Phish Fans Petition for Reunion Simulcast

Posted on Oct 22nd 2008 2:00PM by Benjy Eisen
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It's all happening again for Phish fans. On October 1, the band announced they were reuniting, beginning with a three-night stand in March at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, VA. The small 13,800-capacity arena was the site of Phish's six-disc live recording 'Hampton Comes Alive,' and it was where they staged part of their first comeback in 2003, following a two-year hiatus. In 2004, when the band announced that they were calling it quits after their summer tour, they even added Hampton to the itinerary for one final farewell.

Of course, it turns out that farewell wasn't final. There's just one problem -- more than 13,800 Phish fans want to be there for their return in March. Like, tons more. Neither officials at Hampton Coliseum nor the band's management were quite sure if the three shows set a record for how fast they sold out, but many first-hand reports claim it was just a matter of seconds, following the on-sale time at Ticketmaster this past Saturday.

Almost immediately following the sell-out, Phish message boards began lighting up with disgruntled, disenchanted and just plain disappointed fans who tried everything they could but still failed to get tickets. Within hours, a fan petition began circling the net, imploring Phish and their management (Red Light) to simulcast the Hampton run nationally.

In 2004, Phish experimented with a sold-out concert in Brooklyn, NY -- one of their final shows before the "break-up" -- by simulcasting it live at movie theaters across the country. It was generally seen as a great success and Phish later released the footage as a concert DVD.

For those Phish fanatics who really just can't wait (which is, like, all of them), the band's latest archival release, 'Live at the Roxy,' hits stores on November 18. The 8 CD box-set should tide fans over ... for a day or two.