How many times has Phish played When the Circus Comes?

Phish has performed "When the Circus Comes" 76 times since February 13, 1997.

What is the longest version of When the Circus Comes by Phish?

The longest version of "When the Circus Comes" was 7:10 long, performed at South Park Meadows in Austin, TX on July 25, 1998.

When was the last time Phish played When the Circus Comes?

Phish last played "When the Circus Comes" on July 11, 2025. The current gap is 38 shows.

When did Phish first play When the Circus Comes?

"When the Circus Comes" debuted on February 13, 1997 at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London.

What songs does Phish commonly play with When the Circus Comes?

The songs most commonly played in the same show as "When the Circus Comes" are: Piper, Run Like an Antelope, Chalk Dust Torture, Mike's Song, Down with Disease.

← BACK·SONGS·When the Circus Comes

LIVE · 76 PERFORMANCES

Phish cover · Los Lobos

When the Circus Comes

76 performances since 1997, with 75 analyzed for jam quality. Best version scored 75 on 2014-10-21.

DEBUT · 1997-02-13 · London·LAST · 2025-07-11 · North Charleston·LONGEST GAP · 56 SHOWS

DISPLAY· VERSION TIMELINE · 1997–2025INPUT · TRACK_FEATURES.SCORE_BY_YEAR

’97’00’05’10’15’20’25

BEST · 2014-10-21 · 75LONGEST · 7:10 · 1998-07-25SHORTEST · 4:17YEARS · 28

READOUT· PER-ERA BREAKDOWN75 OF 76 ANALYZED

v1.01983–2000 · 42 plays69

v2.02002–2004 · 1 play36

v3.02009–2020 · 24 plays75

v4.02021–present · 9 plays60

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

TOP VERSIONS· 10 OF 75 · BY SCORE75 ANALYZED

#SCOREVENUEBREAKDOWNDATELENGTH

#0175#1 / 75Santa Barbara BowlSanta Barbara, CA

2014-10-217:09

#0269#2 / 75South Park MeadowsAustin, TX

1998-07-257:10

#0366#3 / 75Gorge AmphitheatreGeorge, WA

1999-09-116:16

#0464#4 / 75ZelesteBarcelona

1998-07-095:15

#0563#5 / 75Ascend AmphitheaterNashville, TN

2018-10-234:47

#0663#6 / 75Star Lake AmphitheatreBurgettstown, PA

1998-08-115:32

#0761#7 / 75Nassau Veterans Memorial ColiseumUniondale, NY

1999-10-075:40

#0861#8 / 75Empire Polo ClubIndio, CA

2009-10-316:03

#0960#9 / 75Madison Square GardenNew York, NY

2017-08-015:12

#1060#10 / 75Madison Square GardenNew York, NY

1998-12-286:32

RECENT VERSIONS· LAST 5 PLAYED

#SCOREVENUEBREAKDOWNDATELENGTH

#0160#11 / 75North Charleston ColiseumNorth Charleston, SC

2025-07-115:08

#0241#58 / 75Xfinity CenterMansfield, MA

2024-07-204:40

#03—Moon PalaceCancun, Quintana Roo

2024-02-235:01

#0460#12 / 75Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront ParkWilmington, NC

2023-07-195:01

#0550#39 / 75Climate Pledge ArenaSeattle, WA

2023-04-154:53

INSTRUMENTATION· SONG-LEVEL STATS6 CHANNELS LIVE

PLAYS76

DEBUT1997

LAST2025

AVG LEN5:17

CHARTED0

GAP MAX56

CIRCULATION· WHEN IT GETS PLAYEDINPUT · SETLIST_ENTRIES.DATE

DENSITY · YEAR × MONTH1997–2025 · 51 ACTIVE MONTHS

JANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDEC

'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

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

DISTRIBUTION · BY MINUTE76 VERSIONS

10203040505m

MEDIAN · 5:30PEAK · 5–6m (50)RANGE · 4–8m

AVERAGE · BY YEAR1997–2025

4:305:005:306:006:30

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

SET MIX & ROLE76 PLAYS

SET 1 · 43%SET 2 · 36%ENCORE · 18%

SET 1 33SET 2 27SET 3 2ENCORE 14

S1 OPEN0

S1 CLOSE0

S2 OPEN0

S2 CLOSE0

ENCORE15

POSITION & FLOWMEDIAN POS · 5

51015

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

VENUES · BY PLAYSTOP 6

01Ascend AmphitheaterNashville · TN3 02Madison Square GardenNew York · NY3 03Bill Graham Civic AuditoriumSan Francisco · CA3 04Alpine Valley Music TheatreEast Troy · WI3 05Shoreline AmphitheatreMountain View · CA3 06Watkins Glen InternationalWatkins Glen · NY2

STATES · BY PLAYSTOP 6

01NY10 02

PAIRINGS· COMPANION SONGSINPUT · SHARED SHOWS + FREQUENCY MATCH

SAME SHOW · MOST OFTENTOP 9

01Piper25 02Run Like an Antelope24 03Chalk Dust Torture23 04Mike's Song23 05Down with Disease22 06Harry Hood22 07Weekapaug Groove22 08Wolfman's Brother20 09Ghost18

SIMILAR PLAY COUNT±20% RANGE · 8

Nellie Kane76

TOUR LOG· PER-TOUR BREAKDOWN45 TOURS · 76 PLAYS · 76 SHOWS

#TOURPLAYSSHOWSFIRST · LAST

011998 Summer U.S. Tour55Jul 16, 1998·Aug 16, 1998 02Not Part of a Tour44Dec 30, 1999·Jul 2, 2011 031997 Summer U.S. Tour44Jul 22, 1997·Aug 17, 1997 041997 Winter European Tour44Feb 13, 1997·Feb 22, 1997 051999 Winter Tour33Dec 4, 1999·Dec 17, 1999 062000 Fall Tour33Sep 15, 2000·Oct 1, 2000 071997 Summer European Tour33Jun 14, 1997·Jul 1, 1997 081999 Fall Tour33Sep 11, 1999·Oct 7, 1999 091999 Summer U.S. Tour33Jul 3, 1999·Jul 21, 1999 101997 Fall Tour (a.k.a. Phish Destroys America)33Nov 17, 1997·Dec 13, 1997

RELATED· CHARTED · FOLLOWS · PRECEDED · VENUES

SONG ID · 1564· DATA VERSION v3.2

SONG · CATALOG v3.2← CATALOG

When the Circus Comes

Cover of Los Lobos·debuted 02.13.97·Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

76 PLAYS·75 ANALYZED·4 ERASRARITY · UNCOMMON

75BEST

BEST VERSION · OF 76

10.21.14Santa Barbara Bowl

Santa Barbara, CA · 7:09

→

Year by year21 ACTIVE YEARS

BEST SCORE / YEAR · 1997–2026v3.2

2014 · 74.8

'97'04'11'18'26

MULTIPLESINGLEHIATUS / 0PEAK ≥ 90

BEST YEAR · 20142 VERS · BEST 74.8

By era4 ERAS · 76 PLAYS

1.0 · 422.03.04.0

PHISH 1.01983–2000

PLAYS42

AVG · BEST49·69

BEST VERSION→

PHISH 2.02002–2004

PLAYS1

AVG · BEST36·36

BEST VERSION→

PHISH 3.02009–2020

PLAYS24

AVG · BEST51·75

BEST VERSION→

PHISH 4.02021–present

PLAYS9

AVG · BEST50·60

BEST VERSION→

Versions75 TOTAL

RKSHOW · VENUE · CITYSETDURSCR

#01

10.21.14 Santa Barbara Bowl · Santa Barbara, CA

—7:0975 #02

07.25.98 South Park Meadows · Austin, TX

—7:1069 #03

09.11.99 Gorge · George, WA

—6:1666 #04

07.09.98 Zeleste · Barcelona

—5:1564 #05

10.23.18 Ascend · Nashville, TN

—4:4763 #06

08.11.98 Star Lake · Burgettstown, PA

—5:3263 #07

10.07.99 Nassau Veterans Memori · Uniondale, NY

—5:4061 #08

10.31.09 Empire Polo Club · Indio, CA

—6:0361 #09

08.01.17 Madison Square Garden · New York, NY

—5:1260 #10

12.28.98 Madison Square Garden · New York, NY

—6:3260

By the numbers8 STATS

TOTAL PLAYS76across 4 eras

ANALYZED7599% of all

AVG DURATION5:17duration

LONGEST7:1007.25.98 SOUTH PARK MEADOWS

SHORTEST4:1706.18.09 POST-GAZETTE

LONGEST GAP56 SH.2024 → 2025

JAM CHART0none

DEBUT02.13.97LONDON

When it gets playedCIRCULATION

DENSITY · YR×MO · 1997–202576 PLAYS

JFMAMJJASOND

'97'99'01'03'05'07'09'11'13'15'17'19'21'23'25

MAX · 4 /MO·TOTAL · 76

GAP · SHOWS BETWEEN PLAYS75 PERFS

LONGEST · 56 SH.·MEDIAN · 10 SH.

How long it runsDURATION

DISTRIBUTION · BY MINUTE76 VERSIONS

4m8m

MEDIAN · 5:30·PEAK · 5–6m

AVERAGE · BY YEAR1997–2025

SHORT · 4:47 · 2018·LONG · 6:10 · 2014

Where in the showTOPOLOGY

SET MIX76 PLAYS

S1 43%S2 36%ENCORE 18%

S1 OPEN0

S1 CLOSE0

S2 OPEN0

S2 CLOSE0

ENCORE15

POSITION IN SETPEAK · #5

#1#13

TRANSITION OUT76 PLAYS

75%21%

STOP · 57END · 2SEGUE · 16HARD · 1

Where & whenGEOGRAPHY

VENUES · BY PLAYSTOP 6

STATES · BY PLAYSTOP 6

NY10CA9PA7NJ4MA3NC3

DAY OF WEEKPEAK · SAT

SUN7

MON6

TUE11

WED10

THU9

FRI14

SAT19

PLAY RATE · BY ERA% OF ERA SHOWS

v1.03.4%

v2.01.5%

v3.05.3%

v4.03.7%

Plays withPAIRINGS

SAME SHOW · MOST OFTENTOP 6

01Piper25 02Run Like an Antelope24 03Chalk Dust Torture23 04Mike's Song23 05Down with Disease22 06Harry Hood22

SIMILAR PLAY COUNT±20% · 8

Nellie Kane76 Highway to Hell77 A Day in the Life75 What's the Use?74 Everything's Right73 Meatstick79 Fast Enough for You79 Magilla72

By tour45 TOURS

TOUR LOG · BY PLAYS76 TOTAL

011998 Summer U.S. Tour1998 · 5 sh5 02Not Part of a Tour1999–2011 · 4 sh4 031997 Summer U.S. Tour1997 · 4 sh4 041997 Winter European Tour1997 · 4 sh4 051999 Winter Tour1999 · 3 sh3 062000 Fall Tour2000 · 3 sh3 071997 Summer European Tour1997 · 3 sh3 081999 Fall Tour1999 · 3 sh3

Often follows / sets up

OFTEN → AFTER WHEN THE CIRCUS COMESSWIPE →

30%Run Like an Antelope6× →→15%Sugar Shack3× →→15%Back on the Train3× →→15%David Bowie3× →→

OFTEN ← BEFORE WHEN THE CIRCUS COMESSWIPE →

26.67%Piper4× ←→20%Possum3× ←→13.33%Birds of a Feather2× ←→13.33%It's Ice2× ←→

Top venues4 OF MANY

BY PLAY COUNT · AVG SCORE PIPEDSWIPE →

Bill Graham Civic AuditoriumSAN FRANCISCO, CA

PLAYSAVG357

57 Madison Square GardenNEW YORK, NY

PLAYSAVG357

57 Ascend AmphitheaterNASHVILLE, TN

PLAYSAVG356

56 Shoreline AmphitheatreMOUNTAIN VIEW, CA

PLAYSAVG344

SONG ●/songs/when-the-circus-comesSETLIST APPS →phish.net source METHOD →/methodology CATALOG →/songs index

FOUL DOMAIN/songs/when-the-circus-co · v3.2

FOUL DOMAIN · INDEPENDENT · NOT AFFILIATED WITH PHISH

Common questions

When the Circus Comes

When the Circus Comes