photos by Steve Eichner

Phish, Widespread Panic, Spin Doctors, and Col. Bruce Hampton and Aquarium Rescue Unit. After the bands all agreed to play some dates together they still needed a name for the tour. John Popper suggested H.O.R.D.E. but before the matter was definitively settled, the groups offered their own options, which we present today as we look back 25 years later.

Here are Phish’s suggestions for the name of the touring fest:

Rock Donkey Dunkle
The Farm-Fresh Banana Festival
East Coast Rock-a-Sooey
The Sir James Isaac Newton Summer Jam
Seven Hours of Noise
An East Coast Peace Toast
Cardboil Egg
Halley’s Comet Jamboree
Saltwater Taffy Twisting Machine Festival
Marshmellow Music
The Bar-Bar Elephant Rockfest
Wizard Shock Festival
Five Bands That Stink
The Bring-Your-Dog Summer Rock Party
Red-eyed Eagle Music Consortium
East Coast Diner Poached Egg Music Fest
The “Make What?” Jamboree
Flight of the Ozark Rock Tribute
Summer Glacier Meltdown
Big Big Spinach Rock Party
Sir Sprockett Dunne Apple Tree Music Fest
The Clifford Ball*

*The Clifford Ball appears with an asterisk and a note on top that explains, “Clifford Ball’s name was on a plaque in the airport. We saw the plaque while finding a phone to call John Popper. ‘A Beacon of light in the world of flight.’ We can get more info on this guy and recreate his world.”

Here are a few possibilities offered by Widespread Panic (the band also noted that “some of these suggestions are obviously just for fun”).

Deli Tray
Trust Fund Hobo Fest
Cavalcade of The Large
Rhythm Ball
Friendship Ball
Perfect Harmony
Five Road Crews With Their Bands
Rhythm, Shapes and Movement
Lotsa Loose Pooozle
Keep Your Mooching Hippie Ass Out of The Dressing Room Tour (The)
Summer of Flesh
Corn Dodgers

Panic then confirmed that its preferences from the previous submitted names were:

Five Bands That Stink
Rock Donkey Dunkle
The Clifford Ball
7 Hours of Noise
We Aren’t The World

Finally, the group added,  “We dug all the names. Truth. Those were the ones that struck us right off the bat. Also, Widespread does like The Great American HORDE. Without Shame.”