by @scottmik104
7. Tomorrow’s Song
“Today I sing Tomorrow’s Song.”
“In this place we learn to wait.”
This quick, odd little ditty comes from the album “Undermind”. Only played once, on 11/27/09 in Albany, NY, this Fishman written song has not been seen, nor heard from since. Coming out of a slick Piper jam, the fans were treated with this rarity. This isn’t your typical stand alone song so, it’d be hard to imagine this just popping back up. Maybe one day they’ll remember that this song is in their arsenal, but I can only imagine it coming out of a deep jam.
6. Metal Bagel Death
“Bagels!!!”
Not much can be said for this tune as it’s literally just a mere six seconds long. It’s a hard rocking quickie that only appeared once way back on 5/4/90 in Keene, NH. Played in honor of the eatery Keene Bagel Works.
5. Idea
“Piece by piece you break your wall down
And as it tumbles to the ground you say
It must have been a bad idea to keep stackin' it up
I don't know why I got so lost; and how long; I've been gone”
This Mike Gordon original was played only once with Phish on 6/15/10 in Portsmouth, VA. Coming off of the Mike Gordon album “Moss”, this one has a real shot of becoming a Page/Mike led jam that has the potential to go deep! Although a regular staple played by the Mike Gordon Band, Phish has yet to revive Idea.
4. Never
“Never to forget that I forgot you for a while”
Another short song in the catalog by the boys, this Trey and Tom original has barely seen the light of day. Played live just one time on 10/17/98, at Shoreline Amphitheater in CA. This tune did show up on the “Trampled by Lambs and Pecked by the Doves” album that was Tom and Trey filled recordings of a slew of songs that would appear on the album “The Story of theGhost”, as well as a number of other live staples. Trey has played it a few times with TAB, and it also appears on Trey’s album “Paper Wheels”.
3. Quadrophonic Toppling
This highly sought after track off of Phish’s “The Siket Disc” album made its only ever live appearance at Big Cypress, 12/31/99. Coming out of arguably the greatest version of Sand ever, this instrumental tune was played to the joy of tens of thousands of fans for Phish’s millennium blowout fest in the everglades of Florida. It is debated that Fishman not playing the bass for this song negates that it has ever truly been played live but, if you were at Big Cypress odds are that you’ve added it to your stats for sure.
2. End Of Session
“a silent bird / a raging tide a mountainside
an open door / looming from the surf
a whispered word / a steady wind as we begin
and then no more / to close in on the earth”
This final track off of “The Story of the Ghost” album debuted live on 7/25/17 from the band’s Bakers Dozen run at MSG. I don’t think anyone really ever expected to hear this song played live but, the Bakers Dozen debuted and busted out so many rare tunes that it seemed only fitting for this to have been played during this historic run through NY.
1. Bliss
A beautiful instrumental track off of the album “Billy Breathes” was yet another rarity to be put on display at Madison Square Garden. When Trey picked his acoustic up on 12/30/18 immediately following a raging Crosseyed and Painless, it took a few bars before anyone even detected what he was playing. This song melts perfectly into the track Billy Breathes just as it was intended to be heard on the album. Phish did not disappoint following Bliss with proper treatment right into Billy Breathes.