By Brian Gilliland

DOVER —Whether you have followed them for decades, are hearing them for the first time or just trying to block the whole thing out, jam band Phish is bringing its Mondegreen festival to the Dover Woodlands starting Thursday for a four-day calliope of the band’s signature sights, sounds and playful spirit.

It starts with the festival’s name, Mondegreen, which means “a misunderstood word or phrase resulting from mishearing song lyrics,” — an all-to-common criticism of the band’s music, especially in the earlier days.

When songs like 1989’s “Reba” open with “Reba sink a boulder in the water/ Reba tie a cable to a tree” and goes on from there about Reba’s mad scientist quest in product development, misunderstandings and misinterpretations can be easy, and even reasonable fans can disagree about interpretations.

Another venerable title, 1986’s “You Enjoy Myself,” a mostly instrumental jam session that can last 25 minutes or more during a performance, does have lyrics, but they are mostly the repeated phrase “Wash Uffizi, drive me to Firenze.”

Both titles were performed as recently as this month, side by side new releases, including tracks from this year’s “Evolve” album.

Phish doesn’t stop there, because their setlist also includes cover songs from artists list The Rolling Stones, Jay-Z, The Velvet Underground or TV on the Radio.

During a live performance, Phish tends not to break between songs: instead flowing from one song directly into another, or moving into a cover song, or casting snippets of TV themes, rare songs from their or others’ catalogues or other little jokes, like drummer Jon Fishman’s vacuum solos, in between.

Plus, many of perennial favorites authored mainly by frontman and guitar virtuoso Trey Anastasio have multiple versions making each performance unique, even if they feature the exact same setlist.

Bassist Mike Gordon has contributed to 50 songs in the catalogue, and is the namesake for one of the band’s most popular songs, “Mike’s Song.”

Keyboardist Page McConnell was the final member to join the band in 1985. Outside of Phish, he is most known for supporting the Jack Black group Tenacious D musically. He has also authored several songs like crowd favorite “Cars Trucks Buses.”

With so many variations possible, fans, like birdwatchers, began to keep track of songs they’ve seen and ones they haven’t yet caught.

So it became part of the fandom to list these and other quirks of shows. The non-commercial website www.phish.net is run by fans and offers current setlists, song composition and play histories along with other community-based features, and is a treasure trove of such minutiae.

As the band was coming up and fans began to notice the style and changes, some began following them around on tour to see what was in store next.

For Phish, this led to larger tours, residencies at The Sphere in Las Vegas and Madison Square Garden, and events like Mondegreen.

What is Mondegreen?

With early arrival camping opening on Wednesday and officially starting at noon on Thursday, Mondegreen is a weekend-long music festival hosted and headlined by the band Phish. The band will play eight sets, two per day, scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

In keeping with previous festivals, the band may either carry a single song through multiple nights through teases and references, or not repeat a single song at all.

The campsites are located some distance away from the performance venue, and the venue opens around 5 p.m. according to the official website, so a procession of festival goers may be visible at those times.

Apart from the music, there are other things to fill the day before the shows for campers and day trippers alike.

A giant City Hall building has been constructed from cardboard and will be on display throughout the festival. Those who pitched in and helped build were given day passes in exchange.

The band’s Bizarre Bazaar will feature merch from associated acts and Phish adjacent personalities, like artist Jim Pollock and dressmaker Lisa Simpson.

The festival will feature a farmer’s market, Ferris wheel and spa services. Two venues feature air-conditioning: the Farmhaus food court and the Leigh Fordham Hall, where game show like trivia contests are scheduled.

Those wanting a faster pace can register for the 103rd running of the First Annual Runaway Jim Marathon on Friday, and for those wanting something slower, a cornhole tournament runs all weekend.

Attendees returning to work on could possibly leave the venue the day before, otherwise traffic is expected to surge exiting the venue when the festival concludes on Aug. 18 or the following day.

For more information, including complete event details, visit https://mondegreen.phish.com. According to the website, weekend and day passes are available, while camping appears to be sold out.