“IT: A Phish Concert Special” in Early August on PBS

PBS will bring Phish — one of the most successful and innovative rock bands of the last twenty years — into homes across the country, presenting their first ever feature-length television event: “IT: A Phish Concert Special.” The special premieres only on PBS, Monday, August 2, 2004.

Shot in breathtaking high-definition, the 90-minute special follows the band, along with 60,000 loyal Phish fans from all over the world who trekked to “IT,” a two-day festival in remote Limestone, Maine that marked the end of their summer 2003 tour. Featuring the group hailed by Rolling Stone Magazine as “America’s greatest jam band,” the program boasts exclusive interviews interwoven with live footage of Phish playing at their absolute best.

IT was the latest incarnation in a bold series of self-produced city-size festivals with the band’s music as the centerpiece, taking place within a carnival/festival atmosphere with rides, parades and interactive media stations across the grounds of Limestone’s Loring Air Force Base. As with all Phish festivals, the weekend-long concert included three sets of Phish each day, as well as numerous attractions and art installations created by talented teams of artists and performers.

Phish recently announced that the group will break up at the conclusion of their summer tour in August 2004. Coinciding with the conclusion of the tour and the break up, the special offers an exhilarating look into what made this band a cultural phenomenon for the past 21 years.

The program is produced by an award-winning production team, including producer/director Mary Wharton, Grammy award-winner in the category of Best Long Music Video for “Legend: Sam Cooke”; editor Thom Zimny, Emmy award-winner in the category of Best Editor for his work on Bruce Springsteen’s recent DVD release, “Live in New York City”; and editor Alex Hall, Emmy award-winner in the categories of Producer and Editor and Best News Special for “Witnesses and Wiseguys.” Also part of the production team is sound engineer and five-time Grammy award-winner Elliot Scheiner, a pioneer in 5.1 technology who is renowned for having produced, engineered, and mixed a wide range of talented artists including Steely Dan, Van Morrison, The Eagles, Sting, Aerosmith and many more. The program is a co-production of Sugar Camps Films and WGBH Educational Foundation.