Attendance Bias

Send us Fan MailSupport the show

Send us Fan MailSupport the show

Send us Fan MailSupport the show

Send us Fan MailSupport the show

Send us Fan MailSupport the show

Send us Fan MailSupport the show

Send us Fan MailSupport the show

Send us Fan MailHi everybody, and welcome to Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. My guest on today’s episode of Attendance Bias is Scott Mikita of Wook Plus. We’ve had Tim of WookPlus on the podcast previously, and those guys do such a good job that it was exciting to dip back into the well and have another member of the team to talk about a favorite jam.Scott chose to talk about “Cavern” from April 5, 1998 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island. There’s something about the Island Tour that is indefinable. Something both concrete and abstract that makes it so meaningful to so many fans. It’s come up at least twice before on this podcast, but almost no one has brought up April 5th, the last night of the four shows. When Scott suggested the song that closed the second set of night 4, it was an obvious yet meaningful choice. You can hear in his voice how joyful Scott was at this show while witnessing a version of this fan favorite song that sounded unlike any other version played before or since.So let’s join Scott Mikita to hear about why he loves Deer Creek so much, why fall tour is the best, and what the Island Tour meant for the Cow Funk era.Support the show

Send us Fan MailIn 1999, we were all high school juniors, 17 years old and getting our licenses. My friend Mike was given permission to borrow his parents’ car for the show and we got our tickets. However, roughly 48 hours before we were due to leave, Mike’s parents had a sudden change of heart and told him that he was too new, too young and inexperienced, to drive three of his friends to Hartford from Long Island. Now, at 39 years old, I totally agree with them;  But at the time, I flipped out. This was putting a death knell in our long-awaited plans. From all of the tapes I listened to, all of the books I read, and all of the discussion I had, it seemed to be intrinsic to the Phish experience to travel for shows. There is joy to be had for a hometown show, but traveling far with your buddies to a new destination is an adventure. All of that excitement that had been building for over a month was just kiboshed with one phone call. I’m sure my self-righteous, entitled 17-year old mouth said some pretty awful things about two loving people who were making the best decision for their kid and his friends.Regardless, after some shameless begging and angry back-and-forth, we procured Amtrak tickets from Penn Station to Hartford. We got to Hartford right at the razor’s edge of the show’s start time.  I remember that the scene outside was loud and raucous, but not pushy. Apparently, Dave Matthews Band played the venue earlier in the year, and there was a massive riot and fighting between drunken fans and cops during that show.This armed presence caused tension, instead of preventing or abating it. To my memory, there were no issues or violent episodes outside the venue but fans were definitely on edge.The extra security caused a longer-than-usual wait to enter. We sat down just as the lights went down, thrilled to have finally made it after such trials and tribulations.All of our difficulties and obstacles overcome, lights go down, and the band opens with…Heavy Things? Even today, that would be seen as a lame move. Back in 1999, when the fans were still getting used to the Farmhouse songs, “Heavy Things” was seen as the persona non grata; it was the album’s single, played five months later on David Letterman’s show and it barely varied from performance to performance. During set break, my friends and I kind of made polite chatter, none of us wanting to admit that maybe that first set didn’t deliver what we wanted. We were too proud.Soon the lights went down for the second set, and it opened with a 31-minute version of “Drowned.” My Who-loving self went crazy for the novelty of hearing it for the first time, and I was drawn in by the mesmerizing jam that, at the time, may have been the longest continual song I’d ever heard live. I walked out knowing I witnessed a less-than-stellar show. Aside from “Drowned” there was nothing compelling about this show. The fact that we had gone through what we considered a major emergency just to make it to the venue only rubbed salt in the wound. This was where I learned: no matter what, Phish does what they do. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s average, sometimes it’s life-changing, and rarely-but-sometimes, it’s a disappointment. In the 16 years since this show, I’ve learned this lesson over and over again and am much more mellow about the whole thing (Coventry helped a lot in that regard). But back in 1999, I wasn’t ready for that. I was such an enthusiasticSupport the show

Send us Fan MailHi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. This week’s guest is fan and teacher, Scott Barsamian. Scott contacted me a while ago about discussing Phish’s first large-scale festival, The Clifford Ball. Now, when an Attendance Bias guest chooses a festival, I always get hesitant. Phish festivals are so big, they loom so large in the imagination, and in reality, I am intimidated to take them on for an hour-long discussion. But once the guest and I talk for a bit, we narrow down the highlights and figure out the best way to approach the show. For today’s episode, Scott chose to talk about the first day of the festival, August 16, 1996, and he picked one song from each of the three sets.Nowadays, we know exactly what to expect when Phish throws a festival. But in 1996, everything was brand new. My favorite part of this conversation was hearing about Scott’s expectations as he traveled to the festival. Phish hadn’t done anything on this scale before. What would they pull off? In 2021, we have the benefit of hindsight but in 1996, it was a surprise to all, probably including the band. Also, throughout today’s conversation, you may hear from two special guests. That would be my dog, Duncan, and Scott’s dog, Roscoe, who couldn’t help but contribute.So let’s join Scott Barsamian to hear about the drive to Plattsburgh, Trey’s tone from 1996, and a confounding “Harpua” encore as we discuss Phish’s performance on 8/16/96, day 1 of the Clifford Ball at the Plattsburgh Air Force Base in New York.Support the show