Venue Preview: Bourbon & Beyond, Lexington, KY w/Andrew

Hi everybody and welcome to Attendance Bias. I am your host Brian Weinstein. We are at the start of the late summer/early fall 2025 tour, and so it is time to look ahead to the venues Phish will be playing. This run is 8 shows in 4 separate venues, including today’s preview of the Bourbon and Beyond Festival in Louisville, KY on September 12.

While the rest of this tour is made up of familiar, or at least traditional, venues, this one night show on September 12 is the first time Phish is playing this particular festival, and the first time that Phish has played in Louisville since 1995. Our friend Andrew from Louisville is a resident of the city who has been waiting for Phish to announce a show in his hometown for a long time and was thrilled when the festival announced Phish as a headliner, although we both agreed that it’s a bit of a head scratcher. As we’ll hear Andrew explain, Bourbon and Beyond isn’t a typical music festival, although the musical headliners over the past few years have become more and more impressive, with Phish topping the list (at least for him). 

But the reason Phish is playing the festival doesn’t matter. The important thing is that the band is returning to the city that might best represent their theater era of the mid-90s, so who knows what they’ll bring to the stage when they play the Derby City in September. 

So let’s join Andrew as he gives us the history, the recommendations, the tips, and tricks to prepare for Phish’s headlining spot at the Bourbon and Beyond festival on September 12, 2025.