While it might be a performance many wish to forget, 20 years ago today (8/15/04), Phish ended things (for the time) as the band broke up following the second of two shows at their own Coventry Festival in Coventry, Vermont. A muddy mess, with rather sloppy playing, the shows are regarded as a low point in Phish history and signaled reasons that at the time weren’t known to fans as to why the band had to step away. Five years later, though, Phish would return clean and focused and would kick off the 3.0 era that ushered in a new generation of fans and kept many 1.0 fans, further elevating their own show stats. Of course, the 3.0 music itself served itself as exemplary. As Phish kicks off a new festival called Mondegreen today, watch the four-piece blow off some steam at Coventry with a fiery “Split Open and Melt” (one of the better musical moments of that dire weekend)…
