50 free Phish trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
44 free Phish trivia questions with answers. Phish have played thousands of shows without repeating a setlist, and their fans keep track of every one. This quiz is for those fans: forty-four questions on the band's start at the University of Vermont and Nectar's bar, the Gamehendge saga, Junta and You Enjoy Myself, the Elektra years and Down with Disease, the Clifford Ball and Big Cypress, the hiatus, Coventry, the Hampton reunion, the Baker's Dozen and the 2024 run at Sphere. Easy questions ask where the band formed and which ice cream carries their name; the hard ones want the year Page joined, the album that first charted, the fictional Scandinavian band from Halloween 2018 and how many songs were played across thirteen nights at Madison Square Garden. No lyrics quoted, just the history. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the band and its members, and each question carries the sentence that supports it.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Phish formed in 1983 in which city?
Burlington, Vermont
The founders met at the University of Vermont, and the city has stayed home base ever since.
Q 02Which original member left in 1986, leaving the lineup unchanged ever since?
Guitarist Jeff Holdsworth
He was one of the four founders alongside Anastasio, Gordon and Fishman.
Q 03In what year did keyboardist Page McConnell officially become a full-time member?
1985
He met the band by booking them for a spring concert at Goddard College earlier that year.
Q 04The band's name is a play on the nickname of which member?
Jon Fishman
The drummer is known simply as Fish; Anastasio drew the logo with the name inside a stylized fish.
Q 05Which Burlington bar became Phish's regular venue from late 1984?
Nectar's
The 1992 album A Picture of Nectar honours the owner, Nectar Rorris.
Q 06Who co-writes most of Phish's songs with Trey Anastasio?
Tom Marshall
The lyricist has been Anastasio's writing partner since their school days.
Q 07The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday began as Trey Anastasio's senior project at which school?
Goddard College
The nine-song concept album eventually grew by another eight songs.
Q 08On how many occasions has the band performed the full Gamehendge suite in concert?
Six
The performances came in 1988, 1991, 1993, twice in 1994, and then a long wait until 2023.
Q 09What was Phish's self-released debut studio album, sold on cassette at shows?
Junta
It contains the studio version of You Enjoy Myself, generally considered the band's signature song.
Q 10Which epic from the first album is considered the band's signature song?
'You Enjoy Myself'
Its multi-part structure and trampoline segment have made it a set centrepiece for decades.
Q 11Which major label signed Phish in 1991?
Elektra
A Picture of Nectar in 1992 was the first release for the label.
Q 12The 1993 album Rift featured a cover painted by whom?
David Welker
It was a concept album, the band's fourth.
Q 13Which song, from 1994's Hoist, was Phish's first to appear on a Billboard chart?
'Down with Disease'
It peaked at No. 33 on rock radio, and Mike Gordon directed the band's only official music video for it.
Q 14Which band member directed Phish's only official music video?
Q 21The New Year's Eve 1999 set that fans call 'The Show' started at 11:35 p.m. and ran roughly how long?
Eight hours
The band played straight through to sunrise on 1 January 2000.
Q 22Which 2000 single became the band's only song to be played on a mainstream pop radio format?
'Heavy Things'
It came from Farmhouse, released in May 2000 after Big Cypress.
Q 23Where did Anastasio announce the band's first hiatus to fans, during a September 2000 concert?
The Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas
The 'extended time-out' lasted until the band returned at the end of 2002.
Mike Gordon
The bassist is also a filmmaker, with the documentaries Rising Low and Outside Out to his name.
Q 15Which single from Billy Breathes was the band's most successful on the Billboard rock charts?
'Free'
It reached No. 24 on Modern Rock Tracks and No. 11 on Mainstream Rock.
Q 16Which company from the band's home state launched the ice cream flavour Phish Food?
Ben & Jerry's
It is the only time the band has licensed its name to a third party, and the proceeds go to their WaterWheel Foundation.
Q 17Proceeds from Phish Food go to which band charity?
The WaterWheel Foundation
The Mockingbird Foundation is a separate fan-run charity for music education.
Q 18Phish's first festival, The Clifford Ball in 1996, was held at a decommissioned what?
Air force base
The former Plattsburgh Air Force Base drew 70,000, the largest single US concert crowd of that year.
Q 19The Clifford Ball drew how many people, making it the largest single concert in the US in 1996?
70,000
It was also the biggest crowd Phish had ever played to at that point.
Q 20Phish's millennium festival was held on which reservation in Florida?
Big Cypress Seminole
The two-day event in December 1999 sold out with 75,000 people.
Q 24The 2004 farewell festival Coventry was named for a town in which state?
Vermont
The muddy August weekend was billed as the band's final performances.
Q 25Phish's 2009 reunion shows were held at which venue?
Hampton Coliseum
The three March concerts opened with 'Fluffhead', the first song back on stage.
Q 26What was the first song Phish played at the 2009 reunion?
'Fluffhead'
The choice delighted fans who had chanted for the song for years.
Q 27The 2017 'Baker's Dozen' residency at Madison Square Garden ran for how many nights?
Thirteen
Each night had a donut theme, and no song was repeated across the whole run.
Q 28How many different songs did Phish play across the Baker's Dozen without a single repeat?
237
The feat cemented the band's reputation for never playing the same show twice.
Q 29In 2023 Phish passed which artist for the second-most concerts at Madison Square Garden?
Elton John
Only Billy Joel, with his monthly residency, has played the Garden more.
Q 30For Halloween 1994, Phish's first 'musical costume' was which record, chosen by a mail-in fan poll?
The Beatles' White Album
They played it as the second of three sets at the Glens Falls Civic Center, and the tradition stuck.