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Hi everybody and welcome to today’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. At Dick’s in 2013, Phish famously used the setlist to spell out the phrase: “Most Shows Spell Something.” It was a good goof at the time, but it also inspired thousands of fans to take the message literally and inspect the band’s song choices at any given show and, sometimes, craft a motif, theme, or narrative that might change a listener’s perspective and they would see and hear the show through a completely different lens than usual. 

Today’s guest, Jeffrey Rosenberg tells us that at least one show spelled something. Jeffrey chose to discuss August 9, 2024 at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. Where most of us would hear a standard-great Phish show that night, Jeffrey heard meditations on love, action, addiction, recovery, and more. At times, today’s conversation may sound like the podcast version of the Always Sunny in Philadelphia Pepe Silvia meme, but as you listen, I hope you can hang with Jeffrey and I, whether or not you think the theory holds water.

But in the end, that’s what Attendance Bias is for: every fan gets their own story, and every fan’s perspective is valid. As you’ll hear me say a few times during today’s episode, I’m grateful that Jeffrey came on the show to share his perspective, because he was able to talk about songs that I’ve heard literally hundreds of times and, with a few sentences, provide a new way for me to consider the lyrics. It stuff like that, that makes this podcast such a joy. I hope you feel the same way after today’s episode.

So let’s join Jeffrey to talk about New York tornadoes, summer 2000, and The Mary Tyler Moore show as we discuss August 9, 2024 at Bethel Woods.