MR. MINER'S PHISH THOUGHTS

New Year’s Tickets Fly

Yesterday, the last Phish Tickets-By-Mail emails of the year went out, notifying lottery winners of their booty and officially kicking off the final ticket-trading frenzy of 2010. With this weekend’s on-sales, just like that, the end of 2010 is in sight. It’s hard to believe that 2011 is on the horizon; Miami feels like only yesterday. As fall tour kicks off in a matter of days, the Phish scene is in full swing once again. With the band’s second Halloween and New Year’s Run of this era on the docket, we have seamlessly slid right back into a Phish-filled existence. With all of the “firsts” behind us, this upcoming season has the distinct feeling of a musical blast into the future. Ready to move mountains again, less than two years into their return, Phish has infused the entire community with unparalleled excitement, as the next 15 shows drip with limitless potential. With proficiency no longer a factor, this tour will be the first in which the band hits the ground running.

Then Phish will return to the only real venue for a New Year’s Eve blowout – Madison Square Garden in New York City. After not knowing how this era would unfold, things could not look more positive at this point in time. And for that we can be all be grateful. Austin on Friday and Colorado on Sunday…we’re almost there. The final quarter of the year looks like the best one yet!

Congrats to all lottery winners and good luck this weekend in the last Ticketmaster battles of 2010!

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Jam Of the Day:

“Disease > Sand” 6.17.10 II

Here’s a scorching flashback to the early summer in Hartford, Connecticut.

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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:

10.10.1991 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR SBD < Megaupload

10.10.1991 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR SBD < Torrent asap

Another retro-nugget from a college town, this show – 19 years ago this week – comes from Oregon, a state Phish may or may not ever play again. If current trends are indicative, the Pacific Northwest, except The Gorge, isn’t even on the band’s radar screen. Here’s to some west coast Phish in 2011!

I: Chalk Dust Torture, Foam, Paul and Silas, Split Open and Melt, Bouncing Around the Room, The Landlady, Runaway Jim, It’s Ice, Eliza, Llama, Memories, Golgi Apparatus

II: Brother, Reba, Poor Heart, Cavern, Run Like an Antelope, I Didn’t Know, Sparkle, The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony > Suzy Greenberg, Fee, Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove

E: The Squirming Coil, Fire

Note: Many copies of this show that circulate include Alumni Blues and Lizards at the end of set I but this is filler from an unknown show.

Source: SBD

New Year’s Tickets Fly Read More »

The Aftermath

“dear phish lotto, I hope you die in a fire”

“Never been so stoked to see a $324 charge on his credit card!!!”

“The MO ticket goddesses rejected her…booohoooo”

“TELLURIDE!!!”

“Who’s got my extras…??? i need Phish tix”

“The Phish lottery did me right!!!”

“Phish tickets sucks…No if’s and’s or butt’s about it. It’s a scam like spam.”

“I GOT 2 TICKETS TO’RIDE!!!”

“tickets are for noobs”

“Best birthday surprise ever (revealed at dinner): we won the ticket lottery. See you at the Greek and Telluride!”

“Scored 471 Greeks and 202 Tellurides! YAY!!”

*****

There are two sides of every coin. Regardless of what names one affixes to them – the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, the lightness and the darkness – all experiences are split in two, allowing for life’s peaks and valleys. Yesterday, this dichotomy became evident as as emails rolled back from Phish, pronouncing our pre-season ticket fates. Above were excerpts from my friends’ Facebook status updates, a news feed that was dominated by the swirling emotions left in the wake of the ticket lottery. In a cloud of black smoke, peoples’ dreams of stress-less Fridays were crushed, while many others sung a distinctly jovial tune. As is the aftermath of each tour’s mail order maelstrom, the community is left divided – celebratory and bitter – waiting for this weekend’s public on-sales.

And now everyone braces for a ticket barrage like none in recent memory, as the entire summer tour will drop within two days. Ticketmaster is hosting many of the shows, and everyone knows what to expect from their servers. But the biggest farce of the summer is Telluride’s chosen agent, Tickethorse, who will sell 2-day passes through one phone number and a janky website that will go down like Oceanic 815. The bottom line – get your credit cards and mouse clicking fingers ready. Or plan a stealth getaway to that outlet that you discovered last summer, because after Saturday, all the ticket will be spoken for – temporarily.

Ticket Mania – (P.Tschudy)

Through grassroots efforts, fans always seem to get tickets to other fans, and now with the Internet’s help, it’s never been easier. Between Phantasy Tour, Cash For Your Extra, Phish Thought’s very own Ticket Exchange,and other various message boards, the web is helping the community subvert scalper efforts. While stressing face-for-face exchanges, these fan-run sites do allow people to set their own bargaining chips, providing an friendly, online marketplace for fans to barter with other fans, instead of high-priced, geeked-out guidos with mullets. Since the modern era of Phish has dawned, and largely following Hampton’s (expected) debacle, fans have stepped up to facilitate a fair-trade ticket market, doing their best to intercept scalping middle-men, TicketsNow and StubHub.

But alas, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here people. Tickets haven’t even gone on sale; chill out for just a minute. Nobody is shut out of anywhere. And aside for the Greek and Telluride, any other ticket should be easily attainable for face value or under between now and then. Point being, don’t write off summer plans based on what the lottery spun your way, because aside for these western shows, tickets will be out there!

Regardless of anything else, the conclusion of this weekend’s “official” festivities will bring us into April, as the community shift gears with Chicago’s summer opener only two-plus months away. And that is what is important to keep in perspective. Most of these preseason ticket shenanigans are fueled by emotion in the moment, but in 2009, tickets were the last concern on anyone’s list, so in 2010, the situation should only get easier. The only stubs that should cause a stir in the scalping landscape will be The Greek and Telluride. Otherwise, they’d best be served my sticking to U2 and Hannah Montana, where the demand actually far outweighs the supply. But if not, you know they’ll always be there if you need em!

As we all embark on individual quests this weekend, just remember, everyone will be inside in the end. But, as always, the wait is a bitch.

Best of luck. And remember, all is fair in love, war and tickets. Game on.

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Jam of the Day:

“Ghost > Taste” 8.9.97 I

A standout chunk from Alpine’s opening frame in ’97; another audio retrospective of an upcoming summer visit.

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Download of the Day:

8.10.96 Alpine Valley, East Troy, WI < Megaupload

Continuing today’s mini-musical glimpse on Alpine history, here is a re-post of Phish initial visit to their now-staple tour stop in the Midwest. Check out the stellar versions of “Reba” in the first set and the “Hood” in the second.

I: My Friend, My Friend, Poor Heart, AC/DC Bag, Fee, Reba, I Didn’t Know, The Horse > Silent in the Morning, Rift, Bathtub Gin, Cavern

II: Wilson, Down with Disease, Scent of a Mule, Free, Fluffhead, Hold Your Head Up > Whipping Post > Hold Your Head Up, Harry Hood, A Day in the Life

E: Contact, Fire

Source: B&K 4021 > PSP-2 > DA-P1

“dear phish lotto, I hope you die in a fire” “Never been so stoked to see a $324 charge on his credit card!!!” “The MO ticket goddesses rejected her…booohoooo” “TELLURIDE!!!” “Who’s got my extras…??? i need Phish tix” “The Phish lottery did me right!!!” “Phish tickets sucks…No if’s and’s or butt’s about it. It’s a …

The Aftermath Read More »

The Results Please…

Holds have been placed on credit cards across the country, and official emails should be following sometime soon. Hang tight folks, and best of luck to all!

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Jam of the Day:

“Piper > 2001” 11.4.98 II

The most memorable segment of Denver’s second set in the band’s follow-up to Utah’s Dark Side escapade.

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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:

2.21.03 The Crown, Cincinnati, OH < Megaupload

Today we look back on night one of the band’s two-night, post-hiatus stand at The Crown. The opening set features strong versions of “Disease” and “Antelope,” setting the stage for a throw-down second set. Coming off a standout show in Chicago, Phish really began to hit their first stride back during this Midwestern weekend.

I: Wilson, Frankenstein, Down with Disease, Lifeboy, Boogie On Reggae Woman, Run Like an Antelope, I Didn’t Know

II: Mike’s Song > Free, Waste > Also Sprach Zarathustra > Harry Hood, All of These Dreams, Possum, Cavern

E: Wading in the Velvet Sea

Source: Unknown

Holds have been placed on credit cards across the country, and official emails should be following sometime soon. Hang tight folks, and best of luck to all! ===== Jam of the Day: “Piper > 2001” 11.4.98 II The most memorable segment of Denver’s second set in the band’s follow-up to Utah’s Dark Side escapade. ====== …

The Results Please… Read More »

The Ticket Lottery

Never have I wanted my credit card to be charged as much as I do right now. The magic digits of $564 are the numbers that would bring me bliss, celebration, and relief. $564 (or $282 if you’re rolling solo) represents the cost of two tickets for The Greek and Telluride. (Or any 10 single tickets, but that’s mere trivia in this instance.) Anyone who gets the privilege to purchase these golden tickets via Phish’s lottery this week will be able to deeply exhale and put their feet up, while everyone else sweats it out. Lottery winners will be automatically freed-up to stab for east coast lower pavilions, or to help friends on the harder missions this weekend. But more than anything, one’s hassle will be over before it ever began.

Phish tickets are fickle bitches these days. At times costing upwards of $300 in the secondary market for the smallest shows, at many other times, one can’t give them away if they tried. The actual market value of a single Phish ticket fluctuates so greatly in relation to locale, as one can clearly observe this summer. Other than The Greek and Telluride, all other tickets will be easy scores, and the only issue will be lawn or pavilion. If one waits out the initial feeding frenzy, many of these tickets will be for sale on lot for far under the $60 face plus fees value. The same scene took place in 2009, where the only hard tickets (besides Hampton) became the tiny Fox Theatre in St. Louis and the band’s uber-climactic return to Red Rocks, holding only 10,000 people. (Asheville gets an honorable mention, but it wasn’t the same.) For most other shows, one could score a stub for $20 -40 easily, and it was a fair deal leaving both parties happy. It used to be that one could walk to the venue with an extra ticket with no doubt of selling it to someone along the way. But at this point, when trying to sell extras, one encounters far more people trying get rid of their own superfluous stubs than anyone looking to buy one. Except for these special shows when tickets are worth more than gold; it’s quite an interesting dichotomy.

Last year’s Fox show, one case study, turned out to be a very funny occasion. So many people flew across the country and paid top dollar to get into The Fox, and Phish responded with one of the tamest shows of the tour, centering “Time Turns Elastic” in the second set. A decent, yet linear, “Halley’s” jam held the only redeeming value on a night that everyone had circled for months as the “can’t-miss” show of summer. But unquestionably, The Fox represented an exception rather than the norm, as Phish rarely disappoints. And something tells me the band won’t be dropping duds in Berkeley and the Rockies come August.

With only a few days separating us from summer tour’s general on-sales, everyone and their mother (pun intended) will be getting their lottery emails before too long. Over these next two days fans will obsessively check their credit cards, praying for that magic $564 or $282 hold, and before long, we will all know one or two people who scored huge. But in the meantime, all we can do is wait and cross our fingers. With the amount of requests versus the amount of available tickets, the word “lottery” has never seemed so appropriate.

Good luck to all, and may the force be with you. We are gonna’ need it.

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Jam of the Day:

“Wolfman’s Brother” 7.26.99 II

The second set opener from Summer ’99′s US finale at Deer Creek.

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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:

6.20.04 SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY < Megaupload

This show concluded Phish’s last gasp of full-blown creativity in 2004. As the band sculpted their unofficial post-hiatus finale over SPAC’s magical nights, they left us with two more shows to remember forever. The band’s first visit back since Summer ’95 proved to be high point of ’04. The second set – “Seven Below > Ghost > Twist, YEM” – contains top-notch jamming throughout.

I: Rift, Julius, Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home?, Waves, Gumbo, Water in the Sky, Horn, Poor Heart, Drowned

II: Seven Below > Ghost > Twist, You Enjoy Myself

E: Good Times Bad Times

Source: Unknown

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NOTE: I am out of town for a few days at an undisclosed location with very sketchy Internet connectivity. This will effect the site in a few ways this week. First off, there will be no torrents. I will do my best to get torrents of this week’s shows up when I get home. Also, I may not be able to connect for long enough to upload new shows for Downloads of the Day, therefore, I will likely feature shows that were posted a long time ago or went directly to the archive. Things will be back to normal by the weekend. Thanks for your understanding!

The Ticket Lottery Read More »

Why Not Simulcast?

Following yesterday’s ticket discussion, I wanted to address one suggestion that was brought up- simulcasts. With the ticket situation as bad as it is, and fans being shut out of shows across the country, why would Phish not offer live streaming versions of all their shows- audio and/or video? While certainly not a substitute for being at the show, this would draw in far more of the community to each concert and provide legitimate Phish experiences for thousands upon thousands of people. They did it for Brooklyn, they did it for Coventry- why not do it for every show from here on out?

With management’s focus seemingly on the dollar this time around, the idea of paid streaming simulcasts would be another huge revenue stream of virtually 100% profit. The overhead needed to film the shows would be minimal, depending on how advanced they wanted to get. A simple one-angle frame of the band would work just fine; one camera on a tripod at the soundboard- something they have done for most of their career. The organization could then broadcast an audio and/or video feed over the internet- $5 for streaming audio, $10 for streaming video- and the problem of pissed off and left out fans would be greatly reduced. Then people would click right over and buy the downloads- cha-ching. Even if there were no ticket issues, this should be an available service.

It was shocking that Phish didn’t run some sort of simulcast for the comeback show in Hampton- the most anticipated show in Phish history. And with the current economic climate, this idea would allow many more fans to join in the fun of Phish each and every night. This will not solve the ticket issue per se, but it would soothe the burn of being shut out, and could be a permanent fixture of 3.0.

This all points back to the question, does Phi$h Inc. care about the fans at all? If so, something should have been put into action already. With Live Nation, Music Today, Ticketmaster, and Red Light all in bed with each other, there seems to be a huge music business monopoly forming; one that favors their big clients- and now that includes Phish. So I stick by my question, is the plight of Phish fans a concern for Red Light Management? Is it even in their top ten lists of concerns? I don’t know.

This much I do know. If people were able to have an HD tour package, where they could watch the show unfold in real time every night, there would be a lot less bitterness in the community. In no way am I suggesting this would be a replacement for the show experience, but it would be a real-time version of “No Spoilers”- everyone would freak out simultaneously. In addition, providing a substitute for the tour experience for an older and less mobile fan base, this would allow many more people to stay in the loop. You could order show by show or in a package- just like the LivePhish downloads. It’s a cash cow staring the organization in the face, and I sincerely wonder why they aren’t addressing it.

To refute one possible counter argument, any simulcasting would have zero effect on ticket sales- this much should be obvious. With such absurdly high demand, tickets would still sell out in minutes, and then Phish could start adding to the stack by selling streaming versions of their shows. It sure seems like a no-brainer to me. People could then congregate, party, and dance together- even if it’s not in the pavilion or the lawn. Hearing the magic unfold defines the Phish experience, and this set-up would allow so many more fans to do just that. Sure, we know the organization has been pared down to a minimalist structure for the sustainability of the band, but what about the sustainability of the fans?

Perhaps this is all in the works and we just don’t know it yet. But if so, why not? Throw us a bone; why must we live in a vacuum? The band that had grown so renowned for their intimate fan relations has now outsourced the job to a corporate entity seriously lacking communication skills. Hell, they only announced that Hampton downloads would be available three days in advance! The band’s website remains largely stagnant and could be a renewed place of interaction. A post or two from a band member, even some gibberish from Mike, would go miles in helping things out. Without the Schvice, and removed from any “formal” interaction with the band, we no longer get a glimpse into their quirky, Phishy world. I guess we will wait and see.

Hampton – Photo: Jeff Volckhausen

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NEW HOSTING FOR PHISH THOUGHTS!

Hi all! Thanks to my man AlexanderK, I have finally got Phish Thoughts off WordPress.com onto an independent server. This will allow more flexibility with adding new features to site, both in content and design. You should notice no difference at all in the working of the site- except now you can navigate comments using page numbers! While surfing Phish Thoughts, if you find any missing photos, broken links, missing files or anything at all, please email me ASAP at mrminer@phishthoughts.com. Thanks!

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Today we have one of the classic New Year’s Eve shows in the band’s history. Coming to you by a reader request, be sure you don’t miss out in this FMSBD copy of this evening. This show features one of the most genius moves in Phish history- segueing out of “Auld Lang Syne” into the debut of the “Down With Disease Jam” before the song had ever been played! Man, I wish I had been there for this one!

I: Llama, Guelah Papyrus, Stash, Ginseng Sullivan, Reba > Peaches en Regalia, I Didn’t Know, Run Like an Antelope*

II: Tweezer, Halley’s Comet > Poor Heart, It’s Ice, Fee, Possum, Lawn Boy, You Enjoy Myself

III: Auld Lang Syne > Down With Disease Jam#, Split Open and Melt, Lizards, Sparkle, Suzy Greenberg, HYHU > Cracklin’ Rosie > HYHU, Harry Hood, Tweezer Reprise

E: Golgi Apparatus, Amazing Grace

*With Tom Marshall on vocals. #Debut of “Down With Disease” jam; the song was not played. 04-04-94 Burlington

MR. MINER'S PHISH THOUGHTS

New Year’s Tickets Fly

The Aftermath

The Results Please…

The Ticket Lottery

Why Not Simulcast?

Get the Book!

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Back Where it All Began

Holy Blankenstein: Spirituality in Sci-Fi Soldier

A Spirit Family

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