Attendance Bias

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There is something about Phish's summer 1999 tour that deeply resonates with fans. On one hand, lots of fans see it an an underrated and underrepresented tour. On the other hand, everybody loves to talk about it! That's certainly the case with today's guest, Thom Epps of San Diego, CA.
Thom threw me for a loop when he suggested this show, because he wasn't there! He calls it "What should have been" his first show. Non-attendance bias? Nevertheless, we go over it with a fine-tooth comb and marvel over how the band eases into their new material ("Farmhouse" and "Back on the Train"), the band's masterful control of dynamics, and a time in our lives when our parents not letting us use the car was the biggest problem in getting to a show.
NOTE: In this episode, We talk a bit about how this show, MPP 1999, was Phish's first show headlining MPP. I'M AN IDIOT and they very obviously and famously KILLED Merriweather for one night in 1998. My mistake!

Phish.in provides a very good AUD recording of this show, and I highly recommend listening to it if you want to hear the speedjams and impeccable playing that led to the legendary Oswego festival, just a week ahead.
Audio used for this episode: 7/9/99 at Merriweather Post Pavilion

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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.

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Today’s guest is Todd M, who chose one of the last remaining Phish festivals not yet discussed on this podcast: the underrepresented and possibly underappreciated Festival 8, from October 30 to November 1, 2009 in Indio California. Like most festivals covered on Attendance Bias, it would be the longest episode ever if we covered every song from a three day festival, so Todd chose highlights from each set from that weekend.

Although 2009 doesn’t garner much discussion among the Phish fanbase, Festival 8 had a lot going for it: it was a festival, obviously, which is notable in itself, but it also was the first festival in 3.0, it was on the west coast, it was during Halloween, and it even contained a scheduled morning acoustic set. It felt like Phish knew about all of high-profile fun stuff that us fans love about the band and stuffed most of it into one weekend. On top of that, of course, is the music.

Todd fleshes out what it was like to be at such an event, where all of these favorite Phish checklist items intersected at once. He also tells us about midwest roadtrips, street names at the festival, and the best versions of Suzy Greenberg ever.

Just a note: around halfway through today’s interview, the cord on my microphone jarred loose and the audio quality on my end isn’t as good for the 2nd half. It’s easy to get used to, but I hope it doesn’t bother you as much as it bothers me. Cheers, and enjoy today’s episode with Todd.

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Today’s guest is author Peter Conners. If you’re a reader of nonfiction and enjoy books about The Grateful Dead or the jamband scene at large, chances are that you’ve at least heard of Peter and hopefully read some of his books. Some of his titles include: “JAMerica: The history of the jam band and festival scene,” “White Hand Society: The Psychedelic Partnership of Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg,” “Cornell ‘77: The Music, The Myth, and the Magnificence of the Grateful Dead’s Concert at Barton Hall,” “Growing up Dead: The Hallucinated Confessions of a Teenage Deadhead,” and “Beyond the Edge of Suffering: a book of prose poems.” You’ll notice that these titles have at least two things in common: first, they all somehow revolve around the Grateful Dead or the Jamband scene, and second, they’re all works of non fiction.

However, Peter’s latest release is a novel–his first published fictional work. It is called “Merch Table Blues,” and by the time this episode airs, it should be available everywhere you get books. Listen carefully to the first segment of this interview, and you’ll hear more specific websites where you can find it and simultaneously support independent booksellers. Also, you can find relevant links in today’s show notes.

For today’s episode, Peter picked “Chalkdust Torture” from July 20, 1991 at Arrowhead Ranch. I was thrilled when he chose that track and that show because it’s lived in my mind’s eye for so long. The 1991 horn tour provided so many of my first tapes so long ago that the Arrowhead Ranch shows in particular have gained legendary status. The first night of that two-night run opened with “Chalkdust,” which was a new song at that point, and the band never looked back. It was satisfying to hear about that show and that venue after listening to it for so many years.

So let’s join Peter Conners to talk about his writing process, upstate New York, and how Phish in 1991 was the same band, and yet entirely different, from the band we know today, as we discuss Phish’s performance of “Chalkdust Torture” from July 20, 1991 at Arrowhead Ranch in Parksville, New York.
Audio used in today's episode
Manic D Press

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Today’s guest is Michela Ratto of New York, by way of San Francisco. For today’s episode, Michela chose to discuss Phish’s performance of “The Moma Dance” with a segue into “We Are the Champions” by Queen from the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on October 29, 2014.

Baseball has come up a number of times on this podcast, most notably with Hal Hansen, who chose to discuss Phish’s show from June 28, 2000 at the Garden State Arts Center. The baseball aspect of that conversation was more about the comparison of obsessed Phish fans with statistic minded baseball savants. Today’s talk with Michela goes a lot deeper and more specific than that, as she brings up the specific feeling of what it was like to be in San Francisco, rooting for her hometown team in the World Series at a Phish show, and what it’s like when they clinch the championship right at the start of the second set.
But that’s just one part of it. Today’s conversation covers a lot of ground as we discuss the fall 2014 tour, sisterhood, working at Chili’s, and so much more. On top of that, there are those times at shows when something even bigger than Phish is going on in the city they’re playing and yet they manage to fuse it into their playing, harnessing the excitement in the air both outside and inside the venue. For Michela and San Francisco Giants fans at the Bill Graham, this was one of those nights.

You’ll also hear Michela mention a few times that she and I go to a lot of shows together–there’s a good reason for that. We’re engaged! By the time this episode airs, she and I should be on our way to getting married, so this was a personal interview in a lot of ways.

But that’s a bigger story even than Phish. So in the meantime, let’s join Michela to chat about the best sandwiches in Saratoga Springs, the king of ground scores, and JT Snow saving the life of a young child as we go over “The Moma Dance from October 29, 2014 at The Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.

Audio Used in Today's Episode

PYM Anxiety Chews