👋 Hey folks — welcome back to Fans With Benefits, where the best stories in music aren’t always onstage — they’re in the crowd, on the road, and deep in the roots of why we gather in the first place. This week, we’re celebrating the power of music to build something bigger than a fanbase. From the joyful chaos of The Humans of Phish — a living scrapbook of one of the most devoted (and delightfully weird) communities on the planet — to the four-decade legacy of Farm Aid, which proves that a guitar in the right hands can still change lives and laws.

Add to that a wave of must-see tours: Mumford & Sons hopping train cars across America, The Who saying goodbye one windmill strum at a time, and Dead & Company returning to their spiritual home in Golden Gate Park for a 60th anniversary celebration that’s more pilgrimage than concert. Oh, and did we mention Backstreet’s back (again)? Whether you’re in it for the protest songs or the power chords, this week’s lineup is stacked.

Here’s what’s buzzing:

• The Phish Community

• 40 Years of Farm Aid Marks 

• 10+ Events

  • Mumford & Sons

  • Turnpike Troubadours

  • Backstreet Boys

  • The Who

  • Dead & Company

So stretch those scrolling thumbs, warm up your group chat, and let’s plug into what’s moving music forward. 🎧

🤘 Fan Focus

The Humans of Phish: Capturing the Heartbeat of the Phish Community

They’ve followed the band through blizzards, wildfires, parking lot PhDs, and transcendent “Tweezers.” But The Humans of Phish isn’t just about setlists and shenanigans—it’s about the people who turn a jam band into a full-blown universe.

Launched in 2018 by Salt Lake City-based promoter Kylie Fitch, the project has evolved from a side hustle into a roving portrait archive of one of music’s most loyal (and delightfully peculiar) fan communities. Inspired by Humans of New York, Fitch trades Manhattan backdrops for campgrounds, concourses, and the colorful chaos of Shakedown Street. 📸

Each post captures oddball sincerity through candid quotes and intimate photos—fans in hot dog costumes sharing life lessons, parents and kids bonding over a perfectly placed “YEM.” Fitch calls it a digital campfire, a place where individuality is celebrated and joy is the default setting. 🔥

With nearly 10,000 followers and a growing call for collaborators, The Humans of Phish is still rolling strong. So if you’re on tour this summer and see someone with a camera and a kind smile—pause, smile back, and tell your story. You might just be the next human of Phish. 🕶️

🫡 Artists Doing Good

Farm Aid Marks 40 Years of Music and Advocacy

Farm Aid was born in 1985 with a mission and a mic: rally behind American family farmers, one unforgettable lineup at a time. Now, 40 years later, it’s still turning guitars into action. On September 20, Farm Aid 40 will take over Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis for its biggest celebration yet—featuring Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, Margo Price, and a stacked lineup that includes Billy Strings, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Waxahatchee, and Trampled by Turtles. 🎸

For co-founder Willie Nelson, the message hasn’t changed: “Family farmers aren’t backing down, and neither are we.” At a time when corporate agriculture, climate threats, and policy failures are squeezing the future of independent farming, Farm Aid remains a musical protest—and a promise.

This will be the first-ever Farm Aid in Minneapolis and a kickoff to a full year of advocacy and celebration. It’s not just a show—it’s a rallying cry for a food system built on equity, sustainability, and community. “Our work isn’t done,” says Farm Aid co-executive director Jennifer Fahy. “There are significant threats to the future of family farm agriculture and our food system.”

Tickets go on sale May 16. Come for the music, stay for the mission—and the reminder that rock and roots can still feed the soul and the soil. Check out the limited presale here! 🌍❤️

📢 Sound Off

🗳️ Cast your vote, and yes—we know you’ve got opinions. Let’s hear ’em.

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🎶 Event Radar

Mumford & Sons – Railroad Revival Tour

Mumford & Sons are dusting off the tracks for a stateside return of their iconic Railroad Revival Tour. This limited-run U.S. series swaps arenas for Americana, rolling through four cities with a rotating cast of roots royalty — including Nathaniel Rateliff, Trombone Shorty, Lucius, and more. Starting August 3 in New Orleans and wrapping August 7 in Vermont, it’s part concert, part traveling folk revival, and all heart. Vintage train cars, open-air stages, and foot-stomping anthems — this one’s built for the storybook setlist.

Get tickets here

Turnpike Troubadours – Wild America Tour 2025

Oklahoma’s finest are hitting the blacktop for their Wild America Tour, starting March 8 in Nashville, TN, and wrapping up on December 13 in Fort Worth, TX. Expect dusty boots, electric fiddle solos, and no shortage of red-dirt revival. This isn’t just a tour, it’s a Southern-fried soundtrack to your next great escape.

Get tickets here

Backstreet Boys – Into the Millennium Sphere Residency (Final Shows Added)

After a dazzling run in Las Vegas, BSB just dropped three final dates for their Sphere takeover, extending the residency through August 2025. Part pop spectacle, part immersive time machine, this is your last chance to sing along under the neon glow of the new millennium.

Get tickets here

The Who – The Song Is Over North American Farewell Tour

The rock revolutionaries are calling curtain on the road with their final North American tour, The Song Is Over, kicking off August 16 in Sunrise, FL, and concluding September 28 in Las Vegas, NV. With windmills, walls of sound, and a legacy etched in power chords, The Who’s final tour is a thunderous goodbye to one of rock’s loudest voices.

Get tickets here

Dead & Company – 60th Anniversary Shows (Golden Gate Park)

To celebrate 60 years of Dead history, the band is returning to where it all began with three shows in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park from August 1–3, 2025. It’s not just a concert — it’s a pilgrimage, a vibe, and a celebration of the jam that never dies.

Get tickets here

• Lollapalooza 2025 – The genre-hopping festival returns to Grant Park with a loaded lineup, including headliners from pop, rap, rock, and everything in between. Prepare for a four-day sprint of sound and spectacle. Get tickets here

• Hozier – Unreal Unearth Tour 2025 – The Irish singer-songwriter brings his cinematic, soul-stirring album on tour with support from rising alt-pop artist Gigi Perez. Heavenly vocals, grounded emotion. Get tickets here

• Billy Strings – Albany Show Added – The flat-picking phenom expands his fall tour with a just-announced Albany date. Expect transcendental jams and technical fireworks. Get tickets here

• Nothing More – 2025 Tour – The alt-metal outfit hits the road with their signature fusion of anthemic choruses and explosive stage presence. Loud, raw, and unapologetic. Get tickets here

• X Ambassadors – VHS Tour – A retrospective tour celebrating their breakout album VHS. Packed with emotion and alt-pop power, it’s a full-circle moment for longtime fans. Get tickets here

🎤 Mic Drop

In May 2025, Bad Bunny achieved a historic milestone by selling over 600,000 tickets in Spain for 12 shows on his upcoming "Debí Tirar Más Fotos" world tour. This feat set a new record for the fastest and largest ticket sale by a Latin artist in the country. Read more here.

That’s a wrap for this week! Until next time, catch you in the pit—or next week’s email. 🎵🔥 

Signing off,

The Fandiem Team