Attendance Bias

Hi everybody and welcome to today’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein.

When I first began collecting tapes, I would always keep my eyes out for Phish shows at Jones Beach. Having grown up on Long Island, going to concerts at Jones Beach was a summer tradition. It didn’t even matter who was playing–the venue was a 10 minute drive for me, and on a nice night, it’s one of the best outdoor venues in New York. So you can imagine my reaction when I found out that my new favorite band had played there a number of times.

It’s with that genuine delight and natural curiosity that I approached today’s guest, Jonathan Frederic, about his chosen show: July 23, 1993, Phish’s first time headlining their own show at Jones Beach. 1993 was an amazing time to learn about Phish, as they were just dipping their toes in the water to jump from small theaters to larger amphitheaters, a transition that would continue for approximately the next two years. During that time, the band was introducing new music from Rift, beginning their craziest musical exploration and experimentation, and creating new ways to connect to the audience, as they couldn’t maintain un-mic’d a capella performances and the Big Ball Jam in these sprawling arenas and amphitheaters.

It was a pleasure to hear a first-person experience from someone who experienced all of these changes in ONE SHOW, especially at my one-time hometown venue. So let’s join Jonathan to talk about when to eat carbohydrates, ending up front-row center at the venue, and The Pixies as we go over July 23, 1993 at the Jones Beach Amphitheater.

Hi everybody and welcome to today’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein.

I am ecstatic to introduce today’s episode, as it features both a knowledgeable guest who is well known within certain circles of the Phish community, and a thorough, wide-ranging discussion about three of the greatest improvisational rock concerts ever played: Phil and Friends at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco on April 15, 16, and 17, 1999.

While not a Phish show, or even a Grateful Dead show, this run of concerts was a milestone for both bands. Not only was it the first time that members of the two major jambands shared a stage, it’s notable that songs from both Phish and the Grateful Dead were played over the three nights.

I’ve been listening to these shows since soon after they were played and they haven’t aged a day. When Charlie Dirksen of Phish.net and The Mockingbird Foundation volunteered to discuss them and tell about what it was like to actually be there, I couldn’t wait to hear about it. These shows have lived in my head for over 20 years, so to hear a first-person account of what they were like made for one of my favorite conversations I’ve ever had for this podcast.

This episode easily could have been three hours long–every time a song was mentioned, it took a lot of willpower on my end not to insert yet another music clip. But there was so much to discuss before we even get to the music. Let’s join Charlie to chat about his responsibilities at Phish.net, Steve Kimock’s guitar wizardy, and where John Molo fits into everything, as we break down Phil and Friends from April 15, 16, and 17 at the Warfield Theater, in San Francisco, CA.

Hi everybody and welcome to today’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein.

Today, we’re taking on one of the big ones: one of the most pivotal shows in the band’s 40 year career. Guest Jeff Paradise was at the first modern Phish Halloween show, October 31, 1994 at the Glens Falls Civic Center, where the band played a 3-set show that included the band’s first musical costume; a full cover of The Beatles’ White Album in the second set. The full show lasted about 5 hours, concluding at around 3:30am in a remote upstate New York minor league hockey arena.

Jeff was in college in Ithaca, NY at the time, bouncing around college towns to see Phish, frequently at the behest of his friends, since Jeff was the guy with the car. At this point of the band’s career, being a college student in upstate NY or New England was a golden age of being a Phish fan. Chances are that, if they weren’t playing withing a few hours drive this week, they would be next week.

It’s easy to look back now and see how monumental this show was–a band covering a double album of the most famous band in rock and rock history, and Jeff points out that, even compared to other big Phish shows of the era, the historicity of the show was apparent even in real time. Anyone in the audience in Glens Falls that night knew that they were witnessing history.

Even with that, we have a lot more to cover about this five-hour, three-set show. So join Jeff and I as we discuss Dark Side of the Moon fakeouts, mailing in postcards, and making it back in time for class with October 31, 1994 at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

Hi everybody and welcome to today’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein.

We’ve covered plenty of shows from the summer of 1999 on Attendance Bias but, lest we forget, there was a lot more to that year than a raucous summer tour. There was also a fall tour and a lesser-explored December tour, which took place entirely within the last month of the millennium. Today’s guest, Brent Summerville, chose one of the last Phish shows of 1999–December 16 at the Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, NC–to review today. Although portions of the show are available on YouTube, there are certain nuances that we can only hear from someone who was in attendance. Luckily, we have Brent here to tell us all about it.

At the time, Brent was moving back to North Carolina from Michigan, and had been seeing Phish for five years. He brought a friend to this show, which he rarely did at the time, and was on his old college campus where he had lots of ties to this small basketball court-turned-concert venue.

Phish broke out a monster second set for this show, and it joined the fabled 5-song second set club, with a version of Sand full of soundscapes, as well as a soul-cleansing Tweezer. But there’s more to it than that. Let’s join Brent to chat about college basketball, Trey’s keyboard setup, and cold Michigan winters as we revisit December 16, 1999 at the Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, NC.

Hi everybody and welcome to today’s episode of Attendance Bias, or more really, the third and final episode of “This Time Will be Different: 15 Years Since Hampton.” I am your host, Brian Weinstein.

Today’s episode ends our look back at what led to Phish’s comeback at Hampton, 15 years ago on March 6, 2009. If you haven’t listened yet, previous episodes have covered The pressures that led to the hiatus in 2000, the multi-faceted hot mess that was 2004, and the rebirth of the Phish experience in the early spring of 2009.

When I first had the idea for this miniseries, I figured that today’s episode, the one about Hampton 2009, would be an enormous undertaking. A full weekend of shows, easily making up the most important run of the band’s career, marking the turning point from the past to the present that would introduce the 3.0 era. Yet, as my co-hosts and I were speaking–Charlie Dirksen and Scott Marks from Phish.net and The Mockingbird Foundation–it became more about our experiences and our personal feelings during that all-important March weekend.

In the end, that’s what Attendance Bias is about–each guest’s own experience at any given show. There is a lot more of this story to be told but, for now, this love-fest about Phish coming back to life will settle things for now.To wrap things up, please welcome Scott Marks and Charlie Dirsken of Phish.net and The Mockingbird Foundation as we continue This Time Will be Different, Episode 3.

Hi everybody and welcome to today’s episode of Attendance Bias, or more accurately, episode two of “This Time Will be Different: 15 Years Since Hampton.” I am your host, Brian Weinstein.

Today, I join my two co-hosts: Scott Marks and Charlie Dirksen of Phish.net and the Mockingbird Foundation, to take a look at the 2.0 era, as well as Phish’s breakup in 2004. For those of you who listened to episode 1, it was clear but not obvious, that Phish needed a break after Big Cypress, and it was never really in doubt that they would get back together. But in the second half of 2.0, mostly in the 2004 calendar year, it was glaringly obvious that Trey’s physical health was in jeopardy, and the scene as a whole was rotting from the inside.

In a little while, you’ll hear Scott compare these three episodes to the original Star Wars trilogy–today’s episode is The Empire Strikes Back. Our heroes are at their lowest point, and you have to be knocked down before you can rise up and win the day.

It’s telling that on Attendance Bias, 2.0 has, by far, the least number of shows represented by guests. It was, and continues to be, a divisive time in the band’s history. I originally planned this episode to be about the time of Phish’s breakup-2004 to 2008, and what the scene was like without the biggest band on tour. However, this conversation took a different route and we just went with it. It wasn’t always a pretty ride, but it has heart and makes the comeback in the next episode all the more meaningful.

But we have to have the darkness before the dawn. Today, please welcome Scott Marks and Charlie Dirsken of Phish.net and The Mockingbird Foundation as we continue This Time Will be Different, Episode 2.

Hi everybody and welcome to today’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein.

The first week of March is always a conspicuous part of the year for me. No religious or secular holidays, no birthdays or wedding anniversaries in my social circle, but there is one series of dates that will always deserve some deep thoughts, if not any flowers, chocolate, or greeting cards: March 6-8 , 2009, when Phish returned to the live stage at the Hampton Coliseum.

As of 2024, it will be 15 years since that beautiful weekend. Being a Phish stats nerd, round numbers hold significance for me, and looking back, it sometimes feels like the reunion happened to a completely different person. This is the topic for a three-episode miniseries, called: “This Time Will Be Different: 15 Years Since Hampton.”

For the next three episodes, I will be joined by two co-hosts, Scott Marks and Charlie Dirksen of Phish.net and the Mockingbird Foundation. The three of us will take a look back, not only at the 2009 Hampton Reunion, but at the major Phish events that led to it, including the band’s hiatus from 2000-2002, the breakup from 2004-2008, and then episode 3 will focus on that glorious weekend in March 2009.

But let’s not skip too far ahead. Today, please welcome Scott Marks and Charlie Dirsken of Phish.net and The Mockingbird Foundation as we open This Time Will be Different, Episode 1.

Hi everybody and welcome to today’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein.

If you’ll indulge my Grandpa-Simpson waxing poetic about the past for a second: when I was first getting into Phish, there were some shows (mostly from the early-90s) that lived in legend. There were stories about them, but it wasn’t so easy to find internet posts or first-person narratives about them. One of those shows was June 21, 1994 at the Cincinnati Music Hall. Phish began the show as usual when, about a half hour in, the venue’s fire alarm went off, forcing everyone to clear out. The show resumed with a “2nd set” that lasted an hour and 40 minutes! Luckily, social media has advanced to the point where we can instantaneously get in touch with other fans and hear about their experience at shows like that one.

That’s basically the premise of this podcast, and so I was absolutely thrilled that today’s guest, Kev Hollo of Charleston, South Carolina got in touch and wanted to tell about his experience at that exact show. Kev is a long time Phish fan, a musician, and happy to discuss all things Phish, which we do over the course of the episode. While the 1994 Cincinnati show is the basis of today’s episode, by no means do we stop there. The conversation ranges from music theory, to ghost stories, to the past, present, and future of the band.

Let’s join Kev to chat about it all as we revisit June 21, 1994 at the Cincinnati Music Hall, in Cincinnati, OH.

Do you remember where you were when you heard that Phish was returning to Hampton in 2009?

To celebrate 15 years since Hampton, I’d love to hear about where you were and what you thought when you found out about Hampton ‘09. I think it would be fun to put together an audio collage of fans’ memories of where they were, what they thought, and how they felt. If you are down to contribute, I have a set of directions and a sample script. It’s quite easy, and I think it will be a lot of fun for all listeners. Swipe over and keep reading if you’re interested:

1 ) Record a voice memo on your phone or any convenient recording device. Introduce yourself, and tell your memory. Whether it was from the official announcement, a friend calling/texting you, whatever! How did you feel and what are your memories of hearing that PHISH IS COMING BACK?!

2 ) The recording should be a minimum of 30 seconds and a maximum of 2 minutes.

3 ) Email the recording to [email protected] as an audio file (m4a, mp3, etc.)

Sample script: “Hi, this is (your name) from (hometown, if you’d like).” And then tell a little bit about your experience of hearing that Phish would be playing 3 shows at Hampton in March ‘09.

Thanks so much for participating and for listening!

Hi everybody and welcome to today’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein.

Halloween is, without question, one of the highest profile nights of the Phish calendar. All Phish Halloween shows are judged, compared and, for better or worse, claim their spot in the band’s mythology. But, as part of a pattern that’s been discussed on this podcast before, it’s not always the high profile night that gets the best show. It’s usually the night before the night. December 30 for New Years Eve, and in this case, October 30 for Halloween.

Today’s guest, Eric Doyle, chose to tell us about his experience at October 30, 1998–the night before Phish covered all of The Velvet Underground’s classic album, Loaded. While that Halloween show has its supporters and detractors, the night before should be celebrated for its combination of factors that make it one of the best representations of 1998 that Phish had to offer.

With The Story of the Ghost having been released just days prior, the band making high profile appearances on David Letterman, Sessions at West 54th, and other promotional outlets for the new album, Phish was at a crossroads as to how involved they would become with the record industry at large. History has explained that part of the Phish story, but with mixed mainstream success at the time, no one was sure what would happen.

All of those aspects were apparent during this two-night Las Vegas run in 1998, but it didn’t stop the band from delivering a killer show on the night before Halloween. Let’s join Eric to talk about Phish’s history in Atlanta, Fishman leading the way, and more as we discuss October 30, 1998 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.