Top Ten Phish Jams to Listen to When You Have a High Fever
A high fever is your body setting the thermostat to “landlord special,” so get medical help when appropriate before letting Phish supervise anything. Once a responsible adult knows you’re melting, these jams can accompany the part where your pillow feels sentient, the hallway becomes six miles long, and the water glass looks disappointed in your career choices.
#10: Deer Creek Simple (8/6/21)
“Simple” already sounds like four exhausted men naming objects during a police lineup. On August 6, 2021, Phish stretched it at Deer Creek into a patient, heavy-limbed jam that keeps changing its face without dropping the groove. It sits at ten because the weirdness still wipes its feet before entering your fever dungeon.
#9: Baker’s Dozen Lawn Boy (7/25/17)
The Baker’s Dozen “Lawn Boy” started on July 25, 2017 as cocktail music for a seafood restaurant inside a bowling alley, then spent nearly half an hour becoming filthy funk. Page keeps crooning with perfect composure while the song sneaks out back, hot-wires your bathrobe, and returns smelling strongly of decisions.
#8: Island Tour Roses Are Free (4/3/98)
On April 3, 1998, “Roses Are Free” opened the second set and spent roughly twenty-seven minutes proving Ween had hidden a portal inside a goofy song about ribbon. The jam gets huge, bright, and weirdly noble before sliding toward “Piper.” A novelty tune should not leave this much expensive-looking wreckage.
#7: Nassau Tweezer (2/28/03)
Nassau’s February 28, 2003 “Tweezer” enters with comeback-era shoulders and absolutely no plan to use the handrail. It stalks, snarls, briefly discovers tenderness, then climbs into a melodic peak gorgeous enough to make the earlier violence seem court-approved. Seventh place is insulting, but so is charging nine dollars for arena nachos.
#6: Tahoe Tweezer (7/31/13)
The July 31, 2013 Tahoe “Tweezer” runs past thirty-six minutes and teaches an entire crowd to yell “woo” on command, which is impressive social engineering from four men dressed for errands. During a fever, every stop may feel aimed directly at your pancreas. Then the jam bursts open and joyfully commits several zoning violations.
#5: Denver Ghost (11/17/97)
Denver’s November 17, 1997 “Ghost” lasts more than twenty-one minutes and slips a “Super Bad” tease into machinery greasier than a pawnshop rotisserie. Mike Gordon’s bass does not enter the room. It is already there, leaning against your refrigerator and refusing to explain the duffel bag. Fifth place feels almost hygienic.
#4: Albany You Enjoy Myself (12/9/95)
Albany’s December 9, 1995 “You Enjoy Myself” lasts about thirty-four minutes and includes a “Shaft” quote, Beavis and Butt-Head noises, plus a silent jam where the band mimes playing. With a fever, this does not register as experimental. It feels like your television has become unionized and rejected all further sound-related duties.
#3: Great Went Bathtub Gin (8/17/97)
The Great Went “Bathtub Gin” from August 17, 1997 grabs one radiant riff and squeezes until an enormous field of people becomes emotionally unreasonable. Phish does not wander so much as keep polishing the same glorious doorknob until it opens into weather. This is festival euphoria with the judgment of a stolen golf cart.
#2: Riverport Bathtub Gin (7/29/98)
Riverport’s July 29, 1998 “Bathtub Gin” opens the show and immediately begins converting funk into a building-code emergency. For twenty-four minutes, every turn feels reckless until the band lands it cleanly and acts as though no furniture was harmed. It misses number one because, deep down, this jam still possesses valid identification.
#1: Alpine Valley Ruby Waves (7/14/19)
The July 14, 2019 Alpine Valley “Ruby Waves” spends thirty-eight minutes behaving like a weather system that learned revenge. Bliss turns menacing, machinery starts breathing, and giant peaks arrive with no concern for your damp little human schedule. Number one belongs to the jam most likely to make your cold compress demand a laminate.
Conclusion
At this point, the room has either cooled down or elected Mike Gordon comptroller. Keep medicine in charge of the fever and Phish in charge of making the fitted sheet seem politically ambitious. When your temperature finally drops, the lingering symptom will be a sincere belief that thirty-eight minutes of “Ruby Waves” showed admirable restraint.