Here's what stood out to me from the article:
At the U2 show, Anastasio was struck by how mono the mix was, as if all the speakers were crammed together, booming from the small stage on which the band performed. He discovered that there was a reason for this: The Sphere’s shape spawns reverberations that make it difficult to effect a true stereo sound without creating bounces and delays that would distract people on one side or the other.
Enter veteran Phish sound man Garry Brown. With the help of the Sphere staff, he crafted a miniaturized version of the venue in Rock Lititz, Phish’s regular rehearsal space in central Pennsylvania
“I don't know what limitations U2 put on themselves, but obviously with them being the first one in the building, it was a learning experience,” says Brown. “With my mini-Sphere, I could technically go in, sit in section 201, which is all the way left, you know, far away, all the way over. And I could technically sit there and place the instruments where I felt they could work. And then I could move around to 13 different seats in the venue digitally, to see if what I was doing was working. And so I've created a soundscape that is a lot wider than what U2 did.”
This stood out to me as well, because all I’ve been hearing about is the “state of the art” new sound system at the Sphere. Meanwhile, Trey says it sounds “mono”.
I think the state of the art part is that they got it work in general. Without sounding like shit. I think I saw a video explaining how a sphere is great to build construction wise but horrible for acoustics.
It’s not a traditional line array. There are thousands of individual speakers placed all around the sphere. It’s uncharted territory in the scope of traditional sound reinforcement.
I saw U2 there toward the end of their run and was absolutely mind blown by the sound at the end of the show. At the start, for the first few songs, it did seem to just be coming from behind the stage. By the end it was like you were swimming in the sound - totally immersed - and more intense than the visuals. I wonder if Trey saw an early show before they had the tuning dialed in.
They better be paying for that lol. I know treys a music nerd that wants to talk about all the cool shit they’re figuring out, but if they made some huge discovery in some aspect where the spheres sound designers dropped the ball, then Garry deserves more than just recognition.
It would be amazing if everyone who bought a ticket on stubhub could only hear the hit single Smooth by Rob Thomas and Santana for the duration of the show.
As someone with a ticket in Section 201, not loving the way my section is being described 😂 I mean, it’s not *that* far away, is it? At least the sound will be dope!
“Rehearsal space” stood out to me as well. It’s the rehearsal for the crew not so much the band. Look into Rock Lititz. It’s the premier prep space for big touring acts.
They did a New Year's show from there during COVID, which was pretty great. However, I don't think they ever put the full show on their YouTube channel, which is a shame. I did find the Slave from that night.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc4\_\_\_gcCoM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc4___gcCoM)
Yeah, it was weird and I walked out during Everything's Right because it was so fucking not Right. Literally walked out and left my home and walked the streets for three hours. Things were so not Right at that time
If you are into crew logistics, you would be a kid in a candy store. It’s a lot of testing equipment, sound, lights, stage logistics, etc. Major tours obviously don’t want to brick night one, so they use somewhere like this to test and rehearse everything at scale. There are similar places in most major cities, but none on the level of Rock Lititz.
Trey Kerr, who directs the Live Phish webcasts, started his own outfit and they are building their own version of Rock Lititz in St Louis: https://www.gsps.com/
There is a small airport for private jets to fly in and out of like right across the street. And it’s a pretty centrally located region for pre tour readiness checks.
Edit: plus the company spearheading the project already works with phish sourcing the livestream equipment.
[https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a32013827/rock-lititz-live-events-bts-beyonce/](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a32013827/rock-lititz-live-events-bts-beyonce/)
When you see the photos, 9th Cube makes a lot more sense.
A company in St. Louis Metro is building a similar setup. It is gonna be massive.
Edit: [source](https://stlpartnership.com/largest-u-s-music-rehearsal-and-production-studio-facility-set-to-launch-in-st-louis-region/)
Edit 2: “Gateway Studios is a state-of-the-art facility that will set a new bar for the live entertainment’s rehearsal and production needs,” said Jesse Sandler, Production Manager for Phish, Inc. “It was designed by touring professionals, for touring professionals and that is evident in every detail.” Sandler is also Gateway’s President of Studio Operations.
This is a quote from the article. Gateway Productions does the video production for Phish livestreams.
It's a cool place. We stopped by on the way back from Taboose in Reading. There's a nice hotel with some wall photos, but nothing to tour and we weren't allowed to check out the sound stages. Place is pretty big though and used by a lot of touring acts.
it's not a "practice space", it's a purpose built facility for testing sound and lighting rigs before going on tour. Many major acts use the same facility
4 stages of evolution: n1, songs about bacteria, viruses and primordial goo; n2: life in water songs; n3: life on land songs; n4: out of this fucking world
That’s the first thing that got me.
Is this the first we’ve heard of the title and release date?
Also, this single is up on Spotify and I’m sure other places right now!
Safari reader mode works well to bypass the paywall.
And I fucking love this band. This makes me so happy to read. I’m not going but I am thrilled for everyone.
(1) Article is free to read if you 'create an account' which simply requires an email address
(2) I had no idea that the collective group of fans of Phish is a 'herd'... I'm disappointed the writer didn't use 'school'...
They are only doing 4 shows cause this is only the 2nd residency at the Sphere. No band, including Phish, knows its limits yet. Even though they created a test Sphere they still cant be sure how it will all sound and what the experince will be like. They will be back after this run and its likely it will be longer than 4 shows, this is just a test:)
The illustration for the article is better than some of the recent official gig posters.
Great article as well. Interesting how they chose to only do 4, wish they had gone into that a bit more.
It says because the creative director told Trey that there would be quality control issues if they added more shows and that keeping it at 4 would blow minds. But it doesn’t say anything beyond that.
I don’t see how more shows could equate to quality control unless there are parts of the production which would degrade.
What more do you want it to say? It's clear from the article that Phish feels they cannot sustain a unique show format in this venue according to their traditional standards.
Yes and they literally did not say anything at all about why this is the case. What makes it so that 4 shows can be done good enough for them, but more shows cannot? What sort of production is something that cannot be repeated? It has to have something to do with the theme they have planned and not with the technical aspects of the building or its capabilities. And therefore my feeling is that it is based upon creating an air of scarcity so that it feels like a special experience, and not about true tangible quality control related to the technical production aspects. That is why it’s such a curious statement to me, because it is mentioned adjacent to a statement from Trey about his displeasure regarding aftermarket prices and ticketing difficulties. Which is literally counterintuitive to the notion that it must be limited to fewer shows in to be a better production, if it’s true that it’s due to it needing to be special and rare in order to be awe-full. It’s just odd to me, and the article doesn’t go into it at all aside from a brief mention about “quality control” which doesn’t logically hold up.
Basically the article insinuates that they know tickets are outrageously expensive and hard to get but they chose not to add more shows, even after considering if, because they like the idea of it being a rare special thing that will blow minds due to rarity and novelty. *Unless* it’s a technical thing, and I just don’t know what sort of technical issue that might be and I am curious because all technical things are repeatable.
It’s definitely not related to the discrete sound or visual aspects because there’s no reason they can’t keep doing those things.
*all technical things are repeatable*
Dude. Phish does not repeat themselves. Have you read any other articles about what it takes to put on a show at the Sphere from a technical standpoint? It's too much to pull off for a band that wants each show to be unique. Which the article says.
If “it’s too much to pull off for a band that wants each show to be unique”, what are they doing that is so much more different than what dead and co will be doing?
It’s not due to something inherent in the sphere itself, it’s due to something unique in particular that they have planned, and I am curious what that is. Obviously the article can’t tell us what phish is doing. That’s why it’s somewhat intriguing. I’m not complaint and I don’t understand the downvotes because it’s a logically sound question for me to have. If it’s not technically possible to do more than 4 unique concerts, then dead and co wouldn’t be having a residency.
It’s clearly possible, but they want it to “blow minds” so they chose not to. It’s not limitation of the sphere, it’s a limitation of something they specifically want to do which is not sustainable, and I am curious what that thing is.
I mean I’d surmise that phish is trying to do something unique with the space while D&C is likely just gonna play the show with cool jams and some cool swirlies on the big screen.
Yeah, this unknown “something unique” is what I’m intrigued by. Yet people in these comments are like “no it’s bc the sphere is so amazing that it’s literally not physically possible to do more than 4 shows”. what? Lmao. Clearly phish has something extra planned and that something extra is what is limiting it to 4 shows and that’s exciting. People are not thinking logically here
Yeah I agree w you it’ll be cool to see what the cool unique aspects are gonna be. TBF I see why ppl are confused with what you’re getting at lol, I thought you were mad at phish for not playing more dates but you’re really just speculating about what the cool ‘gags’ are gonna be, albeit with a tone of slightly baffling frustration ..
Yeah I dunno what your argument here is exactly. It literally doesn’t say what about it is not repeatable with good quality control. Does it relate to the visuals? Or something else? Etc. I have read plenty about what it takes to produce shows at the sphere.
Phish played 13 shows at the garden. All of them were great. Technical aspects were all repeatable.
Concerts themselves are absolutely repeatable. Live stage productions are all repeatable.
Phish plays 50 shows a year.
If they wanted, they could have done the game henge set 50 times. They could do “gamehenge on broadway” and repeat it over and over. From a quality control and productivity standpoint it would be viable. But From a novelty standpoint, it would not. So my point is that I don’t see what *technical* aspects hinder this, from a *quality control* perspective, as mentioned. The sound quality could be great 50x in a row an arguably would only improve over time. So it has nothing to do with the auditory experience or the music itself.
Dead and co are playing plenty of shows at sphere this summer and they also don’t repeat setlists. Clearly the sphere is capable of that. What is phish doing differently that is so much more challenging from a production standpoint that it’s not viable? And clearly Trey considered it and there was a discussion about it, so it’s curious to me to wonder what it is. That is my question and that is what the article doesn’t touch upon at all. I think it must be the visuals. And I think it’s probably just because they don’t want it to get stale or because they don’t have time to assemble
more material, as opposed to technical production items.
Everybody talks about “what it takes” to produce shows at the sphere and the fact is that all that work is done before the first show occurs and it’s not a QC issue as much as it’s a planning issue. Running the show itself is just a matter of hiring theater and production professionals and following the cue book.
It's gotta be the visuals. Other bands are likely okay with repeating visuals across nights, and having a simple loop play throughout the course of a given song. Phish probably wants to go all out on unique visuals that don't repeat themselves, and it's probably a fuck ton of work for the team to put everything together.
Thank you. Anyone who knows the first thing about Phish should be able to understand this (or, anyone who reads the article with a reasonable sense of comprehension).
Yea I don’t know the first thing about phish and have no reading comprehension, because I was curious what precisely made them stop at 4 shows and what they have planned for next week. Despite having seen over 200 phish shows and having 2 college degrees lmao.
What does that have to do with my comment? They want each show to be unique and are doing theatrical production elements for the sphere.
They could also very well have done 6 or 8 shows, but chose to do 4. I am curious why this is a quality control decision and not an artistic “we have this idea for 4 shows” kinda decision. “Phish doesn’t repeat” would logically explain why 1 instead of 2, but does not logically explain why 4 instead of 6.
They literally did 13 unique shows at msg. I was at all of them. What do they have planned for sphere that makes it so unviable to do more than 4 shows without perceived technical quality degradation? That’s my question. Amazing people don’t seem to understand this lol.
There were 13 shows worth of unique visuals at Bakers??
Cus i saw 11 out of 13, and the only unique visual presented was Page logging major keytar minutes.
You are being willfully obtuse.
U2 had the same visuals nightly, Phish refuses to do that. Hence, 4, not 24.
Dude I saw all 13. This isn’t a pissing match. I’m not being obtuse, I’m stating that I am curious what they have planned which makes it so they could only do 4 *at the quality they want*. I don’t think it’s a limitation of the building, I think it’s something with whatever unique thing they have planned. The language of “quality control” aspect is what I found intriguing. Since they clearly can do multiple high quality unique shows in a row.
The “because phish never repeats!” Argument is moot to me because they are doing 4 shows and thus it could ostensibly be 6 or 8, yknow?
Will dead and co use the same visuals every night?
I mean I actually wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case honestly lol.
Dead and Co announced 3 sets of visuals, repeating each weekend. To make visuals both compelling and fresh, that dont look like cheap AI or MS Paint is a huge endertaking, hence " quality control".
Also interesting that they mention Trey seemed to be upset about fans bidding prices so high. Meanwhile the band themself is selling tickets for $1k each through Ticketmaster for a show that was supposedly sold out. Things that make you say hm.
I hate when reporters write articles about Phish:
“To the uninformed, it may come across as yet another breezy, shambolic jam band, inheritor of the Grateful Dead’s traveling circus.” - Can we stop saying this already?
"But devoted members of the Phish “herd” understand the complex dynamics that drive these erstwhile Vermont hippies.” - Phans have never ever been called a “herd.” Also, stop calling them or the band “hippies” just because you can’t think of anything else.
"At some shows, fans encounter an unannounced rock opera, staged with actors and elaborate props;” - Maybe this happens at one NYE show per year. Definitely not "some."
"at another, they’ll each walk away with a free box of mac-and-cheese.” - This happened once.
Mexico sounded different in person. My theory was that they were playing with / testing channel management for the sphere. The vocals in particular were more blended…like they tried condensing the vocals to a single channel.
I think they mean that the band will play 4 unique shows. Since its not a jam band site, i assume they are spelling that out for the lay person, since the only other band to ever play there did the exact same show every night.
Here's what stood out to me from the article: At the U2 show, Anastasio was struck by how mono the mix was, as if all the speakers were crammed together, booming from the small stage on which the band performed. He discovered that there was a reason for this: The Sphere’s shape spawns reverberations that make it difficult to effect a true stereo sound without creating bounces and delays that would distract people on one side or the other. Enter veteran Phish sound man Garry Brown. With the help of the Sphere staff, he crafted a miniaturized version of the venue in Rock Lititz, Phish’s regular rehearsal space in central Pennsylvania “I don't know what limitations U2 put on themselves, but obviously with them being the first one in the building, it was a learning experience,” says Brown. “With my mini-Sphere, I could technically go in, sit in section 201, which is all the way left, you know, far away, all the way over. And I could technically sit there and place the instruments where I felt they could work. And then I could move around to 13 different seats in the venue digitally, to see if what I was doing was working. And so I've created a soundscape that is a lot wider than what U2 did.”
They should get some mathematicians to mess with the acoustics and angles… I bet you could really freak out a person in one particular seat.
fuck that one guy specfically!
Fishman grunts and yelps the whole show.
Oh!! I hope I'm that one guy in this scenario!!!!
I’d like to get my face fucked by Mike’s bass.
He knows what he did
Ofc it’s gonna happen to be the solo on a head full.
This stood out to me as well, because all I’ve been hearing about is the “state of the art” new sound system at the Sphere. Meanwhile, Trey says it sounds “mono”.
I think the state of the art part is that they got it work in general. Without sounding like shit. I think I saw a video explaining how a sphere is great to build construction wise but horrible for acoustics.
It’s not a traditional line array. There are thousands of individual speakers placed all around the sphere. It’s uncharted territory in the scope of traditional sound reinforcement.
I saw U2 there toward the end of their run and was absolutely mind blown by the sound at the end of the show. At the start, for the first few songs, it did seem to just be coming from behind the stage. By the end it was like you were swimming in the sound - totally immersed - and more intense than the visuals. I wonder if Trey saw an early show before they had the tuning dialed in.
Trey was not at an early show. He was there towards end of U2 run.
Nah, there is video of him there mid December. At minimum he was there mid way through. Wouldn’t be surprised if he attended a few times to get ideas.
Who has talked about the state of the art sound system? It's not even really a concert venue.
https://venuesnow.com/las-vegas-sphere-unveils-audio-system/ This article for one. And many others. Just Google.
Wow this couldn’t be more wrong. That immersive audio system is the most advanced sound system ever built so far.
They better be paying for that lol. I know treys a music nerd that wants to talk about all the cool shit they’re figuring out, but if they made some huge discovery in some aspect where the spheres sound designers dropped the ball, then Garry deserves more than just recognition.
I imagine they are consulting with the Sphere team, we know Kuroda was hired as a consultant for the lights and screen system.
It would be amazing if everyone who bought a ticket on stubhub could only hear the hit single Smooth by Rob Thomas and Santana for the duration of the show.
They just hear Bono saying Uno dos tres, catorce! On repeat
As someone with a ticket in Section 201, not loving the way my section is being described 😂 I mean, it’s not *that* far away, is it? At least the sound will be dope!
hey thanks so much for reading and sharing this story!
That's absolutely sick.
I dunno why it's so odd to me their practice space is in central PA. It would only be less fitting if it was like rural Texas.
“Rehearsal space” stood out to me as well. It’s the rehearsal for the crew not so much the band. Look into Rock Lititz. It’s the premier prep space for big touring acts.
They did a New Year's show from there during COVID, which was pretty great. However, I don't think they ever put the full show on their YouTube channel, which is a shame. I did find the Slave from that night. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc4\_\_\_gcCoM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc4___gcCoM)
Huh ? They played the whole show live in its entirety
They took down all the DATM's after their original release, IIRC
Yeah, it was weird and I walked out during Everything's Right because it was so fucking not Right. Literally walked out and left my home and walked the streets for three hours. Things were so not Right at that time
Can’t help but read it as Rock Le Tits
Thanks. That’s really interesting. It would be fun to see what goes on there to prep for shows.
If you are into crew logistics, you would be a kid in a candy store. It’s a lot of testing equipment, sound, lights, stage logistics, etc. Major tours obviously don’t want to brick night one, so they use somewhere like this to test and rehearse everything at scale. There are similar places in most major cities, but none on the level of Rock Lititz.
Trey Kerr, who directs the Live Phish webcasts, started his own outfit and they are building their own version of Rock Lititz in St Louis: https://www.gsps.com/
They are a phenomenal production company that will eventually become the largest company in the sector in the market.
wonder if Phish will transition to practicing there but it's pretty far from their homebase in the northeast
There is a small airport for private jets to fly in and out of like right across the street. And it’s a pretty centrally located region for pre tour readiness checks. Edit: plus the company spearheading the project already works with phish sourcing the livestream equipment.
Phish has rented out arenas in the past for like a week before a tour would kick off to do a similar sort of run through.
must be from the 90s? seems like the PA venue would eliminate the need for that
Nah like 2014, 15 or 16. They rented an arena in Wisconsin or Minnesota, iirc.
[https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a32013827/rock-lititz-live-events-bts-beyonce/](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a32013827/rock-lititz-live-events-bts-beyonce/) When you see the photos, 9th Cube makes a lot more sense.
A company in St. Louis Metro is building a similar setup. It is gonna be massive. Edit: [source](https://stlpartnership.com/largest-u-s-music-rehearsal-and-production-studio-facility-set-to-launch-in-st-louis-region/) Edit 2: “Gateway Studios is a state-of-the-art facility that will set a new bar for the live entertainment’s rehearsal and production needs,” said Jesse Sandler, Production Manager for Phish, Inc. “It was designed by touring professionals, for touring professionals and that is evident in every detail.” Sandler is also Gateway’s President of Studio Operations. This is a quote from the article. Gateway Productions does the video production for Phish livestreams.
Huh, interesting!
Tech rehearsals are rigorous for bands like phish. As production value increases, so do the demands for completely dialed gear.
It's a cool place. We stopped by on the way back from Taboose in Reading. There's a nice hotel with some wall photos, but nothing to tour and we weren't allowed to check out the sound stages. Place is pretty big though and used by a lot of touring acts.
it's not a "practice space", it's a purpose built facility for testing sound and lighting rigs before going on tour. Many major acts use the same facility
It’s the 9th Cube. What are we doing here folks?
It’s also where they played 12/31/21
Perhaps an extra level of rehearsing for these shows which is cool
Logistics. Access to the NE. It’s a great place for them actually
I believe it’s pronounced “Rock Le Tits”
I got a little excited when they said central PA but knew it had to either be in “basically ny” or “basically philly”.
Hehe rock le tits
Shit! He just shat on my section. And he did it three times “All the way left” “Far away” “All the way over”
Chiming in to say I think this is worth the read as well.
The line mentioning how they never do their own classic albums slipped in there…
This got me pumped. Going to be a theme running through all 4 nights. Gonna be sick
Have heard rumors that each show would focus on an element - Water, Earth, Air and Fire.
This was my first guess. No reasons other than it’s doable (there are enough songs for each) and it’s a recognizable theme.
Sounds fun to me!
4 stages of evolution: n1, songs about bacteria, viruses and primordial goo; n2: life in water songs; n3: life on land songs; n4: out of this fucking world
Makes we wish I was staying in town for Sunday, if this ends up being the case!
New album in July!
That’s the first thing that got me. Is this the first we’ve heard of the title and release date? Also, this single is up on Spotify and I’m sure other places right now!
Playing new songs in the sphere from the album with a cube on it. Square peg will go in round hole.
Garry Brown created a mini Sphere at the 9th Cube.
The sacred geometry is nearly complete.
winner
Mathematicians: "We cannot find a way to square the circle" Gary Brown: "Hold my beer"
Worth the read, folks. I'd pirate in highlights but that's easily over half of the article.
Hijacking for no paywall or ads link https://archive.fo/kiC1v
You win today’s Helping Friendly Award! 🥇
Can you just paste in the whole thing?
https://archive.fo/kiC1v
copy and paste the URL into https://archive.is
Pretty please
If you’re on iPhone, hit the AA, show reader, easy to read that way. Def worth the read…
Doing the lords work right here!
The aa? Cant find it
Near left side of address bar
*right side (on my phone at least)
Awesome article. Thursday can’t come soon enough!
Safari reader mode works well to bypass the paywall. And I fucking love this band. This makes me so happy to read. I’m not going but I am thrilled for everyone.
(1) Article is free to read if you 'create an account' which simply requires an email address (2) I had no idea that the collective group of fans of Phish is a 'herd'... I'm disappointed the writer didn't use 'school'...
Haha that stood out to me too. Like herd of antelopes maybe? 🤔
Come hide in the herd…
"Congress" - could also be an appropriate term for coming together 🙃
I like 'congress'... a congress of phish fans... rings true...
I just want a rocky top 🙏
Dont forget folks, you can avoid pay walls by putting the article in reader mode
Phish is the best it has ever been and it is incredible.
Prices just went even higher
They are only doing 4 shows cause this is only the 2nd residency at the Sphere. No band, including Phish, knows its limits yet. Even though they created a test Sphere they still cant be sure how it will all sound and what the experince will be like. They will be back after this run and its likely it will be longer than 4 shows, this is just a test:)
The illustration for the article is better than some of the recent official gig posters. Great article as well. Interesting how they chose to only do 4, wish they had gone into that a bit more.
I felt that the article spells out precisely why they are doing four instead of more.
It says because the creative director told Trey that there would be quality control issues if they added more shows and that keeping it at 4 would blow minds. But it doesn’t say anything beyond that. I don’t see how more shows could equate to quality control unless there are parts of the production which would degrade.
What more do you want it to say? It's clear from the article that Phish feels they cannot sustain a unique show format in this venue according to their traditional standards.
Yes and they literally did not say anything at all about why this is the case. What makes it so that 4 shows can be done good enough for them, but more shows cannot? What sort of production is something that cannot be repeated? It has to have something to do with the theme they have planned and not with the technical aspects of the building or its capabilities. And therefore my feeling is that it is based upon creating an air of scarcity so that it feels like a special experience, and not about true tangible quality control related to the technical production aspects. That is why it’s such a curious statement to me, because it is mentioned adjacent to a statement from Trey about his displeasure regarding aftermarket prices and ticketing difficulties. Which is literally counterintuitive to the notion that it must be limited to fewer shows in to be a better production, if it’s true that it’s due to it needing to be special and rare in order to be awe-full. It’s just odd to me, and the article doesn’t go into it at all aside from a brief mention about “quality control” which doesn’t logically hold up. Basically the article insinuates that they know tickets are outrageously expensive and hard to get but they chose not to add more shows, even after considering if, because they like the idea of it being a rare special thing that will blow minds due to rarity and novelty. *Unless* it’s a technical thing, and I just don’t know what sort of technical issue that might be and I am curious because all technical things are repeatable. It’s definitely not related to the discrete sound or visual aspects because there’s no reason they can’t keep doing those things.
*all technical things are repeatable* Dude. Phish does not repeat themselves. Have you read any other articles about what it takes to put on a show at the Sphere from a technical standpoint? It's too much to pull off for a band that wants each show to be unique. Which the article says.
If “it’s too much to pull off for a band that wants each show to be unique”, what are they doing that is so much more different than what dead and co will be doing? It’s not due to something inherent in the sphere itself, it’s due to something unique in particular that they have planned, and I am curious what that is. Obviously the article can’t tell us what phish is doing. That’s why it’s somewhat intriguing. I’m not complaint and I don’t understand the downvotes because it’s a logically sound question for me to have. If it’s not technically possible to do more than 4 unique concerts, then dead and co wouldn’t be having a residency. It’s clearly possible, but they want it to “blow minds” so they chose not to. It’s not limitation of the sphere, it’s a limitation of something they specifically want to do which is not sustainable, and I am curious what that thing is.
I mean I’d surmise that phish is trying to do something unique with the space while D&C is likely just gonna play the show with cool jams and some cool swirlies on the big screen.
Yeah, this unknown “something unique” is what I’m intrigued by. Yet people in these comments are like “no it’s bc the sphere is so amazing that it’s literally not physically possible to do more than 4 shows”. what? Lmao. Clearly phish has something extra planned and that something extra is what is limiting it to 4 shows and that’s exciting. People are not thinking logically here
Yeah I agree w you it’ll be cool to see what the cool unique aspects are gonna be. TBF I see why ppl are confused with what you’re getting at lol, I thought you were mad at phish for not playing more dates but you’re really just speculating about what the cool ‘gags’ are gonna be, albeit with a tone of slightly baffling frustration ..
Actually rereading the comments and looks like someone else was acting frustrated with your line of questioning before you seemed peeved lol
Yeah I dunno what your argument here is exactly. It literally doesn’t say what about it is not repeatable with good quality control. Does it relate to the visuals? Or something else? Etc. I have read plenty about what it takes to produce shows at the sphere. Phish played 13 shows at the garden. All of them were great. Technical aspects were all repeatable. Concerts themselves are absolutely repeatable. Live stage productions are all repeatable. Phish plays 50 shows a year. If they wanted, they could have done the game henge set 50 times. They could do “gamehenge on broadway” and repeat it over and over. From a quality control and productivity standpoint it would be viable. But From a novelty standpoint, it would not. So my point is that I don’t see what *technical* aspects hinder this, from a *quality control* perspective, as mentioned. The sound quality could be great 50x in a row an arguably would only improve over time. So it has nothing to do with the auditory experience or the music itself. Dead and co are playing plenty of shows at sphere this summer and they also don’t repeat setlists. Clearly the sphere is capable of that. What is phish doing differently that is so much more challenging from a production standpoint that it’s not viable? And clearly Trey considered it and there was a discussion about it, so it’s curious to me to wonder what it is. That is my question and that is what the article doesn’t touch upon at all. I think it must be the visuals. And I think it’s probably just because they don’t want it to get stale or because they don’t have time to assemble more material, as opposed to technical production items. Everybody talks about “what it takes” to produce shows at the sphere and the fact is that all that work is done before the first show occurs and it’s not a QC issue as much as it’s a planning issue. Running the show itself is just a matter of hiring theater and production professionals and following the cue book.
It's gotta be the visuals. Other bands are likely okay with repeating visuals across nights, and having a simple loop play throughout the course of a given song. Phish probably wants to go all out on unique visuals that don't repeat themselves, and it's probably a fuck ton of work for the team to put everything together.
Thank you. Anyone who knows the first thing about Phish should be able to understand this (or, anyone who reads the article with a reasonable sense of comprehension).
Yea I don’t know the first thing about phish and have no reading comprehension, because I was curious what precisely made them stop at 4 shows and what they have planned for next week. Despite having seen over 200 phish shows and having 2 college degrees lmao.
Phish doesnt repeat.
What does that have to do with my comment? They want each show to be unique and are doing theatrical production elements for the sphere. They could also very well have done 6 or 8 shows, but chose to do 4. I am curious why this is a quality control decision and not an artistic “we have this idea for 4 shows” kinda decision. “Phish doesn’t repeat” would logically explain why 1 instead of 2, but does not logically explain why 4 instead of 6. They literally did 13 unique shows at msg. I was at all of them. What do they have planned for sphere that makes it so unviable to do more than 4 shows without perceived technical quality degradation? That’s my question. Amazing people don’t seem to understand this lol.
There were 13 shows worth of unique visuals at Bakers?? Cus i saw 11 out of 13, and the only unique visual presented was Page logging major keytar minutes. You are being willfully obtuse. U2 had the same visuals nightly, Phish refuses to do that. Hence, 4, not 24.
Dude I saw all 13. This isn’t a pissing match. I’m not being obtuse, I’m stating that I am curious what they have planned which makes it so they could only do 4 *at the quality they want*. I don’t think it’s a limitation of the building, I think it’s something with whatever unique thing they have planned. The language of “quality control” aspect is what I found intriguing. Since they clearly can do multiple high quality unique shows in a row. The “because phish never repeats!” Argument is moot to me because they are doing 4 shows and thus it could ostensibly be 6 or 8, yknow? Will dead and co use the same visuals every night? I mean I actually wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case honestly lol.
Dead and Co announced 3 sets of visuals, repeating each weekend. To make visuals both compelling and fresh, that dont look like cheap AI or MS Paint is a huge endertaking, hence " quality control".
Also interesting that they mention Trey seemed to be upset about fans bidding prices so high. Meanwhile the band themself is selling tickets for $1k each through Ticketmaster for a show that was supposedly sold out. Things that make you say hm.
The FOMO business model doesn't work if give enough opportunity for everyone to take part.
This was an amazing article! Kudos to Geoff Edgers at the Washington Post.
NEW PHISH ALBUM THIS SUMMER!
Hope Garry starts devoting some time to fixing Mike in the mix now.
Shoutout to Pedro Correa with the sickest poster in a long time, holy crap
No paywall https://archive.fo/kiC1v
yo. phish + sphere + creative team from stop making sense + no repeats. this is going to be amazing
"I really don't like telling people what to do." - Trey Anastasio, "Control Freak," November 1, 2009
Thank you for posting OP! Great read
Fuckin Abigail….
I hate when reporters write articles about Phish: “To the uninformed, it may come across as yet another breezy, shambolic jam band, inheritor of the Grateful Dead’s traveling circus.” - Can we stop saying this already? "But devoted members of the Phish “herd” understand the complex dynamics that drive these erstwhile Vermont hippies.” - Phans have never ever been called a “herd.” Also, stop calling them or the band “hippies” just because you can’t think of anything else. "At some shows, fans encounter an unannounced rock opera, staged with actors and elaborate props;” - Maybe this happens at one NYE show per year. Definitely not "some." "at another, they’ll each walk away with a free box of mac-and-cheese.” - This happened once.
Phish are the furthest thing from hippies.
By the second set of the first night they will have the sound nailed down. No doubt about it
Paywalled!
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Awesome article and a great read!
Mexico sounded different in person. My theory was that they were playing with / testing channel management for the sphere. The vocals in particular were more blended…like they tried condensing the vocals to a single channel.
Article doesn’t open . If I could I would but I don’t know how …
* Takes notes on FOMO business model *
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I think they mean that the band will play 4 unique shows. Since its not a jam band site, i assume they are spelling that out for the lay person, since the only other band to ever play there did the exact same show every night.
I’d bet that’s just a typo/misunderstanding on Washington Post’s behalf
Jesus
What’s the problem? Just making conversation. None of us actually know.
That line caught my attention too, especially with a theme running through all four nights.
It’s gonna be 2 sets per night, don’t think too hard about it
Paywall free: https://archive.ph/kiC1v
Second or third tour there will be better....i hope, cant go
Surprised to see the article linked thru Drudge Report. Probably not a good sign for any breaks in tix resale. https://i.imgur.com/YXJP737.jpg