Gamehendge is the fictional setting for a number of songs by the rock bandPhish. Most of the songs can be traced back to The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday, the senior project of guitarist and primary vocalist Trey Anastasio, written while he attended Goddard College in 1987. The recording of TMWSIY has been heavily circulated among fans and is considered by some to be an unreleased Phish album. Outside of the songs from TMWSIY, there are numerous other songs set in the fictional universe of Gamehendge.
Story
The Gamehendge saga, as told on The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday album, tells the story of Colonel Forbin, a retired colonel from Long Island, New York, who enters the land of Gamehendge and rescues a document called the Helping Friendly Book from an evil dictator named Wilson.
Esther and Reba have also been mentioned as possible Gamehendge characters, especially Esther who Trey Anastasio has said hails from a part of Gamehendge. The "flying jam" in Esther also appears as the interlude between several of the TMWSIY songs lending said songs a thematic, musical link.
Character and location references
In the story, "Prussia" is a city that was constructed in the land of Gamehendge. In the song "Wilson," Anastasio refers to Wilson as the "King of Prussia." This lyric references an actual city named King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, which is where "the rhombus" was rumored to be located. Actually located near Anastasio's childhood home in Princeton, New Jersey, the rhombus is a giant piece of art located in a field where Anastasio, Phish lyricist Tom Marshall, and other friends would engage in lengthy songwriting sessions. "The Divided Sky" also references the rhombus, where the Lizards supposedly chant to the sky in praise of Icculus.
The Roger Holloway song "Mr. Richburg's Lullaby" also references more of Anastasio's friends, including Mike Christian, Holloway, and drummer Pete Cottone. Anastasio and Holloway perform the instrumental duet "Aftermath" on the very first Phish album, which also features Pete Cottone on drums for "Slave to the Traffic Light."
Dave Abrahms, an old friend and songwriting collaborator of Anastasio's, is referenced in "McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters."
Live performances
The songs from Gamehendge have been played many times throughout the career of Phish, sometimes with Anastasio narrating parts of the story to the audience. The earliest known performance of a Gamehendge song was "McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters" on , in Burlington, Vermont. On the following four occasions in the band's history, Phish performed a complete set of Gamehendge songs, complete with narration:
On , Phish played an almost complete Narration, leaving off "The Lizards". Each song list has been slightly different from one another. The 1994 shows were recorded in 24-track digital for, it is assumed, a CD-ROM project that was mentioned in a 1994 Doniac Schvice. The project has long since been shelved. Another common sequence at shows from 1988 to 1995, and less frequently after, was to play Colonel Forbin's Ascent segueing into Fly Famous Mockingbird, often with an Anastasio monologue sandwiched in between. When songs from the project are performed live, accompanying narration often details the transportation of the audience to Gamehendge. Some fans speak of "going to Gamehendge" with reference to attending a Phish concert. Some songs and narratives explain how to get to Gamehendge, as evident in live versions of "Kung," "Harpua," "N02," and "It's Ice."
