Phish to perform three benefit concerts for Vermont residential recovery program

The Burlington-born jam-rock band Phish will perform a trio of concerts in late October to benefit the Divided Sky Residential Recovery Program in Ludlow founded by the band’s guitarist, Trey Anastasio.

The concerts will take place Friday, Oct. 25, through Sunday, Oct. 27, at the MVP Arena in Albany, New York. Considering that the band that began at the University of Vermont in 1983 almost never plays in the state of its origin – no Vermont venues are as large as the MVP Arena, which can hold more than 17,000 patrons – the Albany shows are as close as Phish will come to Vermont in 2024.

A “ticket request period” continues until noon Monday, Sept. 16, at the band’s website, www.phish.com. Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 20.

According to a news release from the band, net proceeds from all concert tickets and event merchandise sales will go to the nonprofit Divided Sky Foundation, which is dedicated to addiction recovery. The foundation opened its residential recovery program late last year in the shadow of Okemo Mountain in Ludlow.

Anastasio was driven to create the foundation following his arrest in Whitehall, New York, in 2006 on charges of drug possession. He entered a drug-recovery program in that region of northern New York and hired his case manager there, Melanie Gulde, to run the Ludlow program.

“I know so many people who thought all was hopeless, they were never going to get well,” Anastasio told the Burlington Free Press this year in a conversation about the Divided Sky Foundation. “And then they did. It’s like a miracle.”

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Phish to play benefit shows in Albany NY for Vermont recovery program