Tuesday 07/26/2011 by Lemuria

CHART: DEAD V PHISH, ANNUAL SHOWS (REVISED!)

Annual counts of Grateful Dead and Phish shows form a similar shape in some regards: early rapid rises, a sharp cut after 8 years or so, and relative continuity for the later 15 or so years. The Dead's curve does have twice as many sudden drops, indicating years with shorter or fewer tours. But their "hiatus" didn't even last an entire year (1975, which also included several shows), while Phish have had more years with no shows, and latter years with half what surviving Dead members peformed. Moreover, excluding their festivals, Phish tours typically hit arenas and sheds, avoiding the stadiums that became a key element of Dead tour.

(Note: An earlier post included incomplete Dead data.)


Comments

, comment by sharininthegroove09
sharininthegroove09 Awesome. Thanks.
, comment by EVaNBeLOW
EVaNBeLOW And the point is?
, comment by spencer
spencer conculsions?
, comment by spencer
spencer HA
I mean conclusions

i think conculsions happen when you bump your head on L
, comment by Somantin
Somantin @spencer said:
HA
I mean conclusions

i think conculsions happen when you bump your head on L
GD were better at touring?
, comment by ScottyB
ScottyB Considering how comparatively weak 1993 (28 years after forming) was to the rest of the Grateful Dead's career, makes me appreciate 2011 (28 years after forming) for Phish even more. Phish is still giving us "take away" moments at nearly every show and that certainly wasn't the case for '93 GD.
, comment by MrMinersBrother
MrMinersBrother If it wasn't for the 04 break up and trey going to rehab I think Phish today would be much more comparable to GD of '93
, comment by ocelotvswilson
ocelotvswilson WOW! Awesome. I had no idea how parrellel it was. Always been a die hard Dead Head, but little did I know that the '90 Jade Elephant gig in Richmond, VA when I was a "wee lad" would turn into something that would fill that huge empty void in my soul when Jerry died. Thanks Phish. Keep it up guys. The way the past two years have been, I'm expecting many great things to come, albeit I know next year may be a smaller tour, but hey, if the world doesn't explode in Dec '12 (I don't care!), then hopefully the 2013 will bring some surprise! hint. hint. nudge. nudge. :-)
, comment by MJZ1974
MJZ1974 I see the similarities for sure (especially the early years for both which just makes sense).

But I'd hardly consider Phish's line graph from 1996-2001 as "relative continuity for the latter 15 years or so".
, comment by MJZ1974
MJZ1974 ^^^

*1996-2011
, comment by Mattisupa
Mattisupa Actually, they aren't similar at all. The Dead peaked within their first 4 years and crashed,burned and bounced back. Phish took 9 years to get to the same point with a steady decline before collapsing into itself. Once the phish numbers started to decline they never looked back and look like they will continue to decline to below 50% of what the Dead averaged in their sunseet period.

Of course, quantity does not equal quality but they have to be related somehow, no?

, comment by Swept_Away
Swept_Away Cool graphage brah! See you at the Gorge!
, comment by Lemuria
Lemuria In the earlier incarnation of this post, @Somantin wrote:
apples and oranges, brah
Weak and inapplicable idiom, brah. I wasn't comparing qualities of the fruits (though some prefer citrus, and others like an edible peel). I was comparing the trees' productivity, which is sound. (In my yard, the orange tree's having its second harvest of the year while the apples won't be red until September.)

If you're a foe to comparison, you've come to the wrong place AND read the wrong writer. :)
, comment by Lemuria
Lemuria @MJZ1974 said:
...I'd hardly consider Phish's line graph from 1996-2001 as "relative continuity for the latter 15 years or so".
Well... on-off-on-off-on... That's a kind of consistency, no? ;)
, comment by Icculus
Icculus This graph is compelling evidence demonstrating that Phish mourned Jerry's death by touring less, particularly after teasing "Fire on the Mountain" at Madison Square Garden on 12/31/95 out of "Drowned" just before "Lizards," as a tribute to Jerry.
, comment by benevolution
benevolution @MrMinersBrother said:
If it wasn't for the 04 break up and trey going to rehab I think Phish today would be much more comparable to GD of '93
there quite possibly wouldn't even be a Phish today.
, comment by Dressed_In_Gray
Dressed_In_Gray @MrMinersBrother said:
If it wasn't for the 04 break up and trey going to rehab I think Phish today would be much more comparable to GD of '93
It's amazing what less heroin and fewer double cheeseburgers with milkshakes will do for ya.
, comment by easywind111
easywind111 Heroin, double cheeseburgers, and milkshakes? That sounds awesome!
, comment by MomaDan
MomaDan @Icculus said:
This graph is compelling evidence demonstrating that Phish mourned Jerry's death by touring less, particularly after teasing "Fire on the Mountain" at Madison Square Garden on 12/31/95 out of "Drowned" just before "Lizards," as a tribute to Jerry.
I honestly haven't listened to it in a couple months but does everyone really believe it's FOTM. The pattern goes from B to A but doesn't sound like FOTM at all to me.
, comment by WickerAndCork
WickerAndCork How many keyboard players were in the Dead over the years?
, comment by TennesseeJed
TennesseeJed @Icculus said:
Phish mourned Jerry's death by touring less
Did Phish make any public statements to that effect? It seems like a bit of a leap to jump from that chart to that assertion. The chart shape looks more like Phish followed the same tragic trajectory that the Grateful Dead did. Hopefully, Phish have conquered their demons.
, comment by iandisoftheworld
iandisoftheworld thanks for this graphic. Being born in 1985 means I was unfortnuately unable to attend any Grateful Dead shows. My loyalty and fandom will always align itself more so with the Grateful Dead than with Phish, eventhough I've seen 21 Phish shows and 0 Dead shows. I guess I am just filling my personal GD concert experience void by vicariously living through Phish 3.0

See you dudes at the gorge!!
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