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Hi everybody and welcome to today’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Today’s guest is Katie, but she is probably better known as The Phunky Witch around the Phish Twitter community. For today’s episode, Katie chose a stunning, psychedelic segment from Phish’s visit to the Sphere in Las Vegas: “Theme from the Bottom into Split Open and Melt” from April 19, 2024. 

Even though the band’s 4-show stand at The Sphere happened fairly recently, I just knew it was a matter of time before a guest chose to talk about the music from that run. From any perspective, The enormity of The Sphere seems to be the perfect venue to discuss attendance bias. Is it possible to convey the experience of being at The Sphere in words? Or does one have to be in attendance to understand what it’s like? Luckily, Katie chose a segment of the show where we can hear the musical magic and she does a great job explaining why it was special to be there.

So let’s join Katie to talk about red eye flights, the Nassau Coliseum, and black eyes as we discuss “Theme from the Bottom into Split Open and Melt” from April 19, 2024 at The Sphere in Las Vegas.

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It's been about 2 weeks since Phish's 11th festival, and we are just starting to come back to Earth. Luckily, I am joined by the best to recap those 4 amazing days in Delaware. Skinny and JW of the "Stub Me Down" podcast, along with Scott King, have a free-form conversation to reflect, rank, and simply shoot the breeze about Phish's long-awaited festival.

Other than the introduction and outro, this episode was not edited.

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Today’s guest is fire dancer Kate Houlihan of Austin, Texas. 

At the beginning of this podcast, I was surprised that so many guests picked shows from 1999. But now that we are two years into the show, a new trend has developed: the holiday run. For a multitude of reasons, many special moments in Phish history happen during the holiday run. By now, at least six guests have come on Attendance Bias to talk about a personal experience they’ve had from one of the legendary Phish shows from December 28 to 31st of any given year. For this episode, however, Kate picked the cream of the crop: Phish’s show on December 30, 1997 at Madison Square Garden. 

While the 1994 and 1995 holiday runs have been covered on Attendance Bias, this is the first time that the 1997 run of shows has been chosen by a guest. It’s a thrill for me, because this was the stretch when I saw Phish live for the first time. For Kate, it wasn’t her first time, but you’ll hear how this show, on the 30th, was when she got it and decided that she was all in on this band that we love so much.

So put on your best speakers, get your lunchboxes full of olive loafs and fried eggs, and make sure that you make that last train out of Penn Station as Kate Houlihan tells her story about December 30, 1997 at Madison Square Garden.

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Today’s guest is my friend Bobby from Massachusetts who, for privacy purposes, is speaking under a pseudonym today. 

For today’s episode, Bob picked Phish’s show from September 14, 2000 at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center near Buffalo, NY. 

I recorded a mini episode about the Suzy Greenberg from this show that closed the first set but there is so much more to this show than that. Musically speaking, this is one of the most dense shows I’ve ever heard–out of 12 songs in the first and second set, eight of them are on the Phish.net jam charts. But there was so much more to it than the music. Bob was there with his friends, I was there with my brother, there were the rumors of the impending hiatus (which was not yet officially announced), and pretty much the same jam throughout the night, weaving its way in and out of almost every song. Bob and I had a great time breaking it all down.

So start wooing, don’t underestimate Prince Caspian, and  make sure to bring a change of dry clothes as Bobby F Weaver and I go over September 14, 2000 at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center.

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Today’s guest is my friend Robert Murray. When Rob first reached out to me, he had a novel idea: he knew that I already spoke about the epic performance of David Bowie from December 29, 1994 in Providence with Tom Marshall. But Rob thought that the Providence show deserved its own full episode, even without the David Bowie! I had never revisited the same show twice before, but I thought that Rob’s idea was creative enough to work–everyone knows the “Providence Bowie,” but what else happened that night? That’s what today’s show is for. 

And once we started putting together notes for this episode, I knew I met my match; normally, guests are a little taken aback by how much I write to prepare for an episode. But Rob outdid me! When I sent him my half of the notes, the document was about 14 pages. When he was done, it was 28 pages. Our conversation was just as cheery as the notes. If you’re a severely jaded vet and can’t stand when fans gush over just about everything Phish does, you may want to fast forward through this episode. Rob and I have a lot of good things to say about this show. The word “perfect” gets thrown around quite a bit, but when you’re talking about the 1994 Phish holiday run, it’s justified.

 And one last note about that: this episode has a pretty long running time. That is largely due to the number of music clips included in the conversation. Once I started listening back, I couldn't help myself. This show is just so good that it became more difficult to decide which songs NOT to include. But enough from me–listen for yourself as Rob Murray and I discuss Phish’s performance on December 29, 1994 at the Providence Civic Center.

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Today’s guest is Phish twitter mainstay, Scott Marks of Phish.net and The Mockingbird Foundation. If you’ve ever looked up a setlist on Phish.net, noticed a tease in the middle of a jam, or discovered a crazy bustout statistic, Scott is part of the team that keeps track of all of that on Phish.net. 

I first knew about Scott years ago when he band to tweet setlist updates in real-time on Twitter at shows he’s attended. Many times, his tweets beat out the official Phish From the Road account, if even by just a few milliseconds. And in this world of on-demand information where we all desire instant gratification for Phish updates, his feed is priceless. 

Once I got in touch with Scott, he was game to come on the podcast, but we had some trouble figuring out which show or jam to select. Scott threw out a lot of ideas and dates, but so many of them were taken that we had to go pretty far down the list until settling on segments of September 6, 2015 at Dick’s, which featured the famous “THank You” encore. I’m glad that’s where we ended up because there was so much to talk about in this fun show, even just in segments. Phish’s rich history at Dick’s, themed shows, and even surprising encore stats, plus more, are all touched on today. 

 So let’s join Scott to talk about Bye Bye Foot, long awaited bustouts, and why themed setlists mean so much to us, as we discuss Phish’s performance on September 6, 2015 at Dick’s Stadium in Commerce City, Colorado

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Today I am speaking with returning guest Scott Mikita who previously appeared to talk about the “Cavern” that closed the Island Tour on April 5, 1998. 

But for today’s episode, Scott moved from talking about a single song to a full set. And that set is one of the most legendary of Phish’s career: Set 2 of December 31, 2013, otherwise known as the JEMP Truck set. 

Forgive the hyperbole, but Phish fans can be quite a devise fanbase. What one fan considers to be the greatest performance every seen, the next fan over may consider the same show to be the band’s lowest point ever. It is exceedingly rare for the fanbase to agree that a song, a set, or an entire show is special but this set hits that mark. Taking us back in time to an era that is long gone, Phish simultaneously celebrated their past, their present, and their future at the end of their 30th year through their stage setup, their setlist choices, and straight narration to the audience.

But I don’t want to spoil it. Let’s join Scott Mikita to talk about the secret security entrance to Madison Square Garden, bringing a pen light to read during a show, and rumors that never happened as we dig into the JEMP Truck set from December 31, 2013 at Madison Square Garden.

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Today’s guest is writer Rachael Wesley. 

As an English teacher who has certainly dabbled with writing for publication, I’ve always been interested in speaking to writers who have pursued the art as a living. I first became aware of Rachael’s writing through Instagram, and the more I dug into her career and her social media posts, it seemed like we had a lot in common but also some very different life experiences. A common thread, of course, is that we both love Phish. It was with this in mind that I asked her to appear on Attendance Bias.

When I saw that she described herself as “an author of creative nonfiction,” I needed to know more. As you’ll soon hear, I’m a huge fan of nonfiction and wanted to know more about this genre and how she takes the factual and turns it into a narrative. What follows is a fun and sometimes deep conversation about literature, about writing, about the difference between facts and truth, and of course, Phish’s performance of “Simple” from August 29, 2014 at Dick’s, which features an amazing jam that bounces around for nearly 25 minutes.

So let’s join Rachael to talk about taking second chances in life, how Phish on Halloween cannot be missed, and how words aren’t needed when your body speaks to you as we discuss Phish’s performance of “Simple” on August 29, 2014 at Dick’s in Commerce City, Colorado.

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Today’s guest is my friend George from Astoria, Queens. 

For today’s episode, George chose one of the most epic Phish shows of all time and a true milestone of their career: December 30, 1994. As you’ll hear us mention several times, this was Phish’s first time playing at Madison Square Garden, and you’ll hear the excitement both in their playing and in George’s memories of the night. George is a native New Yorker and even though MSG was his second home since childhood, it didn’t take away from the novelty of seeing our little Vermont band take over Manhattan for the night. 

Pretty soon, the entire 1994 holiday run will be covered on this podcast, and I’m completely thrilled to help break down this all-time great run in Phish’s history. So let’s join George to talk about the thrill of being a Rangers fan in 1994, Phish at SUNY Buffalo, and how one song can contain an entire year’s worth of jamming as we discuss Phish’s performance on December 30, 1994 at Madison Square Garden.

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. I am so excited to share today’s episode with you, because it’s one of my favorite kind’s: the kind where I just ask one question or bring up one topic, and the guest gets to be the story-teller. And boy, does today’s guest have a lot of great stories to tell.

That guest is Matt Busch, who has held several jobs with bands that you and I are familiar with but his current post is as Bob Weir’s personal manager. He’s been part of the Grateful Dead family for about 20 years. But before he became associated with the Grateful Dead Family in an official capacity, Matt was an employee at Prime Cuts, the Long Island shop that has been covered and mentioned several times on this podcast. It was through there that I got in touch with him, and it should be no surprise that he was and is a big Phish fan before he became professionally well-known within the jamband world.

You may notice that today’s episode is a bit longer than usual. I normally try to edit our episodes down to about an hour but the more I listened to today’s recording, the less I wanted to cut. If you’re like me, you love hearing anecdotes about your favorite band, and today’s episode is a series of anecdotes about two of our favorites–Phish and all of the Grateful Dead and Bob Weir acts since the early 2000s.

To help narrow it down, Matt and I decided to go through his Attendance Bias shows like a slideshow–he thought of the more memorable or influential shows he’s seen or been a part of and it became story-time with Matt Bush. In order, we decided on Phish’s show at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, NY on February 12, 1993, the Grateful Dead 50th Anniversary Fare Thee Well celebration in 2015, Phish’s show on July 25, 2015 at the Forum in Los Angeles where Matt took Bill Walton to his first Phish show, and then ended up in Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater on October 18, 2016 when Bob Weir sat in for most of the 2nd set and the encore.

But I’m taking too long. Let’s hear Matt tell the stories about how to write Dead and Company setlists, Bill Walton vs. the Railriders, and how to pick the encores to epic shows in today’s episode of Attendance Bias.

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. You know, if you’re anything like me, you absolutely need a cup of coffee to start your day. And if you’re anything like me, you also like to support small businesses. And if you’re anything like me, you like to especially support small businesses run by Phish fans. And that leads us to today’s guest and show, Josh Millman–a fan who is the owner and founder of Passion House Coffee out of Chicago.

As you’ll hear me say, I was turned onto Passion House Coffee by and unsolicited mention of it by friend of the pod RJB on the Helping Friendly Podcast. I’m always in the market for new coffee, and when I heard RJ mention Passion House, I immediately checked out the website and ordered two pounds of Passion House coffee for myself and two pounds as a Christmas gift for friends of mine. After it arrived and I had my first cup, I knew that I wanted to speak with Josh about Passion House, about coffee in general, and of course about Phish!

For today’s episode Josh picked Phish’s show at Deer Creek Amphitheater on August 13, 1996. This show was the 2nd of two nights at Deer Creek during the lead up to The Clifford Ball. Summer 1996 being an underrepresented tour on Attendance Bias, I was super excited to listen and dig into this show and this era. 

 So let’s join Josh to talk about why 1996 stands up against any other year in 1.0, asking a small town sheriff for directions when you miss your exit, and how a big Mike’s Song can last forever, as we discuss Phish’s performance at Deer Creek on August 13, 1996

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. You know, everybody has their own standards for what constitutes a “special” Phish show: a killer setlist, monster jams, rarities, meeting up with old friends, making new  friends, going to your hometown venue, and more. I mean, that’s the entire premise of this podcast! But every now and again, Phish plays a show that is an undisputed SPECIAL SHOW. A show that encapsulates all of the above, and maybe even a little more. Today’s episode with guest Chris Bojar revisits such a show from the recent past: July 14, 2019 at Alpine Valley in East Troy, Wisconsin. 

There can be little doubt that Phish has a special affinity for the summertime shed, as they’ve played several great shows there. However, few shows are as explicit as this one, where the band went out of their way to tell the crowd how much they love playing at Alpine Valley, both directly and through goofy antics and banter, including a breakout version of Ruby Waves and putting the pressure on a certain couple to get married. Throw in the fact that Chris is from Wisconsin, and was able to have a buddies weekend at the height of summer and the table is set for an all time great show. And, boy, did Phish deliver.  

So let’s join Chris to talk about planning setlists, Spock’s Brain, and getting harassed by Kentucky police as we discuss July 14, 2019 at Alpine Valley.

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. This week’s guest is Adam Rosenberg. 

At first Adam had some difficulty narrowing down the show or jam he wanted to discuss. It seemed like every choice he suggested had already been chosen by a previous guest. Then, it seems like he took a moonshot and suggested one of Phish’s best jams ever: “Chalkdust Torture” from Camden, played on July 10, 1999. While many guests on this podcasts have told their stories about shows or jams from the summer of 1999, this absolute monster was still up for grabs, and man, am I glad that Adam took this opportunity. 

 Although separated by a few years, Adam and I had very similar introductions to Phish and hit it off immediately. The conversation felt instantly familiar, even though we had just been in touch for a few weeks.

 So let’s join Adam to talk about phony college interviews, Steve Vai and Reddit, and what it’s like when your parents know more about goo balls than you do, as we discuss Phish’s performance of “Chalkdust Torture” from July 10, 1999 at the E Center in Camden, New Jersey.

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. This week’s guest is Clay Bird, who is the host of the “We Are Everywhere” Phish podcast. As you’ll hear Clay explain, “We Are Everywhere” features Clay and a rotating lineup of guests talking about their Phish experiences, stories, and lives. “We Are Everywhere” and “Attendance Bias” share some of the same DNA, but they are very different shows. 

Soon after Clay posted his first “We Are Everywhere” episode, I gave it a listen and enjoyed it very much. I immediately reached out to him to see if he would be down to have us guest on each other’s shows. He was down, and within weeks, I was a guest on episode four and we had an engaging, enlightening, and plain old fun long-form conversation about Phish. It was fun being the guest for once! 

When it was time for Clay to come on Attendance Bias, he chose “Chalkdust Torture” from June 3, 2011 at the DTE Energy Music Center in Clarkstown, MI… a venue name that continually gives me fits when I try to say it. I don’t know why! During a year when very few shows and jams seem to stand out in the long run, Clay pulled a diamond in the rough and opened my eyes to this excellent version of Phish’s long-running jam vehicle. 

So let’s join Clay to talk about Detroit geography, what this “Down with Disease” has in common with “Waves,” and where to find missing ticket stubs as we discuss Phish’s performance of “Down with Disease” from June 3, 2011 at the DTE Energy Music Center in Clarkston, Michigan.

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Hi all! 

With this especially stressful and busy holiday season, I need to take a short break from recording new episodes of Attendance Bias. 

A lot of work goes into Attendance Bias and, aside from each week’s guest, it’s a one-man show to put each episode together. I find immense joy in talking with guests, getting feedback from listeners, and of course listening to Phish. During the holiday season, there have been a lot of scheduling glitches and it’s been difficult to produce the best episodes possible.

So I’ve decided to take January to rest, regroup, and hopefully get some episodes recorded and in the can so that I can keep up the weekly schedule that so many of you have reached out to tell me that you enjoy. 

In the meantime, so many new listeners have discovered Attendance Bias over the past year or so. To keep up with a weekly schedule, I thought it might be fun to re-release previously recorded episodes as “Classic” Attendance Bias. I did that last week with the Tom Marshall episode, and I’d like to shine a spotlight on some episodes that I think some people may have skipped over and would enjoy during Phish’s off-season before Mexico…if it even happens.

My aim is to come back better than ever with new episodes beginning in February. I hope that you all stick around for a few weeks, spread the word, and continue to enjoy classic episodes of Attendance Bias.

And just so we don’t break on an awkward note, I’m going to leave you with a full recording of one of the best jams I’ve ever seen: “Reba” from December 30, 1998. This was the third show of my first multi-show run, and this “Reba” closed the first set. I could not believe how long the set ran. The whole first set was an hour and thirty minutes, and “Reba” was placed after what I assumed would be a set-closing “Loving Cup.” Enjoy this jam as Phish was and still is, the band that keeps on giving.

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Hey all, I'm testing out an idea for a late-summer episode about Coventry. For several reasons, I always figured that it would be impossible to do an Attendance Bias episode about Coventry because...well...who would be biased in thinking that Coventry was a great show because they were there?! BUT a listener emailed me with what I think is a pretty clever idea: What if listeners called in with one positive memory about Coventry? It could be something as big and concrete as having a blast with friends, or a specific jam, or something as minor as eating a good stack of pancakes the morning after it was over? Not to whitewash it, but to pick out the little joys of even a bad Phish experience ("finding your joy" as the hippies say).

I opened a number on Google Voice for people to call in and leave messages, which I'll then download and include in the episode. If anyone here is willing to test-run it, and you can think of ONE GOOD THING from the Coventry weekend, can you call 516-366-5732, leave your name and where you're from, and your one positive thing that you can say about Coventry? I really appreciate it! 

This is new for me, so I hope it works!

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Hi everybody, and welcome to Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. My guest on today’s episode of Attendance Bias is Scott Mikita of Wook Plus. We’ve had Tim of WookPlus on the podcast previously, and those guys do such a good job that it was exciting to dip back into the well and have another member of the team to talk about a favorite jam.

Scott chose to talk about “Cavern” from April 5, 1998 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island. There’s something about the Island Tour that is indefinable. Something both concrete and abstract that makes it so meaningful to so many fans. It’s come up at least twice before on this podcast, but almost no one has brought up April 5th, the last night of the four shows. When Scott suggested the song that closed the second set of night 4, it was an obvious yet meaningful choice. You can hear in his voice how joyful Scott was at this show while witnessing a version of this fan favorite song that sounded unlike any other version played before or since.

So let’s join Scott Mikita to hear about why he loves Deer Creek so much, why fall tour is the best, and what the Island Tour meant for the Cow Funk era.

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In 1999, we were all high school juniors, 17 years old and getting our licenses. My friend Mike was given permission to borrow his parents’ car for the show and we got our tickets. However, roughly 48 hours before we were due to leave, Mike’s parents had a sudden change of heart and told him that he was too new, too young and inexperienced, to drive three of his friends to Hartford from Long Island. Now, at 39 years old, I totally agree with them;  But at the time, I flipped out. This was putting a death knell in our long-awaited plans. From all of the tapes I listened to, all of the books I read, and all of the discussion I had, it seemed to be intrinsic to the Phish experience to travel for shows. There is joy to be had for a hometown show, but traveling far with your buddies to a new destination is an adventure. All of that excitement that had been building for over a month was just kiboshed with one phone call. I’m sure my self-righteous, entitled 17-year old mouth said some pretty awful things about two loving people who were making the best decision for their kid and his friends.

Regardless, after some shameless begging and angry back-and-forth, we procured Amtrak tickets from Penn Station to Hartford. 

We got to Hartford right at the razor’s edge of the show’s start time.  I remember that the scene outside was loud and raucous, but not pushy. Apparently, Dave Matthews Band played the venue earlier in the year, and there was a massive riot and fighting between drunken fans and cops during that show.This armed presence caused tension, instead of preventing or abating it. To my memory, there were no issues or violent episodes outside the venue but fans were definitely on edge.

The extra security caused a longer-than-usual wait to enter. We sat down just as the lights went down, thrilled to have finally made it after such trials and tribulations.

All of our difficulties and obstacles overcome, lights go down, and the band opens with…Heavy Things? Even today, that would be seen as a lame move. Back in 1999, when the fans were still getting used to the Farmhouse songs, “Heavy Things” was seen as the persona non grata; it was the album’s single, played five months later on David Letterman’s show and it barely varied from performance to performance. During set break, my friends and I kind of made polite chatter, none of us wanting to admit that maybe that first set didn’t deliver what we wanted. We were too proud.

Soon the lights went down for the second set, and it opened with a 31-minute version of “Drowned.” My Who-loving self went crazy for the novelty of hearing it for the first time, and I was drawn in by the mesmerizing jam that, at the time, may have been the longest continual song I’d ever heard live. 

I walked out knowing I witnessed a less-than-stellar show. Aside from “Drowned” there was nothing compelling about this show. The fact that we had gone through what we considered a major emergency just to make it to the venue only rubbed salt in the wound. This was where I learned: no matter what, Phish does what they do. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s average, sometimes it’s life-changing, and rarely-but-sometimes, it’s a disappointment. In the 16 years since this show, I’ve learned this lesson over and over again and am much more mellow about the whole thing (Coventry helped a lot in that regard). But back in 1999, I wasn’t ready for that. I was such

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. This week’s guest is fan and teacher, Scott Barsamian. Scott contacted me a while ago about discussing Phish’s first large-scale festival, The Clifford Ball. Now, when an Attendance Bias guest chooses a festival, I always get hesitant. Phish festivals are so big, they loom so large in the imagination, and in reality, I am intimidated to take them on for an hour-long discussion. But once the guest and I talk for a bit, we narrow down the highlights and figure out the best way to approach the show. For today’s episode, Scott chose to talk about the first day of the festival, August 16, 1996, and he picked one song from each of the three sets.

Nowadays, we know exactly what to expect when Phish throws a festival. But in 1996, everything was brand new. My favorite part of this conversation was hearing about Scott’s expectations as he traveled to the festival. Phish hadn’t done anything on this scale before. What would they pull off? In 2021, we have the benefit of hindsight but in 1996, it was a surprise to all, probably including the band. 

Also, throughout today’s conversation, you may hear from two special guests. That would be my dog, Duncan, and Scott’s dog, Roscoe, who couldn’t help but contribute.

So let’s join Scott Barsamian to hear about the drive to Plattsburgh, Trey’s tone from 1996, and a confounding “Harpua” encore as we discuss Phish’s performance on 8/16/96, day 1 of the Clifford Ball at the Plattsburgh Air Force Base in New York.

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Hi everybody, and welcome to Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. And boy, do I have a heck of a show for you today. A few things to note before we get started:

First, I was so excited to talk to today’s guests that I literally forgot to plug in my microphone before I hit record. Yes, really. As a result, the computer mic picked up my voice, and it doesn’t sound as clear as usual. I couldn’t believe it once I noticed, but after about two minutes of listening back to the recording, I barely noticed. I hope that you have the same experience. Sorry about that.

Second, today’s episode features a lot--and I mean a lot--of references and name-checks of locations around Long Island. There are two guests today, and all three of us are from the area. Plus, the focus of today’s episode is a store that was on Long Island, along with a show from the Nassau Coliseum. So if you grew up on or near Long Island--especially in the 80s or 90s, today’s conversation will stir up tons of memories, and put a smile on your face. If you’re not from Long Island, you can either break out a map or you can just nod along as the references come out fast and hard.

All that said, today’s episode completes a full circle for me, and answered questions that I’ve been wondering about for decades. This podcast is a passion project of mine, and speaking to today’s guests is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. As personal as it is, I suspect that it will be meaningful to fans who had a similar upbringing to mine, and especially fans from the northeast, or at least the tri-state area.

Today’s guests are Don Kantor and Cara Polizzi, the owner and manager, respectively, of Prime Cuts, a no-longer-operational head shop that was primarily located in Rockville Center and then Bellmore, Long Island.

You’ll hear me say this in just a few minutes, but soon after I discovered Phish, I discovered Phish tapes. For a young teenager who didn’t have full time access to the internet and not knowing other fans made it pretty difficult to access any unofficial Phish recordings. Through a friend’s sister, I discovered Prime Cuts. And Prime Cuts is where I discovered the world of Phish tapes, as well as tapes from many many other bands.

Prime Cuts was more than a store. It was a discovery, it was a connection to a wider world, it was a community center, and it was an oasis for those who were into the scene and didn’t know how to find like minded fans. 

In today’s conversation with Don and Cara, we all go deep into the origins of the store, the nuts and bolts of how the taping process worked and answer the long-debated question of whether or not Prime Cuts’ taping allowance was sanctioned by Phish.

For the Attendance Bias segment of the episode, Don chose to discuss the 2nd set of April 3, 1998 at the Nassau Coliseum, and Cara chose to talk about Fluffhead and You Enjoy Myself from Phish’s 3.0 comeback show on March 6, 2009 at the Hampton Colisum. Both picks are epic highlights of the band’s career and I was also thrilled at how much crossover there was with other Attendance Bias stories from past guests. 

Well, enough from me. I hope you can feel the love and joy in this conversation with Don and Cara of Prime Cuts.

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. This week’s special guest is Brian Brinkman of Osiris Media. Brian is all over the place in the Phish podcasting world, having co-hosted Beyond the Pond, current host of The Drop and The Ravine, and the producer of Undermine as well as 36 From the Vault. I’ll have to check again, but I think I got it all. 

During Phish’s 2021 summer tour, Brian hosted wrap up episodes of every run on live versions of The Helping Friendly Podcast. He invited me to help him wrap up Phish’s run at The Gorge, and speaking with him one-on-one was a completely different experience than what I’m used to hearing  him host his podcasts. It’s clear in both scenarios that Brian is knowledgeable, educated, and serious about Phish. But his ability to discuss the band goes well beyond their music. Brian is able to drift off the main topic at hand and connect different eras of his life, his personal experiences, other Phish shows  and jams, and general knowledge to virtually any topic being discussed. This conversation went on longer than we both expected but I hope you agree with me that there is no wasted time.

For today’s episode of Attendance Bias, Brian chose to discuss Phish’s performance of “Ghost” from 12/30/16 at Madison Square Garden. As you’ll hear him tell the story, Brian was going through an incredibly difficult and traumatic experience at the time, and this version of Ghost, in conjunction with the entire show, acted as something of an oasis in the middle of a crisis. It’s a compelling story and an outstanding jam in an overall uneven year of Phish. 

So let’s join Brian Brinkman to hear about his history in podcasting, the importance of Rattle and Hum, and what it’s like driving on a desert by yourself in the middle of the night as we discuss Phish’s performance of “Ghost” from December 30, 2016 at Madison Square Garden.

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein.

This week’s guest is the co-host of the very popular podcast, “The Corner of Grey Street,” Bruce Woodall. “The Corner of Grey Street” is a podcast centered around the Dave Matthews Band. Bruce and his co-host Nolan are huge fans of DMB, and their podcast dives into the past, present, and future of the band. Personally, my passion for the Dave Matthews Band is firmly rooted in the past, but talking with Bruce, I was surprised at how easily I could recall details of when I first discovered DMB, my thoughts about them at the time, and when my fandom began to drift off as they became ever more popular. I was also surprised at how easy it was to discuss the crossovers and commonalities between Phish and DMB years as well as the long lasting friendship between Trey and Dave.

For today’s episode of Attendance Bias, Bruce chose to discuss his first show that happened to be on his college campus, 12/5/09 at the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia. Closing an extensive comeback year for Phish, this was a marathon show that put an exclamation point on a celebratory year for the band.

So let’s join Bruce Woodall to hear about how Dave Matthews helped bring Trey back on stage following his recovery, the animosity between the two band’s fanbases, and how to run like a naked guy out of control as we discuss Phish’s performance on December 5, 2009 at the John Paul Jones arena in Charlottesville, Virginia.

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Today’s special guest is a returning champion: Thom Epps, who was a guest on attendance bias way back in the summer of 2020, when the podcast was just getting off the ground. Somehow, with the excitement on my part of hosting a podcast, and Thom’s excitement of being a guest on a podcast, his that early episode completely missed the point: Thom picked a show that he did not attend, and I didn’t see anything wrong with that, even during the interview!

Fast forward a couple of years, and when Thom and I saw one another at Atlantic City this past summer, he asked if he could redeem himself by coming back on the pod to talk about a show that he did attend. Of course he could and he is here today to talk about Phish’s show from June 22, 2000 at the Amsouth Amphitheater in Antioch, TN–basically Nashville.

I’d heard chunks of this show throughout the years, but never listened to it straight through. My focus was always on the special guests toward the end of the 2nd set, but there is so much more to appreciate here, including a bouncy version of Sand, a silky smooth 2001, and much more.

So let’s join Thom to talk about No Quarter, Einstein Bagels , and the zeitgeist in 2000 as we discuss June 22, 2000 in Nashville.

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. This week’s guest is Dennis Baker, who first came to my attention toward the beginning of the pandemic in the spring of 2020. At that time, I noticed someone on a Twitter account who began to stream video of Phish shows throughout their history. Sort of like a do it yourself version of Dinner and a Movie. The big difference is that Dennis was streaming these videos every single night.

After watching a few of Dennis’ videos, in addition to the regular Dinner and a Movie shows, it dawned on me that even though I’d been listening to Phish for 25 years, I’d been missing out on an entire perspective of the band. So many shows that I love and hold close to my heart have only existed in my mind’s eye. I’d never seen what shows from 1996 or 1991, or festivals before IT, looked like. Seeing these shows was almost like hearing the show for the first time all over again, and I have Dennis to thank for that opportunity.

For today’s episode, Dennis picked November 27, 1998 from the Worcester Centrum. Better known as “The Wipeout Show,” it deserves comparison with the Tinley Park 1993 Antelope show, the February Roxy show from 1993, and the Tweezer Led Zeppelin show from Atlantic City in 2010, as Wipeout weaves in and out of the 2nd set, punctuating outstanding performances of fan favorites. It was also a hometown show for Dennis, with the crowd being made up of long time New England Phish fans, adding to the heartfelt feeling.

So let’s join Dave to hear about Phish videos, what makes Phish in '96 and '98 so special, and November 27, 1998 at the Worcester Centrum.

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Hi everybody, and welcome to today's episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein.

I have to be honest: I love every single episode of Attendance Bias. I'm proud of every episode and I'm grateful to every single guest who's willing to come onto the show and talk about a favorite jam or a favorite show.

That said, I also have to tell you that, just like everyone, my interest of Phish goes beyond the music and extends into their history, the mythology of the band's early success, their behind-the-scenes action, and their business.

So an episode like today, where I get to interview a person who was absolutely crucial in their development, not only as a musical group, but as a force to be reckoned with within the music industry makes me come away glowing. And that interview today is with music industry legend, Sue Drew of Kobalt Music Publishing.

Not only does Sue work at Kobalt, but for a time in the late eighties and early nineties, she worked at Elektra Records. And during that time, she stumbled across a young foursome that was playing in New York City, known as Phish. I don't want to spoil the details, but Sue Drew, long story short, is the person who signed Phish to EleKtra records.

Even more importantly, Sue not only talks about the business side of her relationship with Phish, but it's very clear throughout her discussion that she is a fan dyed in the wool of the band and their music.

For today's episode sued decided to speak about December 28th, 1990 at a small venue that no longer exists in New York city called The Marquee. This is the first time that Sue ever saw Phish and, even more exciting, she tells us what inspired her to approach them, to sign them.

So that's enough from me. I just want to get to the episode as quickly as possible. Let's listen to my interview with superfan Sue Drew of Kobalt about December 28th, 1990 at The Marquee in New York City.

Links Mentioned in the Episode:

*Elektra Press Kit to promote "Rift"

*Phishbase interview with Sue from 2017

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein.

This week’s guest is a name that Phish podcast fans will recognize: RJB, the CEO and Co-Founder of Osiris Media. As a podcaster, I’m always looking up to the professionals and in the Phish podcast world, you can’t get more professional than Osiris Media. A few months ago, I had Tom Marshall on Attendance Bias to talk about being the face of Osiris Media, the Undermine podcast which was then wrapping up its first season, and Phish’s performance of “David Bowie” from December 29, 1994 in Providence. Tom was excited to talk about everything but he was unable to give too many details about Undermine, Osiris’ flagship podcast that tells about Phish’s history and experience in a non-linear way, since it was just completed. With season 2 of Undermine scheduled to air next week, I was eager to hear more about it and RJ was happy to share what listeners can expect when season 2 gets underway on September 8.

For today’s episode of Attendance Bias, RJ picked “46 Days>Bug” from August 15, 2015 from Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. Played right before the Magnaball festival, RJ and I break down  how the band was experimenting and discovering different musical avenues throughout the summer 2015 and how that came to fruition as this MPP run was the last stop on the road toward the ultimate summer culmination: the Magnaball Festival.

So let’s join RJB to hear about season 2 of Undermine, the temporary return of the Helping Friendly Podcast, and “46 Days>Bug” at MPP from August 15, 2015.

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brain Weinstein. 

This week’s guest is the John Purcell, who I’ll refer to as Purcy throughout the conversation. As you’ll hear us explain during the episode, Percy and I went back and forth a few times about which show or jam to discuss.  As the host, I do my best to stay out of the decision making process, since the story and the Attendance Bias belongs to the guest. In this case, Purcy had a little trouble settling on one show, and so he came up with a good idea: he wanted to talk about how different shows reflected different points of his life. After some back-and-forth, he picked three different shows, years apart, and we would review highlights from each one. 

The three shows that Purcy chose for today’s episode are: New Year’s Eve 1994 at the Boston Garden, the Great Went, August 17, 1997 at Loring Air Force Base, and then December 28, 2019 at Madison Square Garden. Due to the back-and-forth decision making process, plus a typo here and there, you may hear me mistake the date of the Madison Square Garden show during our conversation. But, officially, it’s December 28, 2019.

So let’s join Purcy to hear about what actually happened with the hot dog on New Year’s 1994, the incredible Harry Hood from the Great Went, and how Phish can be there for you through good times and bad over the course of 25 years.

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Hi everybody, and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. This week’s guest is the host of the Cinema Dave Media YouTube channel, Dave Burland. When Dave and I got in touch, two things stood out to me that made me want to speak with him about Phish: first, he is a huge fan of The Who, just like I am, so we have a lot of shared musical DNA.

Second, he is a huge movie buff. And although I wouldn’t call myself a film buff, I will say that, after music, movies are my biggest passion. So this seemed like a perfect match.

For today’s episode, Dave picked July 30, 2017, better known as the “Jimmies” night of the Baker’s Dozen. In an earlier episode with author Jason Gershuny, he and I went over Glazed Night, the final night of the run, but Jimmies Night just seemed to hit different. It was the same summer, but tonally, it was completely different and you’ll hear Dave and I spend a lot of time about the details, the appeal, and the tone of the Baker’s Dozen as a whole.

So let’s join Dave to hear about the Criterion Collection, Phish’s version of Drowned, and Baker’s Dozen setlist predictions, as we discuss July 30, 2017.

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Hi everybody and welcome to today's episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Today, we wish Attendance Bias a HAPPY BIRTHDAY since it appeared on Apple Podcasts for the first time one year ago today, August 11, 2020. 

It's been a full year of episodes, and I'd like to thank you all SO MUCH for listening. In celebration, I thought it would be fun to have a guest host so I could take a break and be the guest for once. I was lucky enough to have previous Attendance Bias guest, Justin Bruce of Las Vegas, to be our guest host for today. Justin previously appeared on Attendance Bias to talk about 7/7/00 at Burgettstown.

As a favor to the podcast, Justin was gracious enough to come on the show and interview me and give some background information about myself, who I am as a person, as a music fan, as a Phish fan, and as a podcaster.

So today, you won't hear about one specific show or jam, but you'll hear tidbits about 7 or 8 different ones, as well as different bands, and get a look behind the curtain at what makes Attendance Bias happen.

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Hello everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. This week’s guest is Illinois native, Brett Kreiner. Brett messaged me on Phish.net, explaining that he was a fan of the podcast and that an earlier episode, where actor Luke LaGraff talked about the importance of the song “Lizards,” inspired him to reach out and tell his story about “Miss You.”

At first, Brett said that he wanted to talk about the performance of “Miss You” from October 28, 2018 at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. But as Brett explained the importance of the song overall--not just from that performance--it became clear that “Miss You” means more to Brett and his family than one 7-minute performance in 2018.  

But I’ll leave it to Brett to tell the details. So let’s join him to hear about 1980s WWF stars at Indio, the importance of Phish ballads, and making peace with your hometown venues as we talk about “Miss You.”

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Hi everybody and welcome to today’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Today’s special guest is Jamie Boldt, and boy, did he pick a winner to review today: 10/31/95 at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago, Illinois.

Regular listeners of Attendance Bias will note that The Who was THE band for me as I made the transition from classic rock and alternative radio in my early teens to exploring the world beyond the corporate record stores and Top 40 radio. To say it another way: before Phish, there was The Who. As you’ll hear Jamie and I discuss in just a little while: it was a major turning point for me when I found out about this Halloween show. 

 In the bigger picture, this was Phish’s 2nd Halloween musical costume. After the unmitigated success of The White Album Halloween show in 1994, the band chose to go a different route, playing a huge venue in the midwest, and choosing a relatively obscure album that required additional musicians. But there’s more to this show than the musical costume; the first and third set are masterpieces that stand on their own.

Jamie chose to discuss this show for a number of reasons, and one of them is that he wanted to get my take on the convergence of Phish and The Who. While I am the host of this podcast, and I get my thoughts in there, Jamie is the guest and we get to hear what it was like to witness this epic show that continues to live on the top shelf of Phish history.

So let’s join Jamie to talk about Greenwich Village, mod  culture, and Jon Fishman’s relatives as we discuss October 31, 1995 in Chicago.

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Hi everyone, and welcome to today's episode of Attendance Bias. My guest today is Dave Waxman. Dave is a former employee of Phish Dry Goods, he worked at a bar with former Phish road manager Jason Colton, and he also recently created a merchandise website called Maybe So Maybe Lot.

While I was promoting an earlier episode, Dave messaged me and asked that if I ever needed anyone to discuss the band's version of "Waste" from 8/9/98, that he was available. "Waste" is usually a disposable song, especially from that show in Virginia where the band busted out the famous "Terrapin Station" encore. Since he messaged me about "Waste" and not "Terrapin Station," I figured that there must be something great to talk about. 

After I listened to "Waste," it was obvious why Dave wanted to discuss it...and we'll get into that later. We also discussed that it would be silly of us, almost stubborn, to not talk about "Terrapin Station," even if it's not the focus of the episode.

So let's join Dave Waxman to talk about both "Waste" and "Terrapin Station" from the Virginia Beach Amphitheater on August 9, 1998.

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Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias.

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

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

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

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Hello everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of Attendance Bias. This week’s guest is the host of The Bar Line Shift on HomeGrown radio, Amanda Cadran.

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

For today’s episode Amanda chose a monster: Phish’s show on New Year’s Eve 1995 at Madison Square Garden. In addition to being an all-timer, it was Amanda’s first show. Imagine that! 

Long considered to be the holy grail of Phish shows, I was intimidated to tackle it, but once I spoke with Amanda ahead of time, I knew it would be easy and fun to just geek out about this fan favorite.

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

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

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