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.
We received a wonderful email from a student teacher named Jennah Mazour about her use of the song "Contact" with her students and, with her permission, now share it with you:
My name is Jennah Mazour and I am a student teacher from the University of Northern Iowa. I teach Elementary ESL (English as a Second Language) and Middle School Spanish in the District of Columbia Public School System. I am an active Phish fan, but beyond that, I am a passionate supporter of The Mockingbird Foundation's cause, and of the integration of Arts and Music into mainstream curricula. Although my field of language teaching is not mainstream, I believe that music is a language all its own. When a common tongue is not shared between people, music can be that meaningful, communicative medium in which to convey, teach and elicit authentic language. I just wanted to share how I put my philosophy into classroom practice.
Welcome to the 76th installment of Mystery Jam Monday here at Phish.net. As usual, we will be playing for an MP3 download, courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. The rules haven't changed: you need to correctly identify the song and the date to win. Post your guess in the comments. One guess per person per day (with the second “day” starting after I post the hint). The hint will come on Tuesday and the answer will be posted on Wednesday. Good luck...
Tuesday Hint: Uhhh... guess we didn't need a hint.
Wednesday Answer: Congrats to jerrytimber for calling the 11/13/96 "Suzy." See you all on Monday...
The master of the Spreadsheet, Kevin Hoy (@Hoydog23 on both Twitter and Phishnet), has alerted us that because Mediafire upgraded their site yesterday, the links to most (over 80%) of the folders hosting the audio files are currently broken. The audio files themselves are fine, it is simply the links to many of them that are currently broken.
It is unclear at this time if the links will need to be manually fixed, or if this problem can be reversed or repaired in an automated way. Kevin will keep people apprised of the situation via his Twitter account, and an update also will be posted here when more is known.
Welcome to the 75th installment of Mystery Jam Monday here at Phish.net. As usual, we will be playing for an MP3 download, courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. The rules haven't changed: you need to correctly identify the song and the date to win. Post your guess in the comments. One guess per person per day (with the second “day” starting after I post the hint). The hint will come on Tuesday and the answer will be posted on Wednesday. Good luck...
Tuesday Hint: Again, no hint needed this week...
Wednesday Answer: Congrats to Phurk for correctly ID'ing a tough Mystery Jam: the 8/17/93 "YEM." The Blog will be back on Monday with another Mystery Jam for your listening pleasure.
Hats off to Phish's manager, Coran Capshaw of Red Light Management, who is the first artist manager ever to receive the Humanitarian Award from Billboard.
(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.
Just as we've done for the last 73 weeks, the Blog is proud to bring you another Mystery Jam. As usual, we will be playing for an MP3 download, courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. The rules haven't changed: you need to correctly identify the song and the date to win. Post your guess in the comments. One guess per person per day (with the second “day” starting after I post the hint). The hint will come on Tuesday and the answer will be posted on Wednesday. Good luck...
Tuesday Hint: No hint needed this week.
Wednesday Answer: Congrats to RabeldyNugs on his league leading seventh win with the 6/9/00 "Tweezer." MJ75 coming up Monday...
We did this gig with Lou Reed in Germany. I was getting ready to go on, and I was walking across this field behind the stage. It was this kind of cool outdoor venue, and there was Lou Reed sitting there. So I went up to talk to him, introduce myself and everything, he was really nice, and I asked him a couple of questions about what he’s up to these days, blah-blah-blah. And then he was standing there and we went to go onstage, and as I was walking onstage he said, ‘Show ‘em how to rock and roll. After all, we invented it.’ I said, “Oh, okay,” and walked onstage. And as we started playing I got really confused and couldn’t tell if he had meant Americans or the Velvet Underground. I thought both statements could be true. So I spent the whole set trying to figure that one out. I still haven’t figured it out. I still sit there scratching my head every night while we’re playing: Did he mean Americans…?
A story from Trey about meeting Lou Reed, from the 10-31-98 Phishbill
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
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