Help Fund A Vegas Grant!
The Mockingbird Foundation now has a new way to donate, through Zeffy - no costs or fees to the foundation, so zero costs. We're launching it now, with a campaign over the next three weeks, aiming to fund a $6,000 Tour Grant to a nonprofit in Vegas that operates a music program just down the road from the nine upcoming shows at the Sphere.
Please, then, consider donating this month. We're hoping to make a splash in local media about the incredible generosity and community that Phish fans bring to the table. It's tax deductible, and will go directly to a good cause that we're working with Waterwheel to benefit. Mockingbird is already all-volunteer, with no staff, salaries, or office, so that almost all of every donation goes to charity - and here, with no costs, everything raise from this campaign will go into our coming Vegas Tour Grant.
If you're looking at this on a laptop or desktop, the QR code to the right will take your phone right to the landing page. Meanwhile, this thermometer helps track our progress towards the goal so far:
DON'T DOUBT ME
VEGAS RETROSPECTIVE, 2/3: THOMAS & MACK
[This is the second of a three-part series exploring Phish's past excursions in Las Vegas, courtesy of user @paulj Paul Jakus, Executive Director of the Phish Studies Association.]
“[Las Vegas] was first financed by crime syndicates from back East, then a Mormon-run local bank, [and later] underwritten by Wall Street” – William L. Fox, Driving by Memory
Growth of the Las Vegas tourism industry in the mid-20th century was constrained by its restricted access to investment capital, and stained by its ongoing association with organized crime. Bankers E. Parry Thomas and Jerome “Jerry” Mack (T&M), namesakes of the Thomas & Mack Center, were instrumental in managing Las Vegas’s transformation from outlaw ownership to corporate cash cow.
Operating through their Valley Bank, T&M’s collective fingerprints remain evident in every part of today’s Las Vegas. Investing valley-wide in commercial and real estate ventures, and politically advocating for critical water, sewer, and transportation infrastructure, the bankers were also key figures in the founding and expansion of what was to become the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Charity Golf @ Dick's Again!
The Mockingbird Foundation's annual charity golf tournament will return to Denver this year, as the 11th Annual Runaway Open comes back to Willis Case. Registration includes tournament, cart, and greens fees for our shotgun start; coffee to get you going; lunch on the turn; gift bags with sponsor contributions as well as limited-ediction; and a nominal donation to the all-volunteer, fan-run Mockingbird Foundation to support music education for children.
Registration is open, and this may be a largest outing yet - with a new maximum of 132 players! But we routinely book solid, so please register soon. Plus, the sooner we reach critical mass, the bigger sponsorships and better gift bags we can assemble. And if you run a business of any kind and might be willing to donate something - for the gift bags, for the raffle, or otherwise - please reach out.
SURRENDER TO THE FLOW ISSUE 92: LAS VEGAS 2026
[This post is courtesy of Christy Articola, thank you Christy! -Ed.]
The 92nd issue of Surrender to the Flow for fans attending Phish's nine-show Sphere residency in Las Vegas is now available for download here at this handy link for free or for a donation.
VEGAS RETROSPECTIVE, 1/3: THE ALADDIN THEATRE
[This is the first of a three-part series exploring Phish's past excursions in Las Vegas, courtesy of user @paulj Paul Jakus, Executive Director of the Phish Studies Association.]
My first memory of Las Vegas remains as vivid today as it was that summer afternoon 58 years ago, descending the stairs from an airplane to the tarmac: a blast of 110-degree air straight into my face. I was ten years old, and Dad’s company had transferred our family to what seemed to be the inside of a furnace.
Our house wasn’t yet ready, so our next two weeks were spent ensconced in an apartment on the Aladdin Hotel golf course—the very ground upon which the Aladdin Theater for the Performing Arts was to be erected eight years later. The Aladdin, of course, is where Phish made its Las Vegas debut in 1996.
The upcoming 2026 concerts at the Sphere will mark thirty years of Phish in Las Vegas, which seems a good time to review the Las Vegas venues at which Phish have performed. While New York City is clearly Phish’s adopted hometown, I will argue over the course of this three-part series that Las Vegas, given its continual reinvention into something else, is the town that best parallels the band’s history.
LOST IN THE PACK
Walkaways Benefit For Mockingbird, 5/17
The Walkaways will perform a special all-ages, two-set show on Sunday, May 17th, to benefit the all-volunteer Mockingbird Foundation. The event, which will take place at The Get Down in Portland, OR, will feature special guests plus art, merch, and crafts vendors selling goods to benefit music education in Portland through The Mockingbird Foundation!
The Walkaways are a brilliant twist on cover bands: They're a "Phish covers cover band", covering the covers within Phish's reportoire, such as their namesake. Taboot, they're great musicians, good natured, and full of fun - don't miss it! Tickets on sale now.
FREE 10-WEEK READING GROUP - ALL WELCOME
The Philosophy School of Phish is in session at Oregon State University. You're invited to join a free, public dialogue that runs alongside the for-credit class at OSU. Fans with any level of philosophical experience (including none) may participate. This facilitated reading group will run for ten weeks, from April 8 to June 10, and will cover topics such as community, the sublime, “IT,” aesthetics, and more...
CATHY'S CLOWN
Phish Announce Return To Moon Palace Cancún Jan 27-30, 2027
Celebrating ten years of shows in Mexico, the band announced today their return to Moon Palace Cancún for another all-inclusive concert vacation featuring eight sets over four days during the end of January next year.
Resort and ticket packages will go on sale to the public on April 10 at 1pm ET. Legacy Alumni Pre-Sale (5+ Year alumni) begins April 9 at 11am ET. All Alumni Pre-sale begins April 9 at 1pm ET. A payment plan is available for all packages, an easy way to secure your spot in the sun and break up the cost into 9 monthly installments following an initial deposit.
For all the details, visit phishrivieramaya.com
New Trey Acoustic Album
Trey is releasing a new acoustic album, Live and Acoustic, a collection of 22 stripped-down performances captured last year on his sold-out 2025 Spring Acoustic Tour. Produced by Vance Powell and featuring longtime collaborator Jeff Tanski on keyboard, Live and Acoustic will arrive on a variety of digital platforms via Rubber Jungle Records on Friday, April 3
VOLUNTEER IN VEGAS!
Read about Waterwheel's volunteer work, which has included a growing number of in-person daytime events starting in 2023, and sign up now to be a community volunteer on this form.
EXTENDED JAM SCREENING IN LA 4/1
A new cut of Jam: The Documentatary, subtitled The Extra Mile Cut, will be screened in Hollywood next Wednesday, April 1st, at 7 p.m. at at Fancy Film Post Studios. The screening is 100% free, but you must register in advance at this link.
This is even longer than the 20th anniversary edition currently available on Vimeo OTT as director/producer Alex Daltas and team prepare the film for its release on Amazon Prime.
MULL
Phish Night @ Msg, March 27th
Madison Square Garden will host Phish Night on Friday, March 27, for the game between the Rangers and the Chicago Blackhawks. Fans who purchase their tickets here will receive an exclusive Phish poster created by MSG specifically for the event, and a portion of proceeds from those tickets will benefit Phish's own WaterWheel Foundation.
As reported by Jambase, the event comes a few months divisional rivals the Philadelphia Flyers held a similar event. A sportsball/Phish mashup at the Garden is even more special, as Phish has performed there more than any artist except Billy Joel, will play there again five summer shows that will bring the total number of Phish concerts at the venue to 96, and is anticipated to return in a New Year's run that will bring the total to 100.
NEW PHISH BOOK: CONCEPTS WE'LL PONDER
Editors by Stephanie C. Jenkins, Natalie J. Dollar, and Dana Reason are proud to announce Concepts We’ll Ponder: Identity, Improvisation, and Community in the Phish Experience, a new volume featuring 16 original essays exploring Phish’s music and culture, with a foreword by Benjy Eisen.
Showcasing cutting-edge scholarship in Phish Studies, this book examines “phan” identity and community, musical structure and improvisation, legal issues, setlists and ratings, and much more.
Contributors include Christina L. Allaback, Jnan Blau, Jacob A. Cohen, John Boatner, Nicholas Dahl, Natalie Dollar, Daniel W. Dylan, Benjy Eisen, Joel Gershon, Denise Goldman, Stephanie C. Jenkins, Paul Jakus, Steven Reale, Dana Reason, Isaac Slone, Matthew Sottile, Julie Viscardi-Smalley, Alexa Tawzer, Elizabeth A. Yeager, and Jamie Lee Myer, whose artwork graces the cover.
Check it out and order online, and use discount code GLR AT8 (including the blank space!) to receive 35% off.
PHISH PHILOSOPHY CLASS RETURNS
Dr. Stephanie Jenkins will, for the 12th consecutive year, offer “Philosophy School of Phish,” a special section of the PHL 360: Philosophy and the Arts course at Oregon State University. The class merges the experience of Phish’s live performances with the study of theories about art, aesthetic judgment, community, and more. It is designed as a philosophy of music class, and will incorporate live Phish performances as case studies.
Along with readings from philosophers such as Kant, Tolstoy, and Nietzsche, students will be required to attend concerts during the band’s 2026 Sphere run,either in person or via webcast, and analyze their experience in written assignments. Class begins on March 30th and runs for ten weeks. It is a distance education course offered online through Oregon State University Ecampus, and enrollment is not limited to Oregon State students. Phish fans from all over the globe can participate in the course.
Additional information, including instructions for registration, are available on the course’s public website and social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, & Bluesky). The class is currently full; however, if you are a Phish fan and would like to take this course, email Dr. Jenkins (stephanie.jenkins@oregonstate.edu) and reference this post. For information about OSU Ecampus, please visit http://ecampus.oregonstate.edu/.
Trey Acoustic Tour Announced
Trey has announced a tour of 12 acoustic shows that will feature longtime collaborator and keyboardist Jeff Tanski. Tickets go on sale this Friday, March 20th, at 10 a.m. local time.
The tour will cover 4,484 miles, from Trey's third appearance at Arlene Schnitzer to his 18th at the Capitol Theatre, a journey that Google says could be done continuously in under 68 hours. We recommend that you instead take 33 days (from May 26 through June 26th) and plan two nights each in Missoula and Port Chester.
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