The internet has the potential to be even cooler!

Last Tuesday, I (along with my buddy Torres) drove out to Jones Beach to see my first Phish show in 13 years. In addition to the weather (we even got a rainbow!), venue, and music itself being fantastic, I was reminded just how great the whole Phish scene and vibe were. I will try my best to get something up about that night at some point, but we all know how that goes. Anyhoo: I was so thrilled by the experience (and the general ease with which Torres's friend Scotty scored 5 tickets in 15 minutes for 50% of face value) that, despite my yakking never amounting to anything, I talked about going to either one of both of their two remaining nights out in Wantagh, LI, NY. I even considered going down to see them in Camden, NJ last night, but I guess I am just not enough of a fan to make it happen.

Despite my disappointment in both myself and the fact that I likely blew my only chances to see Phish live more than once this summer, I was sated in one regard. As a result of the combinaition of cunning, the tradition of "taping" at Phish shows, and the lighting speed at which digital and mobile technology has evolved in recent years, someone (and on two nights more than one person!) was streaming video of the show live via his or her iPhone. I KNOW! The video and audio quality was only passable, but it was thrilling to even have the opportunity to watch a Phish that I was not otherwise able to attend from the comfort of my own couch!

Due to Phish and their fanbase's long tradition of taping shows and then trading said tapes, this seemed to me like the next step in a rather logical progression. Recently, Phish themselves started offering high quality audio recordings of their shows direct from the soundboard to your PC via download a mere few hours after the end of a show. They even offer an exhaustive audio and video archive - all of which can be downloaded for prices similar to those of iTunes. So I was shocked to read somewhere online (I feel somewhat irresponsible for not remembering exactly what or where it was. I have tried multiple Google searches and have come up with nothing) that Phish seemed none too pleased with this. While their taping policy has always allowed only for audio recording and specifically states that streaming audio is not cool, I would like to believe that with the advent of both livephish.com and the technology that could allow for such a cool opportunity would make the decision to either endorse this or provide an "official" avenue for video streaming something of a no-brainer. Phish has not released an official statement concerning the matter and rumor has it that the stream will be back up for tomorrow night's show, so there's no telling where we're headed on this one.

I know that the Allman Bros. Band did something similar to this for their annual run of shows at the Beacon Theatre this past March. Fans paid x$ in order to watch live streaming video of the entire series of 14 shows. I think it was something to the tune of $110 - which seems reasonable to me - and while the Allmans are certainly not your average baby boomers, it would only make sense that a jam band from a later generation (I dunno, maybe... Phish!) would be even more likely to offer a similar opportunity to its fans. My fingers are crossed - and apparently so are those of many other on the web. There is currently an online petition requesting that Phish provide a live video stream of their shows. I have signed it, and I urge you to do the same. Be you a Phish-head, a casual fan, or even just a lover of live music, this petition is the beginning of what is bound to be yet another chapter in the ongoing discussion about the inevitable meeting of antiquated copyright legislation and the developing technologies that force us to reconsider the connection, or lack thereof, between intellectual property and artistic commodities. While I do believe that this is a large scale discussion well worth engaging in, I also really wanna watch Phish shows live on my computer, so please click through and sign the petition.

Click here to sign it.

If you need any extra convincing, here's some video from the show I was at: