Sorry Billy Joel. Your official all-time attendance record at the Times Union Center is about to sleep with the Phishes.

Barring a cataclysmic event, cancellation or a group of Hicksville-based saboteurs choosing to go to extremes to protect the Piano Man's dominance, the record Joel first set in April 2007 and extended in March 2010 is going to be officially toppled during Phish's two-night stand at the Times Union Center on Oct. 16 and 17.

This little nugget of Albany/Times Union Center history came up on the Times Union's radar a few weeks ago, when a reader sent an email that read:

"There's a banner in the rafters at the Times Union Center that proclaims that Billy Joel has the attendance record at the arena, something that reads 'All time attendance record'" wrote the emailer. (Note: Joel has had 11 shows, nine of them sellouts.) "With the upcoming Phish shows on Oct 16 and 17, Phish will have played their 12th and 13th shows there. So Phish and Billy Joel are tied right now, although I don't think they've all been sellouts (close, I'm sure) but these shows should put Phish ahead of Joel.

"So, I'm curious, will the arena give a banner to Phish?," he asked. "Do they keep historic attendance records?"

The emailer, who posted a nearly identical message on the Phish.net message board under the user name ProfPhan to clue in fellow fans and potentially rally support of a banner honoring Phish, was onto something.

Turns out, the Times Union Center does keep historic attendance record, dating back to the venue's days as the Knickbocker Arena. Over the course of 11 appearances at the Knick/Pepsi Arena/Times Union Center, the first on Dec. 9, 1990, and the last a March 11, 2010, co-headlining show with Elton John, Joel has sold 174,818 tickets.

The Times Union Center's archives show 10 shows, beginning with Dec. 12, 1997 and concluding with a Nov. 28, 2009 concert. These add up to an official tally of 160,434. To topple Joel, Phish would have to sell 14,384 tickets between the two impending shows. Considering the fact that the lowest recorded attendance at a Phish concert in Albany is 14,510, that number is easily attainable.

It's pretty remarkable that a band without a top 10 single or zeitgeist–capturing album is poised to officially break a mark set by one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful pop stars of the last 40 years. But it's also a testament to how Phish has thrived, especially in the Northeast, while on the periphery of the mainstream.

"Billy Joel has five Grammys, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and has been inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. What does Phish have? Two Grammy nominations (one for best instrumental performance and one for record packaging) and a really great flavor of Ben & Jerry's ice cream," Kim Neaton of Guthrie Bell Productions said in an email. "They're one of the most successful and interesting (again, you don't have to think the music itself is interesting) touring bands of their level in the past three decades and I don't think that's debatable. There are very few bands that can even fill arenas anymore, and the fact that they do it without any hits or real recognition is truly remarkable. Phish is probably the biggest American band most people can't name or hum one song by.

"They are a unique example of success in today's music industry and I think no matter who you are and what music you love or hate, that should be recognized and respected," she added.

So, will Phish get a banner of its own in the Times Union Center? According to Erin Villeneuve, the venue's director of marketing, "we will have one produced pending the band's approval. So, it is a possibility but we won't know until the band gets in the building."

The intrepid reader may have noticed something here. ProfPhan, our anonymous emailer, referenced 11 Phish shows in his email. The Times Union Center only has numbers on 10. Due to some spotty record keeping, there weren't numbers available for Phish's Knickerbocker Arena debut on Dec. 12, 1995. According to the band's official website, it was a sellout crowd of 16,357.

That changes everything.

Including this show puts Phish's cumulative paid attendance at 176,791. It also means that, technically and unofficially, Phish has been the all-time attendance record holder since November 27, 2009. So while Joel was still a big shot when he bragged about his banner during that aforementioned 2010 show with Elton John, he was no longer THE big shot.

Ain't that, to co-opt the title of the very first song Phish played at the Knick, a "funky bitch."

More Information If you go Phish When: 7 p.m., Oct. 16 and Oct. 17 Where: Times Union Center, 51 S. Pearl St., Albany Info: timesunioncenter-albany.com See More Collapse

Jim Shahen Jr. is a frequent contributor to the Times Union.