopes that perhaps the band would play it.
Songs debuted this year include "Plasma", "The Haunted House", "The Very Long Fuse", "The Dogs", "Timber", "Your Pet Cat", "Shipwreck", "Chinese Water Torture", "The Birds", and "Martian Monster".
Phish's summer tour began in St. Paul, Minnesota, on 22 June and continued towards the east coast, including two nights at Wrigley Field, before heading west and wrapping up in Chula Vista, California, on 23 July.
Songs debuted this year include "Miss You", "Breath And Burning", "Things People Do", "Waking Up Dead", "Friends", "Let's Go", "Ass Handed", "Petrichor", "Home", "More", "I Always Wanted It This Way", and "Running Out Of Time".
The shows' themes were Coconut, Strawberry, Red Velvet, Jam-Filled, Powdered, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Jimmies, Maple, Donut Holes, Lemon, Boston Cream, and Pink Glazed.
Songs debuted this year include "Everything's Right", "Leaves", "Love Is What We Are", "Corona", "Thread", "Tuesday", "Crazy Sometimes", "Marissa", "Rise/Come Together", "End Of Session", "Sunshine Of Your Feeling", "Most Events Aren't Planned", and "Soul Planet".
[53][54] As a result of the cancelation, Curveball ticketholders were given both a full refund and free livestreams of all three nights of Phish's annual Labor Day weekend run at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado, which was held two weeks later.
Aside from Phish, it featured nightly DJ performances by Flying Mojito Bros, Made Of Oak, and Questlove, as well as live stand-up comedy with Dave Hill, Rory Scovel, Jordan Jensen, and Gianmarco Soresi.
[63] Phish will embark on a short West Coast spring tour in April 2025, performing stops in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and ending with a three-night stand in Los Angeles.