"Free" from 8/2/22 @ Blossom Music Center w/ Mercedes and Mike Lowe

02/22/23 • 67 min

Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. A few months ago, I arranged an episode with a guest who wanted to talk about Phish’s performance of “Free” from August 2, 2022 at the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. After trying to set up a recording date and time with the guest, things eventually fell through. I was left with a great jam and a boatload of notes with no one to talk to about it.

I put out a call on Phish Twitter and got such a response! It seemed like everybody wanted to talk about this jam, and I can see why. Luckily, we were able to arrange two guests for this fantastic jam: one returning guest–Mike Lowe, who was previously on Attendance Bias to discuss the all-time version of “Fluffhead” from Alpine Valley ‘99, and a brand-new guest: Mercedes from Phish Twitter, or you may know her better as ZzBenz. Either way, it was a perfect way to blend the familiar with the new to go over what several people referred to as the 2022 Jam of the Year.

Moving through several sections, Phish took the second set opener and took the audience on a musical journey that felt like it was composed and spontaneous at the same time. But I don’t want to spoil it. Let’s join Mercedes and Mike to talk about Summer 2022, planetarium music, and Hansen, as we discuss “Free” from August 2, 2022 at Blossom.

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Previous Episode

7/4/12 @ Jones Beach w/ Ashley Baier

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. It’s not unusual for musical theater to pop up as a conversation topic on this podcast–after all, despite their down to earth appearances, Phish is a very theatrical band. But today’s guest may be the first professional musician who has played percussion and drums in Broadway level pit bands! Today’s guest is Ashley Baier, and as a fan of drums, theater, and of course Phish, I am thrilled to welcome her to Attendance Bias

For today’s episode, Ashley chose to discuss the Phish show played on July 4, 2012 at the Jones Beach Amphitheater. In the summer of 2012, Phish seemed to make an effort to play as many individual songs as possible over the course of a tour. This show, with its bustouts over the holiday made for a very fun, if somewhat unoriginal show.

But it wasn’t the music that convinced Ashley to pick this show; it’s the plethora of stories before, after, and during this Independence Day Phish show. So let’s join Ashley Baier to talk about Stephen Sondheim, spotting Trey on the upper west side, and whether or not 2012 counts as “Old School Phish” as we discuss July 4, 2012 at Jones Beach.