Mini Episode #6: Character Zero, 7/20/16, San Francisco, CA

Attendance Bias

Welcome to the sixth 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 "Character Zero," played on 7/20/16 at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, California. This show was the last of three nights at the venue. These shows were played during the 2nd half of the 2016 summer tour, when the band took a west coast swing from the Gorge, then south to San Francisco before heading down the coast to the Forum in Los Angeles. The first set of this show was filled with rarities, which thrilled me, and the 2nd set was a bit more conservative (but still fun!).
And there's nothing more conservative and traditional than a "Character Zero" encore. However, this "Zero" was unique. Rather than the simple structure of a quiet opening before guitar fireworks (although there was that), the audience immediately took over vocal duties for the verses. I'd been in loud venues before. I'd heard loud singalongs before. But never so up close to the point where the band stepped back from the mics and let the crowd completely take over.
It was more than a singalong; it was synergy. It was a direct link between the crowd and the band in real time. I'd felt and witnessed a lot of things at Phish, but never something like this before or after.
AUD recording for this episode: "Character Zero"