My PhishTube/Twitter Article

[Basher]

Flame away, this is clearly my first article. I had lots of editing help.

PHISH 'PHANS' EMBRACE NEW TECHNOLOGIES;

HOPE BAND WILL DO THE SAME

[Schwa.]

PHISH CONCERTS AND TECHNOLOGY

PHISH 'PHANS' EMBRACE NEW TECHNOLOGIES;

HOPE BAND WILL DO THE SAME

By Brian Sherman

Copyright 2009

Edit International

As a long-time fan of the rock band Phish, I’m often asked to describe them.

Summarizing Phish’s music, not to mention the scene/culture surrounding them, is a daunting task, but, if pressed, I would describe a band similar to the Grateful Dead--a rock “jambandâ€--with a vast & eclectic catalogue of music and a fanatical fan base that is willing to criss-cross the globe to attend their concerts. Each Phish show is different and some “phansâ€, as followers of the band are called, have, over the band’s 20+ years, travelled thousands of miles, attending hundreds & hundreds of concerts in the process.

Having referenced the Grateful Dead, you may be picturing "phans" as a nomadic group of free spirits, akin to Dead fans of the 60s, & 70s—however, while there are certainly some Phish followers who resemble stereotypical hippies, that is not the standard. Most devotees of the band are in their mid-thirties (like me), employed (like me), and some of them are even creating technology to enhance the experience that is a live Phish show.

In 2004, Phish broke up—supposedly, for good. It was the end of an era, and for those who had attended “Coventryâ€, Phish's final series of concerts in August of that year, an incredibly disappointing one. The “Coventry†festival can be succinctly described as a 60,000 person train-wreck. Torrential rain in previous weeks had washed out the roads in to the site. Some fans spent upwards of 24 hours in their cars on the way into the festival—and they were considered the lucky ones!

Thousands of others abandoned their cars on the interstate & surrounding properties and proceeded to walk in, their only supplies for the weekend what they could carry on their backs.

Despite the logistical nightmare, most fans would agree that it would have all been worth it if Phish had delivered a great set of music, worthy of their legacy—unfortunately, that did not happen. The members of the band (Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, Page McConnell & Jon Fishman) performed horribly and, with a whimper, Phish was done.

Scattered across the United States thousands witnessed “Coventry†live, from the comfort of surround-sound movie theaters, complete with popcorn and glow sticks. Many would tell stories of enjoying alcoholic beverages in the theaters, “smoking†at set-break and even playing with beach balls, having a great time. Their shoes were dry and they got to sleep in their beds that night--they were the real lucky ones.

A lot has changed since 2004. Phish fans have grown up and the band has reunited. And technology has evolved in ways that no one could have imagined five years ago.

On June 2 2009 Phish was back and playing their fifth concert on their comeback tour, at Jones Beach Amphitheater on Long Island. The internet was abuzz with speculation by fans (not in attendance) about what was being played, how the band sounded etc. At that point, all they could do was speculate--then everything changed.

Followers of Phish on “Twitter†received a "Tweet" that someone was broadcasting the Phish concert live from an iPhone. Hundreds of fans immediately followed the link provided and, within minutes, were watching the show live from their computers. A few minutes later the counter on the screen indicated that several thousand people were watching the concert via the internet.

The video wasn’t great, but (lighting designer) Chris Kuroda's light show was visible, and the audio was just fine. “Mike's Song†kicked off the second set and fans across the continent were able to enjoy it right along with the fans in attendance at Jones Beach—unbelievable.

In 2004 you could hardly envision a world where Social Media was the name of the game. Twitter, Facebook and the rest have become game-changers, and Phish fans are finding ways to exploit this technology. Instead of looking for ways to make money, Phish fans (many wealthy and the actual creators of emerging technologies) look for ways to enhance their enjoyment of the live music experience.

One of those fans is “Jason Wigmannâ€, the man behind PhishTube.

Jason Wigmann had spent a lot of time on YouTube since Phish announced their comeback. He knew it would be impossible to get tickets to the comeback shows - a three night run in March at the Hampton Coliseum. Maybe if there was an online site with some sort of video reporting from the scene, fans could enjoy the experience from home. "There should be a PhishTube" he said to himself. A quick check of the Internet domain availability and PhishTube.com was born.

"I hoped it might give more dimension and a deeper look into what it was about, rather than just the surface stereotypes that the average person might see. I also knew it was something I wanted to watch as a fan, and knew others would be into it too."

Jason was also spending a lot of time on Twitter. He had slowly gained a “followingâ€, just by talking about Phish 140 characters at a time. There was a definite community of Phish Twitter people online by the time the Hampton shows were only a few days away." Community - a word means something special amongst Phish fans.

Jason ended up getting tickets to the Phish comeback shows at the Hampton Coliseum, but it came together so late that no real broadcast plans could go forward. Some quick reporting from the parking lot did proceed. Even at this point Jason didn't know what was to come. “Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that it would be possible to actually stream the shows in real time."

Jason Bogovich might actually be your typical Phish fan. Husband and father, he has been to some 80 Phish shows all told. “I don't know whether I love Phish or technology more. I work for a fortune 100 company, I've invented technology for them, so I'm a bit of an inventor, I've done engineering work and now I am an Oracle database guy. I love the things you can do with data.

“The iPhone has changed everything with respect to how we enjoy live concerts - especially Phish concerts. We are just now entering two new eras in technology. The first is the Post-PC era. This is where you only need your PC if you need to be efficient, you can do work on your phone (I typed much of this up on my phone). The second is even more important, but it's partially a symptom of the first: We are in an age of interactive communication.

If the late nineties showed us the information superhighway, we are now on the communication superhighway. Twitter is a living, breathing, evolving, silicon-based group consciousness. On Twitter, it doesn't matter what color you are, what country you are from, it doesn't matter what you are into - hatred is not acceptable - and mobs of people will let you know by using the block button.

“Phish fans have always been an early adopter type from my generation. Many of them are the top 1 percentile when it comes to techno-lust.†Want to see what your technology can really do? Put it in the hands of a Phish fan.

Phish fans are like the chemists that are working on a cure for cancer, only to discover a medicine that allows you to visualize a holographic concert remotely via WiFi. “I am working on an application for the iPhone that will make sure you are at the concert via GPS/TRIAG, and then everyone gets one vote per show/set on what song they want to hear. I can only hope the band will use this app, I plan to try to initiate a conversation with Phish, give them the app or something.â€

Once again, an ongoing theme, this has nothing to do with money. “I think Phish would love the idea because shows are about (that). We would always let the band boycott the audience choice of course - every once in a while at least. If Phish likes the idea, then others might too.â€

“When Phish is playing a show that I'm not attending, I have a feeling of envy that passes a bit, or increases a bit when I get online. I feel great if I have my @Phishtube feed working. Having said that I might turn on some Phish music, open iTunes and show every copy of that song I own, then listen to one of the higher rated ones. I always watch the Phish account in a window on TweetDeck and I definitely enjoy #phish. I used to get into phantasy phish."

“ Many shows I have both live Phish versions and audience recordings (to choose) from. Sometimes the audience recording is better for personal listening because it lets you feel like you are more into the show.â€

So what’s next? We don’t need to scribble down song titles at the show. We don’t need to refresh a web page from home. Heck, we don’t even really need to tape the show anymore.

“I'd like to see Phish do some innovation in the music space where you could download the shows in 5.1 DTS and turn the audience off and on. I think they would get a lot of attention in technology circles here. They had many firsts for bands and are responsible for much of today’s music culture, though they don't get credit. There wouldn't be a Bonnaroo if not for Phish.â€

Will Phish offer live HD broadcasts of their shows? Would people pay for it? You bet they would, and if Phish.com doesn’t figure out a way to do it, you can bet one (or dozens) of their fans will.

Phish continues their summer tour with a second leg starting this Thursday at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison Colorado. Don`t have tickets to the show? Don't worry, you may be able to experience it after all.

By Brian Sherman

Copyright 2009

[Schwa.]

Nice one, hippy

[peipunk]

Flame away,

[jaybone]

Very well done!

I'm very impressed. Did Julia have a hand in editing?

[Freak By Night]

Very well-written article. Good work Basher!

In the past, it was porn that drove the advancements in technology. Now it's Phish!

[bouche]

nice job. I hope you didn't pull out too much hair it sure takes dedication to complete an article of that length.

[Kanada Kev]

Great work Basher. I see your article got linked to Hidden Track as well. Way to go:

http://www.glidemagazine.com/hiddentrack/afternews-yet-another-phish-post/

Finally, our friend Brian Sherman wrote an article about the convergence of Phish concerts and technology that includes an interview with Jason Wigmann of PhishTube fame.

[Basher]

Scotty is a great guy. He "hired" me to do the guest YEMBlogging for Darien.

[Northern Wish]

Cheers Basher, great read.....

[Ms.Huxtable]

Nice job! A techie article that I can relate to.

[YearsAlongTheSea]

Good work bud. The only thing I disagree with, which has nothing to do with you, is Wigmann's idea:

"I am working on an application for the iPhone that will make sure you are at the concert via GPS/TRIAG, and then everyone gets one vote per show/set on what song they want to hear. I can only hope the band will use this app, I plan to try to initiate a conversation with Phish, give them the app or something.â€

Personally I don't want to hear Mound and Harpua every night. That and I feel like Phish plays what they want to play and don't see them going for this.

I digress though. Excellent article Basher...