The first live Phish webcast occurred in 1997 at the World Music Theatre in Tinley Park, Illinois, on August 8, 1997. A year later, Phish would webcast their Halloween 1998 show. But the first major webcast was Vegas 2000 (September 30, 2000). Phish was about to take their hiatus and broadcast the show through Yahoo.
“The webcast was free,” Scott Bernstein of JamBase says of the Vegas 2000 livestream. “Anyone who went to music.yahoo.com could access it. And Trey used the opportunity, he said, basically told everyone, ‘We’ll be back, this isn’t the end.’”
It would be another 10 years, until Phish New Year’s Eve 2010, for the band to host and sell their own Phish webcast. And for the summer 2017 tour, Phish webcast every one of the 21 shows and offered the final night at Dick’s (September 3, 2017) and Dayton’s Nutter Center show (July 18, 2017) for free.
Watching these webcasts in the comfort of your own home, instead of hitting the road and touring with the band, has come to be known as “Couch Tour” among fans. I think most people, myself included, would agree that Couch Tour is a welcome, fun experience. “I’m content to watch all three Dick’s shows live as they happen,” Bernstein says of Couch Tour. “And I’m psyched for that experience. Perhaps not as psyched as someone who’s going, but I’m pretty damn psyched. And it’s cool that I still get to experience that even though I’m not going to Colorado.”
“Watching from the comfort of your home…” (Andy Sinboy)
In some respects it’s like cooking dinner versus dining out. And at least this way you can watch the setlist unfold in real time—no spoilers the next day!
And that’s the whole gist of it, isn’t it? You’re still able to enjoy the show in real time even if you can’t make the trip to the venue. Phish isn’t shutting out anyone, to some degree. Oh, and they’re getting your $26.99 for a two-show webcast, in standard definition. HD costs more, of course.
A company called Nugs.tv has revolutionized the live streaming concert industry, providing high-quality webcasts and live music downloads from acts including Phish, Pearl Jam, and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few.
However, since Phish started working with Nugs.tv it seems a lot of fan-uploaded live Phish YouTube videos have been removed and deleted due to copyright claims. A November 2016 article on LiveForLiveMusic.com seems to make a case that this is a direct result of Nugs.tv partnering with Quello Concerts to stream live shows across multiple devices.
“Eighteen months ago every webcast show was up on YouTube and now they’re clearing house,” Scott Bernstein says. “I’m hoping the idea there is that they’re going to launch their own video repository where you can watch all these webcasts. What’s the use of taking down the 2011 Alpharetta show that the band webcast if there’s not a way to access it otherwise?”
An archive of Phish live show videos? Not a bad idea; not a bad idea at all.