Hi everybody and welcome to today’s episode of Attendance Bias, or more accurately, episode two of “This Time Will be Different: 15 Years Since Hampton.” I am your host, Brian Weinstein.

Today, I join my two co-hosts: Scott Marks and Charlie Dirksen of Phish.net and the Mockingbird Foundation, to take a look at the 2.0 era, as well as Phish’s breakup in 2004. For those of you who listened to episode 1, it was clear but not obvious, that Phish needed a break after Big Cypress, and it was never really in doubt that they would get back together. But in the second half of 2.0, mostly in the 2004 calendar year, it was glaringly obvious that Trey’s physical health was in jeopardy, and the scene as a whole was rotting from the inside. 

In a little while, you’ll hear Scott compare these three episodes to the original Star Wars trilogy–today’s episode is The Empire Strikes Back. Our heroes are at their lowest point, and you have to be knocked down before you can rise up and win the day. 

It’s telling that on Attendance Bias, 2.0 has, by far, the least number of shows represented by guests. It was, and continues to be, a divisive time in the band’s history. I originally planned this episode to be about the time of Phish’s breakup-2004 to 2008, and what the scene was like without the biggest band on tour. However, this conversation took a different route and we just went with it. It wasn’t always a pretty ride, but it has heart and makes the comeback in the next episode all the more meaningful.

But we have to have the darkness before the dawn. Today, please welcome Scott Marks and Charlie Dirsken of Phish.net and The Mockingbird Foundation as we continue This Time Will be Different, Episode 2.