135,267 fans go Phish-ing at air base August 26, 1996 - Amusement Business By Ray Waddell The Clifford Ball, a concert/sleep-over featuring Phish staged at the decommissioned Plattsburgh (N.Y.) Air Force Base Aug. 16-17, reported gross ticket sales of 53,310,245. Over the two days, 135,267 tickets were sold at $20 and $30, said promoter David Werlin of Great Northeast Productions, Lexington, Mass. The total ticket gross puts the show in second place on AB's BOXSCORE chart of the top-grossing concerts in North America this year. The Who's Quadrophenia, which logged six sellouts and grossed $4,064,720 at New York's Madison Square Garden July 16-22 (AB, Aug. 5), remains at the top of the list. "This was Phish's vision realized," Werlin said. "We were really proud to be associated with this event, and to be the production company that was chosen." Event organizers constructed the equivalent of a small city in anticipation of the crowd. They erected 8,000 running feet of steel fencing to enclose the concert area and constructed a camping area with a town square, in effect, creating the venue from scratch (AB, July 29). "It was the single most successful and exciting event we've ever been a part of," said John Paluska, the band's manager. "It's been hard for us to find a situation where we had such an open canvas on the creative end. Because of the scope, we were able to incorporate a lot of fun stuff into it." Phish played three sets of music each day, but there were many other attractions. Campers who showed up on Thursday watched movies on a screen erected on the campground. Airplanes performed aerial acrobatics and various performers wandered the campground. A fireworks display followed Phish's final set on Aug. 17, and on Aug. 18, a 56-piece orchestra assembled for the event performed. There was even a wedding: A couple from Macon, Ga., was married at a church in Ball Square, the town square constructed for the event. Parking lots opened to campers at noon on Aug. 15, and concertgoers were cleared out by 10 a.m. Aug. 18. The majority of campers showed up between midnight and dawn on Aug. 16, Paluska said. FEW PROBLEMS Despite a camping crowd New York State Police estimated at between 75,000 and 80,000 for the entire weekend, law enforcement officials and the Plattsburgh community reported few problems. "The)ere not a bad group of kids; they looked to me like the same group that went to Woodstock ['94]," said Major William Warburton of the New York State Police. "They're just there to have fun, and we don't want to interfere with their fun." Warburton said one man was found dead in his tent on Aug. 17 of an intestinal hemorrhage due to a suspected drug overdose. Elektra Records publicist Beth Jacobson said the man was found with a bottle of alcohol next to him, but that the cause of death hasn't been confirmed. There were just two arrests of note, Warburton said. One person was arrested on suspicion of driving while impaired by drugs after running over a pedestrian's foot near the camping area and another was arrested for selling counterfeit Phish merchandise. "We tried to stay out of the camping areas as much as possible," Warburton said. "We don't want to get them aggravated toward us; we just respond when we have to." The event caused no traffic problems of note, he said. INVOLVING LOCALS Paluska said the event utilized local Plattsburgh businesses whenever possible. Garry Douglas, executive director of the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce, estimated that the event had an economic impact of $30 million on the community "It was 100% positive in every way I haven't heard a negative remark from anyone in the community," he said. "We were happy to have them, it went well, and we'd be very happy to see the event come back." Paluska said the band might return to the base next year, but will take some time to make a decision. "We won't try to reproduce this event as it was," Paluska said. "I think we're all inspired to use the success of this event as a launching pad for making another large-scale event." Phish will take a break before kicking off a tour of the eastern and midwestern U.S. Oct. 8. article © 1996 BPI Communications