How many times has Phish played Esther?

Phish has performed "Esther" 138 times since September 12, 1988.

What is the longest version of Esther by Phish?

The longest version of "Esther" was 11:41 long, performed at Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek in Raleigh, NC on June 18, 2011.

When was the last time Phish played Esther?

Phish last played "Esther" on April 23, 2026. The current gap is 5 shows.

When did Phish first play Esther?

"Esther" debuted on September 12, 1988 at Sam's Tavern in Burlington, VT.

What songs does Phish commonly play with Esther?

The songs most commonly played in the same show as "Esther" are: Mike's Song, You Enjoy Myself, Weekapaug Groove, Golgi Apparatus, Bouncing Around the Room.

FREQUENTLY ASKED

Common questions

← BACK·SONGS·Esther

LIVE · 138 PERFORMANCES

Phish original

Esther

138 performances since 1988, with 132 analyzed for jam quality. Best version scored 87 on 1993-02-21.

DEBUT · 1988-09-12 · Burlington·LAST · 2026-04-23 · Las Vegas·LONGEST GAP · 159 SHOWS

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

’88’90’95’00’05’10’15’20’25’26

BEST · 1993-02-21 · 87LONGEST · 11:41 · 2011-06-18SHORTEST · 1:34YEARS · 38

READOUT· PER-ERA BREAKDOWN132 OF 138 ANALYZED

v1.01983–2000 · 117 plays87

v2.02002–2004 · 0 plays—

v3.02009–2020 · 9 plays65

v4.02021–present · 11 plays65

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

TOP VERSIONS· 10 OF 132 · BY SCORE132 ANALYZED

#SCOREVENUEBREAKDOWNDATELENGTH

#0187#1 / 132Roxy TheatreAtlanta, GA · #13

1993-02-2110:43

#0284#2 / 132Congress CenterOttawa, Ontario · #6

1994-07-059:43

#0383#3 / 132The Coach HouseSan Juan Capistrano, CA · #15

1992-08-178:56

#0483#4 / 132Auditorium TheatreRochester, NY · #14

1993-02-0910:17

#0582#5 / 132Laguna Seca RacewayMonterey, CA · #9

1994-05-299:01

#0681#6 / 132Thomas & Mack CenterLas Vegas, NV · #1

2000-09-309:12

#0780#7 / 132GTE Virginia Beach AmphitheaterVirginia Beach, VA · #2

1998-08-099:20

#0880#8 / 132Plattsburgh Air Force BasePlattsburgh, NY · #3

1996-08-169:08

#0980#9 / 132Walnut Creek AmphitheaterRaleigh, NC · #5

1995-06-168:54

#1080#10 / 132The Fox TheatreAtlanta, GA · #10

1994-04-239:12

RECENT VERSIONS· LAST 5 PLAYED

#SCOREVENUEBREAKDOWNDATELENGTH

#0165#28 / 132SphereLas Vegas, NV

2026-04-2310:02

#0261#31 / 132Hampton ColiseumHampton, VA

2025-09-209:36

#0342#88 / 132Alpine Valley Music TheatreEast Troy, WI

2024-07-279:18

#0448#57 / 132Dick's Sporting Goods ParkCommerce City, CO

2023-09-019:04

#0542#91 / 132Ameris Bank AmphitheatreAlpharetta, GA

2023-07-159:25

INSTRUMENTATION· SONG-LEVEL STATS6 CHANNELS LIVE

PLAYS138

DEBUT1988

LAST2026

AVG LEN9:13

CHARTED23

GAP MAX159

CIRCULATION· WHEN IT GETS PLAYEDINPUT · SETLIST_ENTRIES.DATE

DENSITY · YEAR × MONTH1988–2026 · 73 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 MINUTE130 VERSIONS

102030405060705m10m

MEDIAN · 9:30PEAK · 9–10m (78)RANGE · 1–12m

AVERAGE · BY YEAR1988–2026

8:309:009:3010:00

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

SET MIX & ROLE138 PLAYS

SET 1 · 66%SET 2 · 31%

SET 1 91SET 2 43SET 3 1ENCORE 3

S1 OPEN1

S1 CLOSE0

S2 OPEN0

S2 CLOSE2

ENCORE2

POSITION & FLOWMEDIAN POS · 5

510152025

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

VENUES · BY PLAYSTOP 6

01The FrontBurlington · VT5 02Alpine Valley Music TheatreEast Troy · WI3 03Madison Square GardenNew York · NY3 04Somerville TheatreSomerville · MA3 05Dick's Sporting Goods ParkCommerce City · CO2 06The Agora TheatreCleveland · OH2

STATES · BY PLAYSTOP 6

01NY18 02CO

PAIRINGS· COMPANION SONGSINPUT · SHARED SHOWS + FREQUENCY MATCH

SAME SHOW · MOST OFTENTOP 9

01Mike's Song61 02You Enjoy Myself61 03Weekapaug Groove60 04Golgi Apparatus58 05Bouncing Around the Room57 06Divided Sky56 07Possum56 08I Am Hydrogen54 09Run Like an Antelope50

SIMILAR PLAY COUNT±20% RANGE · 8

Guyute

TOUR LOG· PER-TOUR BREAKDOWN40 TOURS · 138 PLAYS · 137 SHOWS

#TOURPLAYSSHOWSFIRST · LAST

011990 Tour3131Jan 20, 1990·Dec 29, 1990 021991 Winter/Spring Tour1313Feb 2, 1991·May 9, 1991 031989 Tour1212Feb 7, 1989·Dec 9, 1989 041993 Winter/Spring Tour1211Feb 9, 1993·May 3, 1993 051991 Fall Tour66Sep 27, 1991·Nov 21, 1991 061993 Summer Tour55Jul 18, 1993·Aug 26, 1993 071992 Spring Tour55Mar 17, 1992·May 7, 1992 081992 Fall Tour44Nov 19, 1992·Dec 11, 1992 091994 Spring Tour44Apr 10, 1994·May 29, 1994 101994 Fall Tour44Oct 10, 1994·Nov 25, 1994

RELATED· CHARTED · FOLLOWS · PRECEDED · VENUES

SONG ID · 311· DATA VERSION v3.2

SONG · CATALOG v3.2← CATALOG

Esther

Phish original·debuted 09.12.88·Sam's Tavern, Burlington

138 PLAYS·132 ANALYZED·3 ERASRARITY · COMMON

87BEST

BEST VERSION · OF 138

02.21.93Roxy

Atlanta, GA · 10:43

→

Year by year23 ACTIVE YEARS

BEST SCORE / YEAR · 1988–2026v3.2

1993 · 86.7

'88'97'07'16'26

MULTIPLESINGLEHIATUS / 0PEAK ≥ 90

BEST YEAR · 199317 VERS · BEST 86.7

By era4 ERAS · 137 PLAYS

1.0 · 1172.03.04.0

PHISH 1.01983–2000

PLAYS117

AVG · BEST52·87

BEST VERSION→

PHISH 2.02002–2004

PLAYS0

AVG · BEST—·—

PHISH 3.02009–2020

PLAYS9

AVG · BEST53·65

BEST VERSION→

PHISH 4.02021–present

PLAYS11

AVG · BEST48·65

BEST VERSION→

Versions132 TOTAL

RKSHOW · VENUE · CITYSETDURSCR

#01

02.21.93 Roxy · Atlanta, GACHARTED

—10:4387 #02

07.05.94 Congress · Ottawa, OntarioCHARTED

—9:4384 #03

08.17.92 The Coach House · San Juan Capistrano, CACHARTED

—8:5683 #04

02.09.93 Auditorium · Rochester, NYCHARTED

—10:1783 #05

05.29.94 Laguna Seca Raceway · Monterey, CACHARTED

—9:0182 #06

09.30.00 Thomas & Mack · Las Vegas, NVCHARTED

—9:1281 #07

08.09.98 GTE Virginia Beach · Virginia Beach, VACHARTED

—9:2080 #08

08.16.96 Plattsburgh Air Force · Plattsburgh, NYCHARTED

—9:0880 #09

06.16.95 Walnut Creek · Raleigh, NCCHARTED

—8:5480 #10

04.23.94 The Fox · Atlanta, GACHARTED

—9:1280

By the numbers8 STATS

TOTAL PLAYS138across 3 eras

ANALYZED13296% of all

AVG DURATION9:1323 charted

LONGEST11:4106.18.11 TIME WARNER CABLE MUSI

SHORTEST1:3401.26.90 TREE CAFE

LONGEST GAP159 SH.1998 → 2000

JAM CHART23CHARTED VERSIONS

DEBUT09.12.88BURLINGTON

When it gets playedCIRCULATION

DENSITY · YR×MO · 1988–2026138 PLAYS

JFMAMJJASOND

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

MAX · 8 /MO·TOTAL · 138

GAP · SHOWS BETWEEN PLAYS136 PERFS

LONGEST · 159 SH.·MEDIAN · 6 SH.

How long it runsDURATION

DISTRIBUTION · BY MINUTE130 VERSIONS

1m12m

MEDIAN · 9:30·PEAK · 9–10m

AVERAGE · BY YEAR1988–2026

SHORT · 8:45 · 1990·LONG · 11:41 · 2011

Where in the showTOPOLOGY

SET MIX138 PLAYS

S1 66%S2 31%

S1 OPEN1

S1 CLOSE0

S2 OPEN0

S2 CLOSE2

ENCORE2

POSITION IN SETPEAK · #6

#1#11

TRANSITION OUT138 PLAYS

26%72%

STOP · 36END · 2SEGUE · 99HARD · 1

Where & whenGEOGRAPHY

VENUES · BY PLAYSTOP 6

STATES · BY PLAYSTOP 6

NY18CO14VT12MA9CA8OH7

DAY OF WEEKPEAK · SAT

SUN18

MON10

TUE16

WED11

THU24

FRI24

SAT35

PLAY RATE · BY ERA% OF ERA SHOWS

v1.09.4%

v3.02.0%

v4.04.5%

Plays withPAIRINGS

SAME SHOW · MOST OFTENTOP 6

01Mike's Song61 02You Enjoy Myself61 03Weekapaug Groove60 04Golgi Apparatus58 05Bouncing Around the Room57 06Divided Sky56

SIMILAR PLAY COUNT±20% · 8

Guyute136 Fire138 Scent of a Mule138 Light135 Big Black Furry Creature from Mars134 The Wedge134 Birds of a Feather143 Fly Famous Mockingbird130

By tour40 TOURS

TOUR LOG · BY PLAYS138 TOTAL

011990 Tour1990 · 31 sh31 021991 Winter/Spring Tour1991 · 13 sh13 031989 Tour1989 · 12 sh12 041993 Winter/Spring Tour1993 · 11 sh12 051991 Fall Tour1991 · 6 sh6 061993 Summer Tour1993 · 5 sh5 071992 Spring Tour1992 · 5 sh5 081992 Fall Tour1992 · 4 sh4

Charted appearances23 TOTAL →

CHRT#1

09.30.00·Thomas & Mack · Las Vegas

"She's dead. She died." A flub paves the way for both lyrical and musical improvisation, and "Esther" truly goes for a ride. A feeling of warmth and mirth, as opposed to anger or frustration, informs…

→CHRT#2

08.09.98·GTE Virginia Beach · Virginia Beach

This very pretty and subdued version features notably strong playing from Trey and Page.

→CHRT#3

08.16.96·Plattsburgh Air Force · Plattsburgh

Classic "Clifford Ball" version featuring a totally relaxed vibe, glittering Page, and one of Trey's most memorable "Esther" solos.

→CHRT#4

08.12.96·Deer Creek Music · Noblesville

Exceptionally strong version featuring great solos and tight playing from all four musicians.

→CHRT#5

06.16.95·Walnut Creek · Raleigh

The watery sounds produced by Trey's use of the Leslie percoloate throughout this great version. Add fantastic Page and Fish, with his uncharacteristic rim shots, and an unusual and highly engaging co…

→

Often follows / sets up

OFTEN → AFTER ESTHERSWIPE →