The second Phamily Poker Classic is ON, right now, at Harvey's Resort and Casino. To celebrate, we're auctioning off nine (9) numbered and signed posters from the original event, last Halloween in Atlantic City.

These are beautiful 11x17 digital prints on 100lb felted cover, all hand drawn and hand done type, signed by fabulous artist Erin Cadigan, featuring a mockingbird dealing four Aces representing Phish's instruments, while the Phamily watches from the background, and a whirl pool of fish bones and eyeballs swirls about.

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One of the things that makes 3.0 feel like older Phish is that it's been evolving. Look back to the first era of Phish. We had the early years where no one knew how songs were going to go - "Fluffhead" and "The Divided Sky" took pieces from other songs to make their final versions - or even who was going to be in the band. Then we had the slow rise of the band as a touring outfit in the early 90s. This led to two distinct peaks in 95 and 97, revolving around different styles. The last thing that could be considered a change would be the addition of the Trey band songs and their groove based jams in 99. Since then Phish kind of felt like the same band. Sometimes they jammed more (2004), sometimes the songs were better played, but between 98 and 04, the change was pretty subtle. They played the same songs - with a large catalog, you couldn't take it over with new songs (giving a show a different feel) the way you could when the Rift songs came out - in the same venues in a fairly similar style. There was some truth to Trey's nostalgia band comments around the time of the breakup. It felt like there was no new direction to go.

That was a question for Phish’s return. Where – if anywhere – could they go to make music different from what they have done in the past? They took the Choose Your Own Adventure approach, retreating back to the last safe spot before all of the disasters happened. 2009 feels closer to 1992-3 stylistically than anything else. What’s been making it exciting is that the rules have been changing. Remastering the songs first led to subtle improvisational changes (e.g. the end of “Prince Caspian” being surprising in many 2010 versions) and then became the goofy mashup stylings of Fall 2010, where they could play two or three songs interlaced with each other.

We’re just getting used to Song Based Jamming, but the rules are changing again. In the four shows since Superball IX, two of them have featured a jam based on the style of the “Storage Jam.” It’s starting to look like that late night jam might be one of the defining moments of the band, along the lines of how playing Remain in Light started the cowfunk revolution. It’s a new style of playing, one that at least will define the end of summer 2011. Maybe it’ll be done before Colorado, maybe we’ll be hearing jams in this style in 2029. Right now we have absolutely no way of knowing; that by itself is incredibly exciting.

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Greetings from Stateline, Nevada. Phish just finished up a show in what really amounts to Phish Fantasy Camp. Fans not fortunate enough to be in Tahoe likely listened to the show via the livephish.com webcast. So, most people interested in reading this have likely experienced the show in one fashion or another. For the rest of you, there's the ten cent version (SPOILER ALERT): The first set will have little to offer you; the second set is must-hear Phish.

Don't get me wrong, the first set was an enjoyable set of Phish, made immeasurably better by the fact that it took place in one of the more beautiful stretches of land this country has to offer, hosted by a truly laid back staff. But that can't and won't be captured on the recordings. An apropos "Party Time" kicked off the festivities, followed by an "Oh Kee Pa" > "Bag." The set remained song oriented with "Mellow Mood," a tasty "PYITE" > "Meat" combo and the first real, if you'll excuse the pun, "meat" of the set in "Bowie." "Bowie" was similar to other recent versions in that it was well-played, particularly compared with earlier 3.0 versions, but never quite made it into the stratosphere. Several songs later, "46 Days" provided the highlight of the set.

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