The Webcast Arrives
10.30.10 - (Dave Lavery)
Almost two years since their fan base called for simulcasts of their Hampton reunion shows — some of the toughest tickets in history — Phish has finally answered them, offering live pay-per-view webcasts of their upcoming, sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden. Easing the pain for thousands of fans around the world who can’t make it to the Big Apple, everyone will be able to listen and watch the climactic New Year’s celebration as it unfolds over three nights.
Without packaging downloads with the webcasts, Phish is creating a completely separate revenue stream selling online access to their shows with little extra effort from their crew. In a win-win situation for all, people will surely gather for listening parties and the price of $15.99 per show ($19.99 for NYE) will dissolve into nothing once a few friends come over to share in the groove. Much like “No Spoilers” listening parties popped up around the nation for Hampton’s comeback, now real-time, New Year’s parties are sure to materialize — with soundboard feeds, nonetheless! Upping the ante for all fans with other plans this holiday season, I wonder how many people have now canceled their New Year’s Eve plans to virtually rage it with Phish?
NYE 1998 - MSG
Revolutionizing “couch tour” for these MSG shows, the question that now begs to be answered is — “Will webcasts be the norm moving forward?” Is this the future of Phish tour? Several community members have already offered free and illegal live streams of every Phish show this year, though the quality of these feeds have, allegedly, varied from unwatchable to fairly perfect. Might this move be the band’s response to their fan base’s successful pirating efforts? If continued on conventional tours, people would be more apt to order shows individually, at home, potentially increasing total sales. This next step would seem logical. With all shows already videotaped for the archives, this service can’t add much additional cost to the organization whether webcast receives fixed or multi-camera shots. Regardless of what type of video is offered, Phish just made a huge step forward in allowing their entire community to share in the holiday season. For the first time in history, major shows will accessible — live — by anyone, anywhere in the world. An unquestionably epic move.
10.20.10 (M. Stein)
But with this move, many questions follow. Is this service just being offered for the New Year’s extravaganza? Will Phish webcast every show from now on? Will they only webcast sold-out shows in the future like the NFL? Could this really be the “couch tour” of the future? Though they are certainly not a substitute for the live experience, would webcasts actually deter some people from making insane trips to see Phish — something that has always been part and parcel of the addiction? While webcasts would, inevitably, involve more people in any given show, would they somehow devalue the experience? Would college students and beyond choose bong hits and surround sound over paying for, and trekking to, shows? If this is even a possibility, what is the implication of having access to something sacred from the couch? Is some of the mystique stripped away if fans anywhere can flip on the Phish show for a small fee, just as they flip on any pay-per-view movie or boxing fight? The questions go on and on…What do you think?
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Jam of the Day:
Another moment of MSG New Year’s Eve history.
[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/ph1998-12-31d1t05.mp3,http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/ph1998-12-31d1t06.mp3]=====
DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:
5.2.1994 Five Points Music Hall. Birmingham, Alabama
Mp3 Torrent, Megaupload < Links
Here’s a random stocking stuffer for your collection, straight from the deep south in 1994. Phish concluded this show with “Mike’s Song” featuring two guest bass players — Oteil Burbridge and Stacy Starkweather. Enjoy!
I: The Great Gig in the Sky > Split Open and Melt, Bouncing Around the Room, Down with Disease, It’s Ice, Glide, The Divided Sky, Suzy Greenberg, Foam, Sample in a Jar
II: Runaway Jim, Mound, Reba, Golgi Apparatus, The Lizards, Julius, Lawn Boy, Mike’s Song* > Jam**
E: Cavern
*Oteil Burbridge on bass.
**Oteil Burbridge on bass and Stacy Starkweather on stand-up bass. Band members switched instruments.
Source: AKG 460
he’s referring to the dvd LW
the Mango is always the slop apparently
If Trey can’t pull off Mango we certainly are not gonna get a Glide anytime soon huh?
OK that was todays article.
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What is it about the human brain that allows you to hear a song for the first time in, oh, 20 years, and after five or six seconds, know every word to the song? Or is it just my brain that does this? Had the car radio on Sirius 60s on 6, and the first few bars of a song I used to love in sixth grade, “Spooky,” comes on. And right away, I blurt out with the music, “In the cool of the evening when everything is getting’ kinda groovy, I call you up and ask you if you’d like to go with me and see a movie … ” I wish some smart brain student could tell me how that happens — and then how I cannot remember a factoid from last week.”
i’ve been waiting for all things reconsidered. think i got a chance?
That Alpharetta weekend nailed quite a bit of the stuff I was waiting to see. I think I saw around ten songs that I hadn’t seen in 40 shows or more. Now I can just relax and enjoy the shows in the moment without stressing about seeing bustout type stuff. Love this new golden age.
@dude
i think the problem is he doesn’t practice that one and takes for granted that muscle memory will kick in. Too bad really cause its one of my favorite tunes.
ditto on alpharetta. Saw about 15 tunes i had never seen before in like 30+ shows that weekend including Raleigh and Charlotte too.
variety is the spice of life
Muscle memory = perfect way to describe it. I’m guilty of that on the guitar as well
The south finally did rise again. It just happened to take Phish to make it happen in 2010.
I feel fortunate that I’m in a place in the U.S. where I can see great Phish with relative ease like in Chicago
…and it might even be a little easier/closer too
I Have been chasing that 2001, Bowie, and Stash from AC for 40+ 3.0shows
I’m do a monster tweezer also. Miami is still on the top of my favorite 3.0 jams lists but we’re are do a game changer it seems.
and I really think Ghost needs to get a monster treatment. Brim although lacking in coherence had some real nice open jammed moments
loved the Toyota Ghost and the Miami is very creative but we need to blow this one up again.
safe to say we could all use a great version of Waves also
back to AC for a sec. I’m more apt to put on a LF show/album more than I am to put on the costume set.
Tunes i had never seen before the last 6 shows i saw:
Time loves a hero
Have mercy
Buried alive
20 years later
Fuck your face
Destiny Unbound
Rift
Mcgrupp
Sanity
Forbins >
Mockingbird
Camel Walk
My Friend, My Friend
Harpua
Killing in the name of
Buffaol Bill
My Problem Right there
Guelah
Pebbles and Marbles
Show of Life
Quinn the Eskimo
I’ve been around
I’d say they are certainly mixing things up and dropping the gems in greater frequency than ever before.
The MSG-cast is pure, uncirculated, cash mf’n $$$. If you’re complaining… you’re nuts.
There was never a chance for me to go to these shows and now I get to watch uninterrupted live Phish at MSG for 3 nights and it costs me less than what Long Term parking would have been??
C’mon, man! It’s the next best thing to being there and some of us can’t go so yea it sucks to be us… but now it sucks a whole lot less.
For future tours, I don’t think they’ll do this for every show of tour and if they do, I imagine the price comes down a tiny bit ($15 times 20, or so, shows in a month adds up pretty quick).
I hope they do it a lot more, though, especially for tough ticket shows like RCMH, Roseland, Fox, Greek, Red Rocks, Telluride, etc.
I’d be down with an audio only stream for every show of tour. Put that at like $5/show… @5000 listeners/night*… that’s real money. Who knows? The live stream could really take off. If they built up the base so that it hit 20K-30K listeners/night… that’s REAL money.
*based on the ustream numbers and I think that’s a touch conservative especially if the price is right.
more people will do it it if the quality is there
that’s how all the Costumes are usually if you weren’t there el dude
I don’t listen to any of them. more of a live experience
but of the one’s I saw live. for live fun experience. I’d rank
Talking Heads
Little Feat
Exile
Loaded
Quad
didn’t see White Album
Fat Man in a Bathtub and Spanish Moon were 2 of the slickest songs I’ve ever caught Phish play
amazing night
I concure AW.
White Album will always be my favorite for the experience
Nothing beats that TH set poop. The earth shifted on it’s axis that night.
Kaya,
I would trek over to radio shack. They shoudl be able to help you figure out the connections and adapter and cables. I always find odd little things in there. Like the slide/switch thing for the old Atari systems.
I was upside down the whole set so that helps
by the time Feats Don’t Fail me now was finishing I was still dancing my ass off to Fish’s cymbal work. spun cookie.
set felt like it was 15 minutes long
just such a great feel good, dance your ass off party record
“back to AC for a sec. I’m more apt to put on a LF show/album more than I am to put on the costume set.” el dude
when has this not been true?
couldnt agree more @ Poop with your order of costumes