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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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