josean rivera fine art – Not just reading the book,

20 Years Later: Illustrating Gamehendge Over the Years

The music of Phish has been a source of inspiration for my art for over twenty years now! One particular part of Phish’s catalog that I have often gravitated towards would have to be their Gamehendge Saga, a series of songs from Trey Anastasio’s college thesis. Over the years, I have revisited themes from these songs and incorporated them into a lot of my artwork.

“Esther Suite” 2003 linocut series

I first got into Phish in 2000, after which they promptly went on hiatus. Going off to college, I was able to acquire tapes and CDs of shows, met other fans, and set out to learn more about the band, the music, and the culture.

One thing I noticed about the music of Phish was how easy it was to visualize the lyrics into drawings. In 2003 I created a linocut series of block prints inspired by the song “Esther”, a Gamehendge-adjacent song. At the time, I was unaware that there was a whole scene of artists creating work inspired by Phish; I just felt the song worked great as a series of prints!

“Gamehendge Suite” 2013

Once Phish reunited in 2009, I was regularly going to shows but wasn’t really creating too much artwork inspired by them. By 2012 I was making spray-painted canvas panels of antelope crossing signs that I would sell while walking around the lots before shows. In 2013 I decided to begin illustrating Phish songs. Each painting was mixed media on 8.5×11 paper. I had intended to draw the rest of the songs in the same framed design, but never got a chance to finish them.

“The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday” 2014

In 2014 I began working on a lot more Phish-inspired art, which led to several art commissions. One of these was to create a portfolio of illustrations of all the Gamehendge songs. This consisted of the 9 songs from “The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday” and additional songs that are related to the Gamehendge saga. I ended up creating 12+ ink and watercolor paintings for this series. I would end up using these paintings in my illustrated setlists, which I had begun doing that same year.

Tales from the Land of Gamehendge 2014

2015 Summer Tour Setlist Headers

In 2015 I focused mainly on my illustrated setlists, which had gained traction shortly after being introduced the year before. I started doing more of them with physical ink and watercolor, with the previous year’s setlist art being mainly ink drawings that were digitally colored. For that year’s summer tour setlist art, I decided to create the headers as illustrations inspired by Gamehendge songs. They were challenging to create, but a lot of fun figuring out how to approach the songs in a different way than I had done previously.

Thrilling, Chilling, Summer Tour 2018

In 2018 I created a series of show prints inspired by vintage monster movie posters. I ended up creating 17 posters for the summer, fall, and NYE runs, and of course, had to incorporate some Gamehendge characters in a few!

Dürer inspired series 2019

In 2019 I returned to my love of block printing. For the Phish runs that year I created a series of 11×14 block prints inspired by the work of Albrecht Dürer. 15 show prints were created in total, with a few Gamehendge characters tossed in.

2022 Tour Prints

In 2022, concert tickets went digital, which meant that there were no more Phish Tickets by Mail (PTBMs). The beauty of these tickets was that they featured cool art and looked way better in a fan’s ticket stub collection than a boring Ticketmaster ticket stub. A casual mention from my wife resulted in me creating my own ticket stubs modeled after PTBMs! The art for these stubs was inspired by the venue location and Phish songs. Each illustration I created was designed to create a larger image when the stubs were lined up vertically.

Most prints are available in my shop, although some older work may no longer be available. Joseeen.etsy.com

Phish New Year’s Eve 2023 Setlist Art

I had stopped creating my setlist art last year to focus on my ticket stubs, but when Phish played Gamehendge for the first time since 1994, I felt I had no choice but to create one for this historic show!

I will be creating a small run of these prints, which can be pre-ordered here: https://joseeen.etsy.com/listing/1634908526/phish-2023-msg-nye-run-setlist-art-phish

They can also be purchased as a digital download.

SET 1: Everything’s Right, Tube, Ether Edge > Reba, Taste, Ruby Waves, A Life Beyond The Dream, Character Zero

SET 2: Down with Disease, Harpua > The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday > The Lizards > Punch You in the Eye > AC/DC Bag > Tela^[2] > Llama > Wilson > The Sloth > Divided Sky

SET 3: McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters > Colonel Forbin’s Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird > Auld Lang Syne > Split Open and Melt, You Enjoy Myself > Loving Cup > Possum

ENCORE: Cavern > First Tube > Tweezer Reprise

Tube contained teases of the theme to The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Harpua was unfinished. During the Harpua narration, Trey talked about some of the Harpuas and Phish shows at Madison Square Garden of the past 40 years, a bed appeared from beneath the front of the stage, with an actor playing Jimmy and a puppet version of Poster Nutbag. Trey interrupted the song before the “I want a dog” lyric. Trey said Jimmy had lacked a strong female influence over the years, and introduced actress Annie Golden as Jimmy’s grandmother. While consoling Jimmy, she told him it was time to tell the truth about the owner of Harpua. After telling Jimmy that the old man had given the puppet to Esther and helped Reba make liquid meat, a book was brought, and a glowing rhombus rose to frame the entire stage. The band then began the first performance of the Gamehendge saga since July 8, 1994, with Golden and Trey providing the narration and performers acting out the parts of Colonel Forbin, Rutherford, the AC/DC Bag, Tela, Errand Wolfe (later billed in post-show credits as “The Wolf”), and the Sloth. The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday, The Lizards, Tela, Wilson, Divided Sky, Colonel Forbin’s Ascent, and Fly Famous Mockingbird featured an off-stage backing chorus. The multi-beast and McGrupp were also performed by puppets. Tela performed acrobatics on wires during her song, with Jo Lampert (as the Wolf) providing additional vocals during Wilson. The Sloth’s lyrics were changed to “I’m squeezing that Charmin. Thank you, Mr. Whipple. I’m still squeezing that Charmin. Thank you, Mr. Whipple.” Colonel Forbin ascended the rhombus during Colonel Forbin’s Ascent (which had lyrics changed to “weary body”), and a large Famous Mockingbird puppet (with a top hat) flew over the crowd during Fly Famous Mockingbird, which also featured Annie Golden on additional vocals. Before Melt, Trey asked Jimmy’s grandmother if she knew that the mountain was a volcano, and the Lizards reappeared to dance to the ensuing Melt jam, eventually leaving the stage one by one as the rhombus was lowered again.

Commissioned Setlists- 2023 in Review

2023 was a very busy year for me, my time being taken up by the Phish ticket stubs I have been creating for every show this year. I did manage to find some time to work on some illustrated setlists via commissions I took on. I have a long history with these setlists, which I started making in 2014 and created for nearly every show until 2022. At this point, including commissions, I’ve made over 340 illustrated setlists! I’ve always enjoyed making them, many actually being created while live-streaming the shows. This year I finally made the decision of retiring the illustrated setlists, but still keeping commissions open.

All setlists are available as a digital print you can download here: https://joseeen.etsy.com/listing/260299234 I also have a very small amount of physical copies of the setlists you can order here: https://joseeen.etsy.com/listing/208027928

I currently have commissions open until I start working on Sphere stubs in early 2024. If you are interested in seeing what I have created already, I made a spreadsheet that allows you to view by year! Click here to commission a setlist: https://joseeen.etsy.com/listing/822573525/commissioned-phish-setlist

Phish Orion Amphitheater 2023

Apologies for the lack of updates on this site! Its been a busy and hectic summer and fall with shows, creating tickets stubs, vending, and now teaching. With a little free time before I start working on NYE ticket stub art, I’m trying to update with my summer and fall tour artwork (available here!) along with a little insight about my inspirations and progress pics.

First up is Phish’s summer tour opener at Orion Amphitheater in Huntsville, AL. For these tickets, a constellation theme seemed obvious. I used real constellations which I altered to reference several songs, with the Orion constellation altered to resemble America’s favorite drummer.

The original painting was watercolor and gouache paint. Tickets are based on PTBMs and the barcode links to the setlist on Phish.net! Prints are 11×14, signed and numbered, and limited to an edition of 50. A portion of sales will be donated to Mockingbird Foundation.

Ticket Stubs available here

Prints available here

Creating the art required a lot of research into constellations, and figuring out how to alter them to work for my intended purpose. I started out with turning Orion into Fishman, switching his club into drumsticks, and his shield into a vacuum cleaner. Monoceros (unicorn) changed into an antelope (played N2!), and the Erianidus (river) constellation features a tiny Rutherford the Brave trying to cross it. The focus of the second night art turned Canis Major into Harpua, Lepus (hare) into Poster Nutbag, and Columba (dove) into a goldfish. Lastly I turned the lesser known Caelum (chisel) constellation into a megaphone. Each image was drawn with micron and then scanned and arranged digitally. The night sky was a watercolor painting.

Phish Hollywood Bowl 2023 Tickets and Prints

My final set of tickets for Spring Tour is for the 3-night run at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA. The art for each night was inspired by 70s-80s skateboarding culture and magazines, as well as the songs Wolfman’s Brother and Dog Faced Boy.

Hollywood Bowl Run Tickets Available here

Hollywood Bowl Run Prints Available here

Phish Berkeley 2023 Tickets and Prints

My next set of tickets is for the 3-night run at the Greek Theatre at UC Berkeley in Berkeley, CA. The art for each night was inspired by art from ancient Greek pottery, and combined elements of Greek mythology and Phish song references.

Berkeley Run Tickets Available here

Berkeley Run Prints Available here

Phish Seattle 2023 Tickets and Prints

Ticket stubs are back for 2023! With the return of physical stubs nowhere in sight, I’ve decided to continue creating ticket stubs, starting with Phish’s 2023 Spring Tour.

First up are tickets and prints for the Spring Tour opener at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, WA. The art for these tickets was inspired by the song “Timber (Jerry The Mule)” which is actually a cover written by Josh White, as well as imagery from old logging photos from the Seattle area, with Mt. Rainier in the background.

The original painting was watercolor and gouache paint. Tickets are based on PTBMs, and the barcode links to the setlist on Phish.net! Prints are 11×14, signed and numbered, and limited to an edition of 50.

Seattle Run Tickets Available here

Seattle Run Prints Available here

Commissioned Setlists: 2022 in Review

This past year has been a busy one, full of new approaches to creating art inspired by Phish. As I shifted towards designing and creating ticket stubs, I eased up on creating setlist art for every show, and I began accepting more commissions to create setlist art for older shows. This was actually my busiest year, having created over 10 older setlists! I really enjoy doing these, since it gives me an opportunity to discover older shows that I may not have heard before. And of course, there’s the satisfaction of creating something to commemorate a special show to someone, be it their first, hundredth, or the show where they met that special someone!

I have very limited copies of these prints, but they are available as a digital download that you could then print yourself.

I’m also updating my shop to make it easier to find a specific show! You can now find all shows by year on the right side of the page.

Phish New Year’s Run 2022 Tickets and Prints

I’m excited to present my ticket stubs for the Phish New Year’s Run at MSG in New York City. This concludes my yearlong project of creating stubs for every Phish show in 2022! I was inspired by the food and fauna one may encounter late at night in NYC. The original illustrations were ink, watercolor, and gouache. They are available in my shop: www.joseeen.etsy.com. I will also be selling them at the PhanArt Show at Hill Country Barbeque on 12/30 from 1pm-6pm (click here for more info).

As with my previous stubs, they are inspired by PTBMs (Phish tickets by mail) down to the weight and feel of real ticket stubs. At this point, I have created over 40 unique ticket stubs for 2022! Tickets going digital has made many people realize how important ticket stubs can be, even if they end up in a shoebox under the bed. I’m here to fill that void in the meantime.

I’ve also created some 8.5×11 mini prints using the artwork I created for the stubs! The unusual size of the tickets means that 1-2/3s of the illustration gets cut off, which bummed me out. And due to each ticket being a standalone image (summer tour stubs created 1 full image when placed together), I opted to create a set of prints rather than 1 large poster.

Prints are signed and numbered, limited to an edition of 50 each. A limited amount is available in my shop, as well as at PhanArt. Purchase Prints Here

The Phish Setlist Art Spreadsheet

Phish Setlist Art Spreadsheet

After years of talking about it, I recently finished creating a one-stop shop to view all my setlist art. I was inspired by the Phish Downloads Spreadsheet, which contains downloads of almost every Phish show, recorded by tapers at shows.

My spreadsheet contains every show I’ve created setlist art for since I started in 2014. I also include all the commissioned setlists for older shows (57 to date!), some of 2013 that I had done, and nearly every setlist for each showed played from 2014-2021!

Each section is listed by year and gives you an Imgur link to view the setlist art, purchase links, and a link to the setlist via Phish.net if you need help figuring it out!