Phish's The Clifford Ball: 25 Years Later, Part I

Psychedelic prog rock jam band Phish put on a two-day event at recently closed Plattsburgh Air Force Base in Plattsburgh, NY on August 16-17, 1996.  The event became the largest show of that year and really kick-started Phish beyond a huge cult-like band and more into the mainstream waters of bands like the Grateful Dead (a comparison that is not their particular favorite or their fans).

 

What's remarkable about the show is that the two-day event was primarily all Phish-based who played seven sets for about 80,000-90,000 people.

 

We are led by Buzzard George Kursar who ropes in co-hosts Roger Mayer (who is no Phish aficionado) and Pete Liska, who is really part of our special guest panel tonight because we feature three duders (including Pete) who all grew up either in Plattsburgh or the very town over and who all three attended the event.

 

And those other two special guest duders are Nate Garden and Tom Glasgow who give insightful background on the history of Plattsburg, the AIr Force Base and, most importantly, what it was like to be on the inside of one of the largest music events of the 90s.

 

This is Part I of a two-part special that will feature another special guest speaker in an upcoming episode.  So get your balloon, be ready with the canister, fill it up and inhale...hear the helicopters in your head and float up into the sky...

 

** Note that we are always on the hunt for interesting topics and guests as well as any comments/questions about this or other shows.  Please email us at fivedollarbuzz@gmail.com and someone will get back to you...maybe...it's gotta be either really great or exceptionally painful...we don't do "middle of the road"...