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A bit. However (and this entirely dates me), I saw Phish off and on from the '93 period forward and it was clear the audience was growing at an unbelievable pa

by tom_b 13y ago

A bit. However (and this entirely dates me), I saw Phish off and on from the '93 period forward and it was clear the audience was growing at an unbelievable pace prior to Jerry Garcia's death. I remember a show in 1994 in Winston Salem where the opening band was Dave Matthews. And half the coliseum was curtained off (most of the top of Lawrence Joel?) . . . I think later that same year I saw a really nice Phish show in Boone and the crowd felt larger. A few years later people seemed incredulous at the thought of Phish shows with four-digit-sized audiences . . . What was super interesting to me at the time was how intensely the audience was "bonded" to Phish shows. We were already joking a bit about how they had a group of "lifestyle" followers. In the current lingo, I would have said they had gone viral already. Fun times.

sbuccini 13y ago
Man, Winston-Salem? I can't believe they'd come through there. Boone does seem like a more natural fit.
- tom_b 13y ago
  Yeah . . . 20 years ago. If I'm not wrong, I saw Phish in Winston in '92ish in a small downtown venue, with something like maybe 500 or 600 people - tops - in the audience. My brother was very wired into the up and coming jam band scene then as well as being a student at App State (thus my attendance at the Boone show). Winston had an interesting music scene back in those days (80s/90s, can't speak to since then). Phish, Widespread Panic (in the chapel at Wake Forest!), Dave Matthews, Leo Kottke, Alex DeGrassi (there was a guitar society that was active in promoting acoustic artists). Many of the MTV up and coming metal/hair bands seemed to pop into Baity's (a long closed Winston spot) for shows on their way to becoming bigger venue acts (all pre-grunge). Sometime in the late 80s and early 90s a number of blues guitarists would roll through the Triad area as well. In hindsight, it's kind of interesting to consider just how many quality musicians came around central NC. I worked in a guitar shop for a summer and there were actually a surprising number of highly skilled amateurs playing. But for some reason, this translated into few active bands.
  - sbuccini 13y ago
    I always wondered the same thing. I grew up in that area code, and it seemed as if there was hardly any local talent. Fortunately, within the past few years, my eyes have been opened to the different bands lurking in the local venues around the universities.
  - Jgrubb 13y ago
    I started Boone in 96, and that Phish show was a campus legend.
pfarrell 13y ago
Our view from indianapolis was '94 Murat (2000 seats sold out) '95 1 night at Deer Creek (20k and not sold out) Jerry's death '96 3 sold out nights at Deer Creek They were on their way up, but the deadheads swamped the scene. Also, that's when it became apparent the band was getting heavily into hard drugs. The musicianship was what brought me to their shows (these guys played a credible fugue based on the theme to NPR's "All Things Considered"). When that skill was gone, so was I.

by tom_b 13y ago

sbuccini 13y ago

Man, Winston-Salem? I can't believe they'd come through there. Boone does seem like a more natural fit.

tom_b 13y ago
Yeah . . . 20 years ago. If I'm not wrong, I saw Phish in Winston in '92ish in a small downtown venue, with something like maybe 500 or 600 people - tops - in the audience. My brother was very wired into the up and coming jam band scene then as well as being a student at App State (thus my attendance at the Boone show). Winston had an interesting music scene back in those days (80s/90s, can't speak to since then). Phish, Widespread Panic (in the chapel at Wake Forest!), Dave Matthews, Leo Kottke, Alex DeGrassi (there was a guitar society that was active in promoting acoustic artists). Many of the MTV up and coming metal/hair bands seemed to pop into Baity's (a long closed Winston spot) for shows on their way to becoming bigger venue acts (all pre-grunge). Sometime in the late 80s and early 90s a number of blues guitarists would roll through the Triad area as well. In hindsight, it's kind of interesting to consider just how many quality musicians came around central NC. I worked in a guitar shop for a summer and there were actually a surprising number of highly skilled amateurs playing. But for some reason, this translated into few active bands.
- sbuccini 13y ago
  I always wondered the same thing. I grew up in that area code, and it seemed as if there was hardly any local talent. Fortunately, within the past few years, my eyes have been opened to the different bands lurking in the local venues around the universities.
- Jgrubb 13y ago
  I started Boone in 96, and that Phish show was a campus legend.

pfarrell 13y ago

Our view from indianapolis was '94 Murat (2000 seats sold out) '95 1 night at Deer Creek (20k and not sold out) Jerry's death '96 3 sold out nights at Deer Creek They were on their way up, but the deadheads swamped the scene. Also, that's when it became apparent the band was getting heavily into hard drugs. The musicianship was what brought me to their shows (these guys played a credible fugue based on the theme to NPR's "All Things Considered"). When that skill was gone, so was I.