10/30/98 @ The Thomas and Mack Center w/ Eric Doyle

Hi everybody and welcome to today’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. 

Halloween is, without question, one of the highest profile nights of the Phish calendar. All Phish Halloween shows are judged, compared and, for better or worse, claim their spot in the band’s mythology. But, as part of a pattern that’s been discussed on this podcast before, it’s not always the high profile night that gets the best show. It’s usually the night before the night. December 30 for New Years Eve, and in this case, October 30 for Halloween. 

Today’s guest, Eric Doyle, chose to tell us about his experience at October 30, 1998–the night before Phish covered all of The Velvet Underground’s classic album, Loaded. While that Halloween show has its supporters and detractors, the night before should be celebrated for its combination of factors that make it one of the best representations of 1998 that Phish had to offer.

With The Story of the Ghost having been released just days prior, the band making high profile appearances on David Letterman, Sessions at West 54th, and other promotional outlets for the new album, Phish was at a crossroads as to how involved they would become with the record industry at large. History has explained that part of the Phish story, but with mixed mainstream success at the time, no one was sure what would happen.

All of those aspects were apparent during this two-night Las Vegas run in 1998, but it didn’t stop the band from delivering a killer show on the night before Halloween. Let’s join Eric to talk about Phish’s history in Atlanta, Fishman leading the way, and more as we discuss October 30, 1998 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.