Monday 09/25/2023 by Icculus

ON THE CONCEPTS OF IT AND THE HOSE: AN ABRIDGED SELECTION OF PHISH'S IMPROVISATIONS

[The current FAQ entry on this website for "Hose" is grossly in need of updating. The Jamming Types entry also should be modernized, if only because one can now link to the original RMP threads about it, and because while the entry somehow mentions "PornoFunk" it fails to mention the "PermaGroove" concept, which Drew Hitz coined upon seeing the 12/9/95 Albany "YEM" (by the way, Drew also coined "Fuckerpants" (aka "Prince Caspian") on RMP in fall 1997 (without an explanation), and I just popularized the term when I recapped the '97 NYE run on RMP).

As I solemnly reflect on my sucking at the Phish, I would like to thank those who have made this site what it is, especially users @SethAdam1 and @UCtweezer and @Bizarro_Jerry and @Lemuria and @ZZYZX and the members of the jamcharts teams over the years for their help curating the jam charts on this site, without which this collection would have been impossible for me to create, particularly while on my back with my right ankle elevated above my heart for 23+ hours a day (I have a few more weeks of this!). Thank you everyone who has contributed to the jam charts in the last 15 years, especially users and current/former jamchart team members @DogFacedBoy, @Westbrook, @n00b100, Rich, @cohron1, @deshpn, @ItsIce88 and @MShow96! Thanks are also due to those who worked on the jam charts published in The Phish Companion (aka the "legacy" charts), including Jeremy Goodwin, Jim Raras, Craig DeLucia, Herschel Gelman, Billy Rickards, Steve Paolini, Sean McPharlin, Jason Rose, Jeremy Welsh, Tim Wade, Syd Schwartz, Saul Wertheimer, Christian McKee, Erik Swain, Jesse Appelman, Scott Hershkowitz, Mike Preston, and Rob Kallick. (If you worked on a jam chart and I failed to mention you, PLEASE FORGIVE ME, but let me know so I can ADD YOUR NAME HERE!)

I would also like to thank the tapers for not only recording shows over the decades, but also SHARING YOUR RECORDINGS!

And, of course, THANK YOU RELISTEN! THANK YOU DANIEL SAEWITZ AND ALEC GORGE for your PRICELESS service to the improvisational rock community!

Although my primary motivation in analyzing the entirety of Phish history to create this post was to eventually bring the FAQ entries for "The Hose" and "IT" (and possibly "Jamming Types") up to date after getting Comments on the post from you, and with the assistance hopefully of other site volunteers (OR YOU??), it wasn't long before I realized I was undertaking this effort in the fortieth year of Phish's history. In honor and in acknowledgement of forty years of Phish shows, and for your amusement, this post contains photographs of sundry, material, and sometimes personal and very humiliating items and ephemera from my years as a fan. I include them here as but a small gesture of atonement for my sucking at Phish for so long.

The transcription of the NPR radio interview purportedly from spring 1994 (below) appears to be based on a recording of it that I either transcribed myself (it is in a very old TXT file on my pc) or copied from someone in the 1990's, but I cannot locate the recording in my tapes or in the RMP Google Groups archive (other than in my RMP post that includes this transcription). I say "purportedly" about the date because in this remarkable 1997 thread on RMP that I encourage you to read or at least skim about the concept of the "Hose" and "IT" and having a transcendent experience listening to music, an old friend of mine Aaron states in the thread (on April 10, 1997) that he recalls hearing this interview on NPR's Weekend Edition in his dorm room at college in fall 1994. Aaron is a brilliant dude and I have no reason to question his memory. Of course, I guess it's possible NPR re-broadcast the interview in fall 1994, as Hoist was released March 29, 1994, but I wish I had the date and recording to (re)confirm. See also this thread in September 1997, which also has some wonderful ideas from fans, and in which I explain in one of the posts in the thread why the concept of "hose" and "getting IT" aren't quite the same, as I also explain below. -charlie]

The concept of "the Hose" originated in a conversation that Trey had with Carlos Santana when Phish was opening for Santana on his tour in July 1992. In an NPR interview conducted in spring 1994 during the promotion of Hoist, Trey and Mike explained how they understood the concept:

Interviewer("Int"): I wondered how much you were all influenced by Frank Zappa?

Trey: Oh. Particularly myself and Fish, our drummer. I was heavily influenced. As a matter of fact, the two of us—(pause) I remember going and following him around for a week or so, at one point, back when he was still touring and alive. But I always liked any kind of improvised live music, be it Frank Zappa, or the Dead, or Jazz. And I think that's the One Love that we all shared. And—

Tshirt bought in the lot, July 17, 1993, Wolf Trap
Tshirt bought in the lot, July 17, 1993, Wolf Trap

Int: But the thing about Frank Zappa's improvised music is there was a certain control to it, a certain discipline to it, whereas a lot of improvisation can end up being rather self-indulgent.

Trey: Yeah, absolutely. We actually have exercises that we do, where we work on improving our improvising as a group. It gets rid of the ego. It's an exercise to get rid of the ego. And the more that we do it the more we find that our improvisations are less concerned with showing off flashy solos or whatever, and more concerned with making a group sound. There's a feeling that we always talk about. When we went out with Santana, he had brought up this thing about the Hose. I don't know if you heard about that but uh—

Int: No, I didn't.

Trey: —where the music is like water rushing through you and as a musician your function is really like that of a hose. And, and well his thing is that the audience is like a sea of flowers, you know, and you're watering the audience. But the concept of music going through you, that you're not actually creating it, that what you're doing is—the best thing that you can do is get out of the way. So, when you are in a room full of people, there's this kindof group vibe that seems to get rolling sometimes.

Mike: It gets—It really starts to seem like it's not the audience or the band. This Thing that gets rolling is it's OWN Thing. When things are going really well, and a jam has taken off, there's this feeling of motion that is created by the rhythm. And at that point my bass that I'm playing feels like this sortof vehicle, or like a hitch for me to hold on to, like someone would hold on to a um—

Int: Sounds like water-skiing.

[Trey laughs and says "yeah yeah like water-skiing"]

Mike: Like if you were on a—I was thinking if you were on a ski lift, maybe. A chair lift. Or just something that would hook you on to the motion that's going, and pull you along with it.

Trey: And yeah the proof of that is that you can't—the water skiing is a good, is a good analogy when it really gets going—

Mike: Yeah that is a good one actually.

Trey: -- and I think the proof of it is that there are times when you just can't pull it together and you try and try and try and you're beating your head against the wall and it's just not happening. And that kindof shows right there that you can't pull it: IT's got to pull you. [capitalization and emphasis added]

(end snippet of NPR radio interview)

Both the concepts of "The Hose" and "IT" have a transcendent, mystical component, and are often used interchangeably, in no small part because, as Trey says, "[the Hose has] got to pull you," and one can "get IT" while experiencing "hose" or a "hose jam" or "hose improv" or "getting the hose" or "being hosed." To me, "getting IT" OR being "hosed" is an apotheosis of humanity's experience of music, as if our soul is communicating with infinites, with love, with life, with Being itself: IT penetrates the fiber of our existence and gloriously uplifts, strengthens and fulfills us. But "The Hose" as explained by Trey and Mike is not quite the same thing in common parlance as "being hosed" or experiencing or getting "IT" from a piece of music.

One can—subjectively—"get IT" under ordinary circumstances, even while listening to a composed work or witnessing a live performance that isn't necessarily improvisational at all, such as an exquisite performance of Beethoven's Eroica symphony, or a perfunctory version of "2001." Similarly, I think a fan can justifiably say that they felt a band was "hosing them down" and that they felt like they were "being hosed" because they had a transcendent "IT" experience listening to a live performance of something, even something that might sound rather "run-of-the-mill average-great" to you and me. But the concept of "The Hose" is different.

As explained above by Trey and Mike in the NPR interview, "The Hose" necessarily involves a band performing live before an audience, so is a more objective "Thing" experienced by band and audience together. It's as if the band and audience are all being pulled on water skis behind a cosmically Big Boat. And as we Phish fans have been using the term and concept for decades now, it occurs when Phish's music isn't simply improvisationally fucken awesome, it's when that music, as Mike says, doesn't feel like it's being driven by the audience or the band, but has a rhythm and vibe that is a "Thing that gets rolling [and] is It's OWN Thing." It is improv that (in a sense) doesn't sound like improv, but sounds instead like melodious, composed, and enchanting music, or at least like improv that transcends the musicians and the audience and fills all or nearly all with rapturous awe. It's akin to transcendent "PermaGroove," a concept that if you're unfamiliar with was not only explained in this January 28, 1997, post by Drew Hitz, who coined the term (as he also coined "Fuckerpants" by the way), but also explained by now-Rabbi Saul Wertheimer using Trey's own words in this ancient post from Rec.Music.Phish as a "mosaic of sound" (Trey's description!). "The Hose" in this sense can (like the PermaGroove of the 12/9/95 "Albany YEM" or the 11/2/96 Crosseyed Antelope) involve both "type 1" and "type 2" improvisation (or "type 17" for that matter), it just always has to achieve a transcendent, thrilling SPIRIT.

© 1991 Matt Laurence (first Phish.Net tshirt design)
© 1991 Matt Laurence (first Phish.Net tshirt design)
In other words, for "The Hose" to be present, there must be a "motion" in the music that "pulls" everyone along, band and audience, with seemingly no one in control other than a Thing that's its own Thing, as Mike says, and that as Trey says: "you're not actually creating it" and "the best thing that you can do is get out of the way . . . [and] there are times when you just can't pull it together and you try and try and try and you're beating your head against the wall and it's just not happening. And that kindof shows right there that you can't pull it: IT's got to pull you." [capitalization added] From this perspective then, given the necessity of the band's metaphysical (not simply musical) involvement, I think for a version of a song or a jam to qualify as involving The Hose and being a "Hose jam," there needs to be at least a plausible contention that the band was feeling IT, too, and not just those of us in the audience or listening to the recording. Said differently, an individual can "get IT" or feel like they're "being hosed" while listening to any music (better get IT in your soul!), even something that sounds quite unremarkable to other fans of that same music—it is a subjective experience. But one can also "get IT" or experience "IT" while listening to purported "Hose" improv created during a live performance in which the band members AND the audience all participate in experiencing IT, the "Thing" that's "it's own Thing" as Mike said; it's an objective experience in this sense, despite being participated in by each person subjectively.

The Hose is also obviously not a concept that only fans of Carlos Santana and Phish are privy to. It is experienced by musicians and their audiences everywhere, in all kinds of music. It certainly seems to me to be a ubiquitous aspect of improvisational music in particular, as I first experienced it off and on at Grateful Dead or Jerry Garcia band or Ravi Shankar concerts (e.g., on 11/19/93 for "Shining Star," which was unforgettably moving, perhaps to nearly everyone in the Coliseum that evening), and then at the concerts of Phish and other improvisational bands in the 1990's (like Zero, KVHW, MMW, the Allman Brothers, Leftover Salmon). Now that said, I think it's conceivable that a conductor and symphony could have a "hose" type of experience performing a work before a live audience, and that members of the audience at such a performance could feel and "get IT." I hope any classical musicians out there speak up about this, since you may have had just such an experience. But I can't see "The Hose"—as the concept is articulated by Mike and Trey—at a symphonic live concert, because they're performing a composed work that was created by a composer (not a Thing), and not improvising, as Carlos and Phish and The Grateful Dead and bands like Umphrey's and Goose and King Gizzard and Taper's Choice etc are all wont to do!

I can imagine the musicians and actors and performers in a live classical concert or an opera or Broadway musical performance achieving a form of transcendence where they all (or nearly all) feel an energy from the audience and play or sing or act in a way that is effortlessly fluid and precise but still passionate, as if there is a force or a "Thing" "pulling" them all along with the audience. It just seems Wrong to claim that in such a scenario "The Hose" appeared, or that (for example) the symphony you just saw perform Mahler 1 "hosed everyone down" (lol), even if it's unquestionable that IT was experienced by you and other audience members and performers alike (e.g., there was a 5+ minute standing ovation following the performance, so you know you weren't alone in feeling IT).

© 1993 PHISH <a href='https://www.instagram.com/pollockprints/?hl=en'>(Jim Pollock)</a> This Was The Postcard Used By Band Members in 1993 To Respond To Fan Mail
© 1993 PHISH (Jim Pollock) This Was The Postcard Used By Band Members in 1993 To Respond To Fan Mail
Given how Trey and Mike describe the concept, I reserve the use of "Hose" to describe improvisation when I get the impression that the band, audience and music have gelled into a triune Being of world-transcending blessedness, or a "Thing," if you will. Jams that jettison the soul skyward in a manner that is mystically astray from the expected and typical course, weaving tapestries of enchanting and often blissful melodies around our souls as they pull us and the band along with Them. I can experience IT while being hosed or listening to what I perceive to be The Hose, but The Hose is "its OWN Thing," as Mike said.

For example, if suddenly in "Bathtub Gin" (8/13/93, my first experience of what I'd call Phish Hose) the jam segues from being a typical Gin-sortof jam into a weekapaugian groove, with the band members seemingly "rolling" or being pulled along or towed in a thrilling new direction, this is The Hose. It's not merely a "type 2" "Gin" (or an improvisation that transcends the song's typical structure and simply arises out of Phish's "hey hole" exercises for that matter), it has an otherworldly character, as if a Thing that's ITs OWN Thing was directing or conducting or driving the improv before a live audience. And other examples of "Gins" with The Hose abound, of course, like the "Real Me Gin" and the Went "Gin" and the first-set-opening, awe-inspiring, spectacular, spine-tinglingly magnificent hear-at-all-costs incapable-of-being-overrated Riverport Gin, and others highlighted in this handy chart.

But compare these versions to ordinary versions of "Gin" or even to ordinary versions of "Antelope" or "Weekapaug" or another jamming tune for that matter, in that when "The Hose" seems to appear—it's an objective experience remember, band AND audience AND a Thing pulling or towing everyone along—it arguably only appears when the ordinary and customary structure of the song is transcended ("goes type 2"), AND someTHING unusual and atypical and unique and transcendent transpires, pulling everyone along. There likely will be key or rhythm or tempo changes from what you're accustomed to hearing in the song. You experience an INTENSELY thrilling and passionate improvisational event, and you believe the band is experiencing IT, this THING, as well. "The Hose" is earth-shaking and revelatory. ITs appearance is at least arguably of Profound Significance in Phishtory; an event not merely "special" but worthy of the highest esteem from all fans FOR ALL ETERNITY. Where the comfortable confines of a song's typical structure are transcended or abandoned, and mysteriously bewitching melodic improvisation seizes the moment, with the Spirit we soar and are towed along... ever seen a gleam in the eyes of people who have just experienced profound joy? Some truly blessed folks have that gleam all the time!

EVEN THOUGH YOU WILL THINK I AM LYING, I have tried to be judicious in selecting the tracks (so to speak) for inclusion in the list below, in the sense that I've not included (1) anywhere even vaguely close to all of the highlighted versions in this handy chart, and (2) anywhere close to all of the "top versions" (as I hear them) of jamming tunes, even from 1993-1995 despite the large number you see below, and even though for many of them an argument could be made that The Hose was at least somewhat involved in them, e.g., the must-hear-at-all-costs 5/17/92 Brother, 4/23/93 Colgate Weekapaug (hearing this jam again after so long? TEARS: type-1, Trey-ego-driven hose), 12/31/93 Harry Hood, the 4/4/94 It's Ice, 4/5/94 Tweezer, the 4/16/94 Stash, 11/23/94 Tweezer, 12/1/94 Tweezer, 5/16/95 Reba and Theme, the 6/16/95 You Enjoy Myself with Boyd Tinsley on fiddle (and I was there and was absolutely HOSED during it!!), the 6/29/95 David Bowie and YEM, the 7/3/95 Bowie, the 10/7/95 Spokane Hood, the 10/22/95 and 11/12/95 and 11/19/95 and 12/17/95 must-hear Tweezers, the 10/24/95 YEM, the 11/9/95 Gin, the 11/10/95 Crossroads YEM, the 11/15/95 Sun Dome Mike's Song, and the 12/5/95 Gin and christ most of December 1995 and December 1997 despite the fact those months are arguably chock-full of appearances of "The Hose," and the12/28/94 and 12/31/97 Weekapaugs even though they are still two of the most improvisational versions to date, and I could go on and on year by year but I won't. The point is that the below list really is "abridged" as far as I'm concerned and I'd like you in the Comments to discuss what you believe constitutes "The Hose" at play and your experience of IT and your views on whether certain (necessarily) excellent, well-above average versions of songs (like allll those mentioned above in this paragraph) involve The Hose. Or at least "LIKE" or "FAVORITE" the Comments of your fellow fans if you concur with them.

© 1994 PHISH <a href='https://www.instagram.com/pollockprints/?hl=en'>(Jim Pollock)</a> This Is The Postcard Sent In 1994 By Band Members In Response To Fan Mail
© 1994 PHISH (Jim Pollock) This Is The Postcard Sent In 1994 By Band Members In Response To Fan Mail
I have also consciously not included (3) anywhere close to all of the "experimental" or over 20+ minute versions of jamming tunes over the years (hats off to the exceedingly gracious and kind Scott Marks for curating that chart and for all of the work he does for Phish.net's setlists and the site!), or (4) all those versions that "go type 2," in part because they're arguably not of profound significance in Phish history and/or in part because I have to wonder if at times during them (especially when he ripcords something!) Trey was "beating [his] head against the wall [but it was] just not happening" (emphasis added) lol, e.g., the 11/22/95 Free isn't on the below list, even though it's still by far the most improvisational version of "Free" in Phish history, because it wasn't very well-received by a lot of fans (including many in attendance, like my brother Michael who was like WTF is this, and I'm not sure if he ever saw Phish again lolz), despite there being some incredible must-hear improv in it; and, similarly, the 12/12/95 Providence DWD and 10/31/98 Vegas Wolfman's Brother (I was there) are not on the list below, despite them being among the most improvisational versions of those songs performed to date, because they are mixed-bags musically and it's challenging for me to hear anything I'd refer to as "The Hose" at play in them (in other words I hear a lot of improv that sounds like improv and not like melodious composed music), and at times relistening to them I can't help but think of Trey beating his head against The Wall (though I've not re-listened to them in full), even though you should absolutely hear them if you've never heard them before, especially if you think any one of the last ten years is Phish's most impressive year improvisationally.

So FINALLY, here's my abridged list of Phish performances I believe qualify as involving or featuring or containing "The Hose." I hope you add versions you believe qualify as involving "The Hose" in the "Comments," and also explain your reasoning, or it is likely to be disregarded with extreme prejudice by your fellow users:

1985-1992

11/23/85 Goddard Whipping Post <<--click on the hyperlinked text to read about Mike's transcendent experience during this (if you're not aware of it already), which you can listen to here

8/29/87 The Ranch David Bowie

6/21/88 Nectar's Whipping Post

11/16/91 Bayou You Enjoy Myself (Mrs. Pizza Shit)

11/24/91 Dartmouth You Enjoy Myself [added per user HarborSeal Comment below, largely just to beef-up this year; this version is brethren to 11/16/91's YEM to be sure, spectacular full-band interplay in this version and arguably type-1 Hose in the initial jam segment, and then when the Bass and Drums Mike & Fish section is supposed to begin, Fish goes crazy but Trey and Page continue to accompany him and Mike rather than going quiet, in effect extending the jam segment, which fades into near-nothingness (goes type-2), and then they begin jamming as a unit again, too, in a crescendo over like eight measures, but this jam is relatively short before the vocal jam kicks in; this is absolutely among the first Phish jams to "go type-2," but even assuming the initial jam segment is type-1 Hose, I think it's an open question whether A Thing That's Its Own Thing is towing them along in the second jam segment, rather than the band members essentially "practicing" improvising with each other in a "hey hole" fashion; I wouldn't recommend this second jam, as it sounds like improv, not like melodious composed music]

12/31/91 Worcester Tweezer (arguably "type 1" Hose)

4/8/92 El Ray Theater David Bowie

4/21/92 Eureka Tweezer

5/17/92 Schenectady Harry Hood

7/25/92 Stowe YEM with Carlos and Karl Perazzo and Raul Rekow (maybe not quite "Hose" but could this have been the very day they discussed "The Hose!!?!??")

1993-1995

2/20/93 Roxy Entire second set? Lol. The Hose is here SOMEWHERE, arguably? Weekapaug? FEFY?? (jk, love it though)

4/29/93 Montreal Mike's Groove

5/5/93 Albany YEM Jam with ARU

5/6/93 Albany Tweezer

5/8/93 UNH entire second fucking set

8/13/93 Murat Gin (paradigmatic jam involving The Hose)

8/14/93 Tinley Park Antelope

8/15/93 Louisville Stash

8/16/93 St. Louis Reba (YOU MUST LISTEN TO THIS NOW IF IT'S BEEN AWHILE), Antelope

8/17/93 Kansas City FEFY (best version ever, this is MY LIST), David Bowie

8/20/93 Red Rocks Antelope (this is so popular I thought I had to include it, but I think this is simply an excellent Antelope, not what I'd call The Hose)

8/21/93 Salt Lake Bowie -> MLBJ -> Bowie with Bela Fleck

8/24/93 Vancouver Mike's Song

12/30/93 Portland Mike's Song (if you've not listened to this in awhile....paradigmatic, awe-inspiring Hose jam)

12/31/93 Centrum Harry Hood

Tshirt Bought In Lot Sometime Somewhere In 1994 IIRC
Tshirt Bought In Lot Sometime Somewhere In 1994 IIRC
4/8/94 Penn State It's Ice

4/10/94 Buffalo Harry Hood [added per user McGrupp81 Comment below; agree that this constitutes type-1 Hose and isn't just another fucking awesome version of Hood; for comparison, check out the 10/7/95 Spokane Opera House Hood, which involves type-2 Hose in that e.g. Trey plays UNAMPLIFIED and solo for awhile, taking advantage of the venue's amazing acoustics (the recording doesn't do it justice)]

4/15/94 Beacon Theatre Wilson (ok ok not really "Hose" but this is the first with the audience chanting "Wilson" (!); shoutout to the great SCOTTY B who was there!)

4/24/94 Charlotte David Bowie

4/29/94 Clearwater Mike's Song

5/7/94 Bomb Factory TweezerFest

5/16/94 Wiltern Antelope -> BBFCFM -> Antelope

5/19/94 Eugene Stash (this may be controversial but this jam, driven initially by Mike, is still among the most transcendent in Phish history, this is The Hose at play imo)

5/20/94 Olympia Bathtub Gin (very short but HFS! type-1 Hose)

5/27/94 Warfield Harry Hood (possibly also controversial, but listen to what Mike does in this one, too; at least he is being pulled along by a Thing, no?)

6/11/94 Red Rocks YEM (ok so this arguably doesn't belong here because its structure isn't transcended, it doesn't go "type 2," but I don't fucking care this is my damn list, and This Is The Hose)

6/18/94 UIC basically entire second set see eg Bowie -> MLBJ (paradigmatic Hose) -> Bowie and Tweezer (more arguably type-1 Hose)

6/24/94 Indy Antefuckinglope

7/6/94 Montreal Reba (paradigmatic type-1 Hose), Tweezer (types 1 and 2 Hose)

7/8/94 Great Woods Stash [added per user HarborSeal Comment below: agree completely that this A Live One version contains type-1 Hose]

7/16/94 Sugarbush Cantelope, Harry Fucking Hood

10/18/94 Nashville Reba, Llama with Bela

10/20/94 St. Petersburg Hood

10/29/94 Spartanburg SOAM -> Buffalo Bill -> Makisupa Policeman -> Rift (the segues into BB out of SOAM and from BB into Makisupa and from Makisupa into Rift? Hose, only in the sense that they're transcendently smooth)

10/31/94 Glens Falls Reba, Antelope (both involve paradigmatic type-1 Hose)

11/2/94 Bangor Tweezer

11/12/94 Kent State DWD-> Have Mercy -> DWD, Harry Hood

11/14/94 Grand Rapids Bowie

11/16/94 Ann Arbor Simple

11/22/94 Missouri JAM (seemingly out of nowhere blistering JAM out of Funky Bitch)

11/26/94 Orpheum Bowie (if you don't have 37 mins at least start listening at minute 28, as you'll hear some of the greatest improv in Phish history)

11/28/94 Bozeman Tweezer (contains the "Montana" from A Live One)

12/2/94 Davis Bowie

12/6/94 UCSB Weekapaug

12/8/94 Spreckles Reba

12/9/94 Mesa Antelope, Tweezer (has a Slave-jam!)

12/29/94 Providence Bowie

© 1995 PHISH <a href='https://www.instagram.com/pollockprints/?hl=en'>(Jim Pollock)</a> This Is A Postcard I Received From Mike After I'd Written Him In July 1995 And Told Him How Much I Enjoyed Meeting Him Outside The Mann On Tour And Seeing Camel Walk Brought Back At Sugarbush (I Also Sent Him Dead Tapes)
© 1995 PHISH (Jim Pollock) This Is A Postcard I Received From Mike After I'd Written Him In July 1995 And Told Him How Much I Enjoyed Meeting Him Outside The Mann On Tour And Seeing Camel Walk Brought Back At Sugarbush (I Also Sent Him Dead Tapes)

6/10/95 Red Rocks Mike's Groove

6/14/95 Mud Island Tweezer

6/16/95 Walnut Creek Runaway Jim

6/22/95 Canandaigua The Entire Second Set Not Just The FLeezer (and if you don't have 42 mins just start listening at min 34)

6/26/95 SPAC DWD -> Free

6/28/95 Jones Beach Tweezer->DEG->Tweezer

10/17/95 New Orleans Jam with Medeski Martin & Wood (if you've not listened to this in awhile...!)

10/24/95 Madison Antelope (paradigmatic type 1 Hose, among the greatest rock jams in Phish history, see also 12/2/95 Tweezer)

10/31/95 Rosemont YEM

11/14/95 Orlando arguably entire second set, see Stash and Immigrant Song YEM

11/18/95 North Charleston Brick House YEM

11/30/95 Dayton Tweezer ((re)listen to this and then to New Haven (!))

12/1/95 Hershey Mike's Song

12/2/95 New Haven Tweezer (paradigmatic Hose and among Phish's most popular improvisations)

12/9/95 Albany YEM (paradigmatic The Hose improv, maybe Phish's most popular jam in Phish history?)

12/14/95 Binghamton arguably the entire second set but at least Tweezer and Halley's Comet

12/29/95 Centrum Real Me Gin

12/31/95 MSG Reba, Drowned->FOTM Tease->(segue into Lizards), Mike's Song, entire third set especially Weekapaug and YEM (NOTE: since the concept of "The Hose" involves a "Thing" that pulls the band along, that is Its Own Thing (as Mike said) and seemingly not controlled by the band or audience, could it be that during the "Drowned" jam and segue into "Lizards," THE SPIRIT OF JERRY GARCIA WAS CONDUCTING THE BAND!?!?!?!?!!?!?!)

Before Summer Tour 1995, When I Was A Paralegal, I Drafted This Ridiculous Motion And Mailed It To The Band And Posted It To RMP
Before Summer Tour 1995, When I Was A Paralegal, I Drafted This Ridiculous Motion And Mailed It To The Band And Posted It To RMP

1996-1998

8/13/96 Deer Creek Mike's Song (only on here because at the time, it renewed hope that Phish would again perform a 20+ min jam lol)

8/16/96 Ball DWD->NICU (if you haven't listened to this in awhile check it the fuck out)

8/17/96 Ball Reba, Slave

10/29/96 Tallahasse Mike's Song with Karl Perazzo (holy shit you can hear Trey teasing the segue between "Houses in Motion" into "Seen" in this thing at around 12:20-13 mins in!!)

11/2/96 West Palm Crosseyed -> Antelope (with this in mind as paradigmatic "PermaGroove," consider how often this kind of improv shows up and still shows up in Phish's music)

11/7/96 Lexington Gin

11/13/96 Minneapolis Suzy -> JAM

11/15/96 St. Louis Mike's Song

11/18/96 Memphis 2001 (first jammed-out version tho "type 1") > (!)Simple(!)

11/27/96 Seattle entire second set, especially DWD

12/6/96 Vegas Simple > Harry Hood > Weekapaug

2/17/97 Amsterdam arguably the second set beginning with DWD, but definitely Carini (if you've not listened to this in awhile...!!)

7/1/97 Amsterdam YOU'RE ON THE BACK OF THE WORM!!!! and Cities->JAM

7/2/97 Amsterdam Stash and second set

7/3/97 Nuremburg Ghost

7/9/97 Lyon YEM with Bela and the Flecktones

7/22/97 Raleigh Taste and DWD (arguably not "the Hose" but a lot of folks "got IT" with Phish "funk" hearing this)

7/23/97 Atlanta Ghost (same as above)

7/26/97 Austin Timber Ho with Bob Gullotti on a second kit

[User @RyForget on PT expressed dismay that the 7/29/97 Desert Sky Gumbo (the first very improvisational version) isn't on this list, but I'm not confident it involves The Hose and it isn't as Hose-worthy as the Star Lake 8/13/97 Gumbo listed below.]

7/30/97 Venture Bowie->Cities ->Bowie

7/31/97 Shoreline YEM

8/10/97 Deer Creek SOAM, Harry Hood, Cities

8/11/97 Deer Creek Maze

8/13/97 Star Lake Gumbo

8/17/97 Great Went entire second set

11/16/97 McNichols Timber Ho [I've added this today (10/2/23) in honor of user @RyForget on PT, who can't believe I didn't include anything from this show on this list, even though he's maliciously accused me of harboring a "HUGE anti-southwest Phish bias."]

11/17/97 McNichols Ghost, Johnny B. Goode [Response to User JMART's Comment: This Tweezer is awesome to be sure (see its description on the jam chart), but imo it doesn't involve Hose, or maybe at best arguably contains a bit of type-1 Hose, but this version isn't even among the sickest Tweezers of 1997, much less 1.0.]

11/19/97 Champaign entire second set (!!!!)

11/21/97 Hampton Emotional Rescue, AC/DC Bag

11/22/97 Hampton Mike's Groove, Halley's Comet

11/23/97 Winston-Salem Gin

11/26/97 Hartford Tweezer, Taste, Character Zero -> 2001

11/28/97 Woostah YEM

11/29/97 Woostah Jim Symphony (still most improvisational (longest) Phish jam in history)

11/30/97 Woostah Wolfman's (still makes me giggle, so fucking absurd), Stash

12/2/97 Spectrum Basically the entire second set arguably involves "The Hose"

12/5/97 Cleveland Julius > Slave

12/6/97 Palace Tweezer->Izabella (arguably Piper too)

12/7/97 Dayton Entire first set (arguably), and most of the second set, take your pick, I mean The Hose Is Strong With This Show.

12/9/97 Penn State Simple

12/11/97 Rochester DWD, Second Set

12/13/97 Albany YaMar

12/29/97 MSG DWD -> Bowie > Possum etc, Tube

12/30/97 MSG AC/DC Bag

And Fish Didn't Receive The Motion Until After Tour, Sending Me This Postcard In Response To It In July 1995
And Fish Didn't Receive The Motion Until After Tour, Sending Me This Postcard In Response To It In July 1995

4/2/98 Providence Stash, Twist

4/3/98 Providence Weekapaug, Entire Fucking Second Set

4/4/98 Providence 2001 > Brother

4/5/98 Providence YaMar -> Fuckerpants

7/2/98 Copenhagen Ghost

7/6/98 Prague Ghost, Piper

7/9/98 Barcelona Tweezer

7/17/98 Gorge entire second set basically

7/19/98 Shoreline McGrupp > Jam

7/20/98 Ventura Gin (precursor of Riverport)

7/21/98 Desert Sky Ghost (jfc)

7/24/98 Woodlands Wolfman's

7/29/98 Riverport Gin (PRIMAL SCREAM) and Buried Alive (!)

7/31/98 Polaris Cities

8/1/98 East Troy Tweezer (thanks for the tapes, and Mbird donations, Mark Hutchinson!)

8/3/98 Deer Creek Halley's Comet, Gumbo

8/8/98 MPP Piper [User @PinkPanther85 on PT contends it was a "Major fail" that this list originally failed to include the 8/8/98 MPP Piper, and as I am inclined to agree with him, I've added it now, even though, again, it was never the intent of this post to list every single Phish improvisation that involved The Hose---just most of them.]

8/9/98 VA Beach AC/DC Bag, Terrapin Station (my list remember)

8/11/98 Star Lake Jim

8/12/98 Vernon Downs Ramble On

10/29/98 LA Reba (maybe not Hose but rather a Trey-beating-his-head-against-The-Wall-trying-to-be-pulled-by-It version, in a good way lolz?)

11/2/98 E Center Tube > Drowned

11/7/98 UIC Pav Mike's Song, AC/DC Bag

11/9/98 UIC Pav Gin

11/11/98 Grand Rapids Halley's Comet

11/13/98 Cleveland DWD [Added in light of user @HarborSeal's Comment below, I agree that the final five or so minutes arguably involve The Hose (albeit Trey-led and type-1). Also, don't miss the Wolfman's MLBJ at this show (Trey's not a clean as he could be in it to be sure, but still.)]

11/18/98 Greenville Wolfman's (compare with MSG 8/1/23), Slave

11/29/98 Woostah arguably the second set but at least the Simple, Gin, YEM

12/29/98 MSG 2001

U.S. Summer 1998 Tour Mockingbird Foundation flyer
U.S. Summer 1998 Tour Mockingbird Foundation flyer
1999-2000

7/7/99 Charlotte 2001

7/8/99 VA Beach Fee->JAM, BOAF

7/9/99 MPP Mike's Song

7/10/99 Camden Chalk Dust, Gin

7/15/99 PNC Farmhouse, YEM, Meatstick > SOAM -> Kung -> JAM

7/18/99 Oswego Jim, Piper through the end of the show (!)

7/21/99 Star Lake My Left Toe (TEARS! I hadn't listened to this in soooooooo long, Crazy-Fingers-esque! a paradigmatic appearance of THE HOSE imo)

7/23/99 Polaris Ghost > Free > BOAF

7/24/99 Alpine Valley Fluffhead

7/25/99 Deer Creek BOAF, Antelope > Suzy

7/30/99 Niigata Ghost

8/1/99 Niigata Mike's Song

9/9/99 Vancouver Tweezer

9/12/99 Portland Gin, Ghost

9/14/99 Boise Bag

9/18/99 Chula Vista Boogie On

9/21/99 Tucson Drowned

9/22/99 Las Cruces Gin [I've added this today (10/2/23) in honor of user @RyForget on PT, who can't believe I didn't include anything from this show on this list, even though it was never the intent of this post to list every single type-2 or arguably transcendent version of a jamming song on it, and even though he's maliciously accused me of harboring a "HUGE anti-southwest Phish bias."]

9/24/99 Austin Wolfman's

9/29/99 Memphis 2001

10/2/99 Minneapolis Piper

10/10/99 Albany first-set-closing Stash, Jam > You Enjoy Myself (not one, but TWO JAM SEGMENTS!)

12/2/99 Palace arguably the entire second set but at least Gin and YEM

12/7/99 Portland (ME) Halley's, Gin

12/11/99 Phili 2001 [User @EastBay80 on PT expressed concern that this show wasn't listed in this list at all, and well, while it was never the intent of this list to identify everything even arguably involving The Hose on it, there's no question that A Thing That's Its Own Thing appears off and on throughout the show, so I've added this 2001 to this list as it's must-fucking-hear.]

12/12/99 Hartford Drowned

12/13/99 Providence Sand (don't miss Page quoting the MLBJ chord progression for several minutes beginning at 10:16 Relisten timing)

12/16/99 Raleigh Sand, Tweezer

12/30/99 Cypress Tweezer, Mike's Song

12/31/99 Cypress First set SOAM, entire second set

5/22/00 Radio City Ghost

6/9/00 Tokyo Tweezer

6/10/00 Zepp DWD, Piper

6/14/00 Drum Logos entire second set

6/15/00 Chuo-ku Ghost (TEARS! hadn't listened to this in awhile either jfc, don't miss the "Oh Happy Day" teasing 11-12 mins in)

6/16/00 Osaka Limb by Jim -> Theme, Harry Hood

6/23/00 Lakewood Gin (LiveBait Vol. 8)

6/24/00 Lakewood Tweezer (still up there among the very best!)

6/25/00 Raleigh SOAM, WTU

6/28/00 PNC Gin (you can feel everyone completely losing their shit through the music; another paradigmatic expression of THE HOSE imo)

6/29/00 PNC Drowned-> (one of my personal favorites and another paradigmatic THE HOSE performance, plus an awe-inspiringly good segue into RnR, too)

6/30/00 Hartford Mango

7/3/00 Camden Jim

7/4/00 Camden Jibboo

7/6/00 Toronto Reba

7/15/00 Polaris DWD

9/11/00 Great Woods Piper

9/14/00 Darien Lake Suzy > Jam, entire second set arguably e.g. Drowned -> C&P, Caspian, Loving Cup

9/15/00 Hershey Tube

9/17/00 MPP Theme -> Dog Log > Mango

9/18/00 Blossom arguably entire second set, but at least Boogie On and Halley's

9/24/00 Minneapolis Cities

10/1/00 Desert Sky Piper->Guy Forget

2003-2004

1/2/03 Hampton 46 Days (better than you remember it being)

2/14/03 Inglewood Fee, Gin

2/16/03 Vegas Bowie>Catapult>Bowie, THE VIPER (another paradigmatic HOSE jam; shoutout to Dan Purcell and Chris Glushko, I think you two were the first to alert me to this one during a period when I wasn't closely monitoring the interwebs for show highlights)

2/20/03 Rosemont Simple, Jibboo, Tweezer, Seven Below, Pebbles

2/22/03 Cincinnati Walls, Tube > GIN

2/25/03 Spectrum Theme

2/26/03 Woostah MOMA, Stash

2/28/03 Nassau Gin, arguably entire second set, but especially the Tweezer (paradigmatic HOSE imo; if you don't love this then you have no soul)

7/12/03 Gorge Maze, Ghost

7/13/03 Gorge Seven Below

7/15/03 Utah The Mr. Completely Sandwich

7/18/03 Alpine Valley DWD -> Catapult

7/19/03 Alpine Valley Piper, YEM

7/22/03 Deer Creek Gumbo (!), SOAM

7/23/03 Deer Creek Scents, DWD, Antelope

7/25/03 Charlotte Gin, Harry Hood > Bowie

7/26/03 Lakewood Piper

7/29/03 Star Lake C&P

7/30/03 Camden Scents, CDT, Twist, YEM

7/31/03 Camden Moma, Piper, Harry Hood

8/2/03 IT YaMar, Reba, DWD

8/3/03 IT CDT, Ghost, 46 Days

11/29/03 Spectrum Twist

12/1/03 Albany Wolfman's

12/2/03 Boston RnRoll, Maze

12/28/03 Miami Frankie Says, Suzy->Jam

12/30/03 Miami Tube-> LA Woman and the rest of the set, which A Thing that was it's OWN Thing was in control of

12/31/03 Miami Stash, Jim

4/15/04 Vegas Moma [NOTE: A colleague has strongly implied to me that recommending that anything from Vegas '04 be heard impugns my credibility and that of this post, but I stand by recommending this Moma, as its final few minutes bespeak type-1 Hose whether you like it or not. And as for the Roggae that I'd recommended, I guess it doesn't involve The Hose, but it's still a remarkable, atypical version given Trey's playing. And yes I had recommended the 4/16/04 Vegas Harry Hood as well, and sure it only arguably contains Hose, in that it really seems to involve Trey beating his head against The Wall, but it's still a fascinating version, as if you get to listen-in on a struggle going on in Trey's brain, perhaps a struggle wherein A Thing That's Its Own Thing is slamming Trey's head against The Wall; and as for the 4/17/04 Vegas Pebbles, Trey's voice is beyond dogshit to be sure, and perhaps this is simply another awesome type-2 jam and there's no Thing involved in it, but check it out if you've never heard it and you're a fan of the song.]

6/17/04 Brooklyn Moma -> Free, 46 Days, Suzy->Jam

6/18/04 Brooklyn CDT

6/19/04 SPAC Walls, ASIHTOS(!) > Piper, Limb by Limb (!)

6/20/04 SPAC Waves, Drowned, Seven Below, Twist

6/24/04 Deer Creek Tube

6/25/04 Alpine Valley Wolfman's!

6/26/04 Alpine Valley Boogie On -> Ghost > Free, Piper

8/9/04 Hampton CDT, Gin

8/10/04 Great Woods Bag, BOAF(!)

8/12/04 Camden Scents

8/14/04 Coventry Jibboo, Bag, Stash, Drowned

8/15/04 Coventry DWD, SOAM -> Ghost

2009-2012

3/8/09 Hampton DWD (this jam convinced me Phish's music would achieve transcendence once again, YMMV)

6/2/09 Jones Beach Hood (is this The Hose at work or Trey beating his head against a wall? I'm thinkin The Wall)

6/7/09 Camden Fee, Sand, Tweezer (paradigmatic example of THE HOSE imo)

8/1/09 Red Rocks RnR > DWD (arguable to be sure, not sure where I come out)

8/7/09 Gorge Sneakin Sally, Gin

8/8/09 Gorge RnR

8/13/09 Darien Lake Drowned (on the fence about this involving The Hose, as opposed to being simply awesome type-2 improv)

8/15/09 MPP 46 Days

8/16/09 SPAC BDTNL

10/29/09 Indio Starship Trooper Jam (jk, but it's SOOO MOOGTASTIC...my list!)

10/30/09 Indio Wolfman's (The Hose or The Wall?) > Piper

10/31/09 Indio Suzy

11/28/09 Albany Seven Below > Ghost

12/2/09 MSG Light

12/30/09 Miami BOTT

6/12/10 Blossom BDTNL (even if you dislike Trey's tone, this is The Hose at play, still, imo)

6/25/10 Camden CDT, 2001->Billie Jean->2001

7/2/10 Charlotte Drowned (The Hose or The Wall?)

8/6/10 Greek Cities (I won't argue with those who dispute that this involves The Hose (as an argument can be made that the structure of "Cities" doesn't really change or get transcended), but this is still among the sickest short improvisations in Phish history, and it sounds to me and I believe the audience agrees (I was there) like A Thing is pulling the band and audience along with IT that's ITs OWN THING), Simple ("plinko" "Hose")

8/17/10 Jones Beach BDTNL (even if you hate BDTNL, and Trey's tone, this involves The Hose imo unquestionably)

10/19/10 Augusta Light, Reba

10/20/10 Guyutica Antelope, SOAM -> Have Mercy (!) > Piper -> SOAM

10/29/10 AC Sand (The Hose or The Wall?)

12/28/10 Woostah Hood (The Plinko Hose?)

12/30/10 MSG Tweezer (a hypnotically repetitive jam, and paradigmatic example of The ("Plinko") Hose)

12/31/10 MSG "The Holy Ghost" (a paradigmatic example of The Hose; even though there's no significant structural shift, there's a repetitive "bliss jam" that indisputably moves the audience and band in such a way that it would seem there's a Thing that's ITs OWN THING pulling everyone along), YEM -> Manteca -> YouEnjoyacrabinMyshoemouth

1/11/11 MSG Simple (is this The Hose at play or simply a beautiful "type 2" jam? you tell me)

5/26/11 Bethel Waves Soundcheck (my list remember, and yes I realize it wasn't before a live audience so technically can't involve The Hose)

5/28/11 Bethel The GoldenGinTeca

6/3/11 Pine Knob Love Supreme DWD

8/05/11 Gorge Roggae, RnR->(segue into Meatstick) (!) (hat off to Jim Raras for insisting that I listen to this)

8/9/11 Tahoe Light (I don't like this but it does sound like a Thing that's its own Thing is in control)

8/15/11 UIC Waves -> Undermind

8/16/11 UIC DWD (The Hose or The Wall?)

9/3/11 Dicks Tweezer (paradigmatic "Hose" jam imo)

9/4/11 Dicks Piper, Ghost -> Guy Forget -> Ghost (Guy Forget was clearly the Thing that was it's OWN Thing pulling the band through this sammich)

12/28/11 MSG Cities

12/31/11 MSG Steam

6/7/12 Woostah Boogie On [added in response to user MKAZ45 Comment below: agree completely, this involves The Hose]

6/15/12 AC BOAF

6/22/12 Riverbend Twist

7/8/12 SPAC Piper

8/15/12 Long Beach RnR > Ghost

8/19/12 SF C&P (arguably is The Wall not The Hose but it seems wrong to leave it out here) > Light -> Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley -> C&P

8/24/12 Pelham RnR

8/31/12 Dicks Undermind, Jim

9/1/12 Dicks Prince Caspian > Light (paradigmatic THE HOSE!)

9/2/12 Dicks Sand

12/28/12 MSG Wolfman's, Tweezer

12/30/12 MSG DWD, Carini

12/31/12 MSG Wedge

2013-2016

7/3/13 Bangor Soundcheck beginning at 17:38 (courtesy of LazyLightning55a) (I listened to this live from just outside the venue and hoped there'd be something at least this good during the show...wasn't to be)

7/6/13 SPAC SOAM, Carini

7/10/13 Holmdel C&P

7/12/13 Jones Beach RnR, Tweezer

7/31/13 Tahoe Tweezer (WOOO-HOSE! paradigmatic THE HOSE!)

8/3/13 SF RnR (fantastic type 2 version but I’m having trouble hearing what I’d call The Hose in it; at one point Trey genuinely sounds like he’s seeking IT but his ego can't get out of the way and he can’t latch-onto or find IT, and like he says, IT has to pull you; I’m including this here as a good example of a jam that’s wonderful but I’m having trouble hearing The Hose at play in it; see also the 8/4/13 SF Jim)

8/5/13 Hollywood Hood

8/31/13 Dicks CDT

10/18/13 Hampton Carini (paradigmatic The Hose, and in a fall terr opener taboot!)

10/20/13 Hampton Tweezer > Golden Age

10/26/13 Woostah Drowned > Light (hey-hole improv example and a few times (I think) Fish and Trey literally say HEY; but does this involve The Hose or is it simply a fucking awesome “type 2” jam with plenty of Trey ego in it? See also for example the 8/22/15 MagnaBall Light)

10/27/13 Hartford Tweezer, Golden Age

10/29/13 Reading DWD (this? THIS IS THE HOSE)

10/31/13 AC Carini

11/1/13 AC Twist (WHAT IN THE SAM HOSE IS THIS)

11/2/13 AC Tweezer (short but sahweeeeeet)

12/29/13 MSG DWD > Carini

12/30/13 MSG CDT

7/8/14 Mann Fuego (The Hose or The Wall? I’m thinkin the latter, see also the 7/13/14 Randall’s CDT and Light, the 7/30/14 Portsmouth Fuego, 10/24/14 Inglewood DWD, 10/28/14 SF KDF, Twist, and Hood, Piper, YEM some wonderfully wild type2 improv in all of them making them easily jam chartworthy versions—but The Hose? Dunno)

7/20/14 Northerly Wedge (you can hear people losing their shit on this recording, paradigmatic initially Page-solo-driven The Hose in this second-set Wedge out of Mike's; Trey's not perfect but this is the first unequivocal The Hose of the damn year imo, kinda hilarious too in that when the Thing that was Its Own Thing stops pulling them, Fish (seemingly out of nowhere, as if everyone had forgotten what song they'd been playing) kicks out the Wedge drum line and they play the closing coda lol)

8/1/14 Orange Beach DWD

8/29/14 Dicks Simple

10/17/14 Eugene C&P

10/22/14 Santa Barbara Theme

10/29/14 SF We Are The Champions MOMA (crowd goes crazy as word spreads of the Giants World Series victory and then the band (understanding what was happening) just busts into We Are The Champions, then leaps back into MOMA dance, a situation where A Thing That Was Its Own Thing (the vibe in SF at that moment as the World Series win was secured) was arguably pulling the band and audience along, albeit uh not in a typical improvisational The Hose manner, and yes I know I'm reallly stretching this to be sure but MY LIST)

10/31/14 Vegas Sand -> Tweeprise (segue Hose)

11/2/14 Vegas CDT

12/31/14 Miami Ghost > Theme -> Cities

1/2/15 Miami Weekapaug

1/3/15 Miami DWD, Sneaking Sally (quite an Odd Thing involved in this one, listen to how this ends in particular… )

7/25/15 Inglewood NMINML (Trey has Jerry’s 5/8/77 Dancin tone in part of this one which imo has a Thing vibe if not The Hose) > “Carini”’(wtf) -> “Tweezer” (The Hose is in the segue), Roggae

7/31/15 Lakewood KDF

8/1/15 Lakewood Tweezer (gorgeous in part but overall I feel this is more The Wall than The Hose; thoughts?)

8/7/15 Blossom CDT -> Tweezer

8/9/15 Alpine Valley Tweezer, Mike’s (Woo-“Hose”?)

8/11/15 Mann Skin The Martian Monster's Back, Fuego (arguable but I hesitate to claim there’s no Thing that’s its own Thing at work, play, here)

8/12/15 Mann Cities, Twist, Scents

8/15/15 MPP 46 Days

8/21/15 Magnaball Gin, CDT

8/22/15 MagnaBall Tweezer > Caspian, Blaze On, Cities->MLBJ->Cities

9/4/15 Dicks Blaze On > Golden Age

9/5/15 Dicks CDT-> (including segue into Twist)

9/6/15 Dicks DWD (paradigmatic The Hose bliss jam)

12/30/15 MSG CDT, Gin

12/31/15 Twist

1/1/16 MSG Light (if you dig this jam as one should, check out the 9/4/11 Dicks Roadrunner Piper)

6/24/16 Wrigley Field Twist

6/28/16 Mann Breath and Burning -> MLBJ

6/29/16 Mann C&P, BDTNL

7/3/16 SPAC MOMA

7/18/16 SF Sneakin Sally

9/2/16 Dicks NMINML

9/3/16 Dicks Coil (Behold! Mike’s Glorious Hose!)

9/4/16 Dicks Piper

10/21/16 Alpharetta DWD

12/28/16 MSG Golden Age (arguable), Martian Monster -> Tweeprise -> Martian Monster (lolz)

12/30/16 MSG Light (with Party Time quotes)

2017-2020

[FULL DISCLOSURE: Probably should have noted this above lolz, but I confess to being extremely sensitive to Trey’s use of a pitch shifter when he bends a note flat or sharp, or to his tone when he goes high and also goes slightly whiny-flat, and I fully concede that Average-Great Phish Fan does not suffer any discomfort at all whatsoever from such guitar artistry and may even, incredulously to my ears, experience Joy even when Trey’s notes are a bit flat or sharp.]

7/16/17 Northerly Carini

7/19/17 Pittsburgh Prince Caspian

7/25/17 Baker’s Lawn Boy, C&P

7/26/17 Baker’s 1999

7/28/17 Baker’s CDT

7/29/17 Baker’s Blaze On

8/1/17 Baker’s Steep

8/6/17 Baker’s Simple

9/1/17 Dicks Carini > Ghost

12/30/17 MSG Brother (they clearly didn’t rehearse this (thank you to the person who asked Trey to consider playing it!) so the composed section is the Worst In Phish History, but the jam segment is seized by a Thing That’s Its Own Thing that pulls everyone along for an unprecedentedly psychedelijazzic ride in a song that arguably peaked on 5/17/92), DWD (The Thing loses its sense of self and smears everyone through a doglog-littered but lush field, before regaining its presence, and then tows all along a steady, melodic and eventually vigorous and charming woo-hosaic course)

12/31/17 MSG ASIHTOS (finally a fucking bliss jam)

7/24/18 BGCA Carini (paradigmatic bliss-Hose jam) (fwiw the wonderful ASIHTOS in this show arguably contains improv that I think some would argue involves The Hose, but if you compare the improv in that to that in this Carini, I think it’s way more probable than not that a Thing that was its own Thing was conducting this Carini jam but not the one in ASIHTOS)

8/3/18 Alpharetta Tweezer (arguable but it peaks very beautifully), Carini (The Thing That’s Its Own Thing takes everyone to a woodshed on a distant planet for a beating)

8/4/18 Alpharetta Soul Planet (and this is arguably the aforementioned planet, which also has afuckenPiper on it)

8/5/18 Alpharetta Golden Age (The Thing in this one eventually compels Trey to perform Reba’s whistling in this jam's coda)

8/31/18 Dicks Light

9/1/18 Dicks SYSF (Mike)

9/2/18 Dicks ->Tweezer (The Thing that’s its own Thing shows up before the opening largely-composed section is even finished(!), a WTF-THE-HOSE version) ->Golden Age (this Thing is echoplextastic at times and peaks very well, Page seems particularly under control of a Thing)

10/16/18 Albany Everything's Right -> (Cities) (The Thing grew tied of pulling everyone along as if everything was right, and insisted on segue-Hosing into Cities!), Twenty Years Later (this is what happens if The Thing and The Wall that Trey’s banging (or beating, if you prefer) his head against battle each other—and BOTH LOSE), SOL (this song (ironically) makes me sad but if you can’t respect this immensely soulful, GORGEOUS version (type1 HOSE for sure!) then you probably are/were right to quit Phish)

10/20/18 Hampton Tweezer (this Thing initially seems eager to go exploring but for whatever reason it up and chills tf out, albeit in a very melodic and mystical manner, and then, verrrry sllllllowly, pulls everyone toward the summit)

10/21/18 Hampton Simple, Camel Walk (The Thing pulling everyone along in Simple briefly hung out with Brian and Robert before transmogrifying into a camel), Light (The Thing compels Trey to paint The Wall with a host of guitar effects before pulling the band over it and toward some faraway galaxy, but Trey then starts up “The Line” to bring everyone hurtling back down to planet earth or to a bathroom, whichever’s closer)

10/26/18 Rosemont Mercury, Tweezer -> Golden Age (pretty sure the same Thing that’s Its Own Thing is the same one in both Tweezer and GA)

10/27/18 Rosemont NMINML (The Thing pulls, drags, everyone through no man’s land)

11/1/18 Vegas Blaze On

11/2/18 Vegas Mercury

11/3/18 Vegas Tube (type1 Hose arguably), SOAM (The Thing runs into The Wall but patiently assesses if there is any damage to itself before vanishing the moment Trey begins SOAM’s customary coda)

12/29/18 MSG Wolfman’s (The Thing compels the band to merely vocally quote “Party Time,” but not actually perform the song proper, in order to keep it out of the formal setlist) and arguably the entire second set involves The Hose (but especially Tweezer > Death Don’t -> Tweezer)

12/30/18 MSG Hose energy arguably flows through most of the show, what with Glide II and Bliss, Tube -> Weekapaug -> Tube, and Everything's Right > Plasma > Light

12/31/18 MSG Seven Below

6/12/19 St Louis Gloria Loving Cup (The Thing That’s Its Own Thing is a Bruins fan not a Blues fan so keeps a lid on the celebratory improv in this legendary second-set-opening version, performed minutes after the Blues secured the Stanley Cup; The Thing then vanishes never to be seen or heard from in this venue again)

6/19/19 Blossom BOAF

6/25/19 Bangor Simple

6/26/19 Bangor Fuego->Cities (this AUD recording with the Telefunken ELA M260 is DAMN GOOD jfc thank you Ted Gakidis!! AND THANK YOU TAPERS WHO SHARE YOUR TAPES!!!!!)

7/5/19 Fenway Mercury

7/14/19 Alpine Ruby Waves (PHISH IS BACK!! lolz)

12/6/19 North Charleston Scents (The Thing is on an impossible mission), Limb by Limb (having already completed its mission, The Thing injects a “This Old Man” nursery rhyme earworm into Fish, who becomes an old man possessed, and infects Trey)

12/28/19 MSG Drowned (The Thing suddenly appears as Guy Forget, sticks around for a minute or so, and then vanishes just as suddenly, and the jam promptly concludes)

12/30/19 MSG Tweezer (as orchestral in scope as this is, as mighty and wondrous, I think I prefer the “Banter” that follows IT)

12/31/19 MSG Banter (Zamfir, Master of the Pan Flute), Wolfman’s > Light (not sure if The Hose is involved here, I think it’s open to debate, but what's not debatable is that this peaks and ends quite well) > Twist (as does this! it concludes like the sickest Tweeprise you’ve ever heard, which in my case is this one right here!))

2/22/20 Cancun Tweezer->Manteca->Tweezer->, Waves (The Thing That’s Its Own Thing begins drowning everyone in the ocean of love) > Carini (but before there are any fatalities, The Thing changes its mind, pulls everyone up out of the ocean of love and onto an island of repetitively spooky and sortof funky improvisation that sounds like improv and not like melodiously composed music)

2/23/20 Cancun Everything’s Fucking Right

2021-2022

7/30/21 Oak Mountain Carini

7/31/21 Alpharetta CDT

8/1/21 Alpharetta Tweezer (AMONG PHISH'S GREATEST IMPROVISATIONS) > Twist (The Thing that was pulling everyone around during Tweezer powerfully returns, albeit briefly)

8/6/21 Deer Creek Blaze On (among the greatest, GORGEOUS improv, BLISS bliss bliss and TEARS tears tears of JOY!), Simple (The Thing That’s Its Own Thing in this Simple locates The Thing that was in the Blaze On and TRIES TO MURDER IT WITH ITS BARE HANDS but Trey overpowers it and, chuckling, begins a return to the customary coda) [ICYMI: THIS SECOND SET IS AMONG THE GREATEST IN PHISH HISTORY in terms of improvisational weight/merit]

8/7/21 Deer Creek Stash, Everything’s Right

8/8/21 Deer Creek Mike’s (magnificently more mellifluous than Mike’s typically is, a MARVELOUS version), Twist Makisupa Madness

8/14/21 AC Drowned (arguable, if only because my gut is that the band and their egos are more in control than a Thing That’s Its Own Thing)

8/27/21 Gorge Camel Walk, and the segue from CDT’s improvisational ending to Slave is precious though not The Hose imo in light of Trey’s apparent control/direction of it (ego))

8/28/21 Gorge show-opening Carini (the band manages to turn the tow rope into a leash, and leash The Thing (type1 The Hose lol?) so It only pulls everyone for so long) [NOTE: this Scents is a classic fantastic type2 version that I don’t believe involves The Hose in that it seems to me that the band has this one well in hand for the most part (except where maybe Trey is beating his head against The Wall), and there’s not a Thing that’s its own thing at play here—unless I suppose The Thing is still on a leash being kept in check by the band? and yes I realize how absurd I sound but remember, my faculties are impaired metaphysically and physically, eg I am still on my back for 20 plus hours a day with my ankle elevated above my heart)]

8/31/21 Shoreline Stash (the band again uses the tow rope to leash The Thing and limit its range and power), Soul Planet (but The Thing seizes control back, and tows the band and audience first along Alph, the sacred river, past a myriad of stately pleasure-domes, through caverns and caves of ice measureless to man, and then down to a sunless sea, but then over to a not-as-sunless sea, before traversing miles and miles of fertile ground, past gardens bright with sinuous rills, where many an incense-bearing tree were blossoming, and through forests ancient as the hills, enfolding sunny spots of greenery, and past a mighty fountain and fucking dancing rocks (!?), which startled The Thing that’s Its Own Thing into flashing its eyes, pulling everyone along while inspiring them with music loud and long to build a sunny pleasure-dome for all of us, every one, for The Thing on honeydew hath fed, and drunk the milk of Paradise)

9/1/21 Shoreline Cities, Tweezer (The Thing splits open and melts The People Of Shoreline, especially in the final few minutes of this monsterpiece)

9/3/21 Dicks Carini (The Thing pulls and yanks Dicks and jerks everyone in it off into a mellifluously kaleidoscopic soundscape of elephantine majesty), CDT (thrilling type-2 improv in part to be sure, a top version, but this sounds more like The Wall at times than The Thing That’s Its Own Thing hosing everyone down)

10/16/21 Chase Center sooooo Simple, Gin, Frankie Says, MOMA, and Carini all are jamchartworthy excellent versions with captivating improv in them to be sure, but is there a Thing That’s Its Own Thing Involved in any of them that pulls everyone along in a transcendent manner? dunno. See also eg the 10/17/21 SF SYSF, 10/19/21 Eugene DWD (top version for sure, with stellar type-2 improv, but it sounds like improv more than melodious composed music imo—does The Hose involve itself in it? don’t believe so), 10/23/21 Chula Vista Free and Piper (magnificent type-2 improv but is The Hose involved?).

10/17/21 SF CDT (this improv is almost wholly type 1 to be sure but The Spirit of The Hose seems quite strong with this one, it peaks in a powerfully soulful and blissful way, multiple times, so it’s not difficult to hear and feel that a Thing That’s Its Own Thing is towing everyone along!)

10/20/21 Eugene SOAM->End of Session>SOAM (THE THING TRIES TO END THE WORLD but thankfully the band rescues everyone by playing End of Session), Ruby Waves (The Thing That’s Its Own Thing takes everyone fucking parasailing against their will)

10/22/21 Desert Sky Soul Planet, Everything’s Right

10/23/21 Chula Vista ->NICU (segue HOSE out of Fluffhead’s type-2 jam; The Thing pulls everyone out of an intensive care unit only to suffer a stroke; The Thing then loses a foot)

10/24/21 Inglewood YEM (The Thing squeezes Trey’s left nut about three mins or so into the jam, and starts pulling it and everyone along with it), second set is arguably filled with appearances by The Hose but see in particular Tweezer -> LA Woman (proof that The Hose may involve musical imperfection)

10/28/21 MGM 2001 (type1 hose?) > 1999 > 555 > 46 Days (arguable I suppose but the type-2 improv in the 555 and 46 Days sounds to me like it was being pulled by the same Thing that made 1999 must-hear), Seven Below, If 6 Was Nine, Two Versions of Me (love this song! best version ever. MY LIST!), First Tube (!!! gotta love when Fish kicks out Weekapaug’s beat in a siiiiiiiiick jam like this one! That said, things get too intense even for The Thing, which vanishes suddenly, leaving this version "Unfinished"). [AMONG THE GREATEST TWO-SET SHOWS IN PHISH HISTORY]

10/29/21 MGM Axilla Pt II (excellent type 2 but is The Hose involved or was Trey arguably banging or at least beating his head against The Wall for awhile?), IAWITW (WUUUUUUUT!)

10/31/21 MGM Soul Planet

12/31/21 Lititz YEM (as unprecedented as this was (a second jam begins almost immediately after the vocal jam begins) this ain’t The Hose as it wasn’t performed front of a typical live Phish audience, but it’s a fine example of a type-2 improvisation)

2/24/22 Cancun Tweezer (arguable, killer type-2 for sure, see also 2/25/22 Carini, just not sure I’d contend they involve The Hose and yes yes I know I suck at the Phish)

2/26/22 Cancun Wolfman’s, SYSF ("The Thing that’s its own Thing entices you with bliss and love, but then, four score and seven measures into the jam, takes a shit, conceived in liberty.” —Abraham Lincoln) > Simple (The Thing takes another dump in this Simple) > Scents (The Thing apologizes for shitting everywhere and pulls everyone out of it) > C&P (and, above the sand and sea but beneath the stars and planets, a precious blissy groove fills everyone with joy and The Thing vanishes with Waste)

4/22/22 MSG SYSF (The Thing is happy to be pulling everyone along in a musically splendid manner but begins to grow weary and feel cold-and-flu-like symptoms coming on) > Light (The Thing begins to feel quite ill), Fuego (The Thing that’s its own Thing shits itself), Sand (after hosing off its unmentionables, The Thing begins to feel a great deal better), SOAM (The Thing suddenly becomes disoriented and weary)

4/23/22 MSG NMINML (after a valiant effort trying to tow everyone out over an ocean of love and joy, The Thing realizes that its weakness is likely due to having been exposed to the coronavirus by practically every breathing human being in fucking MSG, and forces the band to play Fuckerpants before leaving to rest and recuperate in its lair, which, in a remarkable coincidence, isn’t too far from The Rhombus)

5/27/22 Orange Beach Soul Planet->Quadrophonic Toppling->Soul Planet (having returned to good health, The Thing pulls everyone through one of the most hilarious bustouts in Phish history)

5/28/22 Orange Beach Sigma Oasis

5/29/22 Orange Beach Zero (type 1 The HOSE at least arguably) > Mike’s (bliss jam wtf)

6/1/22 Charleston Simple

6/3/22 Deer Creek Mull (not The Hose at play, but there’s a bliss jam for several measures in the final two mins which is welcome to see in this newish Mike tune I love)

6/5/22 Deer Creek Sand

7/16/22 Bangor DWD

7/19/22 Mann arguably the Tweezerfest in the second involves The Hose at play of course, particularly with this Piper in the fourth quarter

[I think as wild as the Bethel SYSF is, I’m not sure it involves The Hose, and yes, I was there, it was well-received by me and many many if not most others in attendance, but this mostly isn’t blissy improv, and while The Hose doesn't need to create blissy improv of course, this improv still mostly sounds like improv, not like melodious, composed music, it doesn't reach transcendence in my view; said differently, I think it's arguable whether a Thing That Was Its Own Thing was in control here, rather than the band members' egos in a hey-hole type2 improvisation; but that said if you believe a MONSTROUS THE THING is or was behind this SYSF, I understand]

7/24/22 Hartford Sigma Oasis (paradigmatic permagrooving HOSE), AWOPE

7/26/22 JB Leaves (the last five or so minutes of the jam are mesmerizing HOSE imo, Mike in particular is amazeballs—as if there’s a Thing That Is Its Own Thing towing him and everyone else along with him)

8/5/22 AC Sigma Oasis-> (segue into Cities is buttah), Ruby Waves (arguable, in that I believe Trey (ego) moreso than a Thing seems to steer everyone or drive or pull them along)

8/7/22 AC YEM

8/10/22 Toronto Theme (Trey ain’t perfect but this is absolutely one of the most improvisationally magical versions in Phish history), Sample

8/12/22 Alpine Ghost (has a hilarious jam in it over which “Ass Handed” is quoted and Trey then mightily deploys the echoplex and the crowd goes bonkers, the last several mins of this may not be The Hose but this is my list)

9/4/22 Dicks C&P (the last few mins are very melodic and catchy, in that Trey latches onto a blissy major key theme and repeats it, and Page and Fish and Mike’s accompaniment is great, but Trey flubs a bit, soooo it ain’t perfect… The Hose? Not as I hear it, but a cool ending to this jam and interesting segue into Bowie)

12/28/22 MSG AWOPE

12/29/22 MSG Fluffhead->YPC (jam out of Fluffhead and segue into YPC arguably The Hose at play), Ruby Waves (another shortish but fierce version, arguably more permagroove than The Hose but when they briefly tease Heartbreaker and then the jam kinda starts, well, sucking, it does kinda sound like a Thing may have stopped towing them, and then thankfully they promptly play RW’s closing coda… sigh), Possum (jk, JUST TELL US WHERE THE PARTY IS, WE’RE COMIN!)

12/30/22 MSG Theme (another one among the sickest evah)

2023

4/17/23 Greek Tweezer -> Simple

4/18/23 Greek Gin, Fuego

4/23/23 Hollywood Cities (there’s definitely a Thing that’s its own Thing behind this (!)), Mr. Completely > ASIHTOS (the Thing that pulled everyone along behind it in the MrC is involved in this too) -> Completely

7/12/23 Huntsville Mercury (major key bliss jam (paradigmatic Hose) in the final few mins of this, and a smooooth ->segue into a Free that’s also worth multiple listens; I’d like to thank forum users @ivorytusk and @Dylman112 for bringing to my attention that this Mercury hadn’t been initially jamcharted with the other summer 2023 inductees; when I relistened to it for the ruthless screed I posted last week I clearly dug it but when I originally listened to it back in July, I erred in not recommending it (and the Free!) be jamcharted at that time; I regret the errors)

7/14/23 Alpharetta Ruby Waves, My Friend

7/15/23 Alpharetta Tweezer (the Thing pulling everyone along is actually a FUNKOSAURUS)

7/16/23 Alpharetta Carini

7/22/23 Everything’s Right

7/23/23 Syracuse KDF, Tweezer -> Oblivion

7/26/23 Mann Carini

7/29/23 MSG DWD, Fuego

7/30/23 MSG Light (arguable, insofar as it’s tricky to discern if it’s really a Thing That’s Its Own Thing pulling everyone along or if it’s, well, Trey, who hoses everyone down over fiery accompaniment by Page Mike and Fish)

8/1/23 MSG Wolfman’s (for the first seven or so mins of the jam the Thing is content to just funk and groove, towing everyone along a strong but very-Wolfman’sy course, seemingly without a care in the world, when around 13:25 it inspires Trey to begin a melodic theme that the full band then RAGES on, THEHOSING everyone down, and brings this stunning first-set-closing version to a scorchingly sweet peak, after which they bust into I Am The Fucking Walrus! THIS IS WHY I PHISH, easily one of my favorite short improvisations in Phish history), Sample (hey bliss jam I SEEEE UUUUU, this is the kind of Sample I had hoped they’d start playing in '94, then '95, '96, etc etc until the Baker’s Dozen sigh, arguably the most improvisationally attuned version of Sample in Phish history right here, even though its ending is really odd, like the Thing That’s Its Own Thing let loose a most gruesome faht before vanishing)

8/2/23 MSG CAVERN > Carini (after The Thing pulls everyone behind it through Cavern, It soars soulfully onward towing everyone through Carini, and the segue into Piper is of interest)

8/4/23 MSG MIKE’S!!!! SONG!!! (AMONG THE GREATEST IN PHISH HISTORY FOLKS!!!!)

8/5/23 MSG Prince Fuckerpants (while towing everyone along, The Thing hunts Caspian down, ties him to a log, bends him over, AND BUFFALO BILLS HIM, while Trey and/or Fish seem to moan or go “Oh Oh OhhhHHhhhHhhHh…”), Tweezer -> Guy Forget -> Tweezer (after having Its way with Caspian, the Thing That’s Its OWN Thing tows everyone merrily along, and they meet briefly with the elusive but easily forgotten Guy Forget, before being pulled through yet another mind-blowingly good Tweezer)

8/25/23 SPAC Sand (this isn’t The Hose, this is a pitch-shifting abomination, this is Trey banging AND beating his head against and urinating on The Wall, upon which he expertly deploys his hose to write MUNCHKINLAND), AWOPE (the improv is all over the map largely (but not entirely) sounding like improv and not melodious composed music, so it sounds more The Wall to me than The Hose and Trey also hits some rough notes and kinda ripcords it into Simple, which is perhaps a telltale sign this improv was more The Wall than The Hose; I include it here just because I know it's popular and I wanted to explain why I don't think it qualifes as The Hose despite being very type2-improvisational) -> Simple (The Thing returns and pulls everyone along a metaphysically surreal path, light and dark, and a mystical segue into Fuego unfolds)

8/26/23 SPAC Golden Age, Everything’s Right, First Tube, Possum (hear Derek Trucks sit-in at all costs)

8/31/23 Dicks Carini, Tweezer (I'm not keen on this jam as noted in a screed I posted a couple weeks ago about the Five Star show rating system on this website, but there's definitely a Thing That’s Its Own Thing afoot and pulling everyone along in this version, it’s just Trey’s tone really bothers me at times in it, and it’s causing me to be actively prejudiced against some of the improv in this, and yes I know I know I suck at the Phish and in hindsight I should have rated 8/31/23 three stars and not two deepsigh ::falls on sword::)

9/1/23 Dicks Sand

9/2/23 Dicks Fluffhead (bliss jam out of a show-opening Fluffhead!?), The Howling Thing > Piper (arguably type1 Hose, spectacular tension/release, a glorious peak!)

Well that was a much longer fuckenlist than I'd intended. Careful reader that you are, you undoubtedly noticed that there's nothing for 1986 and 1989 and 1990 listed above, and very few suggestions for certain other years, too, like 1992 and, well, other years. This is not because there's not incredible, must-hear performances in 1989 or 1990 or these "other years." It's just that I couldn't discern anything that I thought contained something arguably involving "The Hose" in those years (fwiw, I only attended one show myself in 1989 and it has never circulated on tape, and I do not recall attending any shows in 1990).

For example, the first-set-closing 5/26/89 "You Enjoy Myself" is a spectacular version, but it's so Trey-driven (he's amazing) that it's wrong to call this "Hose" in my opinion, as it's not the full band seemingly getting pulled along by a Thing, even though, sure, Trey hoses everyone the fuck down. In other words, Trey's ego is obviously leading everyone, not a Thing That's Its Own Thing. Similarly, the 9/21/90 Somerville Theatre "You Enjoy Myself" has a jaw-droppingly good jam segment (and Mike and Fish "bass and drums" section, with Mike teasing "Sweet Emotion" in it!), but the customary structure of "YEM" is not abandoned; there is no "type 2" even arguably in this nevertheless timelessly excellent performance of the song. Compare it for example to 11/16/91's Mrs. Pizza Shit "YEM," noted above, the jam of which appears to involve full-band improv, with everyone contributing fiercely and expertly, like everyone is not only firing on all cylinders, but also being pulled along by a THING. And the second-set-opening 5/26/89 "David Bowie" is also must-hear by the way, just a fantastic version, but "Hose"? I don't think so.

Sticker Taped On The Inside Of The Back Windshield Of My Rental Car For Tour, June 16 - July 3, 1995
Sticker Taped On The Inside Of The Back Windshield Of My Rental Car For Tour, June 16 - July 3, 1995

Also fwiw (if you didn't already know), the 12/31/91 "Tweezer" is very popular among fans, and I admittedly grossly underrated it back in the 1990s on RMP (yes, I sucked at the Phish decades ago, too). There's some very cool improv in it to be sure, but does it feature The Hose, with the entire band being pulled along with the audience by a "Thing" that "is its own Thing"? I dunno, but it's on the list anyway because it has a very repetitive, hypnotic theme-jam in it and so arguably constitutes "type 1" Hose. And the 3/13/92 Antelope -> BBFCFM -> Antelope is captivating and hilarious and bananas and must-hear, but even though the structure of "Antelope" is altered and abandoned in part, I don't think overall it's a "Hose" Event, in which the full-band collective improv and interplay is of a transcendent nature whereby band and audience appear to all be being pulled along by a Thing. But reasonable minds can differ about this, if only given the sheer intensity and legendary status of this Antelope in Phish history.

And of course there are other years above with very few selections in them, and again, this isn't because I think those years of Phish are weaker than other years, as they have plenty of excellent versions of songs in them, as indicated in these very useful charts here. But in the years 1993-1999 in particular, as Phish continued to mature and play and play and play and play, Phish was often creating profound improvisational music that has not only withstood the test of time, but also continued to be of importance in terms of Phish history. I am NOT saying that this makes 1.0 "better" than any other, it's just different! To me, if a jam makes me have a transcendent experience, it's impossible to prioritize IT above another jam that does that for (to?) me. This is why I hate those inane "desert island" games, where you're asked by some fuckface to pick your five or ten "favorites" that you must-have on a desert island. I think I'd rather kms than have to choose between the Mud Island or Bozeman or New Haven or Lakewood or Tahoe or Alpine Valley Tweezers, or the 8/10/97 Deer Creek and 8/6/10 Greek Cities jams, etc etc.

THE POINT is that in my opinion jams involving The Hose were not simply transcendent at the time they were created and performed, they transcend Phish's eras in terms of their musical significance. A jam worthy of applying The "Hose" label to must involve transcendent must-hear improv (in the ears of a significant number of fans, if not all) and be among the highlights not only of the tour it is in, but also the year it's in and at least arguably the era it's in. It should be among the highlights in Phish history! Bold? Yes, but there has to be a plausible argument that the jam is timelessly important in Phish history. It can't just be one that you and I agree is "fucking awesome!" There are thousands of those.

IN CONCLUSION, I could go on and on like this, but I will become more disappointed in myself, and you will be driven into a blind, albeit phishy, rage. Hopefully fans and I suppose the good folks at Sirius Phish radio (imagine it's your job to broadcast fantastic Phish to the public!) will get some mileage out of the above Recommended Listening. And someone generous of heart and spirit might even compile a playlist of items listed above (don't look at me). And please, I BEG YOU, do not view the selections above and think you're unqualified to Comment because you've not heard many of them: while you should certainly listen to all of them if you can, nevertheless, if you have an opinion today that a particular version of a Phish song's performance qualifies in your view as involving "The Hose" (whether I note it above or not!), PLEASE I BEG YOU articulate why in the "Comments," especially if you witnessed the performance and felt like you and the band and the audience were all being pulled along by a Thing that was it's own Thing, because I want to hear your opinion and I am not alone. Ideally, the "Comments" will identify performances unequivocally involving "The Hose" by you and everyone else, too, and you should like/favorite at will, thereby corroborating that they're indeed transcendent performances, and it's not just you who feels the way you do.

And if you remember anything from the foregoing, it is that at the Phish, I do suck, so please weigh in, if only for the sake of Phish history, of which you are a part. Just ask the band, whose love for you has been trumpeted through their music for almost TWO SCORE (40) YEARS now. THANK YOU PHISH!

two cents,

charlie

Tshirt Bought In Lot Of Walnut Creek, June 16, 1995 (IIRC)
Tshirt Bought In Lot Of Walnut Creek, June 16, 1995 (IIRC)

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Comments

, comment by paulj
paulj Dude, you are just killing it these days!

(And you should sell "You Suck at Phish" t-shirts.)
, comment by HarborSeal
HarborSeal What a delightful post! Thank you SO MUCH for this Charlie!!! I'll be rereading this for months digging through versions of songs you've recommended, esp from the 3.0 era. LOTS here to dig into. Minor pedantic correction: Montreal 94 is 7/6 not 7/8.

I'm just going to throw in a few more instances of HOSE from some of the earlier years:

11/24/91 YEM (!!!)
8/26/93 SOAM
6/11/94 SOAM
6/22/94 Mike's -> Simple sandwich
7/8/94 Stash (A Live One version)
6/15/95 Slave (one of the few really unique Slaves, also v beautiful and kind of screaming; amazing)
6/24/95 Bowie AND Hood (one of the most perfect Hoods ever played imo)
11/10/95 YEM w/Crossroads

There is plenty more, and I might post again with versions from other years, but there are a few jams that absolutely sound like transcendent HOSE to me.

Again, THANK YOU for this post. What a list!!!
, comment by andrewrose
andrewrose @Icculus bringing some OG flavour to the @n00b100 style epic post and some seriously deep-bin Phishtory. I'll need some time (and then some) to finish and digest it all. One day we'll be referring to these contributions to the canon as your Oxy years. (Jokes aside, hope you're on the mend, Charlie.)

Also did not realize old RMP posts are so easy to track down. Speaking of epics, got a kick out of finding this this one of mine from March 99 on Ghost as the new "epic," and offering my Top 13 versions from those first couple years. My take on #5 and what lay in store seems to have aged well..

5. 12/31/98 - 98 space rock at it best. This is the kind of jamming that I
hope is really going to take off in 99. Those deep, melodic grooves that
seem to be surfacing quite a bit in Bathtub have SO much pontential for
amazing stuff - listen for it this summer. I know I will be.
, comment by Prince_kazpian
Prince_kazpian Awesome write up dude. Solid list… I’d add 6/7/12 Boogie On. Paradigmatic Hose for sure
, comment by HarborSeal
HarborSeal Another thought:

I am a big believer in Type I Hose. In 1992, when they were first talking about the Hose, they were playing mostly Type I jams, after all...that's not to say that I don't think a jam needs to become A Thing of Its Own to be Hose. I just think that there are a LOT of purely Type I jams out there that ARE Hose. After all, the idea of the Hose was articulated when Phish was playing mostly Type I stuff. And there are tons and tons of in-the-box but magnificent jams from the early 90s. There was a lot more Type II after 93--after 8/13/93, in fact--but that was an evolution of something that was already going on. The stuff they were playing before Type II was so common was still magnificent music, where they all listened carefully to each other and the audience listened to them.

Take, say, the 3/22/93 Reba jam. It's not as mind-bending as 8/16/93, to be sure. It stays close to the chords and rhythms you'd expect from a Reba jam. But everyone is listening, and respond to each others' playing, adding little wrinkles, coming up with little melodic variations, rhythmic stutter steps, and creative little ideas that create something new and beautiful. It's not one of those big, raging, explosive bliss jams. It's quiet, with little moments of humor and gentle conversation between the band members and the AUDIENCE, before the band builds to a lovely, lilting climix. But to MY ears--and I bet to Trey's too, based on what he says before starting up Gamehendge in the second set--there's something going on there between band and audience that's connected and wonderufl.

IMO you can even find "hose" in music that's basically entirely composed: check the "jam" charts for songs like Fluffhead, Esther, or Divided Sky.

The thing about Carlos's remark is that it so perfectly captures what PHISH was. Not every improvisational band can tap into the Hose. There is amazing improvised music that's just a soloist playing over skilled backers. There's something about the dynamic of a Phish show that you can sometimes pick up on when you listen: four guys up there, LISTENING to each other, reacting to what the others play JOYFULLY...and then LISTENING to the audience too, and reacting to them. And then sometimes, the audience listens attentively to them in turn. There is something AMAZING about the Phish crowd at its best, erupting in applause for an improvised key change deep into a jam well after any song has been played.

There's something so wonderfully weird and special and uniquely unique about Phish. HOSE is as good a term for it as any.
, comment by Mshow96
Mshow96 Did you just recapitulate 4 decades of nerdery in one blog post? ????
, comment by Jer2112
Jer2112 Maybe it isn’t the hose, but they really tap into something in the Chula Piper. The jam chart entry is worded perfectly. Even before the ending onslaught, they were locked in and driving and I got IT so hard. Dopamine rush to the max, followed by clutching my girlfriends arm out of fear. So maybe no hose, and definitely some attendance bias, but a force nonetheless and the biggest sense of IT I will probably ever experience from any musical artist.

Also, thanks for putting in the work and doing this. Really a great read!
, comment by deceasedlavy
deceasedlavy Thanks for writing this. I always wondered why the only jams on the jam charts that mention "hose" refer to happy happy bliss jams. Now I...am still wondering.
, comment by adam42
adam42 Charlie I have been reading and enjoying your writing about Phish for more than 30 years and this might be the best of the best. Absolutely amazing. Are there a few I think you missed? Sure. Are there a few I think you should have left off here? Of course. Regardless, you are a treasure to this community and we all appreciate you so much. Thanks for doing this.
, comment by uctweezer
uctweezer thank you so much for this Charlie - I especially love all the ephemera

it goes without saying that the community owes you tons of gratitude for all you've done to spread the love and the music, even if you are to blame for the "Hood!" chant and probably also that decade of "wooo!"-ing and also for people thinking it's 4.0 smh
, comment by mcgrupp81
mcgrupp81 12/4/09 First Tube. IT moment for me attending

4/10/94 Hood HOSE.

Never apologize for respecting the 6/11/94 YEM.

There’s a lot to process here and I appreciate your hard work as always. Should have plugged your Mike’s Song reviews on this site. They were a guiding light when first collecting Phish.

One thing to point out is that sometimes it takes multiple listens to recognize IT. Signs of IT are laughing mid-jam at the awesomeness of what the band is producing as one cohesive unit. God bless and keep on trucking Charlie.
, comment by dreamed_a_dream
dreamed_a_dream this blog post is hose
, comment by jaredprox
jaredprox Fantastic job on this. That Las Cruces show in 99 certainly felt pulled along by an invisible thread. I posted in the old net days about the room feeling possessed by a circular energy force. It was there for the taking if one dared dip their toe in. And, La Grange, of course.
, comment by unoclay
unoclay is there any way to track or find the first use of "IT" on the old RMP boards? i feel like i was there when it started. im probably wrong.
, comment by User_25597_
User_25597_ love. thanks for writing.
i find it weird that two tracks are included from 11/17/97 and neither one of them is the tweezer.
, comment by HarborSeal
HarborSeal Just a few other jams that I personally would consider to be from the Hose:

I think @Icculus is not crazy about IAWITW, but 2/20/19 and 12/30/22 both have HOSE jams imo. The former has a long righteous blissy major key jam, the latter is rip-roaring and shreddy but I think it gets drawn along by its "own thing." I'd say the former is more clearly "hose" than the latter.

The last 5 minutes or so of the 11/13/98 Disease--the stuff leading up to the explosion back into the main theme--are very much Hose to my ears, even if the rest of the jam is more, as Icculus might put it, the Wall--albeit the rather pleasant and funky wall.

12/31/98 has two Hose moments imo--the last few minutes of Mike's, and the --> from Tweezer --> Cities.

I regard the 1/4/03 Roggae as containing HOSE, even if it only lasts about 2 minutes. Starting a little after 6:00, there's a MOMENT where suddenly the way the rest of the song needs to be played just becomes completely evident. Trey plays a perfect lead, and everyone slides in under him, and there are a couple of passes at a crescendo and then the whole thing just CONNECTS and is played perfectly. At any rate, if you want to call the Vegas 04 Roggae Hose, imo this is HOSE too. (Not really sure about all those Vegas 04 picks tbh; but I'll take any occasion to fluff this Roggae.)

Capturing every moment of HOSE in a list like this is impossible. Frankly, I would be inclined to say that there is a lot more hose in Phishtory than a post like this could possible convey. Sometimes a totally Type I Hood (11/23/96, 2/13&17/97) or Antelope (11/30/95) or Bowie (12/1/95) or Reba or Jim or Paug or Julius (7/23/97 or 8/3/97 or 11/23/97) can be HOSE when the crowd is attentive and the band is listening and reacting and something in the universe just lets them KNOW where to go....there are tours and years of Phish where that is happening at some point almost every show--and apparently Carlos Santana thought the rather Type I summer your of 1992 was one of them!

But imo it can be hard to pick out Type I HOSE just by listening to recordings, and it's much more obvious in many of the cases on this list that it's the music playing the band.
, comment by VermontCowFunk
VermontCowFunk My second show was 5/16/1992 at the Orpheum and they opened with Maze. An incredibly tight and rocking version, with Trey's (second?) solo constituting my first experience with hose. Check it out - it doesn't disappoint. I was a few rows from the stage in the orchestra section and turned around to look up at the balcony and was surprised to see it seemingly moving up and down... shaking... or was it? As I said, the hose was strong.
, comment by unogreen4
unogreen4 Fantastic post, Charlie! Great explanation of some of the origin(s) of the term “ hose” and thank you for taking the time to go through ~ 40 years of Hose and shining light on so many great examples. I’m delighted you included the Knickerbocker ‘18 Show of Life. It’s a beautifully odd place for the Hose to appear. One that comes to mind that I would add is the 3rd set from IT, day 1 Rock & Roll -> Seven Below -> Scents & Subtle -> Seven Below -> Spread It Round … to me, that was a thing that was it’s own Thing. Cheers to wonderful Hose jams!
, comment by mcgrupp81
mcgrupp81 @VermontCowFunk said:
My second show was 5/16/1992 at the Orpheum and they opened with Maze. An incredibly tight and rocking version, with Trey's (second?) solo constituting my first experience with hose. Check it out - it doesn't disappoint. I was a few rows from the stage in the orchestra section and turned around to look up at the balcony and was surprised to see it seemingly moving up and down... shaking... or was it? As I said, the hose was strong.
There were a few strong performances from that show. Spring 92 is one of my favorite tours.
, comment by unogreen4
unogreen4 10/16/21 Chase for sure! Frankie Says and Carini both have moments of the hose pulling both the band and audience through the thing. Much more than just excellent improve. There is a strong magnetic pull that starts with 46 Days and only gains strength throughout the show. The jam out of Frankie Says is it’s own thing - there’s no other jam or Frankie Says like it and Carini sounds like it’s going to end on several occasions, only to be pulled back in by the magnet - the perverbial jet skis that keep pulling. The Hose.
, comment by mgolia6
mgolia6 The Headless Hosemen
Image
(Couldn't get the image to load so you will have to click either link) So I don't think this is perfect by any means but I had an IT moment listening to 11/17/97 "Ghost" and the full throttle hose towing all those in attendance behind it's mighty wake and tried to crystalize that thought before it shattered and was lost in the ether. This is what I came up with. I also thought about expanding the Venn to 4, 5, or 6 circles accounting for context, venue, lights (an argument could be made to include lights, methinks), etc...but then got back to what the key components are as it relates to IT and The Hose; The Listener, The Band, and The Music. Would love any and all feedback.
, comment by Bogotafee5514
Bogotafee5514 Not much fall 2016 love. Nothing from the Vegas run like the Golden Age!!?? How bout the Nashville Tweezer? The Alpha Disease is really excellent hose tho. A great time at the movies going through your list. I know most of em but it doesn't mean I love them any less.
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