Brad Sands

Brad Sands (aka Sandsio) was the road manager for the rock band Phish (cite 1). Brad started his association with Phish in October 1991 by offering to help load and unload their truck that was filled with heavy stage equipment. A short time later in 1991 he became a paid employee with the Phish organization and worked his way up through various jobs as a stage hand, truck driver, merchandise salesman, guitar technician, bass technician, drum technician, and production assistant, eventually becoming the band's road manager in 1997.

Brad was a creative consultant (cite 2) on various Phish projects and has played a key role in the band's live performances. Brad was known as the “Tramp Tech,” responsible for bringing out and removing the trampolines used by Mike Gordon (bass) and Trey Anastasio (guitar) during songs “You Enjoy Myself” and “Mike's Song,” among others. As “Balloon Tech" he formed a three-man ring by holding the hands of Anastasio and Gordon as the audience threw giant beach balls through the 'hoop' formed by the arms the three men. He also performed as the “Famous Mockingbird” suspended from the rafters of Madison Square Garden wearing a ridiculous bird costume during the new year's eve concert of 1992, and was presented with a birthday cake during The Beatles song “Birthday” at Phish's Halloween show of 1994 during which the band performed The Beatles White Album in its entirety (cite 3). On June 6, 1997 Brad hosted a Phish concert at his house in Charlotte, Vermont that he shared with Pete Carini, Phish's drum technician. This private event was attended by 50 to 60 close friends and family, and is now commonly referred to as 'Bradstock' (cite 4). Sands was also featured in the Phish documentary Bittersweet Motel as Anastasio's friend who took photographs of fans as they posed with Anastasio on the French Rivera so that the heads of Anastasio and the fans were cropped from the photographs unbeknownst to the guitarist's eager fans. Mr. Sands has also worked as road manager for The Trey Anastasio Band, Oysterhead, Government Mule, and Stewart Copeland during The Police's world tour from 2007 to present.

Brad grew up in Reading, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Wilson High School in 1987. After attending one semester at Penn State on a swim scholarship, he received an Associate’s Degree from a technical school in Allentown, PA and went on to work fixing mainframe computers and cash registers until the fall of 1991.

Brad currently resides in Manhattan and continues to be one of Phish's biggest fans. Mr. Sands plans to marry his girlfriend of 4 years, Mariel Speier, in September 2008.

(1)
http://www.phish.net/faq/support.html
(2)
http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2006_01_15.02.phtml
(3)
http://www.phish.net/setlists/1994.html#10-31-94
(4)
http://www.phish.net/hpb/1997.html

(5) The Phish Book, Gehr, Richard & Phish, Random House, Inc., New York, 1998

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