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Hi everybody and welcome to today’s episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Before we get started with today’s episode, I just want to remind everyone that if you enjoy the podcast, you can show your support by leaving a rating and review of it wherever you get your podcasts. You can also visit www.buymeacoffee.com/attendancebias and donate anything you can to keep the podcast going. Now, onto today’s episode:

On Attendance Bias, I’ve had my share of guests who want to tell about their first show, but today’s episode is a little different. Today’s guest, Spencer Eastwood is here to tell about his first show, yes, but his first show, April 23, 2026 was at The Sphere in Las Vegas! I can imagine that any show at The Sphere inspires an insane amount of attendance bias, but your first Phish show ever, after just knowing a few songs by the band in the first place? Spencer has quite a story to tell.

About a year ago, we welcomed Katie, “The Phunky Witch” to the podcast to tell about her experience at The Sphere, especially the band’s rendition of “Theme from the Bottom into Split Open and Melt” from the show on April 19, 2024. A recurring theme from that conversation was the concept of the unknown; the idea that not only was The Sphere a new venue open to the public, but that it was new to Phish and the community. We were basically taking it for a test drive.

So when the 2026 3-weekend run was announced, both Phish and the fans knew what to expect. We planned better, tickets were easier to come by, and I’ll just go ahead and say it: the music was better this time.

But if it were your first show, would you even know that? Or would The Sphere, and Las Vegas, make its own scene so crazy that it would envelop you? Spencer is here to tell us all about it.

Let’s join him to talk about Guitar Hero, Salt Lake City, and bubble gum, as we discuss April 23, 2026 at The Sphere.

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