Phish Closer to Confirming Bonnaroo?

Posted on Jan 23rd 2009 11:00AM by Benjy Eisen
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Long before Phish officially even reunited, the rumor mill had them signed and ready to headline Bonnaroo. It makes sense: Bonnaroo was inspired, in part, by Phish's festivals. Many of the same artists, visionaries, and crews behind those festivals transferred directly over to Bonnaroo and, in fact, all four members of Phish have played Bonnaroo, repeatedly, in various projects over the years. The reunited Phish now also shares a business connection to Bonnaroo via their management. Add all this up and it's as simple as one plus one equaling two.

Add in a new factor: Phish just suspiciously added a single new tour date at an arena in Knoxville, TN on Wednesday, June 10. Tennessee on a Wednesday? Really, Phish? Oh, but wait -- Bonnaroo is in Tennessee. Just 167 miles from Knoxville. And the festival begins the very next day. Looks like Phish just announced their "intimate" warm-up date.

In the meantime, Phish is reminding everybody exactly where all this started as they're releasing a 7-DVD box set documenting the Clifford Ball on March 3rd. The Clifford Ball was Phish's first large-scale festival, taking place on an abandoned air force base in upstate New York in 1996. It was just as large as Bonnaroo but with one major difference: Phish was the only band there.