Booking Phish 101: Telluride & Wrigley
Remember when Phish would put together a summer tour and we weren’t privy to all of the machinations that go into putting the dates together? Clearly, the band and its management are trying to break away from the typical shed to shed summer tours that the group has played in the past and as part of attempting to play unique venues they need to get approval from the towns/cities where these shows are held.
[Yesterday’s Meeting – ©Merrick Chase / Telluride Photography.Net]
For instance, let’s take the proposed Phish shows that AEG Live and Telluride Bluegrass are attempting to hold in Telluride on August 9th and 10th. We first learned about the possibility of these shows through a terse tweet from the Telluride News on February 17. Later that evening, Telluride radio station KOTO broadcast a report that featured an interview with Telluride Jazz director Paul Machado and Telluride Bluegrass Festival director Craig Ferguson in which the pair laid out all of the approvals that would need to be obtained before an official offer could be made to the band. That interview gave us all a behind-the-scenes look at the hoops promoters must jump through to hold Phish concerts in atypical venues.
Over the past few weeks, these potential Phish shows have cleared a number of “hurdles” including yesterday when Telluride’s arts board put the shows on the town’s calendar. Next, the promoters need approval from the town council next Tuesday. That would leave AEG and Phish to work out a deal that would bring the band to town, a deal that may have already been agreed upon so that the band could leave the dates open on its schedule.
READ ON for more on the potential shows at Wrigley and Telluride…