Fuego, Phish’s first studio album in nearly five years, will be released by JEMP Records on June 24 – and the band will celebrate with a performance that evening on “Late Show with David Letterman.” Phish recorded the album with legendary producer Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel) last fall, as the band’s 30th anniversary approached.
Today NPR Music’s “All Songs Considered” premieres “Waiting All Night,” one of the album’s 10 original tracks, at http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2014/05/14/312209498/hear-a-song-from-fuego-the-first-new-phish-album-in-five-years. Fuego is available for pre-order now in digital, CD and vinyl formats at http://phish.com. The iTunes album pre-order will launch tomorrow, May 15. Fans who pre-order Fuego at phish.com or on the iTunes Store will instantly receive a download of “Waiting All Night.”
The songs for Fuego took shape during a series of visits to Phish’s longtime creative hub, The Barn, a rustic, reconstructed barn-turned-rehearsal/recording studio located outside Burlington, Vermont. There they explored dozens of ideas, which led to a notable shift in the band’s songwriting approach. While Fuego includes tracks that individual members brought to the table in usual Phish fashion, the bulk of the material was written by all four, working together at The Barn.
Before heading into the recording studio with producer Bob Ezrin, Phish took the new music to its fans on October 31, 2013. Breaking with the band’s Halloween tradition of donning a “musical costume” and covering another artist’s album in its entirety, Phish instead played their brand new album (as it then stood). In a live review of the show, which was the first of three sold-out nights at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ, Rolling Stone praised the set of brand new songs, observing that it was “packed with all the punches you would expect from Phish – cow funk, prog rock, arena rock, roots rock – and elements that span the history of [rock] & roll at large…”
“For years, there’s been a distinct difference between how we did things live and how we did them in studio,” notes Jon Fishman. “But the way we go about things live, the way the musical ball is passed around, is now happening much more in the studio-not because we’re trying to duplicate how we play on stage, just because this is how we operate as a band, period.”
Fuego was recorded at Ronnie’s Place and Anarchy Studios in Nashville, TN, Fame Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, AL and at The Barn in Vermont. A variety of background vocalists and horn players contributed to the album. The title track was recorded at Boardwalk Hall on October 30, as Phish prepared for the Halloween show.
Phish – named by Rolling Stone as one of the “50 Greatest Live Acts Right Now” – will kick off its 2014 summer tour on July 1 at XFINITY Center in Mansfield, MA and celebrate the Fourth of July with a three-night stand at Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, NY (July 3-5). There will be numerous waterside dates – including the band’s first shows on New York City’s Randall’s Island (July 11-13) and at The Amphitheater at the Wharf in Orange Beach, AL (August 1) – and a return to Chicago’s Northerly Island (July 18-20). For the fourth consecutive year, Phish will wrap up its summer outing with a trio of Labor Day weekend shows at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, CO (8/29 – 8/31). Ticket prices for each specific date on the tour will include a free MP3 download of the evening’s entire show (a fully mixed soundboard recording) that can be redeemed at www.LivePhish.com shortly after the band steps off stage. See below for a complete itinerary and visithttp://phish.com for additional details.
Fuego – Track Listing
- Fuego
- The Line
- Devotion To A Dream
- Halfway To The Moon
- Winterqueen
- Sing Monica
- 555
- Waiting All Night
- Wombat
- Wingsuit
Phish – Upcoming Tour Dates
Date City/State Venue
7/1 Mansfield, MA XFINITY Center
7/3 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
7/4 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
7/5 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
7/8 Philadelphia, PA The Mann
7/9 Philadelphia, PA The Mann
7/11 New York, NY Randall’s Island
7/12 New York, NY Randall’s Island
7/13 New York, NY Randall’s Island
7/15 Canandaigua, NY CMAC
7/16 Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
7/18 Chicago, IL FirstMerit Bank Pavilion on Northerly Island
7/19 Chicago, IL FirstMerit Bank Pavilion on Northerly Island
7/20 Chicago, IL FirstMerit Bank Pavilion on Northerly Island
7/25 Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion
7/26 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
7/27 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
7/29 Portsmouth, VA nTelos Wireless Pavilion
7/30 Portsmouth, VA nTelos Wireless Pavilion
8/1 Orange Beach, AL The Amphitheater at the Wharf
8/2 Birmingham, AL Oak Mountain Amphitheatre
8/3 Alpharetta, GA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park
8/29 Commerce City, CO Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
8/30 Commerce City, CO Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
8/31 Commerce City, CO Dick’s Sporting Goods Park