Phish will play two shows next month to raise money for flood recovery efforts in Vermont and upstate New York, the band announced on Tuesday.
The Vermont-bred jamband will play Aug. 25 and 26 at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga, New York. Net proceeds from the show and merchandise will go to the WaterWheel Foundation, which handles Phish’s charitable endeavors.
The fundraiser “will support the many victims and their families, area businesses and non-profits” in Vermont and upstate New York, according to an announcement issued by the band Tuesday. “The Recovery Fund will support both shorter term needs and long-term recovery and resiliency projects,” the announcement reads.
Tickets start at $49.50, with special package tickets that include a separate pre-show performance by guitarist Trey Anastasio and keyboardist Page McConnell available for up to $750.
After Tropical Storm Irene, Phish played a benefit show at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction in front of a crowd of 12,000, raising $1.2 million for people affected by that disaster.
The band was founded in Burlington in 1983 when several of its members were undergraduates at the University of Vermont. Next month’s benefit shows are scheduled to take place after Phish wraps its summer tour with a seven-night run at Madison Square Garden and before it heads west for its regular Labor Day Weekend shows in Colorado.
Since this month’s flooding across the state, several bands have held musical fundraisers to support recovery efforts.
National Life Group’s livestreamed Do Good Fest, headlined by the Plain White T’s, raised more than $400,000 for the Vermont Community Foundation, WCAX reported.
Strafford singer-songwriter Noah Kahan announced Monday that he would livestream his July 26 show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado to raise money for Vermont’s flood response and recovery fund.
