There's a new book about Phish (and being a fan), and it'll be featured in a streamed interview tomorrow on JEMP Radio. Andy Smith and Jason Gershuny have just released their new book 100 Things Phish Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die, and will join Andy Michels on his talk/variety show All Things Reconsidered Live tomorrow (Sunday, May 27th) at 7p.m. EDT. Listen in via the station’s website or the iPhone or Android apps, or on-demand after broadcast.
In celebration of Phish's 13-show run at Madison Square Garden, the Mockingbird Foundation is announcing 13 unsolicited "miracle grants" supporting music programs across the country. Each board member identified their favorite Phish show, and we found a worthy music education program nearby, part of the Foundation's long-standing Tour Grants program. We're presenting these 13 special grants chronologically, based on the dates of those favorited shows.
Board member Jack Lebowitz picked the 12/9/95 show in Albany, NY, a classic '95 show with a must-hear YEM, a silent jam, and a Beavis and Butthead doll. We're sending a $1,500 grant check to nearby City School District of Albany.
The Mockingbird Foundation will be having its year end special sale of The Phish Companion, 3d. Ed. and its associated poster art and merch at the PhanArt"Skyscraper is Grander" show on Thursday, December 29th from noon until 6. Admission is free. We will be among the 20 artists and craftspeople selling Phish-related art at the show in the Gold Room at the Hotel Pennsylvania at 401 7th Avenue (at W 33rd St, directly down the street from MSG).
PhanArt Presents
Fans who have not yet picked up their copy of The Phish Companion may want to get to this show on the early side as we expect to sell out of our allotment of 50 books by mid-show as we have the several shows we've done earlier this year in Chicago and Las Vegas.
NOTE: THERE IS NOW A "LOW INVENTORY ALERT" ON THE PHISH COMPANION: WE HAVE FEWER THAN 1,000 COPIES LEFT AND EXPECT TO SELL OUT BY THE END OF JANUARY!
The Mockingbird Foundation invites you to visit our table at the PhanArt poster show on Saturday, June 25th from noon to 6:00 p.m. at The Cubby Bear Sports Bar at 1059 West Addison Street in Chicago, across from Wrigley Field.
Along with more than 20 other artists and vendors exhibiting a wide variety of unique and Phish-inspired creations, fans will also be able to peruse the new Phish Companion -- and even buy the sucker for the online price of $39 while supplies last. (We will only have a limited number of books to sell at the show, but we will honor all purchases made in person Saturday at the special show price of $39 with free delivery; those books will ship immediately after the show).
We are also thrilled to be offering, for the first time, two new posters commissioned from well-known artists Isadora Bullock (“Out of Control”, left) and Zeb Love (“Sunrise Over the Turquoise Mountains”, below).
Bullock’s “Out of Control” is a hand-crafted linoleum cut print in a signed and numbered edition of 150. The artist will be at the Mockingbird Foundation table from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. to meet fans and personalize prints. A very small number of special print variants will also be available.
Also debuting is Zeb Love’s spectacular new print, “Sunrise Over the Turquoise Mountains”, to celebrate the release of The Phish Companion. Zeb is well known on the rock poster art scene, and as this is his first Phish-related piece, we are honored to have him work with us. “Sunrise” is a screen print, in a signed and numbered edition of 175. A very small number of “Sunrise” print variants will also be available.
We will also have for sale limited edition clothing inspired by art from The Phish Companion: two lightweight numbered basketball jerseys produced by a collaboration between Boyer Design and artists David Welker and AJ Masthay. Supplies of these custom jerseys are also limited.
Admission to the “PhanArt in Harry’s Hood” show is free and there will be food and beverages available and music by Wyllys.
As we promised several months ago, this is the second installment of a contest to win a pair of tickets to Mike's Friday January 29th show at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles, courtesy of the promoter, Goldenvoice.
Like the first, perhaps too easy contest which was quickly solved and might have had too many clues within the question, the question is about Mike's non-musical artistic endeavors, this time, about the opening reception of a gallery exhibition of colored acrylic scupltures Mike did in collaboration with his mother who is an artist and sculptor. Here are the questions, answer in the comments below, first correct answer wins (or closest if no totally correct answers in the decision of the judges):
1. Explain what is going on here.
2. Approximately when (month, year) and where (place) was this photo taken?
3. What eponymous artwork related to Phish is Mike's mother also known for?
Phish.net is giving away two pairs of tickets to the Mike Gordon show at The Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles on Friday, January 29, 2016, courtesy of the promoter, Goldenvoice. To make this giveaway a bit more fun than a lottery, we're going to have two contests for a pair of tickets each, one this week and one closer to the show in January.
Our experience with Mystery Jam Mondays is that the house usually loses, because some of you are so darned knowledgeable and quick with the right answer. So we've decided to make these contests a bit more difficult by asking about Mike's artistic endeavors other than his (or Phish's) music.
So, the winner of Contest #1 will the first person who correctly answers all four questions below (in the comments to this blog post, like the MJM contests) about Mike's literary work, from his story "Infantry" (Mike's Corner):
1. How many angry babies took the jet elevator to the 90th floor of the Hennison Building?
2. What did one stunned baby say when he saw Arthur Doubletrouble Hennison lying facedown on his desk, dead?
Screens ’n’ Suds, The Mothership Art Collective and PhanArt will host two poster events this Saturday, July 19 and Sunday, July 20 in Chicago to coincide with the three day Phish Chicago run.
On Saturday from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m., Screens ’n’ Suds' event will take place at TRIS3CT, 130 South Jefferson Street, 5th Floor in Chicago. Admission is free. Jim Pollock and Plastic Flame Press have created brand new prints specifically for the event (see illustration below). These prints will go on sale to VIP ticketed early admission guests first and then to the public at 1 p.m., if any are left. One print per person please. Previous Screens 'n' Suds prints will be available for purchase at the event as well. Tickets to the early admission VIP event are on sale now through tomorrow for $20.00 plus service charges at Eventbrite.
Screens 'n' Suds 2014 Pollock
Sudswill include Revolution "Citra Hero" IPA (Illinois), Cigar City Brewing / The Answer Brewpub "Good Morning Mekong" imperial coffee porter w/ kopi luewak beans (Florida/Virginia), Brewery Vivant "Tart Side of the Moon" sour ale (Michigan) and Hardywood Park Brewing "Bourbon Barrel Barleywine" (Virginia). There will be a gluten-free option and likely some other special beers. In true Screens 'n' Suds fashion there will also be a raffle for some great art and beer and a silent auction with a 2012 Screens 'n' Suds Pollock and a 2013 Not Pollock Northerly Island, plus a lot more.
On Sunday, the PhanArt Poster and Pin Exhibition will be held from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the historic Congress Plaza Hotel, 520 South Michigan Ave, Chicago, located near Grant Park. This one of a kind art show, also presented by The Mothership Art Collective and created and produced by Pete Mason, is sponsored by Poster Scene, Philly Philms, The Barn Presents, Freedom Flask, and The Helping Friendly Podcast.
The final lineup announced for the PhanArt Poster and Pin Exhibition: Chicago represents a wide array of artists from among the Phish art community, including longtime Phish artists Ryan Kerrigan, TRiPP, Isadora Bullock, Michael Boyer, Ryan Jerzy and Jeff Nesbit are all familiar names with fans from past shows. Each will have a large portfolio of current and past concert poster art to exhibit from a wide range of musical acts.
The PhanArt Poster and Pin Exhibition: Chicago, featuring a wide variety of artists who draw inspiration from the music of Phish, will be held on Sunday, July 20th, 2014 from 12pm-5pm at the historic Congress Plaza Hotel, 520 South Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL located near Grant Park. This one of a kind art show, created and produced by Pete Mason, will be held on the final day of Phish's three night stand at Chicago's FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island.
Phanart Chicago show poster
The initial lineup announced for the PhanArt Poster and Pin Exhibition: Chicago represents a wide array of artists from among the Phish art community. Longtime Phish artists Ryan Kerrigan, TRiPP, Isadora Bullock, Michael Boyer and Jeff Nesbit are all familiar names with fans from past shows. Each will have a large portfolio of current and past concert poster art to exhibit from a wide range of musical acts.
Phil Kutno, best known for his expressive oil, pencil and lithographs of American music icons will have his work on display. Screenprint artist Paul Bohensky brings a unique styles of posters to the PhanArt show for the first time, while Melissa Goldenberg's line of Phish inspired jewelry, clothing and accessories will surely find an audience. Graphic Translations Tees and Fred Sutter will each have a wide array of t-shirt designs normally found on lot.
Pin makers and designers Adam Davidoff of Phishcoins, Noah Phence, Adrian Sharpe of StuPINdous Creations, Pin me Down, Andrew Bryant, and Party Time Pins will feature ever-popular pin series and designs, as well as other items made specifically for the Chicago shows and Summer Tour 2014.
Non-profits include The Mockingbird Foundation, the Phish fan charity which also maintains and operates the Phish.net website and published the popular series of The Phish Companion books (the 3rd edition set to be released at the end of 2014) and which has awarded grants for music education totaling more than $700,000 over the past 15 years; Screens 'n' Suds, whose mission to spread the appreciation of craft beer and screen printed art has raised over $115,000 for the National MS Society and other charities, and PhanArt, a book and website created as a way to showcase the art made by Phish fans, raising money for The Mockingbird Foundation through donations from artists and fans, totaling over $15,000 since 2009.
For the first time at a PhanArt Exhibition, a curated playlist from Wyllys, specific for the show, will set the tone for the day, providing an audio component to accompany the visual aspects of the art show. Wyllys has proved himself on an international level as a DJ and band leader with dates in Jamaica, Amsterdam, British Colombia, and the Mayan Riviera as well as some of the biggest festivals in the US such as Bonnaroo, Electric Forest, and Mountain Jam. Of late the prolific DJ has scaled back touring to work on original material in the studio but still manages to make regular stops at Brooklyn Bowl and Tonic Room in Chicago. This playlist highlights some of his favorite funk and new disco tracks as well as some new genres like Future Hop.
For this particular playlist, Wyllys represents Blank Space Media, a collaborative digital agency, business incubator and talent cooperative carefully engineered to capitalize on the realities of today's economy. The culture of "Silicon Valley" has embedded itself into the highest echelons of American thought and behavior. Sometimes the best ideas lose out to those with better execution or simply bigger bank accounts. There isn't enough {blank space} to go around. For more information: blankspacestrategies.com
Phish Art shows have been held since 2003 with great success. Unique posters, pins, shirts, stickers and much more are made for Phish shows, making the PhanArt Poster and Pin Exhibition: Chicago, a must-attend event during Phish tour. Produced by Pete Mason, founder of PhanArt and author of PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish, and presented by The Mothership Art Collective, a group comprised of artists and organizations who promote the art inspired by the eclectic band Phish, the art exhibition represents a continued effort to promote and exhibit original and unique concert art from a wide variety of artists. The eclectic artists featured at this event show the broad scope of Phish related art and capture the inspiration of the band in their art. Phish's creative fan base makes amazing art inspired by the band, their music and the locales they play.
In keeping with the great tradition and success of past art shows, the PhanArt Poster and Pin Exhibition: Chicago, will offer free entry to all patrons and tubes available for purchase. More artists will be announced in late-June, as well as special edition works only available at the show, which will be available for viewing on PhanArt.net.
Unlike the legendary Fall 2013 venues like the Hampton Coliseum which has seen 15 memorable Phish shows, including the 2009 reunion run, or the Worcester Centrum Center/DCU arena which has had 14 shows, many notable like the 1993 New Year’s Eve show with the “aquarium” stage set and the 11/29/97 “Runaway Jim” marathon, the upcoming show on Wednesday, October 23rd at the Glens Falls Civic Center will only be the second Phish show at that venue.
Of course, the first show, on Halloween in 1994, is one of the most well-known and loved Phish shows, where the tradition of playing a “musical costume” in a three set show on Halloween, since repeated five more times (in 1995, 1996, 1998, 2009 and 2010), began.
Glens Falls Civic Center
The Glens Falls Civic Center (yes, it's GLENS Falls, no apostrophe, folks, not GLEN Falls)
"I wanted to keep you up to date on what is going on with the grant the Mockingbird Foundation gave to us. The concert the Pathways' Rock Band had on April 27th was amazing. The kids sold over 400 tickets and the concert was considered one of the best in the area. We just had Kevin Jonas from the Jonas Brothers come to visit our studio last week and he was so impressed he is coming back in a few weeks to play with our band and practice with them. I have attached our latest newsletter that tells about it all. One of the kids on the rock band was awarded the Hasbro Community Action Hero Award for the Project Win-Win program that the rock band is a part of. Thank you again for all of your help. The grant has helped a purchase a new guitar amp, keyboard, and Presonas mixer/recorder. It has helped us go from good to great!
Thanks you so much again!
Melinda Jennis, Pathways for Exceptional Children"
Your donations, purchases of "The Phish Companion", LivePhish.com downloads, and Phish.net store goods make this possible!
There's more information on "Hands on a Hardbody" at their official website. As the opening nears, we hope to have more features and interviews on Phish.net about Trey and Amanda's collaboration in writing this musical.
Tickets are available at Ticketmaster at this link. We're pleased to announce that the producers are making a special discount code available at deeply discounted prices, ranging from $79 in the Orchestra and Front Mezzanine to $65 in the Rear Mezzanine (this being a small Broadway theatre, we're told there's not a bad seat in the house).
To get the special fan discount offer (valid until April 6th), select the date you want to see the show on from the Ticketmaster main event page here, enter the discount code "FAN1HH" in the offer code box (as shown below), and then choose open seats from the interactive seat map.
The Lawn Boys, a New York City based Phish tribute band, will be playing Sulivan Hall at 214 Sullivan St., NYC tomorrow, January 25. More information on their Facebook page here. The Lawn Boys generously staged a benefit performance last November for the Mockingbird Foundation, raising almost $1,200 through door receipts and a table staffed by volunteers Katherine Weatherly and Kelly Lawson.
The Lawn Boys - Canal Room benefit 2012
Above: The Lawn Boys at the Canal Room benefit for the Mockingbird Foundation. Pictured in their lineup for this benefit are musicians Darren Rodney (Guitar and Vocals), Brad Weiger (Bass and Vocals), Shoheen Owhady (Keyboards and Vocals), Andrew Mega (Drums and Vocals) and Indofunk Satish (Special Guest - Trumpet).
Photo courtesy The Lawn Boys and Mantner Photography.
Ticketless for NYE, or can you use an extra for a ticketless friend (who can't)? You can win a FREE NYE ticket in Mockingbird Foundation's partner GlowStickWars.com's NYE Sweepstakes. Entry's simple. Here's how.
Just gear up for new years at the GSW online store using the promo code: "PHISHNYE" at checkout. For every $10 you buy, you'll get one entry into the giveaway drawing! To sweeten the pot, your entries will be doubled if your order includes any re-usable, LED products, and every PHISHNYE order will include a bunch of fun freebies.
Remember, 10% of all ShowStick® (thin soft glowstick) sales is donated to The Mockingbird Foundation, so you can can great stuff, give to a great cause, and enter to win a ticket to see a the greatest band ever play MSG on New Year's Eve! No purchase necessary. Full contest details here.
The Lawn Boys, a Phish tribute band, will be doing a benefit performance for The Mockingbird Foundation, to support our mission of providing music education to underserved kids and potential emergency grants to replace musical instruments in schools ravaged by Hurricane Sandy (as we've done in previous disasters, as soon as worthy beneficiaries can be identified, a process that can take several months).
The show will be happening at The Canal Room in Manhattan at 285 West Broadway, NYC, beginning a bit earlier than the 10 p.m. time originally scheduled because of the venue rescheduling a storm cancelled show; The Lawn Boys will be starting around 8:30 p.m. and playing until about 11:00 p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door.
Further information about The Lawn Boys is available on their Facebook page or website www.thelawnboysnyc.com. Further information about The Mockingbird Foundation is available at Phish.net's sister website at www.mbird.org.
If you can't make the show and would like to donate to the benefit and Mockingbird's disaster relief efforts,use the "donate" buttons on Phish.net or Mbird.org, put "The Lawn Boys benefit" or "Sandy Disaster Relief" in the PayPal comment box and we'll count your proceeds with The Lawn Boys benefit proceeds. (You'll also get a "Donated in 2012" achievement badge on your Phish.net user profile if you haven't yet donated to Mockingbird this year).
Our friends from Screens 'n' Suds will be holding their fourth annual "Big Event" in Richmond, VA to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and Galley 5 on Saturday, November 3rd from 4 to 9 p.m. at Gallery 5, 200 W. Marshall St in Richmond. Lovers of poster art and craft beers in the Mid-Atlantic region will flock to this unique event which has raised over $50,000 for Multiple Sclerosis research and other charities.
There's no cover charge and a suggested $5 donation, all ages, 21+ to drink. This year's event will feature Screens 'n' Suds "Inaugural Brew", a special collaboration between Hardywood Park breweries and Screens 'n' Suds. There will be a small amount of limited edition, signed and numbered bottles available at the event.
Pete Mason's (@PhanArt) "PhanArt" has grown from a book to a website and had a truly stellar year in 2012, featuring more art than ever before and raising more than 2011 for The Mockingbird Foundation by mid-July. Since first conceived in 2004, the growth of PhanArt has led to the need for some help moving forward, so as to continue PhanArt’s mission: To compile and preserve art created by Phish fans for the Phish community and, in the course of such work, to also benefit The Mockingbird Foundation, which raises funds for music education for children and operates this website, Phish.net. PhanArt was an incredible labor of love from 2004 to 2008 while Pete compiled the book "PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish"; later in 2009, the website that grew from the book has become a whole new labor and while being enjoyable, Pete can’t keep up with the site, as it has become more than a one-person job. Pete's looking for a few fans of Phish and our vibrant art community who love the fan made art as much as I do, to help out with the site. Among others, he's looking for fans with a little spare time, college students with an interest or major in design and those familiar with/fast learners using WordPress.
Phish.net/Mockingbird Foundation needs a few good men and women to volunteer to help out at the upcoming "First Tube" poster show to be held on Saturday, June 16th from 10 am - 3 pm at the Trump Plaza Hotel, Westminster Room, on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City.
We need about six people to work one approximately 2-3 hour shift (~9:30 - 12:15 or ~12:15 - 3:00) at a poster sales table at the show where Mockingbird Foundation, the artists involved and PhanArt Pete Mason will be selling prints and pins to show attendees to benefit the Foundation.
As you probably know, The Mockingbird Foundation is an all volunteer Phish fan charity which was set up in 1997 to benefit music education for kids (we've donated over $720,000 so far), published The Phish Companion books and "adopted" this archival setlist website, Phish.net in 2001 and operate it to this day on a non-commercial, not for profit basis. Mostly the compensation for helping out is warm fuzzies, but you'll meet a lot of nice people and we'll kick down some stuff from the Phish.net store and archival T shirts to thank you for helping. If you're interested, please PM me on the Phish.net site or email [email protected] with subject line "First Tube volunteer". Thanks for your support!
For the next few weeks, we're going to change up the .net front page images of past concert photo images with some previews of featured poster art from the Mothership Art Collective's upcoming First Tube poster show. The show will be held on Saturday, June 16th from 10 am - 3 pm at the Trump Plaza Hotel, Westminster Room, on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City before Phish's show that day at Bader Field.
Artists showing include AJ Masthay, Ryan Kerrigan, Tripp, Erin Cadigan, Rick Hersh, Dave Calarco (author of "Mr. Minor's" Phish book who will be selling and authographing his book), Brendan Otto, Noah Phence and others selling posters and pins. Special pieces available from these artists and PhanArt to benefit the Phish fan charity, The Mockingbird Foundation, an all volunteer charity which sponsors music education programs for underserved children, operates this website and is the author of The Phish Companion books.
Admission to the show is FREE, and there are no reservations or advance ticketing required. Further information is available on the Mothership Art Collective's Facebook page here.
Our sponsors at GlowStickWars.comhave just launched their first Phish ticket giveaway sweepstakes of the year. Up for grabs is a FREE 3-Day Ticket to see Phish play Bader Field in Atlantic City. There are three simple ways to be entered to win:
• Gear Up at GlowStickWars.com using promo code AC4FREE. For every $10 spent, you will receive an entry into the drawing! That code will also save you 20-25% off your order. Remember that 10% of all Show Stick sales are donated directly to The Mockingbird Foundation.
• Follow @glowstickwars on Twitter, and tweet: "I want to win a 3-day ticket to see @Phish in Atlantic City from @GlowStickWars! #phish #AC4FREE #sweepstakes #glowstickwars". Full contest details available here.
The letter that accompanied the grant award offered assistance in publicizing the support from the foundation. We would welcome any and all assistance you could provide. At this time I will be contacting the Mayor of Bridgeport in the hopes of staging a media event featuring some of the students and announcing the support of the foundation.
Once again, thank you for honoring us and our children with a grant award.June G. Malone, Ph.D.Director of Development (volunteer)CT-PAS"
If you donate to the all volunteer Phish Fan Mockingbird Foundation through the "donate" button on Phish.net, buy official LivePhish.com releases or "The Phish Companion", thanks for helping make this happen.
By the way, The Mockingbird Foundation celebrates its 15th Anniversary tomorrow...we incorporated as a not-for-profit on March 26, 1997!
One of the staple topics of Phish discussion on the internet as far back as I can remember, when I first got internet access and hopped onboard the old “rec.music.phish” newsgroup in 1994, is “scalping” and the extreme dislike for those engaged in reselling Phish tickets for well above “face”.
People were complaining then about “scalpers” and three digit prices being asked for tickets to the sold-out Halloween show at my hometown hockey rink, the Glens Falls Civic Center (capacity 5,500), during Phish “1.0’s” meteoric rise in popularity in those years.
"In the last few weeks, nearly every warm-blooded American who’s ponied up for a big-ticket event in the 21st century has received an email alerting them to a proposed settlement of a lawsuit against Ticketmaster few had ever heard of.
Particularly in the wake of Ticketmaster’s controversial merger with concert promoter Live Nation two years ago, the near-monopolist has earned a poor reputation for its high online purchase fees and bad relationships with venues and consumers. While the settlement may offer a measure of public retribution for its unhappy customers, it’s not going to line their pockets—but it might be a wake-up call for a troubled industry."
Our partners at GlowStickWars.com ("GSW") are sponsoring a special glowstick war to fire up the band at the moment the lights go down for the first set of the NYE run at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night, 12/28.
The idea is that lights go down, glow sticks go up, the band walks out to the most emphatic crowd response and proceeds to just murder the show with a ferocity we've all been waiting for. This energy will carry through the entire run.
GlowStickWars.com will donate $0.10 to The Mockingbird Foundation (www.mbird.org) for each of the first 3,000 confirmed attendees!
GlowStickWars.com will also be contributing five Show Sticks (soft, thin and super-bright glow bracelets) to this cause for each of the first 3,000 confirmed attendees! GSW plans to hand them out outside of MSG before the show on 12/28, with a little note detailing these shenanigans.
GSW has setup a couple of special discounts specially for this event:
5PHISHNY - Receive a 10% discount and FREE shipping on orders of 5+ tubes!
25PHISHNY - Receive a case of Show Sticks (25 tubes, aka 2,500 glowies) shipped to your door (or hotel) for $150!!
Less than two weeks remain to win a Phish NYE ticket in Section 105 from our supporting partner GlowStickWars.com. According to the contest rules and details on GSW's Facebook page here, there are four ways to enter the contest sweepstakes drawing which takes place on December 3rd:
You can buy four or more 100 stick tubes of Showsticks(tm), and get one entry per tube purchased. GSW is also offering a 10% promotional discount for the NYE orders, as well as some free extras shipping with every mail order: an LED Wand, Beach Ball, pair of Glow Glasses (frames only), two Glow Ball Connectors and a vinyl GSW Sticker. Use promotion code "PHISHNYE" in the online order form for the discount and special premiums.
You can also enter the contest drawing without a purchase, by "liking" their Facebook page, tweeting or making a video submission. See the GSW Facebook page for full details. The contest ends on November 30th.
GlowStickWars.com sells only the "thin" glowsticks (glowrings), and each tube of 100 sticks includes free ring connectors. A portion of each tube sale benefits the Mockingbird Foundation's charitable programs of music education for kids and the operation of Phish.net. GSW has generously contributed over $5,000 to the Mockingbird Foundation this year alone from Showstick(tm) sales.
(Interviewer Benjy Eisen:) What was the most unexpected challenge of writing your first real score?
(Trey Anastasio:) It's been a steep learning curve. I've learned that in the theater the story is everything. Every lyric, every line and every musical gesture has to propel the journey of a given character or the overall plot. We've had workshops that take place over two or three week periods. In the workshops, actors run thru each number with minimal props and blocking. Sometimes a song doesn't land the way we expected it to. The solution is often not what I would have anticipated.
In one case, there was a song that Amanda and I had written that we were particularly excited about. When the actor sang it in the workshop, it didn't have the same emotional impact as it did on the demo. Amanda, Doug and I huddled up in the hallway to talk about it. I suggested re-writing the song, but Doug disagreed. He explained that in this case, he didn't think that the issue was the song. He felt that the character needed a few more lines of dialogue to set the song up, so that the audience understood the intent behind the song before they heard it. He changed the actor's lines, we ran it again and it was stunning. This was a complete revelation to me. In the past, I've habitually led with the music. I've learned so much from this experience.
It all comes down to radio. Either it plays your new single or you collapse. Live by the sword, die by the sword. Doesn't matter what you did in the past, if your new record ain't a hit on the radio, you're toast. Just look at Christina Aguilera. Her album stunk up the joint, she got no traction at radio, and she had to cancel her whole damn tour.
Didn't used to be this way. Used to be bands were developed slowly. The audience saw them as more than one hit wonders. These are the classic rock acts. Once we got to the video era, band shelf lifes shortened. Now it's nonexistent.
If you were made by the machine.
If you made it outside the system, if it was about touring and gaining fans slowly, you're laughing all the way to the bank. Recorded music revenue may be way down, but Phish is still cleaning up on the road, despite never having a mainstream radio hit, without having any radio airplay whatsoever, except for pockets of college and Triple-A exposure.
And then there are the electronica acts. Arguably, Tiesto is the biggest touring act in the business. Sure, there are a handful of acts who could draw more, but Tiesto can do it night after night, every show is different, people come for the experience. And most of America's got no idea who Tiesto is, they've never even heard the name.
Today's big Top Forty star, Rihanna, if she fails at radio next time, she's in the same boat as Christina Aguilera. Same deal with Katy Perry. See why the major labels are up in arms, why they're freaking out? You can't sell a record and nothing lasts, how's that for a paradigm?
From Bob Lefsetz' music industry newsletter, www.lefsetz.com
We've written before about trademarks and bootleg merch sold on "Shakedown Streets" at shows. The phishnet forum and Phantasy Tour message boards have been buzzing since the Dick's shows about the strange affair of a freelance contractor, Dave Anver, long active in seizing supposedly bootleg merch for promoters in the Denver area.
The Westword blog site in Denver covered the original incident which was sparked by a YouTube video and a "Stop Dave Anver" Facebook page campaign and writer Dave Herrera has returned with a long and troubling discussion of what happened that day in the lot at Dick's with a "bootleg merch bust" that somehow went very, very bad.
"A few songs into the first set, a funny thing happened: My pad stayed in my pocket for longer stretches. I put my phone away and stopped sending messages to the newsroom. Deadlines and leads slipped from my mind. I forgot, for a time, I was on assignment. That’s a very unusual thing and a better way to listen to music — and there was some good stuff to hear Wednesday night at the fairgrounds."
Reporter Sally Pollack, from an article in the Burlington Free Press (9/18/11).
According to the New York Times article yesterday, President Obama's choice for a key economics adviser, Alan B. Krueger, a Princeton University professor, knows a lot about labor markets and unemployment, having written a key study on the minimum wage and effects on jobs. But Krueger also has a wide ranging set of interests in economic subjects, including a 2004 paper he co-authored on the concert industry entitled "Rockonomics: The Economics of Popular Music", online here.
The summary abstract of the paper states that it:
"... considers economic issues and trends in the rock and roll industry, broadly defined. The analysis focuses on concert revenues, the main source of performers’ income. Issues considered include: price measurement; concert price acceleration in the 1990s; the increased concentration of revenue among performers; reasons for the secondary ticket market; methods for ranking performers; copyright protection; and technological change.
Most lot merch aficianados know about Sean "Waldo" Knight of Knighthood Ts, who fought a copyright infringement battle with Phish, Inc. back in the day over the "song title" parody T shirts where someone other than Phish's IP (such as the manufacturers of Tide detergent, say, for the popular "Glide" T shirts) was arguably being infringed.
Waldo won that battle, and it's been assumed by lot merchants and "phan artists" that most companies other than Phish won't bother with similar trademark parodies. Companies like New England's H.P. Hood dairies, for instance, might even be amused by and benefit from the windfall of publicity and goodwill from Phish fans, on the "all publicity is good publicity" theory.
But not so fast says Bridgestone Brands a/k/a Firestone, which recently sued Waldo and his wife Joanne for copyright infringement. Firestone is not amused because it considers itself in the clothing business (NASCAR style race car driver attire) as well as slinging tires. Firestone's suit seeks an injunction against the sale of the infringing items and triple Waldo's profits as provided for by copyright law.
More details from trademark law blogger Lara Pearson's Brand Geek[r] blog here.
Congratulations to Adam Scheinberg, a Mockingbird Foundation Board member and IT Director (and of course .net webmaster) for being recognized by the Orlando Business Journal as one of this year's "Forty Under Forty" finalists.
In his day gig, Adam is the senior director of technology and information systems for Massey Services, Inc., an environmental services company headquartered in the Orlando, FL area.
Adam is profiled in today's online edition. Not surprisingly to anyone who hangs out on phish.net, he lists "concerts and travel" as the biggest categories of his disposible income.
One of Phish.net's most prolific reviewers, W H @waxbanks, has written an insightful piece on his blog (blog.waxbanks.net) comparing the music of the Grateful Dead to that of Phish. He sees them as polar opposites with Phish's music being built around order (or structure) and the Dead's being built around disorder.
With his permission, we are re-blogging his piece on the Phish.net site. p.s. If you're a Dead fan, you may well be interested in his recent piece on tribute bands, particularly Furthur, and I found my self shaking my head in agreement with @waxbank's take on Obama taboot. Good stuff!
Without further ado:
"The home state of Phish's improvisatory music is order (or structure). They depart productively from it, and play against it, entering states of tense, nervewracking disorder. But they always want to resolve, to cohere. Their improvisatory structures (like the two chords of the 'Bowie' jam, with their many modal suggestions) are centers of gravity; that's why they can swing wildly away from them and return surefooted, time after time. Their improvisations are famously architectural and coherent, as are Trey Anastasio's unique full-band written arrangements. The flip side of this strength-in-order is that their experiments in purely Free jamming have rarely been wholly successful, though they've gotten much better at it over the last ~30 years. And for a long time they were afraid to be emotionally wild, preferring intellectual experimentation - at some cost to the overall musical vibe."
Congratulations to "Runaway Jim", pictured above with phan owner Stacy.
Jim won his maiden race for three year olds and up at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, NY in Friday's 8th race (a $48,000 allowance race on the turf for 3-year-olds and up), running 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf and winning in 1:42:40. It was only his second race of the year, after a rehab stint over the winter/spring season. Jim paid $10 to win, $4.20 to place and $3.60 to show.
For over ten years, phans have volunteered a lot of creative fundraising efforts to support the Mockingbird Foundation's mission to bring music education to underserved kids, including tribute band shows, poker tournaments, poster exhibitions and CD release parties.
For Phish's Denver-area run at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in suburban Commerce City, CO over Labor Day weekend, tour operator Greg Yance of Bobby D-Tour is donating the entire proceeds of the on-board bars on his upscale Denver shuttle buses to the Mockingbird Foundation. The rolling bars will feature beer, wine, sodas and snacks "at lot prices".
Rock & Bus is now reserving on demand party bus service from points in Washington State, Oregon and British Columbia. Reserve now at the Rock & Bus website here.
Phish and its management, including security manager John Langenstein, tour director Richard Glasgow a/k/a "Dickie Scotland" and management gurus at Red Light Management get prominent mentions in an interesting article in today's Wall Street Journal about concert security here.
Mike Greenhaus of Relix has written a new interview with Steve "Dude of Life" Pollak, Trey's high school bandmate and longtime musical collaborator, on the Jambands.com site here.
Even [Monday morning], driving through the campgrounds as people are packing up, they're yelling at us, 'Thank you! Thank you for letting us come here and do our thing.'
Everybody's waving, with all their fingers. "
Schuyler County Sheriff Bill Yessman, quoted in the (Rochester, NY) Democrat and Chronicle (7/5/11)
In my life, I’ve been incredibly lucky to be an early and long-time follower of two of the world’s greatest rock bands, The Grateful Dead and Phish.
Sometimes, people ask me what the biggest difference was between “following the Dead” and “following Phish”, and I tell them it’s the deep and lasting friendships I’ve made with Phish fans from around the country.
And I also add how a bunch of those friends came together to do some wonderful things as a group: publish a couple of well-received and sold-out editions of a book about Phish that the band liked enough to sell in its store, formed a charity that has donated over $620,000 for music education programs for underserved kids, and refurbished the Phish.net website for Phish 3.0 as a monster up to the second Phish historical performance database, all still as non-commercial and “by phans, for phans”, as it was in 1994.
And the reason for any difference -- between the Dead and the Phish -- had nothing to do with their music or the fans of each band.
Some new merch in store, by your request: ball caps in charcoal and tangerine colors, and beverage coozys. The hats are embroidered with the beaniephish logo and "phish.net" on the back. Can coozies are $3 each or "lot priced" discount, two for $5. Bottle coozies with a zipper back are $4 or two for $7.
Now at the Phish.net Store (Click "Store" in the main navigation bar)
Phish.net ball cap in charcoal
Bottle coozy, $4 or two for $7Phish.net can coozy, $3 or two for $5
We won't be selling these at SBIX (merch gets messy when you take it to a field show), but if you buy hats and shirts now, you'll have them in time to wear to the SBIX .net meetup.
(Not to encourage anyone to wait, but we'll also be giving out .net store discount coupons to at the SBIX .net "Meetup", and there will be more new items in the store then...they are on their way from the factory).
Tour packages including party bus shuttles, hotel, restaurant accomodations and even side tours to wineries and ballgames are available for Phish's California, Denver, and Nevada shows for the western leg of Phish's summer tour from a new operator, Greg Yance of Bobby D-Tour.
More information is available on their website. Greg describes his service as "a hybrid of [the recently blogged about "party"] charter bus services combined with [tour package operator] Consider it Dan."
Leaving the driving to Bobby D-Tour seems like a good alternative to rental cars and "do it yourself" accomodations for those flying to the west coast for the end of Phish summer tour.
Another charter bus service,Rock & Bus, has begun to provide "party bus" service to summer tour Phish shows.
Owner Numann Akram tells us "We're offering buses from all the surrounding cities. Our model works on demand so we go where the fans are. Think you have enough fans in your town to get your own bus? Email us and we'll add your town to the list. These buses are luxury charter motorcoaches with all the amenities. We think this is a great way to extend your Phish experience to and from the show."
More information is available at the Rock and Bus website.
We reported a while back about Wiseguys Tickets, the guys who used Bulgarian hackers to defeat the TM capcha system and scoop up all the Hampton Reunion tickets at onsale, as well as Springsteen's and other concert and sporting events.
Yesterday, the linchpins were sentenced in NJ federal court, but surprisingly, didn't get the maximum five year prison terms of the crimes for which they were convicted, but a relative slap on the wrist more like an illegal lot vending rap, perhaps because of the novelty (and weakness?) of the government's case:
"Kenneth Lowson, 41, and Kristofer Kirsch, 38, both of Los Angeles, each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and exceed authorized access to computers engaged in interstate commerce, for which they received two years probation and 300 hours of community service.
Joel Stevenson, 38, of Alameda, Calif., pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of exceeding authorized access to computers engaged in interstate commerce and was sentenced to one year of probation."
Their Bulgarian hacker counterparts are still at large.
We rolled into Bethel early friday morning, and from then until we left this morning we encountered only friendly citizens embracing our community. A very special thanks to the people of bethel, the staff at bethel woods, the state troopers and anyone else I am forgetting. We had a great time ans sincerely hope we get the opportunity to visit again..."
"Things went so smoothly at the three-day festival at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts that Bethel Supervisor Dan Sturm gushed Monday about the "phans."
He said he even witnessed them cleaning up campsites and picking up garbage from the road.
"The crowd was unbelievable, friendly, law-abiding," Sturm said. "We had them cleaning up after themselves."
If many of these are true, there’s a good chance you’ll like Phish:
You love music, you listen to a lot of music, and you feel noticeably happy and energized whenever you get into a new album or band.
You love musical complexity, and you’re not crazy about the lack of it in today’s pop music.
You consider most modern pop music “overproduced”.
You don’t easily tire of the songs you love and hear often.
You’re a sucker for a good electric-guitar solo. Your favorite part of one of your favorite rock songs is the quick little guitar riff toward the end, and you wish it was longer.
You prefer to buy and listen to full albums rather than singles. (Bonus points if you rarely use shuffle, preferring to listen to songs in album order.)
You need a lot of music to fill long periods, such as listening in headphones while working at a computer all day."
Leaves NYC in front of the Hamerstein Ballroom (34th and Eighth, near MSG) at 10 am on July 1st, returning from Watkins Glen on the morning of July 4th. Tickets are $99 and available online at the Rocks Off website here. A great option for those thinking of flying into NYC and renting a car to get to Watkins Glen.
Hat tip to @slothberries in the .net forum for the heads up.
The standoff between The Town of Bethel and Yasgur Rd Productions has ended. They win.
Upon reading quotes from town supervisor Daniel Sturm stating that the town intends to “hit us in our wallets” and after already receiving camping violations one week before people arrived, we know they mean business. The fines could be as much as $1,000 per violation, per parcel (there are 5), for the duration of the permit which is 14 days. That's $70,000 for the two weeks of the permit plus the $25,000 for the contempt of court. That is if we only have one violation per day.
The town would be able to then take a lien on our property if we were unable to pay within their timeframe."
I never understood Phish, the rock band that I will always associate with vacuum cleaners and trampolines.
But Phish bass player Mike Gordon in 2002 told me an awesome story about a soundcheck the guys had before playing The Chance in Poughkeepsie years ago:
”My favorite moment at The Chance — no one was in the room during a soundcheck. Fishman and I were sleeping in a van right by the stage door and someone came to get us. We got on stage and both of us were still in alpha stages, still in a dream state, and we played really steady bass and drums, unvarying but very hypnotic. Sometimes sound checks were more hypnotic and mesmerizing than the gigs. Trey and Page did a very ambient … they did these very light, very fluttery patterns over steady bass and drums. It was one of the best musical experiences ever.”
johnbarry at the Poughkeepsie (NY) Journal blog "Sonic Storm" (5/25/11)
Those NYC concertgoers going to the May 31 and June 1 Phish shows at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel can skip the drive, traffic and hassle and jump on the Rocks Off "Party Bus."
According to Rocks Off, "We are running an air-conditioned, bathroom-equipped, sound system & flatscreen-rockin party bus from NYC to and from the shows, so you don't need to worry about finding a ride, staying sober, dealing with the scumbags on public transportation (or the crowded-ass shuttle buses back to the NJT station after the show), or even learning where the hell "Holmdel, New Jersey" actually is. Really, all you've gotta do is buy a ticket, show up, stumble into and out of the venue, and we'll take care of the rest - don't that sound like it's worth a little money spent on your peace of mind? (And not having to draw straws to see which one of your friends has to stay sober at a Phish show)."
Tickets are $49 plus shipping (mail for only 25 cents) for each night. More information and links for online ordering is available from the Rocks Off/TicketWeb website here. The bus will run to and from the Hammerstein Ballroom - 34th Street and 8th Avenue. Boarding begins at 4:45pm, and the bus will leave at 5pm PROMPTLY.
Andrew Duch at the Headstash site has written a thought provoking article about how technology will change the Jam Band scene.
Duch sees a decline in "organic" roots rock music like the jam band genre, in favor of electronica and DJ based music. He also considers the implications of RFID wristbands and smartphone apps to allow cashless festivals and friend finding features. Interactive shows and enhanced couch tours also could be part of the future if bands embrace and facilitate the technology, like audience taping, instead of fighting it.
Maybe we will unleash the people on the town and let them handle it. We didn't bring the people to the area."
Roy Howard, one of the owners of the "Yasgurs Pharm" campground in Bethel, speaking to a reporter about the Town's plans to potentially prevent the campground from hosting Phish concertgoers at the upcoming Bethel Woods shows on May 27-29.
According to published reports, the campground owners have taken reservations for an estimated 1,300 cars, exceeding the maximum number of permitted campers under the Town's ordinance, as well as potentially violating a previous court order not to promote festivals at their site, the site of the original 1969 Woodstock festival.
The Town of Bethel and the operators of a popular campground on the original site of the 1968 1969 Woodstock festival seem to be squaring off about the definition of a "camping party".
The Town ordinance limits the number of permitted "camping parties" per separate parcel of land to four. The owners of the Woodstock Revival campground have already taken reservations for 1,300 vehicles and 3,000 people for their five parcels. Things may end up in court soon.
At a private meeting with Watkins Glen residents near the festival site, Schuyler County Sheriff William Yessman and WGI racetrack President Michael Printup told neighbors that the festival organizers and local officials were prepared to deal with the crowds and traffic efficiently, according to an article in the (Elmira NY) Star-Gazette.
The Sheriff told the neighbors "not to expect another 1973", referring to the "Summer Jam" that year with the Dead, Allman Brothers and the Band and the estimated 600,000, mostly ticketless, who showed up. As a result, large outdoor concerts were banned in Schuyler County until last year. Sheriff Yessman said that he's "done more planning on this event than any other event I've been involved with in my 26 years on the job". The planning included attending Coachella last year to observe security operations and to monthly meetings that brought together representatives of emergency services, law enforcement, WGI and the Phish promoters.
Printup noted that the 60,000 cap was less than the NASCAR events at the track and that the WGI is experienced in handling large crowds and traffiic. The article also stated that WGI had filed a 400 page Environmental Impact Statement regarding potential impacts and mitigation of the Phish and other festivals WGI plans to host at the racetrack.
It would appear that, easy access wise, Superball IX will be more like Festival Eight at the Coachella site in Indio than the hours backup-ed, traffic-clogged festival gates at Limestone, ME, The Big Cypress Seminole Reservation, and the "Newport State Airport" in Coventry, VT. Sounds like good news to me!
BETHEL — The Town of Bethel has imposed a fee on property owners who plan to allow campers on their property this summer as it braces for thousands at the three-day Phish concert on the Memorial Day weekend.
The Town Board recently passed a $50 fee for a temporary camping permit.
Supervisor Dan Sturm said the town has no plans to amend its camping or noise ordinances but will have town code enforcement officers inspecting known camping sites during the weekend to ensure that property owners are complying with the pre-existing laws.
The camping permit was also passed to help the town keep tabs on the camping sites that weekend.
"We are not looking to fine people, but we do have an obligation to protect neighbors and property owners, and to enforce our code," he said.
Bethel law restricts the number of campsites to four per parcel. "
From an article "Fee imposed for Phish camping" by Victor Whitman in the (Middletown, NY) Times Herald-Record (5/8/11)
"Goddard College, a tiny Vermont school that thrived on the counterculture of the 1960s, is back, with the highest enrollment in 30 years, says its new president who will be inaugurated on Saturday [May 7].
The college, which has turned out famous alums such as playwright, director and screenwriter David Mamet, actor William H. Macy and members of the rock band Phish, was on the brink of closing in 2002. It decided to end its full-time on-campus housing and programs and focus on programs that let students spend short stints on campus but do their studies elsewhere.
Now, the college's mostly older students spend eight days on the campus each semester and do their studies off campus working closely with faculty. Enrollment has grown from about 100 students in 1981 and 500 in 2002 to 804 this past fall.
"It's back to take a leadership position at a time when we are in desperate need of thinking differently about education in this country," said Barbara Vacarr, president since July.
"And Goddard has always done that."
The school now has 125 faculty -- up from 75 in 2002 -- and its first 10-year accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges."
According to the Phish.net FAQ and /people, Page studied at Southern Methodist University from 1982 through the spring of 1984, when he transferred to Goddard College. There, he recruited Trey and Fish (and earned $50 for each in a 1986 recruitment drive which helped save the school). Page graduated in December 1987 and wrote his Senior Study “The Art of Improvisation” under the guidance of Karl Boyle. He now holds a bachelor's degree in Arts from Goddard.
Trey received a Bachelors of Arts degree from Goddard College (fall 1986 to spring 1988), where he wrote The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday for his Senior Thesis.
Fish transferred to Goddard College In the fall of 1986 and graduated in spring 1990, where his Senior Study was titled “A Self-Teaching Guide to Drumming Written in Retrospect.” Fish also holds a bachelor's degree in Arts from Goddard.
Mike is the only non-Goddard Phish alumni; he remained at the University of Vermont and graduated in 1987 with a bachelors degree in Arts.
Phish fan Ryan Hartigan writes that he works "at the nonprofit, The Seeing Eye, the oldest guide dog school in the world for people who are blind. We are currently holding our annual online fundraising auction, and I managed to get in touch with Phish for a contribution to the auction catalog. They donated an incredible, limited edition poster from the Camden 2010 summer shows and each signed it. My wife and I had it professionally framed and hope it will raise some good money for The Seeing Eye."
The poster is on auction here at the Bidding for Good website site.
Yes, Greyson Schwing provides fast service to his clients. But that isn't why he named his Milford web design, management and hosting firm Antelope Networks.
"I'm a huge Phish fan, and they have a song, `Run Like an Antelope.' I like the song and also that the business name is kind of an inside joke. It's all about the music for me.''
From an article in the (Bridgeport) Connecticut Post "Antelope Networks keeps web side of business running smoothly" by Frank Juliano, Staff Writer (4/28/11).
8:30 a.m.: It appears the Phish 7-inch and Foo Fighters cover album went as quickly as tickets to the last LCD Soundsystem show, but everyone’s got armfuls of wax. It’s somewhat disheartening to watch some vultures grabbing up four or five copies of certain records, but such is life in the post-eBay world.
...and Phish (JEMP Records) is releasing "Two Soundchecks", the band's first-ever live vinyl release - a limited edition (2000 hand numbered) 7-inch, vinyl record.
The A-Side is an instrumental jam from the last night of Phish's three day stand at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA during last year's summer tour, and the B-Side is an especially exotic soundcheck from Hartford, CT in 2009.
Also, Mike is releasing his 2002 solo album "Inside In" on vinyl as well.
For a list of independent record stores participating in tomorrow's special events hopefully near you, go to the Record Store Day homepage.
When we did Phish we learned a lot from them,” [concert promoter Goldenvoice President Paul] Tollett said. “And when we told them what we do for camping, they said, ‘Oh yeah, that’s nice, we got a way better way.’ They showed us the car camping concept, and how they’re able to keep that safe and fun.”
This is going to be the festy of the east, and we all know that. Come prepared, get here early. Get here as early as you can. I think we will have the campground open Thursday morning, so it gives you a day and a half before they even start performing. Hit the town- we've got a nice huge Wal Mart in town, so you can stock up on all the good stuff you need for the weekend. Bring your party shoes and let's go!"
From an interview with Watkins Glen International President Micheal Printup in the Binghamton Examiner (4/6/11)
"Yeah, I'm taking my son phishing this weekend," Watkins Glen International President Michael Printup said. "I can't help it if I can't spell."
Printup said there was no deal in place yet.
"We're talking to a promoter, trying to get a deal done," he said. "We'll be talking over the next two or three days and then hopefully we can get a deal and have something to say."
- From an article in the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin by Jason Whong (3/18/11)
I had three drum lessons when I was 13 to learn how to read from a guy named Dave Hanlon in Syracuse. The only other lessons I've ever had were from Joe and they were 15 years apart. I went to him in '09 for the second one. I kind of knew this was coming after leaving that lesson. I'm very sad about this. My entire rudimentary practice routine has come from him. The last lesson I had with him was basically a confirmation that everything he had told me 15 years earlier was right and that I should stay on that track. What he taught me was literally the foundation of everything I will ever do on the drums and the value of having the confidence of knowing the instruction I received from him is as sound as it is can not be over stated. I owe him for correcting my mistakes, putting me on a right path and keeping me on it. Amazing. I am so grateful!"
To make James Franco's portrayal of Aron Ralston [as the injured climber in the Oscar nominated film 127 Hours] as accurate as possible, Ralston told [film director Danny] Boyle to have Franco recite lyrics from the jam band Phish, Ralston's favorite band."
More of Mike Wren's photos of the last night's Trey Anastasio Band show at the Palace Theatre, Albany (NY) can be found in his Flickr photostream here.
This poster by Erin Cadigan is one of four being auctioned off on eBay by PhanArt to support the Mockingbird Foundation. Erin's an extremely talented artist who did the official Phamily Poker Tournament poster benefitting the Mockingbird Foundation last fall.
Bidding on this poster auction ends Tuesday evening (February 22).
Erin's poster for the second leg of summer tour 2010 is based on the Virgin of Guadeloupe, the clouds are the venues and dates.
The print measures 12″x18″, comes from a signed and numbered edition of 113 and is printed on 1-33 Champagne pearlized 100# cover 34-113 Cougar felted 100#cover (nice white paper). This poster is number 80/113.
Following closely on the heels of yesterday's announcement of the Phish soundcheck vinyl to be released on Record Store Day, Saturday, April 16, Mike announced today that he will also be rereleasing Inside In and MossRemixes as Limited Edition Vinyl albums that will be available exclusively at participating independently owned record stores across the country.
Nearly eight years after Mike's debut solo release, Inside In, Mike is "unleashing" the album on vinyl for the first time as a deluxe double-LP set. For Record Store Day, Inside In has been pressed on 180g orange vinyl and includes "Minkinetics", "Trinners March" and "Be Your Tape", three previously unreleased outtake tracks from the album (available only on vinyl). Musicians on the album include Jon Fishman, Bela Fleck, Col. Bruce Hampton, Buddy Cage, Vassar Clements and others.
In addition, Moss Remixes, a Limited Edition 7-inch featuring two remixes from Mike's latest solo album Moss (released in October 2010) will be available at participating record stores. The release is limited to 1,000 copies. The idea was not to "remix" the songs, but instead, work with the moments that had lead to the germination of the songs. The A and B sides include full remixes of "Horizon Line" and "Fire From A Stick" (which incorporate bits of original demos, bass and drum jams, and many added extra textures).
For more background information on Record Store Day, click here.
For the Record Store Day website with a searchable list of participating independent record stores, click here.
"The Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux and Phish archivist Kevin Shapiro will be here for two days of events and workshops. On Thursday, February 24th at 6 PM in Stein Auditorium, 111 Nesbitt Hall (3215 Market St.), David and Kevin will participate in an open discussion moderated by Music Industry Professor Toby Seay.
These two highly regarded professionals will discuss how they've managed the massive recordings and holdings of their archives, how their bands make decisions about preservation and releases, and the impact technology is having on their work.
Professor Toby Seay is a veteran recording engineer who has worked with Dolly Parton, Randy Travis and many others on numerous Gold and Platinum albums including eight Grammy Award winners. In support of this event, Toby will release a podcast that will offer select, released tracks chosen by Lemieux and Shapiro of performances by each band in Philadelphia along with a discussion on why these tracks were released.
The podcast will be available Wednesday, February 23rd from 3-7 PM as a stream via http://www.drexel.edu/westphal/events/lemieuxshapiropodcast/. "
Let me explain the sign situation from where we stand onstage. We see them the first time you hold them up. Yes, we saw the Manteca sign at the Garden. Page and I were cracking up about it backstage. The problem is, if you keep holding them up all night, It blocks the view of the people behind you, so it seems kind of insensitive to everyone else. We saw it the first time, so you don’t have to keep holding it up…you can put it down. A lot of people just hold them up between songs, which is very thoughtful.
The other thing is that sometimes we need to run through some of these songs before we can play them, because there are SO many songs now that even the easy ones sometimes have a little quirk that one band member might forget. It’s usually something small. Like Fish will say that he can’t remember how My Mind Has a Mind of Its Own ends because it’s so similar to other bluegrass tunes. Stuff like that. So often we’ll see a sign, and think “we’ll check that one out tomorrow”.
The last thing is, it’s not very in the moment to be obsessing about the next song while you are playing or listening to the song you are actually playing or listening to, is it? In that sense, the signs are really annoying sometimes, I have to say."
From Part One of the Hidden Track blog's interview with Trey here.
"Hands on a Hardbody", a new musical Trey and songwriter Amanda Green ("Burn that Bridge", "Summer of 89", "My Problem Right There") collaborated on for the music, will be opening in Manhattan in March for a three-week run. The show is produced by the La Jolla (California) Playhouse company and directed by Neil Pepe.
According to the article on the show biz site Playbill.com, the musical is based on a documentary about contestants trying to win a hardbody truck by being the last person standing with his hands on the truck, like the Survivor immunity challenges. The producers casting the show are looking for singers who "should have authentic, skilled country/folk voices and genuine acting chops. It is a strong ensemble piece."
'The varied characters include a Texas disc jockey who has a garage band; a manager at a car dealership; a returning champ who spins tall tales; an aging ex-oil rigger; a Louisiana ladies' man; an Iraq war vet; a young, unemployed oddball; a long-haul trucker, a poor man with a loving wife and eight kids; a psychology professor who is an expert on sleep deprivation; a soft-spoken Latino kid who aspires to college; a female marketing director at the local Nissan dealership; a tomboy who can belt to a D; a middle-aged woman of faith; and a former cheerleader."
Brando and Dusty at cashortrade.org, the phan operated, "face" ticket exchange, are giving away two tickets each to the 2/19 Palace Theatre Albany TAB show and the 3/22/11 Mike show at the Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn in a random drawing from all cashortrade.org members that recommend three new members to join the service.
Further details at the cashortrade.org website here.
I don’t treasure my Phish shows like I used to. I have a whole hard drive full of them, and I’ve backed them all up. I don’t want to lose them, but if I do, what of it? It doesn’t matter, all those ones and zeros still exist out there in the ether, so I can track them down again if I have to. To get tapes, let alone listenable ones, that took some doing. You had to network, both in person at shows and afterwards online. Every overstuffed bubble mailer that arrived at your door represented some sort of minor miracle.
When I was a senior in High School I got sent a pristine First Generation (remember “generations”, no more, thanks to digital) copy of 10/22/96, Madison Square Garden, within a week of it happening. That was a big damn deal! I must’ve dubbed a hundred copies of that show and made enough trips to the post office to know the clerks by name in order to spread the jams. It really took some doing.
My tape collection still has more personality than anything I’ve ever downloaded. Each package would arrive in the mailbox, and there was this moment of excitement. What could it contain? Is this the perfect show?! Some tapes would arrive with almost no information. Annoying yes, but somewhat like a game to figure out what you were listening to. Some of the best ones would come with full-on artwork that rivaled an official release. But some of those other tapes really had character! Out of the blue, there’d be god knows what, like stickers, pictures and other ephemera. It was kind of like a grab bag of Phishness.
- Aaron Hawley, excerpt from "The Relentless Communicator: A Tape Trader’s Lament" (2/1/11) on onlinephishtour.com.
Phish will be releasing three shows from their past Summer Tour, completely remastered by sound engineer Fred Kevorkian. They will be available for download at iTunes this Tuesday, February 1st.
The shows are:
8/6/10 The Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA
8/7/10 The Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA
8/13/10 VZW Music Center, Noblesville, IN
Adding to Phish's catalog of the twenty Live Phish CD releases that are currently available, Phish has also pressed a limited number of CDs of these remasters. These will be available at select record stores nationwide as well, according to the Phish.com website.
The shows from the iTunes store can be preordered on the Phish.com website.
The storm that tormented the East Coast delivered its knockout punch here in the nation’s capital, where almost 200,000 people remained without electricity on Thursday, and disruptions across the metropolitan area caused some of the worst commuting delays on the Eastern Seaboard.
Contending for the title of worst commute was Adam Rosenberg, a communications director for a software company, who spent almost 12 hours driving 50 miles from Dupont Circle in Washington through a landscape of abandoned cars, stuck buses and drivers who had given up and gone to sleep.
Mr. Rosenberg knows traffic. He used to follow the band Phish with hordes of other fans. But nothing could have prepared him for what he saw on Wednesday night. Inclines sowed chaos. Cars spun helplessly and buses slid into other lanes, leaving an obstacle course of paralyzed vehicles."
This has not been announced on the Higher Ground website, but according to an article in the Burlington Free Press here, Page McConnell and Jon Fishman will join other Vermont musicians including Russ Lawton and Ray Paczkowski (both of whom play with TAB), Bob Wagner, Joshua Panda, Jer Coons and others for a benefit performance at the South Burlington nightspot on Februrary 3rd. The show will benefit Pete's Greens, a northern Vermont organic farm which suffered a fire last month.
More details will be available on Brent Hallenbeck's blog, Brent's Notebook, on the Free Press site which broke the story, as well as the Higher Ground website.
Tickets are expected to go on sale at 11 am tomorrow, Friday, January 28.
UPDATE: Tickets are not on sale yet, but a "bookmarkable" ticketing page is up on Higher Ground's website for the February 3 benefit event here.
UPDATE 2: Thanks to @johnnyd and @joechip for correcting earlier mistakes in this posting!
According to Mike’s website, a limited number of tickets for his upcoming 17 city tour from March 5 - 26 are available for fan presale at Mike’s site here until Thursday, January 20th.
Pilsner style mugs to commemorate Phish’s New Years Run at Madison Square Garden Dec 30-Jan 1. Back by popular demand.
Report from Tyler: “Out of the second batch of 100 there are only 5 left. John and I are hitting the pottery wheel once again to supply fans with what they want. We have another round of 50 coming out in the next couple weeks. This round will ship mid-February.”
This will be the second run of 100 mugs. Each mug is hand crafted and totally unique. Mugs average 20 oz in volume and roughly 6 1/2 tall. These mugs are dishwasher safe and can bear hot or cold liquids. Mugs come in various glazes, each one stunning and intricate.
These mugs were crafted in Bend, Oregon at Cinder Cone Clay Center. Long time potter, John Kinder, and his faithful assistant, Tyler Davio, put blood, sweat, and tears into these works of art. John has been a successful potter in Bend for many years and his work is known across the state of Oregon. John does custom orders. You can view his art and space at CinderConeClayCenter.com. John also has other amazing pieces for sale including coffee mugs, serving platters, rice bowls, and vases onhttp://www.etsy.com/shop/johnkinderpottery.
The art for these mugs came from a very talented Maria Dichiappari. Maria’s design catches the eye and captures the spirit of a rocking holiday tour. Her poster art is some of the nicest stuff I have seen on tour in a long time. She has a real keen eye for design and I’m sure we’ll be seeing her artwork for years to come. She also has a stellar print for the MSG show. You can view and purchase all her beautiful art work at http://mariaddesigns.com/home.cfm
The second run of mugs are currently in production mode. We expect them to be available to be shipped out by the end of January. We apologize about the delay but there is a lot of art being created at the clay center at the current time.”
More information here on the cashortrade.org website. A portion of the proceeds from these mugs will benefit the Mockingbird Foundation/Phish.net.
We passed a milestone here on the Phish.net site since the NYE run, where we were hovering just under the 10K mark in registrations.
On Wednesday (1/5/10), we passed the 10,000 mark when @jraff456/Joe Rafferty registered (welcome, Joe) and as of this morning, we’re now at 10,101 members (welcome, @kodiakfloyd/Danny)!
• Dozens of changes that have been made to Phish.net in the last year and several new teases (including Get A Job, Bewitched, Bothered, Bewildered, Theme to Barney Miller, For the Love of Money, and But Anyways).
• In addition to listing dates of the teases, they’re now noted with the songs they appeared in. “———” indicates that it was teased outside of a song (for example at the beginning of a set).
• Appearances of when a Phish song was teased or quoted in another Phish song.
• All teases post Vegas ‘04 (where The Phish Companion, 2d ed. left off)
This chart will be constantly updated, both from future changes made to the site from past setlists as well as more of a real time manner — it will be updated with teases from future Phish shows as they happen. As always, if you have any corrections, feel free to submit them!
Souvenir NYE tokens surged on the eBay exchange today, closing at $80, up $6.67 from yesterday’s average price of $73.33.
Hotdogs, however, began a downward trend, closing lower at $72.00, declining $15.87 from yesterday’s average price of $87.87. Sales however, stayed strong with four auctions closing both days.
They say rock & roll is dead. But that’s only if you’re listening to the radio, the critics, the prognosticators crunching data. But music isn’t data. Music is alive, it breathes, it’s something that gets inside and possesses you.
I won’t forget the first time I heard “Rock & Roll”. On “Loaded”.
But have you ever heard the take on “Rock N Roll Animal”? WHEW!
And we may be missing Dick Wagner and Steven Hunter’s interplay, that seventies magic, but last time I checked it was 2010, 2011! And these young ‘uns in Phish are taking that nugget and making it their own. Paying tribute and bringing it forward all at the same time. It’s about the ENERGY!
Come on, you know what it’s like to go to the show. You don’t sit there passively, you’re energized, you’re alive, every other show and moment in your life is just a synapse away. This is the essence of the experience, not nitwits dancing to click tracks.
Stop swinging for the fences. Contrary to what the old wavers tell you, technology is your friend. It allows you to get ever closer to your fans, to know who each and every one is. It allows them to interconnect and bond with each other and create a family even when you’re asleep…because music never sleeps, it’s playable always, now everywhere!
The old model has been destroyed. But don’t cry, we’re rebuilding right this very second! And we don’t know how or where it’s gonna go. There’s no formula. It’s 1968 all over again. There’s no kingpin, no programmer at MTV, no one telling you what you can or cannot do, unless you’re tied up with the old fogies.
So don’t watch Phish live at Madison Square Garden tonight.
But know that many are paying $19.99 for the privilege. And lovin’ it.
And unlike Justin Timberlake, Phish didn’t have to sell its soul to Mickey D’s, whore itself out to a corporation to be lovin’ it. They just followed the yellow brick road of music all the way to Madison Square Garden, three nights in a row, with no hit singles, no ubiquitous television coverage, none of the things the rulemakers tell you you need in order to make it.
There are no rules. Except for the ones you make yourself.
Live for the music. Each and every day. It will absolve you of your sins, it will save you, it will elate you, if you just respect it, if you don’t sully it, if you don’t bring it down to the gutter but exalt it.
And where there’s music there’s money. Always. Maybe not in the old ways, but in brand new ways, which are being invented right this very second.
”
Bob Lefsetz, from his music industry newsletter/blog, The Lefsetz Letter (12/31/10)
The "Making of the NYE Meatstick dance" documentary video from Phish.com
As a New Year's Day gift, Phish has released a nine minute Vimeo "documentary" about the preparation and performance of Friday's New Year's Eve extravaganza at Madison Square Garden, featuring the singers and dancers preparing for the show, the giant hot dog's "flight" and the countdown to the new year.
Excellent stuff! Thanks Phish; we were sitting below the hot dog in Section 87 and I was wondering how many dancers were on stage, and how this very complicated stunt was pulled off.
Nice! Commemorative MSG "tokens" on sale outside the venue with posters at 5 pm, with remaining tokens sold at the merch booths inside, according to Phish's Facebook page here.
The year’s biggest hit might be the Internet video of Miley Cyrus huffing away on a bong. But the most worrisome hit for me was the one ordered up by fans of the band Phish, lashing out via the Internet: “Your Grateful Dead comparisons and hippie stereotypes were not so much beating a dead horse as crashing your car into a Walmart and attacking the Elmer’s Glue and Jell-O displays,” one typed with his cloven hooves.
Music writer Jeff Spevak's column in the Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle, "This Year in Reviews", reacting to negative reader comments to his Phish at CMAC review (e.g., Phish at CMAC, June 29: "Jam bands are getting so common that you can't swing a
.net gathering 12/31 at Hudson Yards Cafe, 3:30 - ~6:00
The site team has been looking around for a good gathering place for 12/31 to host a phish.net gathering.
We were looking for a place close to MSG, but not as close as some of the overly crowded places like Mustang Sally’s of the late ’90s phish.net gatherings which tend to be very busy with both midtown and MSG customers. We were also looking for a place with a large bar area for meeting and could still take reservations for those who wanted dinner.
We’re therefore recommending a meeting at the Hudson Yards Cafe, 350 10th Avenue @ 35th St. which will be opening its bar around 3:30 and its kitchen around 4:00 for dinner.
If you think you are going to be stopping by, please shoot me a Phish.net PM or email me at jack (at) Phish.net so we can keep rough track of the projected headcount. If you are thinking about dinner there, I would suggest that you make dinner reservations for late afternoon with the restaurant directly for your group
Beginning in 1996 things would change, starting with a tour in Europe the sound and the demeanor of the band would quickly transform. By the late ’90s the band pushed forward to reach their career pinnacle on the eve of the millennium only to spiral out of control over the next eight years. By 2000, the band was in enough turmoil that the needed to stop. At the same time, the majority of the fan base from earlier that decade were struggling to find a path in adulthood. Things had gotten real. Jobs, relationships, priorities, all weighed in a manner they didn’t previously, when you could hop in a car and say fuck the blizzard I’m going to Albany. Before The Clifford Ball. Before Remain In Light. Before cow funk. Before Cypress. Before designer shirts and jeans. Before addiction. There was December of 1995. It is THE moment. They may have evolved from that point and beyond what they were, but it was at this moment they were perfectly Phish. It was the end of their innocence and probably, for a majority of us as well.
Eric Wyman, from an article, “Op-Eric: Wyman on Phish - December ‘95” on the Hidden Track blog, (c) Glide Magazine 2010
Shut out? Can't go? Watch Phish's NYE pay-per-view streams on your big screen TV
If you don’t know your HDMI cables from your S-Video port, but want to watch the Phish live stream on your high def large screen TV rather than your laptop, you’re in luck.
Phish.netter Alex Knoll (@Alexknoll) has written a “couch tour guide” to connecting your computer or other internet connected device (Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii etc.) to your large screen TV.
It’s a Phish.net forum thread here. Feel free to ask questions to Alex and other helpful phriendly geeks.
Phish, in its second year of touring after a five-year hiatus, remains a powerful box-office draw, with $33.2 million in gross and 658,000 in attendance to 43 shows.
"They will always do business," says Paradigm's [Chip] Hooper, who is Phish's agent. Of the 2010 tour, he says, "They were having fun, the fans were having fun, they were great shows, they were very thoughtfully booked, and it did really well."
From Billboard.biz article "Year-End: Bon Jovi Leads As Top Touring Act of 2010", by Ray Waddell (12/10/10) - http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i3a15dfaab86484fbde46ce43eb863d8c
After professing their innocence for months, the three Wiseguy defendants pleaded guilty yesterday to hacking the Ticketmaster system for several years, scooping up all tickets at onsale, including the Phish Hampton reunion shows among many other concerts and sports events.
Kenneth Lowson, 41, and Kristofer Kirsch [shown in above photo to the left of his lawyer], 37, both of Los Angeles, admitted to a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and exceed authorized access to computers engaged in interstate commerce. They face no more than two years in jail, fines of $250,000 and forfeiture of more than $1.2 million when they are sentenced in March.
Joel Stevenson, 37, of Alameda, Calif., pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of exceeding authorized access to computers engaged in interstate commerce. He could get up to a year in jail and a $100,000 fine.
Lowson and Kirsch owned Wiseguys and directed all of the company’s operations. Stevenson was the company’s chief U.S.-based programmer."
Give someone a token of your affection for the Holiday run with this pure silver wearable token commemorating the 2010-11 NYE shows by Vermont artist and jewelry maker Jennifer Kahn.
The token is available in an archival coin display holder for $25, a pendant on black waxed cotton cord (16" or 18") with sterling ends and a sterling lobster clasp for $35, or on a sterling chain for $45.
In addition to the commemorative fish and apple, and "NYE, NYC, MSG", all three show dates are inscribed among the lines on the edge. A limited edition of only 100 tokens will be made to order.
Ordering details from the cashortrade.org website here. Jennifer is generously donating 10% of her sales of this commemorative token to the Mockingbird Foundation.
In this case, Potato Cheddar Chowder soup from the upcoming PhanFood cookbook, by the “Healthy Hippie” newsletter’s Taraleigh Weathers, ”PhanArt Pete” Mason and dozens of contributors.
PhanFood is available for pre-order for $19.95 from the its publisher, the State University of New York (SUNY) Press (yes, SUNY Press, way to go Taraleigh and Pete!).
Click on the photo or this link to pre-order or for further information about the book.
There will be also be a book release party with free admission from 7pm to 9pm followed by music from Dopapod until 2am on Saturday, December 11th at Nectar’s Restaurant, 188 Main St, Burlington, VT. For further details contact Pete at PhanArt.
DeMuri said he knew they got the boulder right when [rock climber and biopic subject Aron] Ralston visited the Sugar House set. He looked at the boulder and was surprised that it was a copy. “He said, ‘You see these indentations right here? This is what I chipped away with my multitool.’ Danny looked at me and winked. I knew we got it right.”
That fidelity extended to the costume design, Larlarb said. She tracked down the manufacturer of Ralston’s shoes and even outfitted Franco with the same brand of headlamp.
She made one small change, finding a different Phish T-shirt (Ralston’s favorite band) because the band’s name was too prominent on the one he actually wore during his accident. “If I had used that shirt, we would have read the word ‘Phish’ for 90 minutes, and that would have been incredibly detracting,” Larlarb said. “I went through the Phish back catalog of concert T-shirts, and I found one that was a little more abstract, but in keeping with what he wore.”
Suttirat Anne Larlarb, production designer and costume designer for the upcoming movie "127 Hours" about Aron Ralston, the rock climber who had to cut off his arm to free himself from a boulder. Excerpt from article by Sean P. Means in the Salt Lake Tri
One of the best things generally about Phish's covers of other bands' music, and the Halloween "musical costume" tradition in particular, is how much great music of other bands you can discover in the process of being a "Phish phan".
Other than 1994's Beatles' "white album" choice, which most in the audience knew by heart owing to the Beatles' near universal popularity, most of Phish's later Halloween albums choices tended to reflect Phish's influences in somewhat more obscure choices that many in the audience were mostly unfamiliar with, something of a risk for Phish that its audience would share the band's enthusiasm for their own influences.
This year's choice, Little Feat's 1978 double album "Waiting for Columbus" is within that mold and perhaps is the closest to Phish in all of the choices of recent Halloweens.
As Bob Lefsetz pointed out, Little Feat was a band that toured endlessly in the early and mid 1970s but could gain no radio traction or hit songs, save for its near hit, "Dixie Chicken". But their music was really innovative for the time, they had a committed fan base (at a time when the Grateful Dead were basically on hiatus from touring), and they had a kickass, tight live show.
So, in 1978, that band released a double LP vinyl album of two live shows in London and Washington, edited together into as much would fit on 4 LP sides which each side couldn't go much beyond 20 minutes, and when recording a live show was a big deal, requiring trucks parked outside with bulky studio tape deck consoles, and snaking cables into a theatre.
Which brings me to this year's reissue of a remastered edition of Waiting for Columbus by the famed audiophile company, Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs. MFSL reissues select CDs from iconic artists like Frank Sinatra and the Beatles where the master tapes are available, and uses proprietary mastering techniques and 24 karat gold CDs which are individually pressed from the master in a limited, numbered "collectors edition".
On the 10/31 setlist review page, Phish.netter @BarkleyMoo mentioned that MFSL had released a remastered WfC in a limited gold CD edition and recommended it to fans, and I went bought one immediately from the MFSL/Music Direct website here. It was $39.99, and about $6 ground shipping.
I received it two days ago, copy 000429 out of 500, and it hasn't been off my Apple TV, iPod boom box or car stereo much since. It is a terrific recording of a great couple of shows.
Without taking away anything from Phish's masterful imitation of Little Feat two weeks ago, the original performances at the height of the Lowell George period in 1978 are jawdroppingly tight, like Phish playing their own music when "the hose" of a "legendary" performance is happening. Like Phish, Little Feat sought to make these recorded gigs special, by adding the horns section from the Tower of Power, a blues band of the day.
If you enjoyed the Halloween performance and want to hear a formidably impressive recording of a formidably impressive, although overlooked band of the 70s era, you will run, not walk to snag one of the presumably less than 70 available copies left of this CD from the Music Direct link above.
Atlantic City casino revenues are down again this month ...
Gaming revenues at Atlantic City casinos dropped again ...
Atlantic City casinos took another hit ...
For years, headlines like these - driven by monthly casino-revenue figures - have been unrelenting: The amount of gambling money Atlantic City casinos take in has continued to slide.
But the problem is, too few people have been looking at all the numbers. The focus on the monthly casino take has overshadowed a bright spot that Atlantic City needs to focus on.
Yes, fewer people are coming to Atlantic City, but they are spending more money on nongaming activities such as hotel rooms, meals and entertainment, according to a study by Spectrum Gaming of Linwood. The amount of money lost gambling in Atlantic City fell 23 percent since 2007, but spending on hotel rooms is up 21 percent and food and drink is up 6 percent, Spectrum found.
Many casinos have been decreasing comps. Yet people are still spending - and spending more, even in these tough times - to stay, dine and be entertained in Atlantic City.
What does that mean? First, it means the resort is clearly on the right track with the kinds of events it hosted last weekend. The wildly popular Phish concerts completely sold out 14,100 seats for three nights at Boardwalk Hall. That's 42,300 tickets. Many of those fans stayed in the casino hotels, ate at restaurants, shopped at stores and visited nightclubs. The same weekend, Harrah's Entertainment's "Out in A.C." event reached out to the lucrative gay tourism market, while Bally's Atlantic City hosted more traditional Atlantic City entertainment Saturday night - a boxing match.
These are the kinds of weekends that need to happen more often. Sure, some of the people who packed the city gambled. But that's not what brought them to Atlantic City. That's not what will keep them coming.
And Atlantic City's future growth area probably won't be gambling.
"We're still the second-biggest gaming market in the country, but when you lose a billion dollars of revenue that's not coming back, you have to change your business model," said Don Marrandino, Harrah's Eastern Division president.
Editorial in the Press of Atlantic City, "Noncasino revenue / A.C.'s growth area" (11/4/10)
I'm not a phish fan, in fact I'd never listened to their music before this weekend. Let me say that I have never met a more friendly, excited and happy group of people in Atlantic City than the phish fans. I thought their positivity was infectious. They were a joy to be around while I was there and I would welcome them back in a heartbeat. If what this article says is true, I never saw the tiniest hint.
Reader Daniel Halloway, responding to an article "Phish concert provides a heavy assortment of drugs" by Bob Holt on newjerseynewsroom.com, discussing drug arrest statistics in Atlantic City (and restricting its discussion of the entire weekend and three
You see every Halloween Phish plays an entire classic album. And rumor was it was gonna be Zeppelin, so the Phearless Phoursome dropped some classic Zep into their set the night before, the 30th. But on the holiday, the album they covered was WAITING FOR COLUMBUS!
HUH?
I bet most of you have never heard of this double live album, when two vinyl discs didn’t even add up to the length of one CD.
What do you do when you don’t break through? RECORD YOUR GREATEST HITS!
Well, Little Feat only had one. But they had all that great music in their catalog that so many people had never heard. And they were big in England. And if you think "Waiting For Columbus" took hold in America, you’re rewriting history. Sure, dedicated music fans now knew who the band was, but still most people knew no tracks. Although as years passed, "Dixie Chicken" became a standard. That’s what perseverance will do for you. Concentrate on cutting something great, not what people want, and you might end up with a cut that lasts, one that truly strikes a chord.
Still, it’s not like Little Feat is the Doors, there’s been no mass renaissance. So it’s utterly AMAZING that Phish played this live album in its entirety Sunday night.
But it’s even better than that. They even employed a horn section, just like the original band, featuring Michael Leonhart of Steely Dan’s band. This was no casual effort, this was a tribute to their forgotten heroes, this was musicians who had to get it RIGHT!"
OK, so maybe I got carried away with the black plague warning with infected prairie dogs for Broomfield, but good authority has it that bedbugs are a problem in AC, even at the Boardwalk hotels:
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: ******************
To: some list
Sent: Thu, October 28, 2010 9:53:07 AM
Subject: BED BUG REMINDER FOR A/C
PLEASE INSPECT YOUR ROOMS FOR BED BUGS IN A/C.
A/C has had major bed bug problems for a few years and the Tropicana (where a ton of us are staying) is loaded with them according to Bed Bug Registry. Most A/C hotels have bed bug problems -- including the Trump, Taj and even the Borgata.The little fuckers hitch rides on the casino buses that take people from urban, bed bug infested areas of Philly, NYC, etc. My guess is the Chinatown A/C bus is probably driven by a giant bed bug in disguise. Combine that with the fact that Atlantic City residents have major bed bug issues, and it's the bed bug perfect storm.
I don't give a shit about you taking home bedbugs. However, I don't want any bedbugs hitching a ride on me after hanging in your rooms once I've certified my room bedbug free.
Be careful out there pholks, especially driving home from shows. It's happened before (why the summer festivals after the Went let people stay on site an extra day before driving), and it happened again after Sunday's show:
"Five Ontario County teens were injured, one seriously, in a rollover crash on the New York state Thruway yesterday morning.
New York State Police Sgt Robert Simon said the teens were on their way home from a Phish concert in Massachusetts when the driver, Nathan A. Hart, 19, of Farmington, fell asleep at the wheel about 10:35 a.m.
Hart was westbound when his vehicle drove off the north shoulder, near mile marker 314 in Tyre, Seneca County, Simon said. Hart attempted to move back onto the highway, but the van overturned several times.
Two male passengers from Farmington — a 17-year-old and a 16-year-old — were thrown from the van. The 17-year-old was taken to University Hospital in Syracuse via Mercy Flight and was listed in fair condition today, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Three hours-plus (including intermission) is kind of a lot for any band — man were there a lot of guitar solos. But it was also a show with plenty of twists, which explains [Phish's] enduring appeal. "
Rick Massimo, pop music writer for the Providence Journal, from a generally favorable review of Friday's Providence show (10/24/10)
Three hours-plus (including intermission) is kind of a lot for any band — man were there a lot of guitar solos. But it was also a show with plenty of twists, which explains [Phish's] enduring appeal. "
Rick Massimo, pop music writer for the Providence Journal, from a generally favorable review of Friday's Providence show (10/24/10)
It was a hell of a night! I was pretty interested in Phish before seeing them live, but hooked solid well before the end of the first set.
To my somewhat eternal dismay, I skipped the following night, also at the GAMH and the show at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz later that weekend as I was preparing for my A exam in grad school on 11/1/91. I also skipped most of the 10/31/91 GD run that year.
Being that responsible was silly. I still failed the exam! I might as well have had fun :-) "
Former PHISH-NEWS listmaster Mikey Reppy (Perrott), who recently celebrated the 19th anniversary of his phirst show at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on 10/18/91, recalling the show.
The earliest scrawlings on the walls of Phish's online cave date to 1990, when just a dozen fans started a regular email CC-list to keep in touch. By summer of that year, about 50 people were using a mailing list (or "reflector") at "[email protected]" to talk about the band. The assemblage of fans, although swelling, was small enough that most of these folks knew each other, and all about each other's offline lives - something that would change dramatically over the years.
All the same, the hallmarks of online Phish traffic certainly emerged in these nascent communities: trading of the recordings, swapping of setlists and show reviews, plans to meet up, gossip, rumors, recommendations for other bands, and general celebration of a band that was very much a celebration of music...Indeed, Phish's initial online energy was particularly instrumental in the geographical expansion of their fan base, allowing the band to take otherwise premature tours westward with the assurance that fans would fill venues far from their native New England soil.
From "Living in this Tube: A Brief History of the Phish.net" by former Mockingbird Foundation director and President Dan Hantman, from an article in The Phish Companion, 2nd Ed (2004), pages 813-4.
This Phish.net website that the 1990 mailing list gr
The federal criminal case against the Las Vegas based Wiseguys ticket scalpers who broke into the Ticketmaster ticketing system and scooped up all the available tickets for the Phish Hampton reunion, Bruce Springsteen and other popular acts can move forward.
Federal District Judge Katharine Hayden rejected the defendants' claims (supported by some civil rights groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation) that they might have violated the TM site's terms of service, but not criminal law by their automated bots which snapped up all available ticket searches at the moment that tickets went onsale. The court set a trial date for March 1, 2011 in Newark, NJ.
“I don’t want to give it away,” Anastasio told me recently. “We’re already learning it, and I’m having the same experience I have every year: You hear that first song, you think you know how the song line goes and how the vocal line goes, but then you learn it exactly and you find out it’s different.”
From a recent article by Randy Lewis (10/13/10) on the LA Times Blog "Pop and Hiss" interviewing Trey about Halloween. Trey, of course, didn't offer any specific clues, but did mention that "I’m going to get more out of this as a musician than I ever hav
Phans going to North Charleston next week may want to check out a pre-show at the Aloft Hotel. According to the promoters:
“Aloft Hotel in North Charleston will be throwing the official pre-Phish concert party on Saturday, October 16, from 1 to 6 p.m. and we wanted to share some quick details for those interested in attending.
We would encourage you to come up early and check out music from Charleston favorites Weigh Station and DJ sets by Robert Rice. Music will kick off around 2:30 p.m. and delicious and healthy food is available for purchase from Roti Rolls, known for their locally sourced meats and veggies. If you need passes or wish to be added to our list, please email us. The cost to get in is $10 in advance, and we expect to sell out during the week of the shows. This is a small enough city and word gets around - so if you plan to attend, start making arrangements now!”
P.S. Don’t worry so much about getting paid! Like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, focus on building a sticky platform/attraction first. The money will come after! It may not even come in ways you can foresee! Stop talking about getting paid and start building your tribe! Fans of acts will give them ALL their money. Then again, listening to a track once, enduring it on the radio, is different from becoming a fan. If you’re not in the fan business, you don’t have a career. And if you don’t have a career, you’re not gonna make any money, not for long anyway.
All available playing seats were filled as of late yesterday afternoon! There will be 12 tables, 108 paying players, and 12 bounty players.
We’re looking forward to an exciting showdown at the final table on Halloween at the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City, proceeds to benefit The Mockingbird Foundation.
The Stones went from being a band I really liked and admired to being my heroes in some ways now that they weren’t before. And not just because they made that album. Though the full thing, from cover to cover, is the most soulful, least mental album, and it sounds like the sound of fun. But as I’m getting older and I’ve been in a band now for twenty-five years, I look at the Stones with nothing but reverence. You understand why U2 is an opening band for the Stones.
To be in my situation, in a band that’s been together only twenty-five years, and to look at them, you go, “Wow!” They’re playing really well, and their values are in the right place. I feel like I can look to the Stones now as an example of almost everything to do right. There are so many examples of what not to do, and they’re all part of the boneyard. So, by deduction, it’s: I’m not gonna do what Hendrix did, and I’m not gonna do what the Grateful Dead did, and I’m not gonna do what the Beatles did…. I don’t want to fight about money, and I don’t want to sleep with anyone’s wife like Fleetwood Mac did, and I certainly don’t want to be the Eagles…. [laughs] Here are the pitfalls to avoid, but where’s an example of how to do it right? The Stones!
Jon Fishman, interview with Michael Parillo on the Modern Drummer magazine website (September 20, 2010 issue) at http://phi.sh/~aQo05g
In our effort to continually add enhancements to the Phish.net website, we are pleased to announce links have been added to all Phish.net setlists to any soundboard recordings available through LivePhish.com (“LP”).
The LP links can be found on each setlist page for which there is a LP recording (every show since 2002 and previous LP CD releases ##s 01 - 20 documented on the Phish.net website here). Click on the “link” icon or the show date to bring you to the setlist page for the show where the LP link is (between the setlist itself at the top and the rating stars and show reviews underneath).
The Mockingbird Foundation (the fan charity which maintains Phish.net) is now a marketing affiliate of LP (which is a joint venture of Phish and nugs.net). We get a small fee from nugs.net when you buy a download by clicking on the Phish.net page links.
As the LP webpages already say, and phans already may be aware, the band already donates a portion of its LP proceeds to the Mockingbird Foundation (and has done so since LP went live in 2002).
If you appreciate the work of this several dozen volunteers who staff this site and keep the setlists, song histories, stats and other goodies coming your way, please consider using our links to buy from LP.
Which is not to say the show was terrible—exhausting, certainly, and nigh-insufferable, occasionally, but, for long stretches, surprisingly vibrant and rousing, too. This is something everyone should probably do once, seeing these boys in action. You might even talk me into doing it again someday. But only after an appreciable recovery period. Say, three to five years.
The best reason to see Phish: their fans. These are extraordinarily devoted gentlemen (and ladies), generous in their enthusiasm and unflagging in their devotion, everyone joyfully and unself-consciously dancing as if trying to amuse a baby. They give louder, longer, lustier between-song ovations than anybody, then rush home to document the source of their elation: It is profoundly admirable, to swing by the fan-generated setlist outpost at phish.net a few days later and learn that “Peaches en Regalia” had been performed for the first time since September 24, 1999, in Austin, Texas, unveiled at a paltry 4.94 percent of Phish live shows since 1986—to encounter this level of freely given slavish detail.
Rob Harvilla, in the Village Voice, 12/8/09 at http://tinyurl.com/yk3j64d
There's a new book about Phish (and being a fan), and it'll be featured in a streamed interview tomorrow on JEMP Radio. Andy Smith and Jason Gershuny have just released their new book 100 Things Phish Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die, and will join Andy Michels on his talk/variety show All Things Reconsidered Live tomorrow (Sunday, May 27th) at 7p.m. EDT. Listen in via the station’s website or the iPhone or Android apps, or on-demand after broadcast.
Yes, Greyson Schwing provides fast service to his clients. But that isn't why he named his Milford web design, management and hosting firm Antelope Networks.
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