Tickets say show time is at 7:30, though the band takes the stage anywhere from five to thirty minutes late, often depending on the crowds trying to get in. That's not always the case, though, and on-time starts have been known to ruin many a late concertgoer's first set. Rumor has it the band will be starting earlier and ending earlier due to venue restrictions. Also, there's no tarps allowed (see below), so if you want to be in with your huge group of friends you better get in together.
The band is known for playing two sets of improvisational-heavy music, and changing up their song selection completely from night to night. You'll hear a lot of variety, as lately they've been packing the songs in.
On their thirty dates on the summer tour so far, the band has averaged 21 songs per show with 173 different songs having been played.
For you newbies, Phish fans are obsessively detailed in band statistics. How many times a song has been played, how many times it's opened a show, any facet of a concert you can think of, some fan has probably already thought of it before you. For a primer on everything from lyrics to song histories, check out the online phan-base that is Phish.net. If you're a stat-geek head over the the borderline insane Phish stats page, ZZYZX's Phish Stats, run by David Steinberg.
Lately the band has been dusting off old rarities, both cover songs and originals. Songs like "Curtis Lowe," "Albuquerque," "My Friend, My Friend," "Colonel Forbin's Ascent" and several others have been busted out over the tour. It's hard to predict what the band will play, but the Helping Friendly App for iPhone does a decent job of pointing out what is long overdue to be played live again, like "Dog Log," "Magilla" or covers like the Talking Head's "Psycho Killer", ZZ Top's "La Grange" or even AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long."
Even if you've brought your friends who proclaim to hate the music, they will usually turn to you at some point and say: "the bandisn't for me/is bad/sucks, but the lights are awesome!" That's because light designer Chris Kuroda has been with the band almost as long as the band has been together. Affectionately known as the fifth member of the band due to his sixth sense of recognizing changes in the music and matching the mood, tempo and ambience with his towering, spaceship light rig.
