photo: Alive Coverage

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On August 16th, 1996, Phish kicked off its first-ever festival, The Clifford Ball, on a remote Air Force base in Plattsburgh, New York. That night began a long, storied tradition of Phish festivals, which has led us to the one we’re currently enjoying in Delaware.

But that wasn’t the only tradition that began that fateful night: At 3:30 a.m., after delivering three full sets and an encore, Trey Anastasio, Jon Fishman, Mike Gordon, and Page McConnell quietly boarded a flatbed truck and proceeded to play an improvised, ambient set as they were driven through the festival campgrounds. The majority of the tens of thousands of fans in attendance that day missed the surprise performance, a fact that only added to the novel event’s allure. The “Secret Set” was born.

On Friday night, exactly 28 years and 10 successful Phish fests later, the band added to its long history of “secret sets” with a 50+ minute, improvised third set from behind a curtain of projector screen ribbons as a swirl of visualizers played in front of them. From the projections (many of which were Sphere-reminiscent) to the free-form improvisational nature of the music, the Mondegreen “secret set” was certainly cut from the same cloth as its predecessors. This one, however, featured one notable difference: The band spilled the beans ahead of time.

Phish was already coming off of an all-around strong second evening in Dover when Anastasio filled us in. Set one had benefited from the momentum of a top-notch opening night with a buoyant “Bouncing Around The Room”, a churning, syncopated “Kill Devil Falls,” the summer’s second rendition of Frank Zappa’s “Peaches en Regalia,” a Gordon-propelled “Free,” a sublime “Divided Sky,” a nimble “Tube,” a serene “Mountains in the Mist”, a spotless “Reba,” a soaring “Twist” to match the LED swirl of the Ferris Wheel facing the stage, and a rumbling, riotous “Character Zero” accented by a downpour of projectile tortillas from the crowd by the Heliograph at the rear of the concert field.

Set two started at a sizzle with another exploratory summer 2024 rendition of “My Friend, My Friend,” the tour’s “most improved player.” It flowed from there with purpose and precision into a a howling, metallic “No Men In No Man’s Land,” a sinister “Ruby Waves” and an angry, unhinged “Pillow Jets,” then slid seamlessly into a screeching bout with Chilling Thrilling Halloween holdover “Your Pet Cat”—and back into “Ruby Waves”—before creeping into “Ghost.” Keeping with the set’s string of self-referential callbacks, the searing climax of “Ghost” found its way back into “No Men In No Man’s Land” for a quick vocal refrain before arriving at the frame’s final destination, a stunning “Fluffhead.” Perfection.

That brings us to the “secret” Trey was so eager to tell:

“Shhh, I’m only talking to that one guy right there,” a grinning Anastasio told the crowd ahead of a masterfully dynamic “Harry Hood” encore opener.

“Don’t tell anybody I’m saying this but every time we do one of these festivals we do a secret set and most of the people don’t see it, so we might be doing one in here. I’m just telling that one guy, ‘Don’t go back to the campground after the set.’ The rest of you didn’t hear that. It’s you in the white shirt. Shhh, don’t tell anybody, don’t go back to the campground after the set.”

The “secret set,” that unspoken certainty for nearly three decades, would take place right after this one—on the main stage, before midnight, with plenty of warning not to wander off and miss it.

The set itself echoed the “secret sets” of past fests, obscuring the band behind a new visual spectacle and allowing them to create from the background instead of the spotlight.

While Friday’s Mondegreen secret set started experimental and ambient per tradition, with Anastasio on acoustic guitar for a significant portion, it ended with the same sort of explosive rock improvisation that has made this summer one of the most talked-about Phish tours in recent memory.

Although Phish may have thrown secrecy to the wind for its 11th “secret set,” Phish fest secret sets have always been about more than just mystery: They’re an enduring, evolving example of this band going the extra mile to delight its adoring community of fans—and this time, everyone was included.

A surreal hush fell over the crowd as the Mondegreen secret set finally came to a close. The buzz that usually accompanies the trek out of a Phish show took a few long, lingering seconds to kick in as fans registered what they saw and realized they were now left without the slightest clue of what’s to come during the two long days still to follow at this festival.

So, what about tonight? What does Saturday night at the Phish fest look like when we already got the “big surprise” we all knew was coming on Friday?

The not-so-secret Mondegreen set dispensed with fans’ expectations and cleared the way for a more genuine air of mystery over the next two days. What’s in store is anyone’s guess, but it’s not an issue you should worry about: This is Phish. Festival Phish. Saturday night festival Phish. The famously not-very-secret “secret set” already happened, but with two days left, there’s surely more excitement in store—and, for the first time in forever… it’s actually a secret.

The only thing we know for sure, the thing we’ve known since the very first Phish fest, is that their intent is our delight—and this morning, Mondegreen is delighted.

See you out there.

P.S. Drink some water right now.

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Andrew O’Brien is the editor-in-chief of Live For Live Music. This summer, the Brooklyn-based journalist can’t decide if he’s more excited about Mondegreen or the rise of Chappell Roan. Read more of his writing, from Phish reviews to his latest feature, ‘On Tour With Eggy: Waiting Game,’ at liveforlivemusic.com and follow him on Instagram at @thenotoriousaob.