What it'll take for a Phish stream from the Barn
Why we might be waiting all night for an announcement...
There’s one thing the people say they want and that’s for Phish to deliver a live-streamed performance — or better yet, a run — from Trey’s famed recording studio up in the Green Mountains, the Barn.
But what’ll it take? Well, it turns out, quite a bit.
In fact, if you want to save yourselves some time and energy, I’ll tell you right now it’s unlikely this would happen anytime soon. It’s risky, unsafe, and quite frankly asks a whole lot of personal sacrifice from the band.
But hell, you’re curious, I’m curious, go ahead and read on. And if you like this kind of stuff, subscribe.
Besides, after the (ultimately fruitless) anticipation that something was up for last Tuesday’s Dinner and a Movie stream, it’s worth talking through some of the logistics.
Photo via Trey.com
Getting there
The primary challenge of assembling the members of Phish for a concert is the four members of Phish getting to the same place, safely, in the middle of a pandemic.
Trey lives in New York City, where he’s been cooped up inside for months.
While his neighborhood on the Upper West Side hasn’t been as badly hit as, say, the Bronx, he’d be coming from a known hotspot and thus carrying with him a notable degree of risk.
He’d also be required to quarantine himself for 14 days as someone arriving from out-of-state — Vermont rules. That means no visitors, no grocery store, no getting outside and going for a hike, nothing. Just Trey in a room by himself again until 14 days passes by and he has no known symptoms of the virus.
The same would go for Fishman, who lives a state away in Maine.
If it’s a single night stream or just a long weekend, the family man would likely travel alone. But where would he stay if Trey’s at the Barn? Fish typically sleeps at a hotel down the road, according to Trey’s recent interview with Rolling Stone, but that hotel’s not open for outsiders.
The state’s governor won’t allow it until mid-June without the 14-day quarantine requirement first, and where would one do that?
Effective May 22, lodging operators, including short-term rentals, may resume limited lodging operations with specific health and safety requirements, and occupancy/capacity limits, for the purpose of serving Vermont residents and non-residents who can verify they have met the quarantine requirements as outlined by the Vermont Department of Health.
All reservations from out of state guests who cannot first meet the mandatory quarantine requirements must be cancelled through June 15, 2020. The State may require similar reservations to be cancelled beyond June 15th.
The studio’s got a few bedrooms, but imagine the two of them walled off from each other for two weeks in the same building after coming from separate states, using a shared kitchen and bathroom.
Mike and Page both live less than 30 minutes away, in Vermont, so they’d be subject to fewer restrictions. Though for a matter of overall health they, too, would want to wall themselves off for 10-14 days before coming face to face with the other guys.
And that’s just the band.
The Operation
They’d need a few others in the room to support the production — an audio engineer, a video tech, maybe one or two others to man the cameras and oversee the stream. Guitar techs and drum techs might also need to be on the scene, or holding out close by, for tuning and when things go awry.
The band would have to aim to hire locals for those roles to minimize the quarantine requirements and keep the overall headcount under 10 (at which point they’ve have to submit a far more complicated plan to the state).
Everyone hired would have to observe strict social distancing, wear face coverings, be screened for symptoms and complete a mandatory online Vermont Occupational Safety and Health Administration course.
Oh and who’s supplying the food?
Trey told RS their meals are typically catered, and restaurants can reopen if they allow pick-up or take-out, so that would likely be covered. But they can’t all eat at Trey’s Italian grandmother’s dinner table; gotta stay six feet apart.
Dave DiCianni of 11E1even Group, which puts on the stellar Live From Out There streams and is currently plotting out Goose’s virtual tour, told me that while he thinks they could pull it off — “No doubt in my mind. They can pull off just about anything.” — they’d have to get past a few hurdles aside from the travel restrictions.
“Live streaming isn't anything new to the Phish team, so I don't think it would be all that difficult,” DiCianni said in an email to Jam Sandwich.
“They could likely handle everything necessary with a limited crew. They have enough of their team and resources local(ish) to the northeast/VT that they wouldn't need people to fly in unless they really wanted someone there,” he said.
He added, “They might feel a stripped-down crew wouldn't allow them to put together the kind of stream that they would want to give fans… The requirement of a lighter crew might put them a little out of their comfort zone for a full band performance in front of their entire fan base.”
Local Infrastructure
While the Barn isn’t fully off the grid, it is, still, relatively in the sticks. Could the local community handle a pop-up streaming operation? Would they even allow it?
The Barn as seen by spaaaaace/Google Maps
First things first, you’d need a decent internet connection to pull this off, and rural America isn’t known to really provide one.
Luckily for Trey and friends, the Barn is located well within an area provided with decent broadband. A short drive east and they’d be out of luck.
See the below coverage map, courtesy of Geosip. Without getting too weird, just know the studio’s somewhere in the middle of the blue blob.
Most importantly, what about the local healthcare services?
No one in the Phish community wants to see the band try and pull something miraculous like this off only to spark an outbreak in rural Vermont, which so far has done astoundingly well avoiding one.
If someone — the band, the crew — were to develop symptoms and need to be hospitalized, they’d likely take the trip to Burlington to visit UVM Medical Center. Things there are looking up. The hospital avoided the peak and currently has no COVID-19 patients on ventilators.
What hope does that leave
If it sounds like I’m doubtful a livestream from the Barn will happen anytime soon, I think it’s because I am. There are almost incomprehensible levels of risk involved that the band’s likely seeing that as well and thinking, no, it’s too soon.
But as DiCianni said, if they wanted to do it, they absolutely could pull it off.
The only way to do it would be to employ an absolute skeleton crew and a devoted two-week quarantine for half the band. That couldn’t even include practice time, unless they build a few walls out of glass or something. That’s asking a lot, almost a monk-like devotion to a stream/dream.
In the meantime, that’s why we’re getting shows from recent years when video quality is high and audio doesn’t need remixed. For free. So keep enjoying that.
It’s easier for everyone — the band, crew, state — to hold off a few weeks and see how things shake loose in mid-June, when the governor is expected to revisit some things like permitting short-term rentals without the 14-day quarantine period (though don’t hold your breath).
Just sail on, sail on.
Thanks for reading,
[Quick programming note: Catch me on wook+’s The Lot next Tuesday alongside Tom Marshall and Pete Mason! 6pm ET. http://youtube.com/wookplus]
Update: It has been brought to my attention that Maine does not share a border with Vermont. I’ve updated the line about Fishman’s home base.
Great piece. Just one thing I recently found out: if you are coming to Vermont, you can do the 14-day quarantine OR you can do a 1 week quarantine and then get tested after a week. So the whole thing could be cut down to 7 days instead of 14. The few people I know that have recently returned to VT opted to just do 14 days because the test is horrific lol. As for eating meals together, they could just take shifts. But I agree, no reason to rush this. Things will be looser mid-summer.
Thank you for your thoughtful words. I've really been enjoying the level of consideration that is called for in these times. Perhaps a Barn Stream for Winter Holidays 2020 if things keep going well.