Photo by Dave Vann© Phish 2009

A group of fans may have helped Phish add the fan favorite and rarity “Icculus” to their set at Commerce City, CO’s Dick’s Sporting Park on August 30.

As originally reported by CrowdTilt blog, a Phish fan named “John” on PhantasyTour.com had the idea to hire a pilot to fly over the concert field during the group’s first night soundcheck with a sign reading “Read the Book.” During a two-week period, a group of 92 Phish fans contributed between $2 and $50, surpassing the original goal of $1,000 by $765. While $1,000 paid for the banner, the extra $765 was donated to a Phish fan who had suffered a spinal injury weeks before.

For the third year in a row, Phish concluded their summer tour at Dick’s Sporting Park. This was also the third year in which the first letter of each song on the setlist spelled out a message for the audience. On August 30, the message was “Most Shows Spell Something.” The song “Icculus” might have been scheduled all along as the band needed an “I,” but according to Phish.net, there are 43 songs the band could have chosen beginning with “I.” Trey Anastasio even referenced the banner during the song’s signature narration by saying, “words in the sky.”

Prior to August 30, the last time “Icculus” was played was June 16, 2011 and prior to that the song had not been played since August 14, 2009.

This was also the second case of Phish fan “crowd sourcing” in two weeks. After Trey Anastasio encouraged fans to do the “Wilson” chant for Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.