Attendance Bias

Send us Fan MailHi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Today’s guest is the newest co-host of the Helping Friendly Podcast, Megan Glionna. I’ve had hosts of the HFPod on before, notably RJ Bee and Brian Brinkman. The HF Pod is filled with facts and analysis, and Megan brings a lot of personality to the table. Although stats and facts are always a part of Attendance Bias, I’m in it for the personalities and the stories, so I was thrilled when Megan agreed to come on the show. For today’s episode, Megan chose to discuss Phish’s show on July 21, 1997 at the Virginia Beach Amphitheater in Virginia Beach. A benchmark show of a legendary year in Phish’s history, the Virginia Beach show was the band’s first American show of that year, during which they introduced not only a bevy of new songs to the audience, but also their new-at-the-time cow funk sound. As you’ll hear Megan and I discuss, they didn’t crawl into the summer tour with warm up shows, but as this Virginia Beach show proves, they hit the ground running.  There’s more to it than the music, though. So let’s join Megan to talk about taking your parents to a show, coping with a recent breakup, and the high school drama club as we discuss Phish’s performance from July 21, 1997 at The Virginia Beach Amphitheater.Support the show

Send us Fan MailHi 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 EpisodePYM Anxiety ChewsSupport the show

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Send us Fan MailHi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Today’s guest is Robert Miller. I love every episode of Attendance Bias, and while hosting this podcast, it’s become clear that the word “special” or “meaningful” means something different for every Phish fan. Some people want to talk about their first show, others have a special connection with the venue or city where the show was played, and sometimes, it’s simply a matter of the music. Other times, a fan has a memory and an emotional connection to a particular song played one night. That is the case for today’s episode, where Rob picked “If I Could” from October 11, 1995 at the Compton Terrace Amphitheater in Phoenix, Arizona. Rob was in college at the time, and we’ve all been there; we go on an adventure with someone who starts off as a friend. But during the adventure, we get tunnel vision, and we want the friend to become something more than a friend. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. But there are times when our favorite band becomes the soundtrack to that memory, and a specific song gains meaning and weight as it somehow describes the situation in the moment.  It’s not always that simple, but it sometimes makes for a good story, and that’s why we are all here today. So let’s join Rob to chat about the fall ‘95 tour, our dream special guests, and when it is and isn’t okay to take a piss break as we break down “If I Could’ from October 11, 1995 at The Compton Terrace Amphitheater in Phoenix.Jambase--Fall '95 By The NumbersAudio Used in This EpisodeSupport the show

Send us Fan MailHello everyone, and welcome to Attendance Bias! I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Before anything, I want to begin today’s episode with a message of gratitude. A few weeks ago, I put out two requests to you, the attendance bias audience. First, I had to swallow my pride and ask for monetary donations. Attendance Bias, or any podcast, is not free to produce. It does take quite a bit of money to produce each episode on a weekly basis, and I’m happy to cover it, as long as I can. After all, as the listener, you pay for it. Not with money, but with your time and attention. And those are the most important commodities we have, so I am truly grateful to every one of you. If you would still like to donate to keep the lights on at Attendance Bias, you can go to www.buymeacoffee.com/attendancebias and contribute anything you can. Every penny will go to the operating costs of the podcast.Now if you’ve listened to every episode of this podcast, you’ve heard me introduce myself and the episode literally 99 times. That is because today is a special episode. It marks 100 episodes of Attendance Bias, and I cannot believe it. From the day I had the idea of beginning a podcast about Phish and their fans, it took me nearly three months to put one episode together. Now, two years later, we are at the 100th episode of Attendance Bias.For Phish fans, 100 shows is a sort of milestone. In one sense, it’s pointless gatekeeping, as a person’s first, ninth, 57th or 90th show could be just as meaningful as their 100th. But as a culture, we celebrate anniversaries and round numbers, for whatever reason. A couple’s 10 year wedding anniversary. A baseball player’s 20th season. 40 years since a classic album came out, and so on. For Phish fans who are obsessed with statistics, happenstance, coincidence, and and date numerology, 100 shows takes on a significance that could mean everything and nothing at the same time.I fell victim to this, for sure. When Phish announced their 2016 holiday run at Madison Square Garden, I took a look at my stats and realized that my 100th show would be on the same date, at the same venue as my first: it would be on December 29, 2016, exactly 19 years after my first show on December 29, 1997. What did this mean? Double rainbow? It meant that that the Phish gods somehow conspired to make this incredible coincidence…or it just meant that I’ve lived in the NYC area for virtually my entire life and it was only a matter of time? Either way, I was so jazzed about it that I began to write a blog called Phish100. In it, I detailed every Phish show I’d seen, leading up to my 100th. In many ways, it was a precursor to Attendance Bias. The biggest difference, though, was that Phish100 was entirely about my experience at Phish. Attendance Bias is about the guest’s experience at his or her special show. So how does this 100 show threshold translate to a podcast? The fetish for round numbers holds tight in this case, but again, Attendance Bias isn’t really about me–it’s about the audience. So for today’s celebration of 100 episodes of Attendance Bias, I wanted to split the stories. For the first half of today’s episode, I’ll review my 100th show on December 29, 2016 and then for the second half, I’ll hand it over to the Attendance Bias listeners. So many of you reached out to tell your stories about your 100th Phish show, and I’m thrilled to share them. But first, let’s start with Phish at MSG on December 29 2016 at Madison Square Garden.Support the show

Send us Fan MailHi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Today’s guest is Shawn Fausett of Colorado. For me, there are some Phish shows that I’ve always taken for granted as being part of the DNA of the assumption that Phish is one of the greatest bands of all time. Every fan may have his or her own list, but I always assumed that there are some that are inarguably great, with a capital “G,” and are agreed upon as the best. For this episode, Shawn picked one of those shows: December 6, 1996 at the Aladdin in Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s been released as an official triple album by Phish, it was their first show in Sin City, there’s a Harpua encore with special guests, and jams galore. Personally, it was also one of my very first tapes, and probably the first time I ever hear some of the greatest Phish songs ever. But for Shawn, it was the time when he decided that he was all in on this goofy band from Vermont. Shawn was 16 years old at the time, had just seen his first Phish show a few months prior, and Vegas was all he needed to become submerged into the world of Phish. So let’s go over the reputation of 1996, reap the benefits of the Clifford Ball, and feel the spirit of Elvis as Shawn Fausett tells about December 6, 1996 at The Aladdin in Las Vegas.Audio used in today's episode Support the show

Send us Fan MailHi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Today’s guest is fan Eric Creighton of Illinois. For this episode, Eric picked a show that was an instant classic from a legendary tour: December 7, 1997 at the Ervin J. Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio. I know, I know. This show is often cited as a top tier show from one of the best tours in Phish history but believe it or not, the only thing I knew from this show before Eric selected it was its version of Tube. A signature performance, to be sure, but there is so much more to this amazing concert a top notch version of theme from the bottom, a funky "Possum," and-oh yeah-an "AC/DC Bag" into "Psycho Killer!" More important than that, it was the best experience to hear Eric talk about what it’s like to see shows in and around the Chicagoland area. Aside from one trip to the Windy City in 2015, I’d never seen a concert there. And between Northerly Island, UIC Pavilion, and even the Cubby Bear, Phish has such a strong history in Chicago that it was a lesson for me just to hear Eric talk about the band and his hometown city. So witness the growth of "Timber Ho," brush up on your Motown, and watch out for Bart backstage as Eric Creighton tells his story about December 7, 1997 at The Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio.Audio used in today's episodeSupport the show

Send us Fan MailHi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Today’s guest is Luke Hall, and he is here to talk about an old-school favorite: December 11, 1995 at the Cumberland County Civic Center. I love speaking and learning from all different kinds of guests on Attendance Bias, and Luke offered a new perspective; one which I haven’t heard before: Luke is Canadian! And while that isn’t wildly different from any other fan, it does offer a unique perspective. Phish isn’t huge in Canada, and they rarely play the country these days. There’s nothing new about a person getting into Phish when they weren’t well-known, but imagine if you were learning about Phish and there was barely any interest on a NATIONAL scale, let alone a local scale. Throw in the fact that Luke first got into Phish during the mid-90s, when Phish was just becoming nationally known in America, and there’s a perspective certainly worth hearing.Plus, Luke picked a show that is considered a Phish classic–December 11, 1995 at the Cumberland County Civic Center–that features many Phish classics at the end of one of their best tours, as well as Dog Log goofiness and a guest appearance by Warren Haynes, and both of us had lots to say.So let’s join Luke to talk about Fall ‘95, Canadian/American exchange rates, and when we should expect an officially released Dog Log album, as we discuss Phish’s performance on December 11, 1995 at The Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine.Audio Used in Today's EpisodeSupport the show

Send us Fan MailHi everybody. And welcome to today's episode of attendance bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein.  Today's guest is the founder of the Oceans of Osyrus message board, Damon Callisto.  For today's conversation, Damon picked Phish's show from October 8th, 1995 at the Adams Fieldhouse at the University of Montana in Missoula. Now, this is a pretty unique pick for a number of reasons. Number one, it was played in 1995. And as I combed back through the Attendance Bias episodes, the only other show from that year was December 31st, 1995; the legendary New Year's Eve show. And yet the fact that so many fans cited as their favorite year of Phish, I was just. surprised that no one else had picked a show from '95. So I was really glad that Damon chose it. Also, it's a show from Montana. And if you look up the statistics, Phish has played Montana just twice in their whole career. And Damon did a really great job melding the history of Montana and the culture of Montana with  this show that was played at the Adams Fieldhouse in 1995. So, I was thrilled to learn a little bit more background about the show and about the state. Something that really surprised me was the amount of bluegrass that fish played in the show. And Damon is really wonderful at explaining  how it made him feel throughout the entire show, because it felt like a hometown show and you don't get to say that very often if you live in Montana. So let's join Damon to talk about one of the best message boards out there for Phish and Phish related content, to hear about the history of Montana and Phish, and also to hear why "Suspicious Minds" should make a comeback as we talk about Phish's show from October 8th, 1995 at the Adams Fieldhouse at the University of Montana in Missoula.Oceans of Osyrus message boardAudio used for today's episode  Support the show