Phish summer tour arrives at SPAC for 3 days

PHOTOGRAPHER: Peter R. Barber

Trey Anastasio and Phish perform last summer at SPAC.

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Saratoga gears up for annual Phish visit

Local music fans will get fresh Phish this weekend.

The celebrated jam band began its summer tour on Tuesday, in Massachusetts. So when the guys play their second, third and fourth tour shows at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center tonight, Friday and Saturday, the party will still be brand new.

Phish aficionados looking for sound advice from Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, Jon Fishman and the rest of the team can also expect musical fireworks to celebrate the Fourth of July weekend.

Hot weather is also expected for this hot ticket — temperatures will be in the 80s all three days.

But Phish folks and performers are a hardy breed.

For concert info, go to spac.org.

10 cool things about the cool band and its cool phans

— Phish will offer a live webcast of the three-night run in Saratoga Performing Arts Center, with a 10-camera shoot with high-quality audio mixed live. The HD webcast will cost $53.97 for all three nights, or $19.99 per show.

— Phishmen and women love the SPAC balcony. “The balcony bounces,” one fan wrote online. “Yes, it seriously bounces when everyone dances . . . and it is awesome. I am now a believer.”

— Phish has been animated on “The Simpsons.”

— Phish musicians have jumped on trampolines, played vacuum cleaners and staged elaborate pranks during New Year’s Eve shows.

— Ben & Jerry’s “Phish Food” ice cream is a mix of chocolate ice cream, fudge and marshmallow and caramel swirls.

— The latest Phish album — “Fuego” — was released June 24. It’s the 12th album, and follows 2009’s “Joy.”

— Dedicated Phish fans celebrate their 100th shows with T-shirts and stickers.

— Phish performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the 2004 America East basketball championship game between Vermont and Maine — Trey, Mike, Jon and former guitarist Jeff Holdsworth formed the band at the University of Vermont in 1983.

— When Phish performed on “The Late Show With David Letterman” on June 24, it marked the eighth time the guys had visited Dave.

— The band has never played the same set twice.