Attendance Bias

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6/28/00 @ The Garden State Arts Center with Hal Hansen Jul 21, 2021

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias.
This week’s guest is the Director of Marketing for AA minor-league baseball team, the Somerset Patriots, Hal Hansen. If you’ve ever played a trivia game between innings, watched a bunch of sausages race around the bases, or caught a t-shirt launched by an air cannon at a Somerset Patriots game, Hal is the guy to thank. We had a great time today talking about Phish and baseball.

For today’s episode Hal chose a huge show from the summer 2000 tour: June 28, 2000 at the Garden State Arts Center. Although I know very little about this tour, Hal did a great job explaining some of the high points of the summer of 2000, and how this show represented not only a great time in his life, but a crossroads between college and his professional career...although there would be some crossover

So let’s join Hal to hear about turbo Gin, the similarities between a no hitter and a set of Phish, and a leaked version of Backwards Down the Numberline for June 28, 2000 at Holmdel.

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12/31/95 @ Madison Square Garden w/Amanda Cadran Jul 14, 2021

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Hello everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. This week’s guest is the host of The Bar Line Shift on HomeGrown radio, Amanda Cadran.
As you’ll hear Amanda explain, HomeGrown Radio is an internet radio station with deep ties to the Railroad Earth family and Amanda’s show features a thematic playlist made up of everything from jam-centric music to obscure world music that you’ve probably never heard. I caught a few episodes of The Bar Line shift and immediately wanted to have Amanda on the show.

For today’s episode Amanda chose a monster: Phish’s show on New Year’s Eve 1995 at Madison Square Garden. In addition to being an all-timer, it was Amanda’s first show. Imagine that!
Long considered to be the holy grail of Phish shows, I was intimidated to tackle it, but once I spoke with Amanda ahead of time, I knew it would be easy and fun to just geek out about this fan favorite.

You also may notice that I kind of went overboard with song clips in this episode but when you’ve got a show like this where virtually every track is a highlight...well...what are you gonna do?

So let’s join Amanda to hear about spotting Bruce Springsteen at Toys R Us, chess games, and The Gamehendge Time Laboratory for December 31, 1995.

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"Fluffhead" from 7/24/99 @ Alpine Valley w/ Mike Lowe Jul 07, 2021

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Hello everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. This week’s guest is trumpet for DC-based bands, Skyscrapers and the Monumental Brass Quintet, Mike Lowe. As Mike’s band played their first gigs and figured out their sound as indie jam rock, COVID hit and the band had to take a forced hiatus from the stage. But as you’ll hear him say in today’s episode, they’re getting ready to return to the U Street bars in Washington.

For today’s episode, Mike picked a monster jam; “Fluffhead” from July 24, 1999 at Alpine Valley. Indeed, this version of Fluffhead is unlike any other that the band has played. Stretching for over 32 minutes, with a type 2 jam that is almost entirely led by Mike’s melodic bass playing, the band has yet to play a version that displays an equal amount of musical creativity. Mike describes how fans had their jaws drop to the floor after it was played, unexpectedly as the second song of the show.

So let’s join Mike to talk about his band Skyscrapers, Phish’s sound in 1998, and "Fluffhead" from July 24, 1999 at Alpine Valley.

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7/8/94 @ Great Woods w/Jeff Goldberg Jun 30, 2021

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Hi everybody, and welcome to Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. My guest today on Attendance Bias is sound engineer, Phish.net contributor, and the man responsible for the recent remastering of previously unreleased Phish recordings, Jeff Goldberg. Jeff chose to discuss the legendary Phish show from July 8, 1994 at Great Woods in Mansfield, Massachusetts.
If you’ve been paying attention to Phish.net or the Phish.net blog over the past few years, you may have noticed that, every once in a while, the site announces the release of an archival show that was previously uncirculated. To be clear, these are separate from the band’s official releases. For example, the most recent release at the time of this recording is the show from April 9, 1990 at the Fly Me to the Moon Saloon in Telluride, Colorado. If you’ve listened to that show, a link to which is posted in the show notes, you’ve heard Jeff’s audio expertise.

I’ve known Jeff for a while through an online Phish message board, and have always been impressed with his expansive knowledge of Phish, and his ability to act as an audio archeologist; to find an artifact, clean it up, and present it to the public. I was so curious about the nuts and bolts of remastering poor quality tapes, about being one of just a few to hear a show that is mostly unknown to the public at large, and his background as a Phish fan.

More than that, I was thrilled that Jeff picked the show from Great Woods. Although it’s a high-profile show, very few guests on Attendance Bias have brought up anything related to Gamehendge, so Jeff and I relished the opportunity to talk about the band’s formative rock opera.

So let’s join Jeff Goldberg to hear about on July 8, 1994 at Great Woods.

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8/2/03 @ Loring AFB w/Nathan Tobey Jun 23, 2021

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Hi everybody, and welcome to Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. My guest today on Attendance Bias is Nate Tobey of Northern California. Nate chose to discuss August 2, 2003 at the Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, Maine. If this date sounds familiar to you, it is because it is the first day of the IT festival.

IT was my first overnight festival experience and we both had a lot of say about not just the music, but the entire experience. For decades since the festival, I just took for granted that night two was the better night. Set two of the second night was everything I wanted in 2003. But listening back to night one in preparation of this podcast, it dawned on me just how great it is.

This podcast has helped me place late 1.0 in context, and go deeper in understanding the rhythm and flow of 2.0. During today’s conversation, Nate calls the IT festival the “demarcation” of 2.0’s signature sound. I couldn’t agree with him more and appreciate the preparation he put into this episode.

So get your best camping gear, stay up late for the soundcheck and the tower set, and take care of your shoes in that mud as we join Nate Tobey to talk about August 2, 2003, day 1 of the IT festival.

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9/22/90 @ The Student Union Ballroom, UMASS, Amherst, MA w/Dave "ZZYZX" Steinberg Jun 16, 2021

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Hi everybody, and welcome to Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. My guest today on Attendance Bias is the creator of the Phish Stats website and the author of “This Has All Been Wonderful: A Travel Monologue from Summer 1994, the Year Phish Became Phish,” David “Zzyzx” Steinberg. Jeff chose to discuss the Phish show from September 22, 1990 at the Student Union Ballroom at UMass Amherst in Amherst Massachusetts.

When I first discovered Phish’s internet presence, Dave’s statistics website was one of my first stops. As you’ll hear me say early in our conversation, I would become obsessed with checking my stats after every show. I needed to know how in many states or time zones I’d seen the band, how many time zones, what the probability was that I would see “Glide,” my most seen first set openers, my most seen second set openers, and so on. As you can tell by my fact checks at the end of each podcast episode, all of my Phish opinions have to be qualified with some sort of objectivity. Dave’s stats page provided an ever-evolving form of that.

When Dave told me that he wanted to discuss a show from the fall of 1990, I was immediately interested. Of course there’s nothing wrong with more recent shows on Attendance Bias, but it’s important for everyone to revisit the band’s roots, and I never before had the opportunity to sit down for a long conversation with a person who was in the band’s orbit so early on.

So get your hand stamped, say hi to Page at the pool table, and perk up those ears for the secret language as we join Dave Steinberg on September 22, 1990 at the Student Ballroom at UMass Amherst.

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"Lizards" from 7/25/18 @ The BGCA with Luke LaGraff Jun 09, 2021

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7/2/98 @ The Grey Hall w/Adam Scheinberg Jun 02, 2021

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Welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias! This week’s guest is President of The Mockingbird Foundation, Adam Scheinberg. The Mockingbird Foundation turns 25 years old this year, and to celebrate, the Foundation is hosting The Mockingbird Sessions; a series of live streams, performances, and masterclasses on Fans.live for free from June 4-6, 2021.
The Mockingbird Foundation is somewhat synonymous with Phish charities, and so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to hear about the inner workings of the foundation, Adam’s role within it, as well as the details about the Mockingbird Sessions.

Adam chose to discuss Phish’s show at The Grey Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark on July 2, 1998. Throughout today’s conversation, Adam talks about what brought him to Europe in the summer of 1998, the slate of new songs debuted on this tour, and the all-time version of “Ghost” that was played at this show.

So let’s join Adam to hear about all of the topics and more.

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"Loving Cup" from 11/13/97 @ The Thomas and Mack Center with JoeJo Casone May 26, 2021

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My guest today’s mini-episode of Attendance Bias is JoeJo Casone of Easthampton, Long Island. You may not recognize JoeJo’s name offhand but you’ve certainly heard of him. Remember during the April 3rd, 1998 show of the Island Tour when someone jumped onstage during "Loving Cup" before getting chased off by Pete Carini? And then the band teased Carini for the following "Antelope" and the rest of the tour? That someone was JoeJo.

For today’s episode, JoeJo chose to tell us about “Loving Cup” from November 13, 1997 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas. Moreover, JoeJo was very gracious and happy to talk about his unplanned stage appearance at the Nassau Coliseum in 1998. I originally thought that the "Loving Cup" from the Island Tour would be the focus of the episode, but as we spoke, it became clear that the Nassau version and the version from Vegas 5 months earlier were inextricably tied together.

More than that, Joejo was eager to talk about his love of Phish, his connection to Tigger, and how he escaped not only Pete Carini, but the Nassau Coliseum security. So let’s join JoeJo Casone to hear about “Loving Cup” from both The Island Tour and November 13, 1997 at The Thomas and Mack.

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"Ghost" from 5/22/00 with Matt Campbell May 19, 2021

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About his epic Lord of the Rings trilogy, writer JRR Tolkein said: “the tale grew in the telling.” That phrase crossed my mind more than once while I spoke with Matt Campbell about the legendary "Ghost" played on May 22, 2000 from Radio City Music Hall.

Mini episodes are usually structured to last about 25 to 30 minutes, but as I spoke with Matt about Phish in 2000, this version of Ghost, and his love for the 2.0 era, it became clear that if I were to edit the conversation to 30-minutes, it would be a disservice to the conversation, to Matt, and to all of you.

Like some other guests on Attendance Bias, I got in touch with Matt through the Phish community on Twitter. I noticed that in conversations, responses, and cross-talk, Matt would always stand up for 2.0 Phish. It didn’t matter which song, which jam, or what the conversation was--he seemed to be the go-to guy for all things 2.0. He even compiled a collection of thoughts, media, and publications of all things from the 2003 February and summer tours. Obviously he had a lot to say.

Even with his love for 2.0, I was surprised but not shocked when Matt picked the Radio City "Ghost." A legendary jam at a busy time in the band’s career, there’s a lot to say about it.

So enjoy my conversation with Matt Campbell about the Radio City Ghost from 5/22/00 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

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