Secret Language

If you’ve been to a Phish concert then you surely know how to follow instructions, in communicating with their audiences Phish developed a secret language that most Phish fans have become fluent in. It may be useful if you end up being lucky enough to go to a Phish show, here is a list of that dialect in no particular order:

  • “The Simpsons”- Trey plays a few notes from The Simpsons theme song and the entire audience screams “D’Oh”


  • “Eggplant”- When Trey Raises his arms and then drops them the audience screams – “Eggplant”
  • “Mass Hysteria” If trey holds a sign that says “Mass Hysteria” the audience screams from the top of their lungs
  • “One clap”- Trey raises a sign that says “One Clap;” raises his arm and as he drops it the audience claps in unison.
  • “Yay/ Boo” Trey raises a sign that says “Yay/ Boo” and if he points up to the sky the audience says “yay” or down for “boo”
  • “Lip Flop”- Humming and flopping lips in unison with the audience
  • “Whistle” – everyone whistles a random note
  • “Snap”- you get the idea…
  • “Foot Stomp”- pretty self explanatory…

Heard of any other sayings? Share them in the comments sections.

Concert Eccentricities

Summing up all of the little quirks during a Phish performance would be pretty time consuming, here are the most memorable ones I could think of:

  • Trampolines- Trey and Mike would bounce on trampolines during particularly crazy jams and in time with the music. Really entertaining when songs are complex. Such songs that were bounced to include YEM (You Enjoy Myself) and Antelope (seems fitting).


  • Rubber Chickens- Usually thrown around by the Dude of Life, multiple rubber chickens were flung into the audience with sayings inscribed on their bellies by the band mates. If you were lucky enough to catch one of these avian elastics, tell me your story in the comments section below.
  • Chess- During Phish’s 1995 tour Phish would play the audience in a game of chess (one pair of moves per tour date) through audience polling- apparently Phish took their moves very seriously and referenced strategy guides regularly.
  • Big Ball Jam- All four Phish members would throw a huge beach ball into the audience and play a different note each time the ball was hit. Apparently this cacophony sounded pretty cool at some points…

  • The Rotation Jam- Band members would rotate their instruments  to the left at timed intervals during a performance.

During Festivals

  • Flatbed Truck- Phish rode through the campsite of The Clifford Ball on a flatbed truck performing music until sunrise.
  • Fan Art- During The Great Went, Phish encouraged fans to create their own art; the art was then collected and attached to a tower that was burned down at the end of the festival.
  • Candles- During Lemonwheel, audience members made candles that eventually lined the stage and were lit for an ambient jam.
  • “Meatstick” dance- The Guinness Book of World Records was on hand to tabulate the largest number of people doing the same dance at the same time during “Meatstick” the record wasn’t broken.
  • Glow stick War- At Coventry thousands of fans bought glow sticks and had an all out (painful) glow stick throwing war (see video at the end of the Phish Festivals page.)

Now I could go on about all of the Phish concerts I’ve been to, but unfortunately I do have a nine to five and I’m sure you don’t want to sit here forever as I could probably make a website for each show. Being a seasoned festival-goer myself I have experienced my fair share of camp outs to see performers I’ve loved, I’ve been to most of the major Phish Festivals and lived to tell my tale…