How many times has Phish played Colonel Forbin's Ascent?

Phish has performed "Colonel Forbin's Ascent" 130 times since March 12, 1988.

What is the longest version of Colonel Forbin's Ascent by Phish?

The longest version of "Colonel Forbin's Ascent" was 20:37 long, performed at Mississippi Nights in St. Louis, MO on December 4, 1992.

When was the last time Phish played Colonel Forbin's Ascent?

Phish last played "Colonel Forbin's Ascent" on April 18, 2026. The current gap is 6 shows.

When did Phish first play Colonel Forbin's Ascent?

"Colonel Forbin's Ascent" debuted on March 12, 1988 at Nectar's in Burlington, VT.

What songs does Phish commonly play with Colonel Forbin's Ascent?

The songs most commonly played in the same show as "Colonel Forbin's Ascent" are: Fly Famous Mockingbird, Possum, You Enjoy Myself, Golgi Apparatus, Mike's Song.

← BACK·SONGS·Colonel Forbin's Ascent

LIVE · 130 PERFORMANCES

Phish original

Colonel Forbin's Ascent

130 performances since 1988, with 110 analyzed for jam quality. Best version scored 70 on 2011-07-03.

DEBUT · 1988-03-12 · Burlington·LAST · 2026-04-18 · Las Vegas·LONGEST GAP · 161 SHOWS

DISPLAY· VERSION TIMELINE · 1988–2026INPUT · TRACK_FEATURES.SCORE_BY_YEAR

’88’90’95’00’05’10’15’20’25’26

BEST · 2011-07-03 · 70LONGEST · 20:37 · 1992-12-04SHORTEST · 0:44YEARS · 38

READOUT· PER-ERA BREAKDOWN110 OF 130 ANALYZED

v1.01983–2000 · 116 plays70

v2.02002–2004 · 0 plays—

v3.02009–2020 · 8 plays70

v4.02021–present · 3 plays66

BARS REPRESENT THE BEST-SCORING VERSION IN EACH ERAOPEN METHODOLOGY →

TOP VERSIONS· 10 OF 110 · BY SCORE110 ANALYZED

#SCOREVENUEBREAKDOWNDATELENGTH

#0170#1 / 110Watkins Glen InternationalWatkins Glen, NY

2011-07-0311:42

#0270#2 / 110Thomas & Mack CenterLas Vegas, NV

2000-09-3014:22

#0366#3 / 110Lisner Auditorium, George Washington UniversityWashington, DC

1993-02-0714:16

#0466#4 / 110SphereLas Vegas, NV

2026-04-185:49

#0564#5 / 110Matthews Arena, Northeastern UniversityBoston, MA

1992-12-3113:37

#0664#6 / 110Newport Music HallColumbus, OH

1993-04-2113:09

#0764#7 / 110Mississippi NightsSt. Louis, MO

1992-12-0420:37

#0863#8 / 110University of VermontBurlington, VT

1988-04-227:03

#0963#9 / 110Snively Arena, University of New HampshireDurham, NH

1994-04-1112:03

#1062#10 / 110The Capitol TheatrePort Chester, NY

1992-11-2713:14

RECENT VERSIONS· LAST 5 PLAYED

#SCOREVENUEBREAKDOWNDATELENGTH

#0166#4 / 110SphereLas Vegas, NV

2026-04-185:49

#0249#48 / 110Madison Square GardenNew York, NY

2023-12-319:04

#0358#21 / 110Shoreline AmphitheatreMountain View, CA

2021-08-317:47

#0451#35 / 110Madison Square GardenNew York, NY

2017-07-3011:05

#0552#34 / 110Alpine Valley Music TheatreEast Troy, WI

2015-08-095:55

INSTRUMENTATION· SONG-LEVEL STATS6 CHANNELS LIVE

PLAYS130

DEBUT1988

LAST2026

AVG LEN8:28

CHARTED0

GAP MAX161

CIRCULATION· WHEN IT GETS PLAYEDINPUT · SETLIST_ENTRIES.DATE

DENSITY · YEAR × MONTH1988–2026 · 70 ACTIVE MONTHS

JANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDEC

'88'89'90'91'92'93'94'95'96'97'98'99'00'01'02'03'04'05'06'07'08'09'10'11'12'13'14'15'16'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25'26

DURATION· LENGTH SHAPEINPUT · TRACKS.DURATION + SETLIST_ENTRIES.DURATION

DISTRIBUTION · BY MINUTE110 VERSIONS

5101520250m5m10m15m20m

TOPOLOGY· WHERE IN THE SHOWINPUT · SETLIST_ENTRIES.SET + .POSITION + .TRANSITION

SET MIX & ROLE130 PLAYS

SET 1 · 74%SET 2 · 25%

SET 1 96SET 2 32SET 3 2

S1 OPEN3

S1 CLOSE0

S2 OPEN2

S2 CLOSE1

ENCORE0

POSITION & FLOWMEDIAN POS · 5

51015

GEOGRAPHY· PLACE & TIMINGINPUT · SHOWS.VENUE + .STATE + .DATE

VENUES · BY PLAYSTOP 6

01The FrontBurlington · VT10 02Nectar'sBurlington · VT6 03Madison Square GardenNew York · NY4 04Old Stone ChurchNewmarket · NH4 05The ChancePoughkeepsie · NY3 06Darien Lake Performing Arts CenterDarien Center · NY2

STATES · BY PLAYSTOP 6

01VT23 02NY21

PAIRINGS· COMPANION SONGSINPUT · SHARED SHOWS + FREQUENCY MATCH

SAME SHOW · MOST OFTENTOP 9

01Fly Famous Mockingbird128 02Possum65 03You Enjoy Myself64 04Golgi Apparatus55 05Mike's Song54 06David Bowie53 07Weekapaug Groove51 08Divided Sky46 09Suzy Greenberg43

SIMILAR PLAY COUNT±20% RANGE · 8

Fly Famous Mockingbird

TOUR LOG· PER-TOUR BREAKDOWN33 TOURS · 130 PLAYS · 129 SHOWS

#TOURPLAYSSHOWSFIRST · LAST

011989 Tour1919Jan 26, 1989·Nov 30, 1989 021988 Tour1918Mar 12, 1988·Dec 17, 1988 031990 Tour1414Jan 28, 1990·Dec 28, 1990 041993 Winter/Spring Tour1212Feb 7, 1993·May 3, 1993 051991 Winter/Spring Tour1010Feb 8, 1991·May 16, 1991 061992 Spring Tour99Mar 19, 1992·May 17, 1992 071991 Fall Tour77Sep 30, 1991·Dec 7, 1991 081994 Fall Tour55Oct 14, 1994·Nov 30, 1994 091992 Fall Tour44Nov 21, 1992·Dec 8, 1992 101994 Spring Tour33Apr 11, 1994·May 25, 1994

RELATED· CHARTED · FOLLOWS · PRECEDED · VENUES

SONG ID · 274· DATA VERSION v3.2

SONG · CATALOG v3.2← CATALOG

Colonel Forbin's Ascent

Phish original·debuted 03.12.88·Nectar's, Burlington

130 PLAYS·110 ANALYZED·3 ERASRARITY · COMMON

70BEST

BEST VERSION · OF 130

07.03.11Watkins Glen Internati

Watkins Glen, NY · 11:42

→

Year by year21 ACTIVE YEARS

BEST SCORE / YEAR · 1988–2026v3.2

2011 · 69.7

'88'97'07'16'26

MULTIPLESINGLEHIATUS / 0PEAK ≥ 90

BEST YEAR · 20113 VERS · BEST 69.7

By era4 ERAS · 127 PLAYS

1.0 · 1162.03.04.0

PHISH 1.01983–2000

PLAYS116

AVG · BEST46·70

BEST VERSION→

PHISH 2.02002–2004

PLAYS0

AVG · BEST—·—

PHISH 3.02009–2020

PLAYS8

AVG · BEST48·70

BEST VERSION→

PHISH 4.02021–present

PLAYS3

AVG · BEST57·66

BEST VERSION→

Versions110 TOTAL

RKSHOW · VENUE · CITYSETDURSCR

#01

07.03.11 Watkins Glen Internati · Watkins Glen, NY

—11:4270 #02

09.30.00 Thomas & Mack · Las Vegas, NV

—14:2270 #03

02.07.93 Lisner Auditorium, Geo · Washington, DC

—14:1666 #04

04.18.26 Sphere · Las Vegas, NV

—5:4966 #05

12.31.92 Matthews Arena, Northe · Boston, MA

—13:3764 #06

04.21.93 Newport Music Hall · Columbus, OH

—13:0964 #07

12.04.92 Mississippi Nights · St. Louis, MO

—20:3764 #08

04.22.88 University of Vermont · Burlington, VT

—7:0363 #09

04.11.94 Snively Arena, Univers · Durham, NH

—12:0363 #10

11.27.92 The Capitol · Port Chester, NY

—13:1462

By the numbers8 STATS

TOTAL PLAYS130across 3 eras

ANALYZED11085% of all

AVG DURATION8:28duration

LONGEST20:3712.04.92 MISSISSIPPI NIGHTS

SHORTEST0:4403.22.88 NECTAR'S

LONGEST GAP161 SH.1998 → 2000

JAM CHART0none

DEBUT03.12.88BURLINGTON

When it gets playedCIRCULATION

DENSITY · YR×MO · 1988–2026130 PLAYS

JFMAMJJASOND

'88'93'98'03'08'13'18'23'26

MAX · 6 /MO·TOTAL · 130

GAP · SHOWS BETWEEN PLAYS128 PERFS

LONGEST · 161 SH.·MEDIAN · 6 SH.

How long it runsDURATION

DISTRIBUTION · BY MINUTE110 VERSIONS

0m21m

MEDIAN · 7:30·PEAK · 5–6m

AVERAGE · BY YEAR1988–2026

SHORT · 5:32 · 2013·LONG · 14:22 · 2000

Where in the showTOPOLOGY

SET MIX130 PLAYS

S1 74%S2 25%

S1 OPEN3

S1 CLOSE0

S2 OPEN2

S2 CLOSE1

ENCORE0

POSITION IN SETPEAK · #6

#1#13

TRANSITION OUT130 PLAYS

99%

END · 1SEGUE · 129

Where & whenGEOGRAPHY

VENUES · BY PLAYSTOP 6

01The FrontBurlington · VT10 02Nectar'sBurlington · VT6 03Madison Square GardenNew York · NY4 04Old Stone ChurchNewmarket · NH4 05The ChancePoughkeepsie · NY3

STATES · BY PLAYSTOP 6

VT23NY21CO11MA10NH9CA8

DAY OF WEEKPEAK · FRI

SUN24

MON13

TUE10

WED9

THU24

FRI29

SAT21

PLAY RATE · BY ERA% OF ERA SHOWS

v1.09.5%

v3.01.8%

v4.01.2%

Plays withPAIRINGS

SAME SHOW · MOST OFTENTOP 6

01Fly Famous Mockingbird128 02Possum65 03You Enjoy Myself64 04Golgi Apparatus55 05Mike's Song54 06David Bowie53

SIMILAR PLAY COUNT±20% · 8

Fly Famous Mockingbird130 Gumbo127 Kill Devil Falls125 Big Black Furry Creature from Mars134 The Wedge134 The Curtain123 Light135 McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters123

By tour33 TOURS

TOUR LOG · BY PLAYS130 TOTAL

011989 Tour1989 · 19 sh19 021988 Tour1988 · 18 sh19 031990 Tour1990 · 14 sh14 041993 Winter/Spring Tour1993 · 12 sh12 051991 Winter/Spring Tour1991 · 10 sh10 061992 Spring Tour1992 · 9 sh9 071991 Fall Tour1991 · 7 sh7 081994 Fall Tour1994 · 5 sh5

Often follows / sets up

OFTEN → AFTER COLONEL FORBIN'S ASCENTSWIPE →

99.22%Fly Famous Mockingbird128× →→0.78%Icculus1× →→

OFTEN ← BEFORE COLONEL FORBIN'S ASCENTSWIPE →

24.44%Maze11× ←→22.22%Llama10× ←→20%AC/DC Bag9× ←→11.11%Possum5× ←→

Top venues4 OF MANY

BY PLAY COUNT · AVG SCORE PIPEDSWIPE →

The ChancePOUGHKEEPSIE, NY

PLAYSAVG354

54 Madison Square GardenNEW YORK, NY

PLAYSAVG449

49 Nectar'sBURLINGTON, VT

PLAYSAVG546

46 Old Stone ChurchNEWMARKET, NH

PLAYSAVG442

SONG ●/songs/colonel-forbins-ascentSETLIST APPS →phish.net source METHOD →/methodology CATALOG →/songs index

FOUL DOMAIN/songs/colonel-forbins-as · v3.2

FOUL DOMAIN · INDEPENDENT · NOT AFFILIATED WITH PHISH

Common questions

Colonel Forbin's Ascent

Colonel Forbin's Ascent