OK. This is my last Phish post of the weekend. OK. Maybe so, maybe not.
So it pained me that I couldn't make the 3-night Phish reunion stand at Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Va., the home to many a great Phish shows.
But unlike 5 years ago when they last toured, I could follow along both nights as the show unfolded. Back then I would have waited until after the show. Then Phantasy Tour would update their site with the setlist. Later that night a few bloggers would post reviews. And then a day later, Phish would post the live concert, which I could buy either as MPFs or FLACs, (FLAC is an open-source technology that lets you compress and decompress large audio files without losing one piece of data. This is big if you want to maximize audio quality). Suffice to say there was no real way to "be there" even if you weren't there.
Fast forward 5 years, which is basically 50 years in internet time. First, 220 million people are using Facebook, including many of my friends who also love Phish. Second, Twitter is able to extend real-time the Phish community in a way that discussion boards and 5-year-old community services could not.
So as I sat at a school benefit Friday night, I had two primary sources of information. (My following along on my phone did annoy Kass and several others at the benefit. But come on, I wasn't going to miss this and they just didn't understand!) The first was my old friend Benjy London. Benjy was at the event Facebook statusing away. Here's a screengrab of his page:
Benjy provided some of the context from the venue as friends commented and posted on his Wall talking about the show, asking for updates and even chastising Benjy for his excitement. "Grow up Benjy, seriously, you're a responsible father now," Andy Siegel wrote. (What's responsible and irresponsible anyway? I'm taking my boys to a 4-day camping music festival in June in Tennessee. Is that responsible? If not, I'm happy to be irresponsible.)
While Benjy was my trusted filter, Twitter was the firehose that put me in the center of the concert during the actual concert. First, @Phish, the band's own Twitter account, posted the song the band was playing as the song started. For those who love Phish, this is amazing as the band is known for using songs as pieces in a grand music puzzle.
Second, the community. During each of the shows, the term Phish was the hottest term on Twitter accoding to Twitter trends. Phans at the concert posted songs, thoughts and more, serving as play-by-play announcers as the show unfolded. Here's a screengrab of what I was following:
Lastly, the music, which is obviously most important. About an hour after the show, tapers had posted MP3s. One blogger/taper at Mr. Miner's Phish Thoughts posted each set, spoiler-free. Why does this matter? For those who were off the grid and wanted to listen on tape delay to what the show sounded like as it unfolded "without
knowing what magical journeys Phish decided to bust out."
In addition to the unofficial MP3s and YouTube videos, the band itself still posts all shows to LivePhish.com within a day of the show (for these shows within a few hours!) in both MP3 and FLAC format. And for now, the MP3s are free.
To be sure, I still wish I were at the show. And I'm psyched to see 4 shows between June 4 and June 14. But Phish and Phish Phans have embraced social media and we're all better for it. Truly amazing and a great way to "be there" even if you have 3 kids, a company, a full schedule and can't actually be there.
(If you made it this long and still haven't heard Phish, do yourself a favor and download one of the shows at LivePhish.com or just listen to this song to whet your appetite: Runaway Jim.)
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