Sculptor Lars Fisk has contributed his visionary artistry to Phish’s amazing one-band festivals, starting with the Clifford Ball, which set the whole ball rolling back in 1996. Fisk and Vermont builder extraordinaire Russ Bennett have served as co-creative directors of every Phish festival (except for 2009’s Festival 8, due to previous commitments).

Phish will close their 2011 Summer Tour with three consecutive nights at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, CO over Labor Day weekend (September 2, 3 and 4). Onsite camping will be available in the lush soccer fields adjacent to the stadium. Colorado was the site of Phish’s first extended tour outside of the Northeast, and the band has enjoyed a special connection with the community ever since. These additional dates will be the last announced by the band for the Summer and Fall.

Tickets for the recently added dates to Phish’s 2011 Summer Tour, including the band’s first concert at the Hollywood Bowl (returning to Los Angeles for the first time since 2003), and their concert debut in scenic Lake Tahoe, go on sale beginning tomorrow, Friday, April 29th at 10am, with remaining public on sales on Saturday.

We’ve announced additional dates to Phish’s 2011 Summer Tour, including the band’s first-ever concert at the Hollywood Bowl (and their first Los Angeles appearance since 2003), and their first shows in scenic Lake Tahoe. The band will also play in San Francisco at the Outside Land’s Music Festival in Golden Gate Park, two consecutive nights at The Gorge in George, WA and a three-night stand at Chicago’s UIC Pavilion.

On October 20th, 2010, Phish played their first ever show in Utica, NY in the heart of the Mohawk Valley. Utica Memorial Auditorium is a hockey arena with a capacity of only about 5,500 and a design very similar to another round room and favorite Empire State Phish venue, Madison Square Garden. On May 17th, 2011, Phish will release “Live In Utica”, a brand-new 2-DVD/2-CD Box Set from their October Utica show. It is available for pre-order now at Phish Dry Goods.

Sensational. Mind-blowing. Fantabulous. These are all words with the same amount of letters as SUPER BALL IX. It’s Phish’s biggest. Ball. Ever. So big we can’t. Contain it. In one sentence.

Super Ball IX, Phish’s ninth festival, will take place July 1-3 at Watkins Glen International. Located amidst the rolling hills of central New York’s Finger Lakes region, the site offers an abundance of campsites and is just a short drive from numerous Northeastern cities. Super Ball IX will mark Phish’s first-ever festival performance over July 4 weekend, and the first major music festival held at Watkins Glen since 1973’s legendary Summer Jam. It is also Phish’s first-ever performance at a facility with “Watkins” in its name.

Immediately following their 1999 U.S. Summer Tour, Phish traveled abroad for their first ever shows in Japan. Fuji Rock Festival took place on multiple stages and the festival had specially designed the “Field Of Heaven” stage for Phish to play three consecutive nights of complete, two-set headline shows.

In response to the recent Earthquake and Tsunami that the northeastern part of this country has endured, we’re releasing Japan Relief at LivePhish.com and Phish Dry Goods to benefit Peace Winds America. 100% of the funds they collect for disaster relief will go to support operations through their sister organization, Peace Winds Japan. Relief operations began March 15th and are currently underway in Miyagi Prefecture, where Peace Winds is on the ground providing food, clothing, medicines and temporary shelter to survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.

Mike Gordon’s St. Patrick’s Day show with Galactic at the Pageant in St. Louis, MO Thursday March 17th, will stream LIVE in its entirety, absolutely free at iClips.net. Following Mike’s set, Galactic will be joined by Cyril Neville of the Neville Brothers and Corey Henry from the Rebirth Brass Band. Stay tuned to mike-gordon.com for more details including set times and more.

I had three drum lessons when I was 13 to learn how to read from a guy named Dave Hanlon in Syracuse. The only other lessons I’ve ever had were from Joe, and they were 15 years apart. I went to him in ’09 for the second one. I kind of knew this was coming after leaving that lesson. I’m very sad about this. My entire rudimentary practice routine has come from him. The last lesson I had with him was basically a confirmation that everything he had told me 15 years earlier was right and that I should stay on that track.

LivePhish.com is offering TEN complete show downloads from Trey’s recent Acoustic/Electric Winter Tour, including the recently added double-header in Denver, Hollywood and Oakland. All are fully mixed from the band’s original live multi-track recordings.

Tickets go on sale to the general public beginning tomorrow Friday, March 11th at 10am EST, with additional public onsales on Saturday.

Mike’s 2011 March Tour begins tomorrow, March 5th, in Eugene, Oregon. To commemorate the start of the tour, we’ve released Mike’s 11/16/2010 show from the Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis, MN as a FREE DOWNLOAD at LivePhish.com.