Mini Episode #5: 2001, 8/11/04, Mansfield, MA

Attendance Bias

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Welcome to the fifth mini-episode of Attendance Bias! Mini-episodes feature a breakdown of a single song or jam from a show that I’ve attended. I’ll pick a song or jam for any given reason—it was the highlight of the show, it meant something special to me, it's widely renown--who knows?

Mini-episodes are posted on a bi-weekly basis in between full episodes of Attendance Bias, when a guest and I will go over a full Phish show.
Today's episode focuses on "2001," played on 8/11/04 at Great Woods Amphitheater in Mansfield, Massachusetts. This show was the second of two nights at the venue. These shows were played at the tail end of Phish's 2004 summer tour before the Coventry Festival which, at the time, we thought would be their last shows ever. The first night of the run, 8/10, doesn't hold any memories for me except for the good jam in "Possum," and the band slowing down the end of "Weekapaug Groove" for Trey to tell the story of how that song was written.
Even with that "Possum" encore, I was completely deflated. Here I was, following Phish all over the place--with two more shows before a festival--they weren't playing anything worth hearing, and the scene was getting ickier by the show. I remember thinking, "If this is how they're going to play, then it's good that they're ending it all."
The next night changed all of that. The entire show on 8/11 was focused, tight, and compelling. The "2001," especially, demonstrated creativity, dance music, and innovation just before the whole enterprise came crashing down. For years, I called 8/11 "The Last Great Phish Show." On one hand, I'm glad I was there for it, and on the other hand, I'm glad I was wrong.
AUD recording for this episode: "2001," from Great Woods Amphitheater, Mansfield, MA