Rocky Mountain High: The Labor Day Run

   I love that the Denver area is like a home town show at 5,280 feet surrounded by the Rocky Mountains. There are that many of our friends out there, transplanted from a dispensary-less Massachusetts to a fantasy land where the right people can actually order off of menus at their choice of myriad places. So Colorado had plenty in store for us from music, to old friends, to new friends, to new adventures - what a blast. Phish rolled through Commerce City, CO this past Labor Day Weekend to end "Summer Tour 2011" for one more 3-day run two weeks after they burned Chicago to the ground, although I still say Summer Tour 2011 ended in Chicago. Calling these shows part of "Fall Tour" is a stretch, too, but that two-week break between Chicago and Denver was enough to consider them different, in my opinion anyway. I still can't figure out why Phish didn't play any shows during those two weeks, and no one's been able to give me a good reason. I suppose Phish doesn't need one.

   The shows were held at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in the oil rig known as Commerce City about 15 minutes outside of Denver. Despite the hideous appearance of the surrounding city, the venue, a fairly new MLS soccer stadium, was awesome - clean, convenient, great seating, great sound (for the most part),  and relatively close lots for quick, easy walking. It was a pretty cool place and although Phish was only the second band to play inside the venue, I see many more shows happening in this place. And of course GA is always fun because you don't have to worry from 7:40 to 8:05 that some dork and his wife are going to come up to you 7 minutes before the show after you've been squatting in the seats for a half hour and say "Sorry bro, these are our seats". Then they just stand there or sit and keep awkwardly looking back at you as if something from your body or clothes is going to come of you and land on them giving them some horrible wook disease - only to leave the show early anyway. Am I talking about someone specifically? Maybe it's you. Probably not, but you know exactly who I'm talking about. So yeah, GA is cool. We had 3-day field passes, but bounced around for three days between the floor and 119. The sound was great almost anywhere you went, and aside from a few places (specifically dead center stands towards the field and the rails around the soundboard) there was plenty of dancing room. So all in all the venue experience was a great one and I hope Phish continues to play there. As far as the music is concerned, wow. I'm not about to hop on the ship that has declared the Labor Day Weekend run as the best shows of the year, but I will say with certainty that they were three of the best. Shit, Sparks and Guy Forget would have been enough to make my trip worth it (both debuts for me - well, almost all of you). From mind-bending jams, to fun covers, to bust-outs Phish rocked the house all the way up until the lone encore of Night Three when they took a collective shit on stage with the flattest BDTNL in history...but let's have the good news first, which is 99.9% of it.

Night One: Friday, September Second: SSSSSSStounding

Set I: Sample, Sparkle, The Sloth, Sweet Virginia, Suskind Hotel, Strange Design, Stash, Sneakin' Sally > Sparks > Scent of a Mule, STFTFP, Shine a Light, Split Open and Melt, Squirming Coil

   Sample opened the weekend and although I'm not the biggest fan it's a rockin' tune and gets the crowd going right off the bat. The first Sparkle in 41 shows (Amherst 2010) followed before my favorite mythical hit man got his shout out with the always sick Sloth. Next was the 'Stones cover Sweet Virginia, which I thought was a Dead cover for about 90 seconds until I recalled hearing it through my flu-clogged ears as I lay half dead in Indio - either way it was sick. Next was Suskind Hotel for only the second time ever (Super Ball), definitely one of my favorite new tunes (written by Mike and Trey but performed mostly by Mike during his runs), and a great version at that. Wait, another "S" song? This was five in a row, but I was still denying any significance as my friends started whispering about the importance. The beautiful Strange Design followed...OK, maybe there was something to this. Stash...yup, we had an "S" set. A raging Stash set the stage for 20 minutes of INSANITY: Sneakin' Salley > Sparks > Scent. Are you fucking kidding me? Salley was bomb and went > the first Sparks in 463 shows (11/29/96 Daly City, CA) > Scent. Unbelievable!  Silly. Stupid (the good one). Shocking. SHIT! STFTFP followed this sick segue. Another great 'Stones tune Shine A Light followed, then a decent Split, then the classic Squirming Coil. Set One was in the books and already had people talking a blue streak...the boys were in town and had laid it down immediately.

Set II: Sand > Simple > Steam > Soul Shakedown Party > Seven Below > Suzy Greenberg > Scents and Subtle Sounds > Slave > Silent in the Morning > Sanity, Sweet Adeline

E: Sabotage

   Set Two continued two trends, old and new. First, the Second Set was again almost an entire segue, which seemed to be a theme all summer, and secondly, the "S' mayhem continued as the Phish opened the Second Set with launching pad Sand. The Sand was amazing and went > only the third Simple since last fall tour > easily the best new SOUL SHREDDER Phish has in Steam > Soul Shakedown Party, which did the work Makisupa hasn't been able to do in years > a personal favorite in Seven Below > the custy anthem Suzy Greenberg > a sick S&SS > the old phan phavorite Slave > a Horse-less Silent In The Morning > in-Sanity. Are you fucking kidding me? What an unbelievable set! Take Suzy out of that set and we have one for the ages. What's my problem with Suzy you keep asking? Well I'm half-kidding about taking it out of the set, but I do hate the song save Page's 2-minute funk solo. And here's why in a nutshell (Disclaimer: Phans have every right to love, hate, dance to, get excited, etc. about ANYTHING as long as they don't bother others, but...): This dude weasels his way through the crowd finding the smallest amount of room to squat out in. He's bumping into my wife because this loner is insisting upon squirreling up as close as he could before the Second Set. This short skinny dork proceeds to literally STAND STILL with his arms at his side FOR THE ENTIRE SECOND SET...THROUGH SAND...THROUGH STEAM...THROUGH SOUL SHAKEDOWN...THROUGH SEVEN BELOW...YES, THROUGH EVERY ONE OF THOSE FUCKING UNBELIEVABLE RAGING GALAXY TOUR DANCE PARTY SONGS...

...THEN THE FUCK STARTS JUMPING UP AND DOWN LIKE A FUCKING CRICKET DURING SUZY FUCKING GREENBERG!!!!!!! THEN S&SS BLASTS OUT OF THE AMPS AND THIS KID GOES BACK TO STANDING STILL FOR THE REST OF THE SHOW!!! WHAT?!?! OK, he could have been tripping, but come on. That's why I hate Suzy Greenberg. Show me someone who loves - truly loves - Suzy Greenberg and I'll show you a...ahhh, that would be too negative. No, I want to. I'll show you a 21-year-old shit-faced college chick signing her favorite - and one of only four - Phish songs she knows at the top of her lungs. There. The song sucks and so do you if you live for it, I'll leave it at that. That was this dude. It was so hilarious that my wife and I started laughing about the fact that his friends must have had a bet with him that he couldn't move to any sick songs, that he was forced to dance only to shitty songs. If only they had played TTE that might have been confirmed. And I've seen people like him - male and female - at every show I've been to since Phish came back. You sit during Walls Of The Cave, Seven Below, and Scents And Subtle Sounds, but you rage to Character Zero, Chalkdust Torture, and Suzy Greenberg. You look confused during Golden Age, but you're crying during Loving Cup. OK. It's just amazing we're both here in the same place. Anyway, the boys grouped up for A Capella Sweet Adeline for the first time in 285 shows (8/1/99 Japan) and the first time in 404 shows in the USA (also played 7/1/98 in Denmark; last time played in the USA was  8/13/97 in Burgettstown). It was one of the best A Capella experiences in a long time, maybe since that last Birdwatcher. The encore was Sabotage for the only the fourth time in Phishtory and the first since 11/21/98 during the famous Hampton run (318 shows). Crazinessssss. And so ended an ssssstounding start to what was going to be a sick weekend. The letter "S" came and shit sweet music into our ears leaving us all wondering what letter was coming next...

Night Two: Saturday, September 3rd: Golden Age of Dick's

   After a few days in Denver with good friends from the Happy Valley days we headed to Boulder for more of the same. We even got  chance to have dinner with relatives...we're everywhere. Boulder was the shit and made me want to move there with it's beautiful scenery, great weather, laid back attitude,  awesome food, "shops" I'd actually be interested in, and it's only at 5,200 ft. Trust me, when you're an East Coaster that makes a difference. I suppose you acclimate, but when I lived at 5,500 ft. in Socorro, NM I was fine; as soon as I visited my boys in Summit County (~9-10K) I was breathing heavy playing disc golf. So yeah, it's tempting. Without a party bus for Night Two we ripped the 30 minute drive in the rental and got to lot a little earlier than the night before. Shakedown was small, but hopping. Security and the police were as cool as they could be. I saw a few instances where kids were doing stupid shit and a cop would just go over, put their hand on the kids shoulder, say something, and walk away. There's that laid-back attitude (that's really only displayed by locals). After a less-than-enjoyable dance scene on the soundboard rail Night One, we retreated to Section 119 for Night Two. That got a little crowded, too, but that was our crew's fault anyway. 60+ fucking people will do that.
    
Set I: Possum (9:55), Moma Dance (7:48) > Wedge (7:58), Ocelot (9:21) > Divided Sky (15:38), Funky Bitch (7:11), Axilla (3:28) > Llama (5:18), Fast Enough for You (7:12), Wolfman's (12:07)

   Night Two opened with Possum, probably the most played song of 2011 along with Antelope, BDTNL, Crosseyed & Painless, and Golden Age. Next was Moma Dance which went > The Wedge. Ocelot, a song that is dropping down my "Like" song list as fast as Peyton Manning is dropping down the Fantasy Quaterback list followed. The jam is predictable and really goes nowhere. In other words, the song is getting boring. Ocelot did go > Divided Sky, which is always great. Not a single drop of sweat during this freeze during the Silent Jam...a lot different than Chicago. One of the better Funky Bitch's in a while followed, and then Axilla, which went > a relatively short Llama that contained Streets of Cairo teases. A long, SICK FEFY followed before another insane funk bomb in Wolfman's ended the set. Wolfman's has been KILLING it lately and it was a perfect way to round out Set One.

Set II: DWD (11:50) > Tweezer (14:28) > Golden Age (7:26) > LxL (7:35), KDF (11:02) > 2001 (6:18) > Light (8:31) > Julius (7:24) > Cavern (4:21) > Antelope (10:52)

E: Sleeping Monkey (4:43) > TweepriZe (3:57)

   These Second Sets seem to be of the same theme here in 2011. It seems almost every single Second Set this summer opened with either DWD, Crosseyed,  Sand, or R 'n' R. Trust me, I'm not complaining. That's my kind of Phish. I love ALL of it, but those tunes along with the Lights, the 2001s, the Golden Ages, the Tweezers...these are my Type-Trigger jams. It also seems that nearly every Second Set is either a segue, or could be if you blinked. I love it. So in 2011 fashion, Second Set opened with DWD and went > a LONG SICK Tweezer that had Green-Eyed Lady and Golden Age teases > 2011 New Jam Of The Year (cover or original score) Golden Age > LxL. After a tiny break we got a ROCKIN' and LONG KDF which went > 2001 and > Light, which contained full DWD end solo teases from Trey > Julius > a DEEP MURKY Cavern > into a totally unnecessary Antelope. Phish has forced me to hate Antelope. Many times this summer Phish has ended a bomb set with 2-4 set-ending songs, and usually they seem forced and unnecessary. Night Three Chicago is a perfect example. Look at that set list...the last three songs are totally unnecessary and forced, like they felt compelled to play them for the "faithful", which are probably so sick of some of these songs they could scream (Golgi, Antelope, Julius, Character Zero...ugh). And they always seem to end these unbelievable sets. WHY?!?! Just end the fucking set with Cavern, PLEASE! It's not even like the Antelopes have been sick...they've fucking sucked! Listen for yourself. But there's no denying how sick the Second Set was, or the show in general. Everyone was loving Dick's. The end of tour was nearing, a bittersweet time. One more night. It should be a huge Dick's night, right?

Night Three: Sunday, September 4th: No Guy Could Forget...Or Girl

Set I: Maze (10:15), Back on the Train (8:34) > Rift (5:55) > Gin (15:19), The Way It Goes (5:33), Halfway to the Moon (7:31), Gumbo (5:03), Halley's Comet (6:09) > Tube (4:37) > Timber (Jerry) (5:18) > Roses Are Free (5:05) > Chalkdust Torture (9:10)

   Night Three sure got off to the right start with the first Maze opener in  536 shows (12/9/95 Albany)! After a long sick Maze we were treated to over 30 minutes of mayhem with a SWAMPY BOTT with Sneaking Salley teases > Rift > an UNREAL Gin. Apparently the boys got their shit together after several tries during sound-check because they were able to debut Gillian Welch's The Way It Goes, which contained Streets of Cairo teases from Page, who led the grooving during the next tune, his Halfway To The Moon, a tune that NEEDS to be in rotation! The set just continued to rage...Gumbo...so fucking sick. Then we got 20 minutes of straight dance party in four different forms: Halley's (bouncing up and down) > Tube (funk pops and locks and Charlie Chan teases) > Timber (swaying back and forth) > Roses (throwing pumpkins at trees) > Chalkdust (kill me - I'm a teaching assistant at a college...think I want to be reminded that I had a flight in 9 hours to go back to work...can't I live while I'm young?!). It was pretty clear we were in for something ridiculous for Set Two...

Set II: R 'n' R (10:18) > Come Together (3:04) > Twist (7:41) > Piper (12:04) > Hood (12:47) > Roggae (7:59) > Ghost (7:14) > Guy Forget (2:23) > Ghost (0:51), Walls of the Cave (12:37)
 
E: BDTNL  (8:23)

   R 'n' R...shocking. But we love it. This Rock 'n' Roll did not contain it's famous "Venue Jam", but did go > the first Come Together in 537 shows (12/8/95 Cleveland)! Anyone else find that coincidental? Set One had a Maze opener, the first one in 536 shows since 12/9/95...then Come Together in the Second Set is the first in 537 shows since 12/8/95...weird coincidence. Anyway, Come Together was incomplete and went > a sick Twist, which contained Low Rider teases and a LR jam > a LONG SICK SPACEY Piper with Roadrunner teases and Page on the MIGHTY theremin > a classic Hood > a sloppy but still sick Roggae > a Ghost that made up for Chicago's egg with Oye Como Va teases before they morphed > the allusive and highly sought-after Guy Forget back > a short Ghost clean-up, which contained more Guy Forget nonsense towards the end. Holy shit. Guy Forget...we chase...we eventually catch. I only have a few more left. After a tiny breather the boys launched into Walls Of The Cave, a song that needs to be in the rotation from now on. We've seen this tune a few times now since Manchester and it's EPIC. The second half of WoTC will rip your chest open and fling your heart on stage. Whether the boys stomp on it or not is up to them.
   Now comes the 0.1% we talked about at the beginning: After 33 shows over eight weeks from New York to Alpharetta back to New York to The Gorge to LA to Chicago to Commerce City, CO in a tour that certainly had it's dull spots but was overshadowed by unbelievable musical moments show after show and the best festival in recent memory as far as music is concerned we expected a most appropriately SICK encore. Would it be a crazy bust-out? Would they push the curfew envelope? Would they bring out the Keytar? It was only 11:28...they had over 30 minutes based on Night One and Two. This was going to be crazy. I was thinking maybe First Tube > Frankenstein. That would fill the spot and send everyone off begging for a NYE run. No dice. BDTNL...and that was it. It wasn't even a great one to boot..to boot. And I usually LOVE BDTNL. It was longer than I thought, but the encore ended at 11:36...at least 25 minutes earlier then the previous nights. Not only that, but Trey barely said anything, barely thanked us phans for providing the millions of dollars that make it all happen, nothing. Nothing. A flat 8-minute BDTNL and a mental "see you all on MY tour in a few weeks" from Trey. You won't see me there Ginger Jedi. I'll see you in NYC during Phish's NYE run. OK, maybe TAB in New Jersey...maybe. But that would be it.
   But I can't end on that sour note because that tiny flat moment was dwarfed by a three-day run that compared to almost any of the runs of 2011. Bust-outs, insane segues, funky grooves,  Cacto popping off, Page on the theremin...what else can one ask for? So as we round out Summer Tour 2011 & Labor Day Run 2011 we're left with a great feeling. Phish seems as strong as ever, they seem passionate about the music, Page is having a baby and raising a theremin, and we expect the boys to be back in 2012, although they'll scale things down a bit according to Trey. So let's support VT's flood recovery efforts with some BenePhish next week, then let's prepare for a skull-popping run in NYC this NYE, then let's wait for what 2012 has in store...the End Of The World Tour. Let's go out with a bang together. So ends another tour, my first blogging tour. I hope you enjoyed the blogs and the insight, and I hope you keep coming back for more Phish, sports, and other stuff...but mostly Phish. Thanks for reading and thanks for being part of the experience. Phish makes the music...we make the scene. Holla'.

- Trigger Treinta Uno

Trigger31.com

Thanks to Phish.net & LivePhish for the set list help. Thanks to Marky Mark for the bed and care package Thursday (glad you made it to the Second Set Saturday!); thanks to Max-Has-Millions and Campaign Corey for hooking the hospitality and party buses throughout; to all your crew - great kids, especially the roommates and Ollie; thanks to Butterfield Tim for all the Boulder hospitality - call us when you're in MA; to the Homboldt/Denver crew we met through Portland Dave and Makin' It Renee: Bradley, McKenzie, Josh & Wendi - you guys are the shit, we need to hook up more at shows; and finally I need to thank the rest of my crew - SeriousLeigh, Miguel Cocineros, Henry The Third, The Duchess Of West Warren, Matty Fractal, You Know My Esteez, Colonel Phortin, Who Has My Zanoff, 83 Blue 83 Blue Hutnik, He Knows Your Body, The Charlton Crevier's, The Greater Cape Cod Crew and anyone else I foolishly forgot - tour would not be the same without you guys. One last quick shout-out to all our shakedown and vendor kids - you know who you are - thanks for making the scene, you guys bring the scene together and keep us full and beaming. We love it and we'll miss you until next time. Last but not least, much thanks to Phish, four guys who had more influence on my life than anyone besides my wife and parents. Thanks for another unbelievable tour. I honestly don't know what I'd do without you guys (because I forget what 2001-2002 & 2004-2009 was like, but I know I was bored). Peace out until next time pholks!

Chicago On Fire: UIC Review, Night Three

   The last night of Summer Tour 2011 - still refusing to consider the LDW shows part of ST11 - closed the Chicago chapter of the Second Leg and it was the perfect ending to the best three-show run since Charlotte-Raleigh-Portsmouth, which may have been the best three-show run of ST11...possibly even 3.0. NYE MSG '11, Southern Run '11, and Chicago Run '11 are the obvious candidates. Someone told me it was Freshman "move-in" day at UIC...can you imagine? Only two things come out of that situation: Either the student thinks "fuck, this is my college!" or "holy shit, this is my college!", "fuck" being the negative adjective, "holy shit" being the positive adjective. Regardless, they will both end up being wrong, but it's still hilarious to think about it. And if you're a pothead freshman, it might have been the greatest freshman move-in day in college history.

   The most humid of all the days, Wednesday didn't seem like it was going to be any cooler...and it definitely wasn't, although we finally found an AC vent and posted up. Tickets were hard to come by, although we all ended up inside, which made for some hilarious entertainment watching 300 lb. security guards tackle - and in some cases beat down - 125 lb. hippies. The same went for the floor...still can't figure out why so many people cram the rail during indoor shows. In a place like UIC there's about a 10% max on shitty seats, i.e., there aren't many bad seats in the house as far as sound is concerned (although we managed to find the worst sounding- but most roomy and vented). To sum up the show before I even review it I'd say it had ridiculous potential, but then, like so many other times during similar type shows, it took a serious nose dive towards the confused/crammed/custied/choppy/request party/weirdness that has plagued these Second Set Galaxy Tours. You'll see what I mean, but either way it was a rockin' ending to one of the better three-show runs of the year.

Set I: Colonel Forbin's (6:10) > Famous Mockingbird (6:49), Gumbo (4:42) > Possum (9:29), Weigh (5:06) > Divided Sky (17:05), Alaska (8:33), Bathtub Gin (12:27), Maze (10:01), Cavern (4:31) > First Tube (8:31)

   Colonel Forbin's > Mockingbird, only the fifth of 3.0, opened a show for the first time since 11/3/89 at the Tree Cafe in Portland, ME. I say Forbin's > Mockingbird because Mockingbird has followed Forbin's all but twice...just a little FYI. Other then the fact we were section 208 near the top - that 10% sound I talked about - it was magical. But it was terribly unfortunate how bad it sounded up there (at first). The always bomb Gumbo followed, which went > 2011 Joke Of The Year Possum (although this one was sick). One of Gordo's finest in Weigh was next and went > the always amazing Divided Sky, which included the sweatiest Silent Jam in recent memory. The band stalled so long after DS that we all thought they were either busting out or playing a new tune...no dice. Alaska. A ridiculous Gin followed, before another long strange pause...was this the bust-out/newb? Nope, it was a fucking bonkers Maze that had me in my best scan dance of 3.0. Cavern followed, which seemed to be the Set One ender, but Mike's bass line was so deep and groovy that it got Trey off and thinking of one of his personal jams. So Trey asked Mike to keep the groove going and blasted into First Tube, which was out of time on several occasions (because of Trey). I actually love those situations. Someone - usually Trey -  hears something and requests that sound go to new places, even if that new place is a well-known tune. It's still great to see that chemistry and communication in action. Set One had it all and was one of the best First Sets in a long time.

Set II: Crosseyed and Painless (11:30) > No Quarter (9:26) > Timber (Jerry) (4:49) > Tweezer (8:32) > Caspian (3:36) > Piper (8:41) > Ghost (3:48) > Makisupa (5:43) > Sleep (2:01) > Buffalo Bill (2:17), Golgi Apparatus (4:34) > Character Zero (5:35) > Antelope (9:55)

E: Funky Bitch (5:33), Show of Life (5:08) > TweepriZe (3:50)

  I wish I had come up with inter-post titles, like a title for every paragraph. If so, this section would read - Set Two: It Should Have Stopped In Buffalo. Let me explain. The ST11 Second Set Galaxy Tour continued with another bomb C&P opener. It was the seventh such opener of ST11 and the eighth of 2011...and I love it. It also invaded almost every song in the Second Set. By the time the set was over we were still waiting. C&P > the third unbelievable No Quarter of the summer > the Timber we've been waiting on for weeks despite numerous teases > the inescapable Tweezer > a shoot-me-in-the-face Caspian > a sick Type-II-ish Piper > the shortest forced Ghost in history > a Makisupa out of nowhere that included many hilarious pot-induced puns on famous musician's names > the first Sleep in 105 shows (8/7/09 Gorge) and only the third of 3.0 (fourth since 1.0) > an oddly-placed but awesome Buffalo Bill. Then the set fell to shit. It was as if Phish was ending all together and Trey freaked over the fact that some audience cusites weren't getting the Greatest Hits they so desperately came to one show a year to see and would never have the chance to see again. A typical, boring, old, unflattering, hindsightingly predictable, rip-my-heart-out-and-stomp-on-it-like-a-spent-cigarette Golgi > Zero > Antelope ended the Second Set. How terrible. Three overplayed, unnecessary, set ending songs all crammed together to end an otherwise unbelievable show. How gross. Those would be three of the Top 5 "Please Don't End This Epic Show With Any Of These Horrible Boner Beating Songs". Price Caspian had already shit in my ears, so Suzy Greenberg was the only other one left. Now I feared the encore. But the encored kept par with the UIC theme and Phish ended with Funky Bitch, Show Of Life, and TweepriZe. So a three-show run that had "I can die now and be completely satisfied" written all over it turned into a "I have to go to Denver now because three of the last six songs I heard cannot be Golgi, Zero, and Antelope". And don't even give me the "don't go to every show" bullshit. It's what we do. See you in Denver...err, Commerce City.

- Trigger Treinta Uno

Trigger31.com

Thanks to Phish.net & LivePhish for set list help. Thanks to Phish for providing the music and to all the phans for providing the atmosphere. Another successful Summer Tour in the books! See you next Summer Tour for the 2012 End Of The World Tour.

Chicago On Fire: UIC Review, Night Two

   We all knew it would be hard to top Monday night's show, but that didn't mean the boys wouldn't try. Everything leading up to the show - weather, the lot, the authorities - was no different. Actually that's not completely true. We did see Harley Davidson clad under-covers (bad news) busting nitrous dealers (good news). And they moved the fucking port-o-potties against the the rail - the only place to sit around Shakedown. It didn't seem to deter dozens of people from hanging there, but I'm straight. So to avoid cigarette-pack-searching teenage security guards we headed in much earlier then usual, with about an hour to go before showtime. We had great seats, but that was an illusion because they were on the aisle and it became a serious shit-show quickly. I was forced into the aisle within seconds and then subsequently surrounded by myriad tools that seem to love being squished against strangers sweating rather than search for space to dance. I hate these people. Act like you've been to a show before, you don't need to be close to the band. They don't care about you and Trey is not looking at you. Get over it. As usual, just when anxiety and frustration was building to the point where I was about to tell these aisle crammers to get lost before they got bundled the lights went out.

Set I: Dinner and a Movie (4:49), Ha Ha Ha (1:37) > Chalkdust Torture (10:00), Mexican Cousin (4:24), Walls of the Cave (10:56), Runaway Jim (7:48) > Foam (8:38), I Didn't Know (4:03), Ocelot (9:58), Ginseng Sullivan (2:49), The Wedge (6:35), LxL (9:45), Let It Loose (6:05)

   We went out to Dinner And A Movie for only the fifth time since 2.0 before the Ha Ha Ha orange sign kids got their request (only the fourth Ha Ha Ha since 2.0). Decent start to the show. Chalkdust came out of Ha Ha Ha and took the wind out of my sail for a minute before the jam began to pull me back in. The boys then blasted into Mexican Cousin, one of my favorite hardly played tunes. The solo wasn't quite as sick as the one I remember from Charlotte ST10 (YouTube it, I'm the guy in the blue hat in front of the dude filming). Walls Of The Cave blasted off - what a sick tune - before Phish went into the archives for an old-school Runaway Jim > Foam, I Didn't Know. Ocelot - which now seems to me more band breather than jam launch pad - followed and then Ginseng Sullivan. The Wedge pulled me right back into the groove before I got my 35th LxL, which according to ZZYZX should be a statistical improbability. An absolutely SICK Let It Loose ended the set.

Set II: DWD (21:27) > Twist (8:28) > BDTNL (7:39) > Theme (7:13) > Golden Age (8:31) > A Day in the Life (4:54) > YEM (22:52)

E: Heavy Things (5:05) > Slave (9:40) > Rocky Top (3:04)

   Second Set lifted the fuck off. Another complete Second Set segue full of the deepest, darkest launch pads. A MONSTER DWD ran nearly 22 minutes before blasting > an UNDENIABLY MIND-BENDING Twist > a rockin' BDTNL > a MURKY Theme (although some of the vocals - one of the best parts of the song - were pretty butchered) > 2011 Song Of The Year Golden Age > A Day In The Life > a RIDICULOUS YEM, vocal space jam included. The Second Sets continue to blow minds. DWD raged mental war with me...Twist was so deep it hurt...Trey ripped Theme like it was 1997...Golden Age continues to send people to the Moon...and YEM went old school like flat top fades and even Walked This Way for a second or two...fucking amazing. The lengthy encores continued as Phish blasted off a Heavy Things > Slave > Rocky Top to end the show. Another gem. It was no Night One, but it rocked just the same. We have a 15-hour drive home tomorrow, so we're expecting something to be talking about the entire way there. See you inside.

- Trigger Treinta Uno

Trigger31.com

Thanks to Phish.net & LivePhish for set list help.

Chicago On Fire: UIC Review, Night One

   Phish absolutely destroyed the UIC Pavilion last night. Absolutely destroyed it. From the first note of Back On The Train to the last sweaty, fucking exhausted note of Hood at the end of the EPIC five-song encore Phish blasted every note, shook every seat, drained every ounce of water from every single pore in the place, exhausted vending supplies, and ripped the heart out of every single person in the building. The encore was so epic I thought we were being held hostage...ahh, in a good way. Bad analogy. You get the point. It was bananas. This show will be talked about in 10 years. As in, "Were you at that UIC show in 2011? You know, the indoor show in 90 degree Chicago in the middle of August?" Yeah, we were there. And we're lucky we made it out to tell the tale. Last night was on a different level. There's been a lot of talk about "types" lately in reference to jamming, etc. So much so that 2011 MVP Cacto "Soft G" Gordon (by the way, where the fuck are the Micheal Gordon shirts in Chicago?!?!?!) has dialed in his opinion. So if Type-II is "you can't really recognize the song anymore because the jam is getting so deep" then I'll categorize Chicago 1 as Type-What The Fuck? And that was the entire Second Set. OK, I'm getting  ahead of myself.

   Chicago is awesome. It's like New York with way less people and no attitude. Beautiful buildings, great food, great bars, even sicky hotels. The cab rides are relatively cheap and the walks are relatively short. The rivers at least look clean and the people seem genuinely friendly. Locals, am I getting this right? The lot was poppin', kind of. Most of the normal lot kids were selling their great food, and the cops and security seemed pretty cool. Security getting into the building was a fucking joke, but that could have just been our toolish 19-year-old security guy. He was emptying out people's cigarette packs...literally...one by one. Once we got into the show the energy was building by the second. People packed into the smallish venue, which seemed oversold. It was fucking sweaty. It was like being in a cave, except the cave was 90 degrees. If the show wasn't one of the sickest shows I've ever seen, it would have been unbearable. But it was bearable...how could it not be:

Set I: Back on the Train (8:16), Rift (5:55) > Guelah Papyrus (6:37), Scent of a Mule (7:22), Jesus Just Left Chicago (8:06), Wolfman's Brother (13:24), Anything But Me (5:40), Babylon Baby (6:50), Reba (12:15), Alumni Blues (3:42) > Letter to Jimmy Page (0:56) > Alumni Blues (3:42)

   It was on from the first note of BOTT. Thick, groovy, sick. Rift followed and > an INSANE Guelah Papyrus. A standard Scent followed before a most appropriate Jesus Just Left Chicago. The Wolfman's of late continue to rage. The first Anything But Me since SPAC '09 followed before the debut of Gordon's Babylon Baby. SICK. A pretty standard but still sick Reba followed before some college venue inspired Alumni Blues > Letters To Jimmy Page > Alumni Blues blew the roof off the place. I wish, it would have been a lot cooler inside. The First Set was unreal and it was just the beginning. And I can't stress that enough.

Set II: Sand (12:36) > Light (10:25) > Dirt (4:24), Waves (12:09) > Undermind (13:06) > Steam (8:10) > Fire (8:05)

   It got murky right off the bat in the Second Set with Sand, which blasted > another insane Light before the boys slowed it down and > Dirt, a mesmerizing version. Waves lifted off before slowing to a near stop after a crazy jam, just to blast right back into an even SICKER jam. AHHHHHH!!!! Waves and Sick Jam went right > the best Undermind any of us have heard in A LONG TIME. All of this craziness went directly > STEAM AND IT WAS FUCKING STEAMY AS FUCK! HOLY SHIT THIS SHIT WAS EPIC!! The hot Steam turned > Fire, which about summed it all up. Absolute FIRE.

E: Camel Walk (5:02), Guyute (10:10), The Horse (1:18) > Silent (5:22), Hood (14:57)

   Can you see this encore? I'm leaving it at that. We're headed to the UIC right now and I'm not sure if I can even say more about this show. Download it...listen to it...melt. End of story.

- Trigger Treinta Uno

Trigger31.com

Thanks to Phish.net & LivePhish for the set list help.

I Was Not Inside: Outside Lands, San Francisco Review

   I was not at the Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco at the beautiful Golden Gate Park. Several phriends went, although none of them answered the call to review the show for the blog. Then again, I didn't try too hard in asking; I was too fixed on Chicago (and as you'll see, for good reason). If you feel like reviewing this, let me know. Send me some text in an email and I'll post it up, credits and all. But in the meantime, I'm just going to give it to you straight:

Set I: KDF (7:51) > Wilson (4:25), Funky Bitch (6:54) > Moma Dance (6:59) > Peaches en Regalia (3:13) > Sample (4:34) > Possum (7:59), Tweezer (11:14), Mound (7:05), Suzy (5:56) > Axilla (3:22) > Mike's (6:22) > Hydrogen (2:46) > Weekapaug (6:59)

Set II: R&R (8:59) > Steam (8:23) > Piper (7:10) > Roses (5:35), Julius (9:12), Life on Mars? (3:32), Birds of a Feather (5:11) > Fluffhead (14:13) > BDTNL (8:26) > 2001 (4:15) > Chalkdust Torture (7:35)

E: Cavern (4:15) > TweepriZe (3:43)

I smell a Live Greatest Hits album due 2013...I swear I'm not hating.

- Trigger Treinta Uno

Trigger31.com

Thanks to Phish.net and LivePhish for basically letting me copy and re-post the set lists and song times. If there's any legal jargon associated with my previous statement, leave me alone.

Jackpot!: Tahoe Review

   So Tahoe might be the sickest place I've ever been to. Strictly speaking in Phish venue terms, I basically consider Tahoe a cleaner, much sicker Atlantic City combined with Telluride. It was the perfect setting for a Phish party. Lake Tahoe, mountains, warm (hot?) weather, dry air, cool (cold?) nights, casinos, intimate venue, plenty of tickets for those brave enough to go out without. It was awesome. Nothing like a Gorge-LA-Tahoe sandwich...city meat bound by natural bread. Oh yeah, and the scene was split between CA and NV, so if you wanted to gamble you walked to NV; if you wanted to puff tough you walked to CA. Paradise. So you can imagine the atmosphere as phans started rolling into this picturesque town to rage two nights before rounding out the West Coast run in San Francisco. By the way, don't get excited for a SF review...not even sure if I'm doing one. Anyway you slice it Tahoe rocked the house. The sound was great, there wasn't a bad seat in the place, and the vending/facilities were convenient. Seldom do I travel to a place that I truly contemplate moving to...Tahoe is one of the few.

   We rolled in late enough to Tahoe night one that we didn't have much time to do anything but trade in our paper tickets for "real" tickets. What the fuck? What is this nonsense? What is the point, can anyone tell me? Perhaps a desperate ploy to at least get you into the casino? Maybe once you're surrounded by the lights, beeps and other noises, and 23% ppO2 you're sucked in. I don't know, it didn't work for me. All the exchange did was annoy me. So we set up camp, collected our friends and brains, and headed out for the short walk to Harvey's. It was party time.

Tuesday, 8/9

Set I: Party Time (6:26), Oh Kee Pa (1:49) > AC/DC (6:08) > Mellow Mood (4:01), Rift (5:55), PYITE (8:53) > Meat (5:39), Bowie (10:55), Bouncin' (3:42), Horn (4:06), Water in the Sky (3:26) > 46 Days (9:43)

   Party Time opener. Obvious shit show. Oh Kee Pa, the first since Bethel (5/29/11) and only the second since ST10 was great and thankfully not followed by Suzy. Instead it > AC/DC before blasting into Mellow Mood, a shout out to the local atmosphere, despite the casino rising overhead. A sick version of Rift followed before the boys blasted  into a mid-set PYITE. BOMBISH. And that was just the beginning. PYITE > Meat, the first meat since Bloomfield (10/12/10) and only the third of 3.0. A great mid-set Bowie followed, then Bouncin', then Horn. Water In The Sky followed and went > a rockin' 46 days to round out Set One. Obviously Phish had an agenda in Tahoe.

Set II: Jibboo (8:56) > Light (16:57) > Chalkdust Torture (7:12) > Slave (9:34) > Free (7:02), Rocket Man (4:24) > Hood (10:26) > Walls of the Cave (13:37)

E: Bug (7:59), Coil (9:59)

   A groovy Jibboo opened Set Two and > a FUCKING RIDICULOUS 17-minute Light that had Timber and Tweezer teases > a Potterish Chalkdust > the always chest-thumping Slave > a rockin' Free. Nearly 45 minutes before the boys set it down, but for good reason. The boys were mentally preparing to award the several hundred - at least it seemed that way - of phans carrying paper rockets on a stick supplied by a few eager phans pushing for the Elton classic. Jackpot. Rocket Man. This blew 50 Ways To leave Your Lover right into the Pacific Ocean, but anytime Page sings a cover it blasts off. He really seems to take other musician's music seriously, especially if it's a piano-heavy tune. And Rocket man certainly is. One of the best (spontaneous?) covers they've played yet, although I don't think anything will compare to the first No Quarter we all heard. But let's not downplay anything here. Rocket Man > the always galaxy-traveling Hood > a SICK Walls Of The Cave to round out Set Two. This song fucking rocks. Walls needs to be put in rotation for the long hall immediately. Listen to the silent trees and accept it. A great 18-minute encore of Bug and Coil put the first Tahoe show in the books. Now we were off into the night...these things don't make blogs.

Wednesday, 8/10

Set I: Dogs Stole Things (5:05), STFTFP (4:46), Poor Heart (2:29), Alaska (9:34), Halley's (5:46) > It's Ice (7:03) > Circus (4:47), Ya Mar (6:56), Stash (11:33), Funky Bitch (6:50), Instant Karma! (4:15) > Antelope (10:37)

   Dog Stole Fucking Things. THANK YOU! FINALLY!! I really wanted to punch 73% of the crowd when Phish blasted into that tune and I could hear crickets at the lake shore. But that would be bringing my East Coast attitude to this Tahoe chill scene. Oh well, but if it happens again...so anyway, Dog Stole Things. The first since the Gorge in 2003 (7/12) and only the third since Fair Well Tour 2000 (thank science that wasn't really fair well). A short STFTFP followed, then Poor Heart for the country folk, then Alaska. Good ol' rock 'n' roll. The Tahoe ship lifted off directly after with a POPPIN' Halley's > a freezing cold It's Ice > a BOMB Circus Come To Town. Ya Mar followed, then a decent Stash, and Funky Bitch. Instant Karma! > Antelope to round out Set One.

  

Set II: DWDSalley (5:44) , Guyute (10:06), Velvet Sea (5:33), YEM (19:08)

E: Show of Life (5:20) > GTBT (5:45)

   Set Two blew minds. A weasely unfinished Disease opened and it was on. DWD > Runaway Jim > Ghost > Golden Age > 2001 > Sneakin' Salley. If it wasn't for the fact that the second half of that MONSTER segue was full of inappropriately short versions I might have claimed it was the best segue I'd ever heard. But I probably say that a lot. Either way, the shit was EPIC. People lose weight during shit like that. And it was still 50 minutes. Guyute followed this journey, then Wading In The Velvet Sea, then the first YEM since Charlotte to round out Set Two. Think about that for a second...that's a 10 show gap, the longest gap since the gap between Charlotte and Cincinnati, which was 8 shows. Trend? Hopefully not, because most of us were raised on YEM. It's a staple, like bread and water. The last 10 show gap was in Summer 2000 between Antioch, TN and Toronto. There have only been eight 10-show YEM gaps in Phishtory and by my count less than 20 eight-show YEM gaps. Those are pretty significant statistics for me, but I guess I'm not really sure why. At the very least it's worth note. Show Of Life and GTBT encored to end the show.

   Yo - Tahoe rocked the house from Sun up to Sun down. The music was fucking epic, we saw many old best friends, and lost no money at the casinos, and partied like it was 2011. We swam the beautiful lake, hopped the rocks at Zypher Cove, chilled on a snowless Heavenly, and decided we might move there. You know a place rips it up if you want top live there after. I guess that's all I can say. We set off for home (a horrible experience I don't feel like blogging about) and prepared for Chicago. We're expecting a fire.

- Trigger Treinta Uno

Trigger31.com

Thanks to Phish.net & LivePhish for the set list help. Many thanks to Colonel Phortin for setting up the Blue Lake Inn and to Henry The Third's Tahoe boys for the hospitality. Also thanks to Adam Icculus' crew for setting us up upon arrival and for racing Chrysler Town & Countries with us. It was nice finally put faces to (cyberspace) names on this West Coast trip. One last thing - sorry to my few fans for flaking on the blog. Internet service was a luxury and we were traveling mightily...thanks for being patient. 

I FORGOT TO THANK DAVE & RENEE AND JOSH & WENDY, AMY AND THEIR CREW FOR THE HOSPITALITY. HOLY SHIT, THAT WAS A HUGE BRAIN FART...THEIR HOSPITALITY MAY HAVE BEEN BEST! THAT'S WHY THIS IS ALL CAPITALIZED!! IN RETROSPECT WE SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN THE HOUSE WITH YOU GUYS...WAIT, WHY AM I GETTING INTO PERSONAL THOUGHTS HERE. THANKS AGAIN...I HOPE YOU'RE PLANNING A SURPRISE VISIT TO DENVER NEXT WEEKEND! (FYI, edited 8/24/11)

Where Palmtrees Sway And Seagulls Swirl: Hollywood Bowl Review

   After an epic ride home on I-90 towards Boston through the Cascades we boarded a plane in Seattle and headed to LA. (Note: Just got told I was actually traveling the opposite direction...I love Boston.) We felt like movie stars. Dirty movie stars. It was as if we had just left the X-Files shoot and were headed back home, to a place I would never actually live. But it was cool to drop down, rent a car, and head to the beach in time to watch the Sun set behind the Transverse Range and into the Pacific Ocean. We got a place on Redondo Beach and pretended to drive around site-seeing, when in reality SeriousLeigh was looking for celebrities while Trigger Treinta Uno searched for dispensaries. What a fucking town. There are more businesses aimed at making you look better than feeding you in this town. We met up with some friends, stocked up on supplies, and headed out to the local launder. My Fishman socks needed to be clean for the next show as I was down to one pair. After a failed attempt to live vicariously through The Dude by searching for a local In 'n' Out, we retreated to our room on the beach...the Pacific Coast HW actually...and waited for the rest of our crew - including local - to arrive.

   The next day we met up with everyone, got our sick discounted Marriot room (thanks, DannyVT), and set out to see the LA we intended on seeing. Success. LA does have it's good points. With the crew intact waxed out we set out to the famous Hollywood Bowl. What a sick venue. Cool seating and a sick shell. Let's just say CK5 was the MVP of this show, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Set I: DWD (8:43) > Cavern (4:11) > Possum (8:36), Cities (6:11), Peaches en Regalia (3:31), KDF (8:08), Lawn Boy (3:20), Tube (4:08) > Back on the Train (8:00), Wilson (4:18) > Axilla (3:24) > Split Open and Melt (10:30), BDTNL (8:44)

   DWD opener was the first since Providence and > strangely placed, EARLY Cavern, which > Possum. *Sigh* An appropriate Cities followed before Phish's fourth Peaches of the summer. What??? KDF blew the shell into the ocean before the boys mellowed out to Lawn Boy. A standard Tube followed but > a sick Back On The Train. Wilson > Axilla followed and > into only the third Split of the summer. BDTNL closed Set One...again. I still love it.

Set II: Carini (7:34) > Crosseyed and Painless (12:29) > Twist (7:03) > Piper (8:40) > Mike's (7:04) > Joy (5:48) > Weekapaug (6:33), 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover (3:51) > HYHU (1:18) > Weekapaug (2:30), Character Zero (5:59), Quinn (6:11)

E: STFTFP (4:26) > Julius (7:37)

   Set Two opened with Carini and blasted > an EPIC - and seemingly nightly - Crosseyed. No Hollywood Jam appears on the set list, but it certainly should have. C&P > Twist > Piper > Mike's > Joy > Weekapaug. Twist was good...and so was Piper. It doesn't matter, the lights were fucking amazing. I wish my pics were better, but we all know how that goes. The lights were bouncing off the shell in every direction and streaming up and down the shell in deep, brilliant arrays. It was amazing. The segue  continued with Mike's > Joy > Weekapaug. Phish debuted 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover next, with Fishman on the mini drum kit at center stage. It was fucking amazing, and perfectly - actually, no it wasn't - played. 50 Ways > HYHU, which included a shorter version of the usual nonsense and back > Weekapaug. It was great and a defining moment for the Hollywood Bowl show. Character Zero followed before the boys closed the set with a rocking Quinn. A somewhat extended encore included STFTFP > Julius. So LA isn't the Gorge and the shows followed suite...but that doesn't mean LA didn't rock, because it did. Like a rock star. Then we went to Matt Damon's house and rocked out to the 7th Annual Masshole in LaLa Land party. That's not true. Want the truth? We were off to make the biggest little mistake of our lives.

- Trigger Treinta Uno

Trigger31.com

Thanks to Phish.net & LivePhish for the set list help and Blue 83...Blue 83 Hutnik for the tour of LA.

Take The Highway To The Great Divide: Gorgeous Review

   OK, so the Gorge is the most ridiculous place on Earth to see a show. Say what you want about Red Rocks, you can't tell me it takes your breath away the way the Gorge does as you walk up over that hill for the first time. And the drive in is almost as sick. Mt. Rainier, which has to be one of the most prominent mountains in the country, seem like it floats above Seattle as you drive away. The Cascades, still covered with snow in the middle of August, are beautiful gray jagged peaks that seem to scrape the sky. Wide rivers flow everywhere. It's like you're in the middle of nowhere 1000s of miles away from civilization, yet you're 30 miles out one of the largest cities on the west coast. Un-fucking-real. Even the bridge to Mercer Island was amazing. So by the time we passed Wild Horse Monument outside of George, WA were couldn't imagine what to expect as far as a venue. It didn't disappoint. We pulled into Wildhorse Camping and met up with our West Coast Crew. After a warm welcome we roamed the grounds and shuttled over to Venue Camping, a festival-like shit show. The rest of our crew, Masshole transplants who obviously got the message before we did - don't worry we're coming soon - were raging already. We ran our errands, prepared for the show, and began looking for tickets. Once everyone but me had their tickets, I went off on my own determined to get a "cheap" ticket for the first time since 1.0. Usually I'm the one blasting these types. The "I've been to tons of shows so I deserve to take advantage of others who ended up with an extra ticket by forcing them to sell it to me for a fraction of the cost" types. I loath these people. Why do some feel they shouldn't have to pay full price for a Phish ticket? Really, I want to know. If you're reading this thinking "I do that", then why? Why should Bobby pay $60 plus another $20-30 because his girl couldn't make it? You guys want to know the kicker? Most of those kids you sell cheap tickets to are also ripping you off on party favors. Don't be fooled, most of those homeless looking kids have more money in their pocket than your parents have in their savings accounts. Consider that the next time you fuck yourself to "help" someone. To all of you taking advantage: Buy your own fucking ticket for $60. Everyone else does. These shows don't sell out. Go to the fucking box office. Oh yeah, back to why I got on this rant. Missing the first three songs of the first night because I was waiting in the worst box office ticket line ever. Thank you, chicks who think they can just go to the first loser in line that will be tricked by their batting eyes and tits. And then these douches fall for it, which makes the rest of us wait three times as long. You guys realize that other ticket is for her boyfriend, who doesn't feel like waiting in line, right? Just making sure. Am I bitter? You better fucking believe it. It's unbelievable how quickly our "community" breaks down when it gets close to show time. So when the wind was strong enough to carry the sound over to the box office, I got to hear snippets of KDF, Wedge (my opener call), and Gin. Thankfully my new buddy from OH and I made it in during the Gin jam...

   And were blown the fuck over by the breath-taking beauty of this place. The Sun was literally setting as we walked in to a sick Gin jam and we just stopped, hugged, sat down - in no rush to find our respective friends - and stared. Unbelievable. Oh yeah, the music...that was nearly as epic.

Friday, 8/5

Set I: KDF (8:04), The Wedge (8:23), Gin (11:43), Nellie Kane (2:48) > My Friend (5:54), Cavern (4:09) > Taste (9:06) > Roggae (11:17) > Walk Away (7:32), Funky Bitch (6:23), Roses Are Free (5:22) > Bowie (11:08)

   As I said, I missed the first three songs, but made it in for the Gin jam. So although I can't say anything about the tunes it had to be sick. KDF rocks, especially as a show opener, and the Wedge was perfectly placed. The Gin jam blasted off. Nellie Kane was perfect and > a great My Friend. A mid-set Cavern rocked the house before they went > into a breath-recapturing Taste and then > the sickest Roggae we've heard in a while > a BOMB Walk Away. Dude, seriously? Funky Bitch got the ladies going before the Phish launched into a Roses so sick I got teared up. Even though it's not Trey's solo, that first solo is just so...you know, right? It's just what it is - metaphysical. Such is Phish. It was that exact moment I finally saw the people I had traveled with and the party was on. Bowie...how would this one turn out? As sick as they come. The Gorge was here and we were about to be taken by aliens.

Set II: BDTNL (6:50) > R&R (19:54) > Meatstick (8:47) > Boogie On (8:42) > Farmhouse (5:32) > Show of Life (5:20) > Julius (8:20) > Character Zero (7:21)

E: Loving Cup (7:15)

   BDTNL opened Set Two, and although short and standard, was awesome. I love this tune. It has a jammy groove and has tons of potential...even though they do play it a lot. The next shit sent people to space. It was unreal. If I wrote set lists it would read as so: R 'n' R > Gorge Jam > Storage Jam > Meatstick What The Fuck* > Meatstick. I'd even go so far to call * Meatstick Reprise, but I don't want to stir the geeks. The music never stopped although the space ship brought us to distant galaxies with Page's theremin and back - and by the time we returned Phish was seguing into Boogie On SEEMLESSLY. I have to say the set did go down hill from our galaxy tour, but it's not as if it sucked. I think most of us were expecting a little more, because the end of Boogie seemed to be bringing us back to space, but Phish decided to back out with Farmhouse. Boogie > Farmhouse > Show Of Life > Julius > Zero rocked just the same. Highlights included my wife and her college friends (now in Portland and Santa Cruz) singing the lyrics to Show of Life in a circle hugging, the first Farmhouse of the summer, and a rocking Julius. I'm tired of Zero although I rock out to it every time they play it. The boys encored with a predictable Loving Cup and my first Gorge show was in the books. And what an epic fucking  chapter. There's a reason why every person I know who has asked if I went to the Gorge immediately says "Dude, that Rock 'n' Roll > Meatstick?" Get familiar.

Saturday, 8/6

   The Wildhorse Campground is one of the coolest places I've ever been to for an off-site camping situation. They had insanely good food; they had a great, fun, fast shuttle service; the staff was cool and left us alone; the showers were great; and they were cheap (same as general camping). It was great. And hot. After a sick breakfast burrito we hit the shade to recover from the night before. Everyone sat around talking about the Rock 'n' Roll > Meatstick. Insanity.What was next? Were they finally going to play YEM? What sick cover were we going to be treated to? What else did this epic place have in store for us? I made sure my ticket was in hand before I even left for general camping...and then saw that the box office had developed a new plan to make sure there was no back up and/or cutting. Fuckers.

Set I: Possum (8:08), Moma Dance (7:57) > Sample (5:10), LxL (7:22), Ocelot (9:27), Poor Heart (3:16), On Your Way Down (7:19), Wolfman's (9:18) > Maze (10:34) > Wilson (4:20) > Fluffhead (15:08)

   Possum opened the set and I had to laugh. An above average Moma Dance followed and > Sample. LxL followed, and then Ocelot. Very standard stuff. Lucky for us it was a back drop to the best venue scene in the country. Layers of weathered volcanic sediment stacked on top of each other representing millions of years, all visible only because they've been cut by the mighty Columbia River since before humans crossed into North America. Orders of magnitude more years. The place is amazing in itself, and the fact that we can see Phish there makes it almost unbelievable. It's a "pinch me" situation. I get it now. Poor Heart stirred the crowd before Phish launched into On Your Way Down, one of the beast versions I've ever heard. Beast was a typo, but I've decided to keep it. An impossibly funky Wolfman's > a long sick Maze > a standard Wilson > a standard Fluffhead. The Sun was setting. The music was about to crank to 11, Spinal Tap style. Text message. Colonel Phortin. It says "get to the pit now or you're a pussy". He was right. Epicness was in the air. We immediately made our way down to the Page-side pit. Good advice. Even better set:

Set II: Chalkdust Torture (7:16) > Tweezer (12:24) > Caspian (5:40) > Sand (12:33) > Tweezer (1:12) > Birds of a Feather (6:58), Waste (5:34) > Golden Age (7:34) > Reba (12:52), Antelope (12:22)

E: Suzy (6:35) > Sanity (5:36) > TweepriZe (3:56)

   Chalkdust opened the set and by the time we settled into our spot, the shit was on. Chalkdust > a deep dark Tweezer > Caspian (Did we need a breather already?) > a SWEATY Sand > Tweezer > an appropriate Birds. Dude, what the fuck??? It was ridiculous. By the time Waste was roaring our wives had found us, and their timing was perfect. Waste was winding down and the jam had been brain-bending. It was slowing down...it was murky...2001 was definitely in the air...but something was different here...what was it...it was fucking Golden Age, blasting into our ears like a distant freight train that had finally pierced our brains as if they were broken down at the George, WA railroad crossing. This fucking song RULES!!! It's the modern launch pad. And it > Reba, a song that never gets old. Ever. A rocking Antelope closed the set. But it wasn't over by a long shot. The encore opened with Suzy, and then the In-Sanity began...literally. The stars did not suck at all that night as Phish blasted off only the sixth Sanity since 1998 before going > TweepriZe. That's the shit Phish dreams are made of and dreams came true on the second and last night of Gorge 2011. My first trip to the place I had yearned to see Phish at for the past 15 years was not a disappointment. It was an enlightenment. Enough said.

- Trigger Treinta Uno

Trigger31.com

Thanks to Phish.net & LivePhish for the set list help, Colonel Phortin for setting up Wildhorse, and Amy & Renee's crew for supplying the goods, all the way from sleeping bags to booze. Your hospitality was appreciated and we miss you guys already.

2nd Leg: Western Swing

   Westward Ho! sucked as a title for the latest pReview, which follows the same theme as previous blog posts - that is to say the leg gets previewed then reviewed. You're all familiar at this point. That reminds me - I should be thanking you. Thanks. Thanks for reading, thanks for commenting, thanks for voting, thanks for being interested. As Phish tour wains towards the end of August into September and we experience a break on the order of several months I hope you'll still tune in as I blog about other interesting things like the NFL, baseball playoffs, the start of the NHL and the NBA (probably at some point). In other words I plan to blog about more than just Phish, although Phish certainly takes precedent during "peak" season. So I guess I'm saying thanks for tuning in and that you should stay tuned in. Life isn't all about Phish, you know...I know, it really is. So anyway, Westward Ho! sucked as a title. I tried to come up with a catchy cliche title for the 2nd Leg, but the most fitting title would have been something like "The West Is The Best", which is obviously unacceptable. The Beast Coast was unfazable. It was a fucking sick title. But that's because we're beasts. The "West Is The Best" is implying something that's simply not true, no matter what dozens of my East Coast transplant friends try to claim as they read this. Hey man, just like deal with it, ya' know bra. Now before anyone gets crazy here and starts sending me hate mail, let's put this into perspective. These titles pertain to Phish tour, nothing else. I'm a geologist; I would never claim the The Gorge or it's sculptor, the Columbia River, paled in comparison to the shopping malls surrounding Merriweather Post Pavilion. A lobotomy could not trick me into thinking that the Riverbend Park in Cincinnati produced the same feelings as being surrounded by the Sierra Nevada range. I get that. But we're talking in terms of Phish tour. So if anyone tried to tell me that anything compared to East Coast Phish musically, well I'd go tell them to jump off a cliff (The Gorge, perhaps?) or jump in a lake (Lake Tahoe is still currently blue). So 'Western Swing' got the nod. A little tribute to the folks who played jazz-inspired country music back in the early 20th century. Kind of sounds like Phish...a little. Well, back to jumping off the Gorge...

   The 1st Leg review was easy; Phish hit many of the same spots they had the year before or at least sometime during 3.0. Obviously the 2nd leg won't be that simple since the Gorge  is the only venue with recent shows to review. Tahoe will be a first. So will Outside Lands, and the last time Phish played a "real" show (details to follow) in SF it was 1994. LA hasn't been graced with Phish's presence since a few radio broadcasts in 2000...their last shows there were in 1998! Same thing for Chicago...the actual city. So as you can read, it'll be the first time in many of these places for many of us. Let me just come right out and say it's my first time at the Gorge. After 14 years and eight Gorge shows (they played two shows, their first at the Gorge, on 8/2 & 8/3 1997 - months before my Phishtism) I am FINALLY going!!! Watch my plane go down. The wife will not enjoy that read. WA through Chicago. Then of course we have a silly two-week break until CO. Why? How about some Deer Creek action? A little Hartford love?? No SPAC surprises??? Just Chicago, an inexplicable two-week break, then CO? OK, whatever. Here we go.

8/5-6, The Gorge Amphitheater, George, WA

   Phish kicks off the 2nd Leg in The Mecca. People say the Gorge changes you. Some say it ruins you. People have described some of the most euphoric experiences at the Gorge - completely sober euphoric experiences - while others have said no other outdoor venue is even acceptable after experiencing the Gorge. I believe all of them. I've tried for several years to make it to the Gorge, I mean it's only a short walk down I-90 from Boston to George, but for myriad reasons I've never made it out. That's all about to change. The last time Phish rocked the Gorge it was August of '09 and it's been exactly two years and 100 shows since.

8/7/09

Set I: DWD, Ocelot, Pebbles and Marbles > Possum, Sleep, Destiny Unbound, Stash, Sneakin' Sally > Cavern

Set II: Moma Dance, Light > Taste, Fluffhead, Joy, Gin > Hood

E: Slave

   DWD opened Set One - despite being played in the second set the night before - and was followed by Ocelot, still a spanking new tune at that point. Pebbles and Marbles, the perfect way to describe what most West Coasters try to convince us as being "good shit" followed, which > Possum. If you hate me, crash my funeral, put Possum on the MP3 player, then break the play, stop, and forward buttons so that song just runs over and over through the ceremony. I'd tell you to break into my casket and fasten a tape player with a continuous version of Possum looping, but I plan on being cremated. Pebbles was actually the first of 3.0 at that point. Sleep came next (hasn't been played since) before the boys finally cut loose with Destiny Unbound, the first since the Fenway show months before, but only the third since 1991 (11/15/91 Charlottesville, VA) at the time. Stash followed and then Phish blasted into the first Sneakin' Salley of 3.0. EPIC. Sneakin' Salley > Cavern. The perfect way to end Set One. Set Two set things right off with Moma Dance and then blasted into the third Light ever at that point. That Light from that show is the reason we want Light so bad. Put it on right now and listen it. Are you on the islands somewhere? Are you in heaven? Space? Nope, it's just Light and it's just the Gorge. Just get used to it. 2011 will be no different, and if you were in attendance at SBIX then you expect even more this time around. Wait, I'm not even done yet. Light > Tatse (obvious breather). Fluffhead followed then Joy. An unfinished Gin, one still talked about to this day, followed Joy and > Hood to close out the set. "Slave To The Wilderness" should have been the title for the encore as Phish wrapped up yet another epic Gorge show.

8/8/09 

Set I: Mango > Chalkdust, Middle of the Road, Tweezer, Driver, Twenty Years Later, Ya Mar, It's Ice, Wolfman's > Character Zero > Antelope

Set II: Rock 'n' Roll > Gorge Jam > Makisupa, Alaska, Wedge, YEM, BDTNL > Piper, Grind

E: GTBT, TweepriZe

   The first Mango since IT opened the Second Set and right > Chalkdust. The sound check song of choice throughout the Gorge - Middle Of The Road - debuted next and was followed by Tweezer. Driver - only the fourth since 1.0 - was next, followed by the second Twenty Years Later ever played. I still find that such odd song placement. Ya Mar came next and was followed by the first It's Ice since the Hampton Return shows. Wolfman's > Zero > Antelope to end the set. Although I wasn't there I consider Set Two one of the highlights of ST10:2 (remember our nomenclature from previous blogs). Rock 'n' Roll opened the set > Gorge Jam > Makisupa. Makisupa had Bobby brown references and a little pseudo-Walfredo action with trey and Mike switching instruments. Alaska followed and then the most appropriate song possible for the Gorge - The Wedge. It's on I-90, it's a fucking gorge...dude, it's like it was written for the Gorge. If it was, punch me. By the way, Gorge '11 opens with Wedge, guaranteed. An unusual middle-of-the-set YEM followed complete with Hedwig's Theme teases before the band launched into a sick BDTNL > Piper. A 2009 heavy Grind ended the set. GTBT and TweepriZe encored. So as one can plainly see, the Gorge rocks. The state, the scenery, the people, the camping, the venue, the air, the river, the gorge, the everything. There's a reason people talk so much about the Gorge. And now I'm about to find out for myself...there's really nothing else to say.

8/8/10, The Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA

   OK, so could Phish have picked a more polar opposite environment to play next? Hey, I have an idea...let's play a show at a National Park then follow up with a show at a Sewer Treatment Plant! While we're at it, could you replace my "fresh air" tank with the "pollution" tank? Thanks. I'm sorry folks, I don't get it. LA is famously known for four of my Top 5 Most Hated Things: traffic, smog/pollution, celebrities (any fake insecure people I guess, of which LA has in spades) and the Lakers. And the only two things I could love about LA - the ocean and the woman - are unswimmable for this man, for reason #2 on my hate list and because I'm married, respectively. There are a few people reading this probably desperately trying to come up with reasons why LA is awesome and why I should eat shit. Give it up. I live in the woods at the foothills of two small mountain ranges, 45 minutes from top-notch Southern VT skiing, my parents and in-laws live on some of the best beaches on the East Coast, and my house is within 3 hours of two of the greatest cities in the world. I don't need LA. California is cool though, I'll give you that. My many transplant friends who all think they've discovered something can attest to that. I'll stay in New England and keep the fort down. Maybe we'll let you back in after she sinks. I'm getting carried away. I'm actually fucking PUMPED to get to this LA show. I've never been to the Hollywood Bowl, but from all accounts it's unbelievable. My friends have raved about this place for a while, whether it was about an Allman Brothers show there 40 years ago or the annual jazz concerts. Pictures of the place are breath-taking, if you're into that sort of artistic venue thing. I am. Nothing is lamer than a dull venue. The last time Phish played in LA - as long as you don't count Indio as LA, which you shouldn't - it was at the Key Club for the Mark & Brian radio show in 2000. The last time Phish played a real show was in 1998 at the Greek Theater (10/29 - right before those BOMB Velvet Vegas shows) and it was a doozy...

Set I: Julius, Roggae, Llama, LxL, Driver, Sleep, Frankie Says, Birds of a Feather, McGrupp > Character Zero

Set II: Possum > Moma Dance > Reba > Walk Away > Simple > Albuquerque, Bowie

E: Something

   Driver and Sleep were acoustic and relative debuts, being the third time each had ever been played. The same could've been said of several tunes that night as there were many tunes not quite in "rotation" yet being relatively new or not covered yet (Roggae, LxL, Frankie Says, BOAF, Moma, Albuqurque...and Something, which actually was new). Either way, it was a standard 1998 show, which I think most of us would still cut heads off for. Particularly the seven-song Second Set pops out, as the band launched into a Possum > Moma > Reba > Walk Away > Simple > Albuquerque for the ages. Walk Away was played for the first time in 366 shows (The Bomb Factory 5/7/94, widely considered one of the greatest shows in Phishtory). Since Phish seems to have gravitated towards some of that 1998 feel lately, and since Phish hasn't graced LaLa Land since before regular people started getting fake boobs and lips, I expect Phish to drop bombs. As long as Trey isn't trying to show off for some corny LA rock star in the audience we'll be good. Expect the lights to bounce off this place and mayhem to ensue as palm trees sway and sea gulls swirl.

8/9-10/11, Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys Stateline, NV


   OK, so before I continue go to Phish's main page. See the TAB tour announcement? OK, now see Trey's picture. Dude, how can you NOT want to punch that guys face in??? That's the WORST picture I have ever seen. This is what happens when Phish lets Trey go out on his own. He starts making Faith +1 album covers and snapping concerned-looking photos of himself. This is the Trey I hate. The Trey tearing through the heart of the Sierra Nevada's with his Languedoc is the Trey we love. I'm obviously half-joking, but the picture is pretty lame. This is a tough review. Seeing as Phish has never played at Lake Tahoe, I'll consider the show at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento on 11/30/96 as the last area show:

Set I: Runaway Jim > PYITE, All Things Reconsidered, Bouncin', Stash, Fluffhead, Old Home Place, Uncle Pen, Caspian > Chalkdust Torture

Set II: La Grange, It's Ice > Glide, Brother, Contact > 2001 > Timber (Jerry) > Taste, Funky Bitch, Amazing Grace, Amazing Grace Jam

E: Possum

   PYITE contained James Brown teases and Fishman clownery. All Things Reconsidered was only played one more time in Italy before being shelved...so far. John McEuen joined on banjo for OHP and Uncle Pen. La Grange was played for only the second time in over 200 shows (at the time...do I have to keep saying that?). It's Ice > Glide is sick, a must listen. Glide needs to be rotated...immediately. Mayhem next with Brother, Contact > 2001. Ridiculous. More James brown clownery to boot. Peter Apfelbaum joined on tenor saxophone for Timber through the end, and John McEuen rejoined on lap slide guitar for the AG jam. I was busy failing out of Framingham State College. Oh well. Our favorite song, Possum, closed the show. These "Northern" California shows never seem to disappoint, whether it just seems it on paper or through the many tapes we've all heard or through the stories of "laid-back" scenes and epic shows. The Sierra Nevada's...the casinos (look out, Trey)...Lake Tahoe...Reno (I know, it is funny)...it all makes for a shit show. Let's hope the music matches the hype. Oh yeah, party on the CA side, trust us.

8/12/11, Outside Lands Festival, San Francisco, CA


   I'm not going to OLF, therefore, I don't care. No, I'm kidding, but we're really not going. We need to regroup before driving out to Chicago. No time for a three-day festival in which Phish is playing two measly sets on the first night. That's just me...us. The last time Phish played in San Francisco it was a wild scene - it was an "under the radar" show, which was leaked via radio the day of the show. Thousands rushed the scene for ticket vouchers, but only a lucky 400 were granted two each. The show took place at the famous Fillmore on 10/15/98 and it was also a doozy...

Set I: Ghost > Water in the Sky, Wolfman's, Gumbo, Bowie, Brian and Robert, Reba > Character Zero

Set II: My Soul > Chalkdust Torture, Roggae, Moma Dance, Wading in the Velvet Sea > Caspian > Frankie Says, Birds of a Feather, Lawn Boy, Hood

E: Dirt, LxL

   Nothing particularly special in terms of bust-outs as Phish seemed to be featuring many of their latest repertoire, but what an experience for the <1000 fans, especially at a time when Phish was regularly selling out larger arenas...on the East Coast. Fucking amazing. San Francisco has a great vibe and I see Phish rocking out the festival, but sticking to just that: rocking out. I don't expect much of what most of us die-hards live for. Nothing wrong with that. Maybe Phish will join some other bands on stage. All I know is that it's a festival and Phish is only playing one day for two sets. No thanks. I said the same thing to Austin City Limits. Besides, I'll be doing laundry preparing for...

8/15-16-17/11, UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL


   These shows are already sold out - no shit. The place holds 6500, it's Chicago, and it's the last three shows of the leg. I refuse to consider the "Denver" shows part of the Second Leg. It's like two fucking weeks later. I'm calling those shows the "Labor Day Run" and those shows get their own pReview. Sorry if you were rushing to the newsstands to see what I thought of the CO shows. If Phish announces some filler shows between Chicago and CO, we'll revise. But Phish ends the Leg with a three-day run in Chicago at the UIC Pavilion, the smallest venue of the summer as far as I know. Portsmouth was small, but I don't think that small; Tahoe holds more than 6500 I think. Correct me if I'm wrong. Oh yeah, and it's INSIDE! Fall Tour in August! Shit is going to be EPIC! Why do I know this? Because the last time Phish played in the city of Chicago, it was a three-night run at the UIC Pavilion 11/7-8-9/98. Does anyone else notice this theme here? I talked and talked about the 98ish revival after SBIX...many of these venues are being played for the first time since 1998...CK5 has been using a time portal lately. Don't say I didn't warn you the next time you go to discuss Obama and someone reminds you that Bill Clinton is president. Anyway, I can't even review these epic funk bomb shows, because they're too beastly but feast your eyes on these:

11/7/98

Set I: My Soul, Mike's, Driver, Brian and Robert, Wedge, LxL, Fikus, Billy Breathes, Beauty of My Dreams, Weekapaug

Set II: AC/DC Bag -> Ghost, Reba, Farmhouse

E: Guyute, While My Guitar Gently Weeps

   Are you fucking serious? Acoustic Driver, the last Fikus, a four-song Second Set...holy shit. We can only hope for four-song sets these days.

11/8/98

Set I: Taste, Carini, Love Me, Ride Captain Ride, Fee, Paul and Silas, Roggae, Water in the Sky, Stash, Cavern

Set II: Chalkdust Torture, Meat > Rock and Roll > DWD > Piper > Wading in the Velvet Sea, Antelope

E: Been Caught Stealing

   Ride Captain Ride was only the second in almost 500 shows. That's ridiculous in and of itself. Been Caught Stealing was the second ever and has only been played four times since. I was at three of them...sorry.

11/9/98

Set I: Llama, Horn, I Get a Kick Out of You, Divided Sky, Frankie Says, Dogs Stole Things, Poor Heart > Free, NICU, Bold As Love

Set II: Gin, TMWSIY > Avenu Malkenu > TMWSIY > Moma Dance > Slave > YEM

E: Frankenstein, Free Bird

   Does it get much better than this? Llama opener...Dogs Stole Things (only played 10 times since...but at countless sound checks), TMWSIY > Avenu > TMWSIY, a STRONG seven-song Second Set and two fan favorite for a double encore. Epic. We expect the same the round out the Second Leg of ST11. With only three shows remaining after that - The Labor Day Run - until the inevitable NYE Run, phans are going to be getting their fill at UIC...it'll be the only taste of anything resembling a Fall Tour in 2011...unless your going to Quay, I mean Trey tour. And that's not Phish, so yeah, it's our only Fall Tour taste. Then the long drought. But that's after CO...which is reviewed later.
   So the Second Leg takes us from the breathtaking gorges of WA through the glittered streets of CA  and from the wanna-be streets of Reno (OK, Tahoe) all the way to Chicago with a fitting, yet unfitting end to Summer Tour 2011 - a three-day run at the famed UIC Pavilion, an indoor pavilion in the middle of August. Should we have expected anything different from these guys? Nah...so let's rock it. See you at the Gorge. I'll be the one crying.

- Trigger Treinta Uno


Trigger 31. com


Thanks to Phish.net for set list help

  

Phish Threw the Biggest Ball of Them All: Super Ball IX Review...the Revival

   OK, so it may not have been the biggest ball of them all - I doubt Watkins Glen cracked 45,000,  falling WAY short of the original and only other ball, the legendary Clifford Ball - but Super Ball IX was certainly one of the best. The traffic, the vending, the beers, the camping, the close proximity to the venue from everywhere (don't fool yourself, you're just lazy or really out of shape), the staff, the cops (although there seemed to be tons), all the phans, the lights, and of course, the music - SBIX was the best collection of Phish music in years. Although I'm not sure whether Super Ball IX lived up to the hype as being "the best festival yet", it was definitely one of the best. I'm calling it the revival...and if you were there you know what I mean...if you weren't, you're about to find out.

Thursday, Day One

   You couldn't punch the smile off of our faces as we packed for SBIX - partly because we were packing things like air mattresses...stoves...water...food...pillows...you know, the shit most of us east coasters couldn't bring to LAX for Festival 8 - and partly because, well, we were going to a Phish festival. We left MA at 1:30 on Thursday and by 7:30 our first Pop-Up was erect...that's what she said. I'm getting a lot better at that - 5 years too late. But the point is that, for only the second time in six tries (Indio at 2 a.m., which was certainly a different situation), we were not stuck in one minute of traffic getting into a festival. Not one. Even the security line only took 10 minutes. 

6/30/11 Soundcheck (apparently ~4 p.m. - we missed it)

Soundcheck: Jam > Undermind, Sleep Again, My Soul, Ginseng Sullivan, Jam

   Our three cars rolled in trouble-free, rode up a few rows of already settled phans, and parked within stumbling distance - but not within smell-shot - of some of the best bathroom facilities I've ever seen at Phish. Picture the Indio truck-style bathrooms/showers...staying in the same condition they were in during the first five minutes of the festival for the entire weekend. It was incredible. You can argue that your bathrooms were just as clean - I highly doubt it since I went in at least three brick building bathrooms outside of Glen Close - but regardless ours were immaculate, which is an enormous advantage at these things. I sound like an asshole. Let me be clear: I'm not gloating, I'm simply stating that I was immediately struck by the quality of the facilities. Oh yeah, the bathrooms had hard wood floors and fake marble shower walls. You would have been shocked, too. We got our shit together and went out to check the scene.

   Some of the vending - typical shit from festivals past - was opening as we strolled through the grounds...Ball Square I guess it was called. Amazing. Lars et al did again with intricate structures, zany art work, giant disco balls, seemingly livable buildings, and plenty of space. Phish really blows this shit up. It's amazing what a group can do with $9 million. 'What?', you say? That's figuring conservatively: 5,000 people x $370 (Glen Close) + 35,000 X $200 (GA Camping) + 500 X 150 (RV passes) = ~$9M. Didn't you love the fireworks we bought, too? I sure as hell did. But in all seriousness, the art and grounds teams did an amazing job with Ball Square, and we're so lucky to have a band so conscious of things like that. It has always added an element of "wonder" to these things. I mean those dudes rocked out the fucking artistic storage shed, which was beaming the band's projections in eight different colors as we zombied out to some crazy ambient/trance/metallic/deep space/brain-bending music while being surrounded by some WEIRD ASS SHIT!!! We love it. But I'm getting ahead of myself. We opted out of long distance walking the very first night knowing what lie ahead, so we raged the Big Screen where someone was streaming or playing some of the best Phish of the last 10 years. Amazing footage, absolutely amazing. Trey was actually chubby in one of those clips. And the weather...wow. Sunny, clear, 70s to low 80s, which progressed into a cool, almost chilly dry night. We were off to a great start. Our friends from home, school, and tour started filing in from every direction to the Big Screen as Watkins Glen began to feel like a festival. Some of our friends were missing - not that kind of missing - but they were there in spirit. We had such high hopes. The only thing left would be the music...holy shit.

Friday, Day Two

   We woke up bright and early after a semi-late night to Henry The Third telling his tales of Super Ball IX arrival. His Headstock shirts were hidden in the woods after a run-in with security at 4 a.m. and his leg was torn after hopping several tall fences trying to get them in. Apparently these Phish-less shirts were a source of trouble so great that security refused to let them in with them. It hadn't seemed to dampen his still-awake spirit. We got ready and hit the town. Shit show. Phans everywhere, corporate and real Shakedown up and poppin', music coming from everywhere, Ball Square was ragin'. The weather was warm, sunny, and clear. It was all coming together. We all split up to do our thing and SeriousLeigh and I hit DJ Critter's crew's RV. We partied for a while to pregame for the First Set and then headed to the venue. This is what's it all about...

7/1/11 

Set I: Possum (9:04), Peaches en Regalia (3:24) > Moma Dance (11:00), Torn and Frayed (6:51) > NICU (4:54) > Gin (14:53), Life on Mars? (3:38), My Friend (5:50), Wolfman's Brother (11:47), Roses Are Free (5:16) > Funky Bitch (7:15), Quinn the Eskimo (9:31)...total = 77 minutes

   Yes, the festival opened with Possum. A huge "fuck you bitches" joke to all us haters. We deserved it. Besides, they were actually doing us a favor - they got it over with. Truthfully, I'm shocked they didn't close with it. It was a standard Possum, which is further evidence for the joke in my eyes. Peaches followed and I feel like it was for every single person not in Raleigh. It was great and > into a BOMB Moma Dance. A rockin' Torn And Frayed > NICU > a MONSTER Gin. MONSTER. Next was my first Life On Mars and the first in 175 shows (2/15/03 Vegas) and only the second since 1997 (3/2 Denmark)! What an amazing moment for many of us. A relatively standard My Friend followed this epic moment before Phish launched into THE BEST WOLFMAN'S I THINK I'VE EVER HEARD. Seriously people. This thing was peeling faces off. It was punching chests. It was round-housing heads. It was upper-cutting chins. Yo, I thought it was 1997! I'm not shitty you. Roses > Funky Bitch followed before the boys ended the set with a RIDICULOUS Quinn. This set wasn't overly long, but it rocked, it funked, it spaced...it had it all. You CAN'T get off to a better start.

Set II: Super Ball IX Jam I (3:56) > Crosseyed and Painless (12:57) > Chalkdust (8:11), Sand (9:56) > The Wedge (6:24), Mike's (7:29) > Simple (14:19) > Bug (9:46) > Horse (1:01) > Silent (5:13) > Weekapaug (6:49), Joy (6:05) > Character Zero (8:52)...total =101 minutes

E: Show Of Life (7:22)

   We thought we had plenty of time to back to the site between sets. Bad idea. We heard this weird noise coming from the venue, but we thought it was someones radio. "Turn that shit down dude, we want to make sure the band doesn't go on...". No answer. It almost sounded like the Big Ball Jam. It couldn't be. Was it...shit, Crosseyed And Painless! FUCK!! FUCK!!! I was actually screaming it so loud I was annoying my crew. We were hearing Phish, but apparently it wasn't the Big Ball Jam. They're calling it the Super Ball IX Jam #1 and we missed it. We also missed the vocal section of Crosseyed. Amateur move...fucking close-proximity camping sites! We made it back in time for the jam, but the crowds were so heavy in the area we were in by the time we got there that we just chilled by the tables. Besides, Matt Fractal was still hurting a little, and a roam through the crowd would've been shitty. Crosseyed > Chalkdust, a version that never seemed to reach the meat and cheese level that it's Crosseyed/Sand bread deserved. That's Sand > Wedge by the way, which was OUTRAGEOUS. By this time I had managed to struggle through the crowd back to some friends just in time for a Mike's > Simple. There was NOTHING Simple about this Simple. It had Third Stone From The Sun teases. It was Simply FUCKING AWESOME. What seemed to be an everlasting gobstopper of musical insanity seemed to take a turn towards the less energetic...like there was a really slow leak in a giant air mattress. The remainder of the Second Set after Mike's was all segue, but it read Bug > Horse > Silent > Weekapaug > Joy > Character Zero and it sounded almost like it reads. Although all sick, the energy did not compare to the First Set or the first half of the Second Set, but it's totally understandable - even the crowd was tired after days of traveling, setting up, and summer sun. But don't let these last few, merely less-energetic-relative-to-every-other-song-from-the-other-sets fool you. THIS WAS ONE OF THE BEST SHOWS IN A LONG TIME. And it was only going to get better.

Saturday, Day Three

   Day Three was obviously the first struggle of the weekend, but not to worry. Phish festivals are worlds of wonder. Like a Winter Wonderland. After some energetic breakfast and a little Runaway Jim 5K envy we headed out to Ball Square to see everyone up and about, coming in from the race, drinking Foam, art-ing around, and getting ready for the mid-afternoon Set at 3 p.m. Saturday was Three Sets and a Secret Set day. Wow...what a day. It was hot as hell. Everyone was already burned from the previous two days. Heat stress abound. Not good. We wondered if Phish would play it cool considering the temperature and high UV-index skies. No doing...

7/2/11

Set I: Tube (4:50), Kill Devil Falls (7:58) > Ocelot (11:16), Lawn Boy (3:03), Divided Sky (15:47), Boogie On (6:35) > Camel Walk (5:33), Cities (5:48) > Poor Heart (2:19) > 46 Days (6:53) > Suskind Hotel (5:55), When the Circus Comes (5:30), Timber [Jerry] (5:53) > Back on the Train (5:37) > Suzy Greenberg (7:00), Monkey Man (5:49)...total = 106 minutes

   Tube lasted almost five minutes...holy shit. 3.0 record? KDF rocked as usual. Lawn Boy featured Mike on the fret-less 5-string  and was followed by the always epic Divided Sky. A SICK Boogie On > and even SICKER Camel Walk. Maybe it was the speed. Maybe it was the funk. Maybe it the Spanish Moon teases. Cities couldn't have been more hilariously placed out in the middle of farm, lake, and wine country and it was BOMB and > Poor Heart, my first since Indio. Phish debuted Suskind Hotel, a tune Mike opened with in Burlington a few months before. It was sick then. It was sicker here. Timber swayed as usual...shit even the Suzy was UNFUCKING REAL - they dropped the FUNK HAIL ON PEOPLE'S HEADS. It was sick, and just when you thought it was over, the boys LAUNCHED into The Rolling Stone's Monkey Man, and IT BLASTED OFF!!! Unreal. So much for letting the crowd take it easy in the heat. The band DROPPED THE HEAT! Dude, I saw so many people walking bobble-headed out of the sun with obvious heat stress; it was crazy. Some people just don't get it...but Phish does. It was on. Now we knew what to expect and we had to get ready. We had a good two-hour break between sets, so we took to raging the site with some friends who had a lot of experience with the Moon. Talk about blasting off...

Set II: Runaway Jim (9:17) > McGrupp (9:31), Axilla I (3:30) > Birds of a Feather (10:00), Stash (12:29), Sample (5:12), Heavy Things (6:37) > Horn (3:42) > It's Ice (7:49) > Mango (8:08) > Rift (6:08) > Scents and Subtle Sounds (9:48), Antelope (10:36)...total = 103 minutes

   It was still light out when Trey announced the top-three winners - male and female - of the Runaway Jim 5K. Some of those times were crazy - I think the winner crossed in 15:23...dude, that's like averaging under 5 minutes/mile. I want to see these people dance...or maybe they don't. I was so perplexed by the phan that can run over three miles in just over 15 minutes I didn't realize they were playing one of my phavorites, the soul elevating McGrupp. Everything rocked, but the Heavy Things > Horn > It's Ice > Mango > Rift > S&SS WAS OTHER-WORLDLY!!! Dude the second S&SS of 3.0 (MSG 12/4/09) came from space, stole my brain, took it to another galaxy, showed me how subtle scents and sounds can be, and then returned my brain to my skull just in time to be dazed during Antelope. We were chasing a few...one down.

Set III: Golden Age (6:25) > Super Ball IX Jam #2 (7:09) > Caspian (6:21) > Piper (9:46) > Tweezer (11:09) > Julius (7:27) > BDTNL (7:55) > Twist (11:11) > 2001 (4:54) > Hood (11:54) > Cavern (4:31) > Golgi (5:16) > A Day in the Life (6:25)...total = 101 minutes

   Golden Age is like the new DWD to me. It kicks off a lot of Second Sets, it fucking rocks, and the Type I/II potential seems exponential. This version did it's job and > into some Type II shit only people in other dimensions experience on a regular basis...ask Matt Fractal. The Tweezer DESTROYED and took Golden Age hostage, teasing it relentlessly. Phish kept this "Last Set = full segue" theme going by BLASTING OFF THE ENTIRE FUCKING SET. Julius...raged. BDTNL...shredded. Twist...Typed II'ed to death...2001 is the new Tube...Hood (as well as many other jams throughout the entire weekend) kept the old-school glow stick wars alive...Cavern was murky...the late 90's had invaded Watkins Glen - or I had finally been sucked into CK5's circular time portal located above the light rig at center stage. Either way these sets were topping each other by the hour. LATE 90'S REVIVAL.

E: Loving Cup (5:35) > TweepriZe (3:50) 

Set IV: Storage Jam > Sleeping Monkey (~60 minutes)

   The Secret Set, which was no secret by late afternoon, was a great experience. The band was playing in the storage shed from ~2:30-3:30 a.m. and lights were beaming from all directions in many colors. I couldn't, but people could see their shadows coming from the shed. The music blasted off sounding like a spaceship trying to restart after some mechanical failure. It was deep, spacey, loud, and everywhere. It was fucking awesome. I was pretty surprised to hear Sleeping Monkey arise from the musical fog, but it was awesome just the same as Trey couldn't control his giggling to Fish obviously fucking around. When they're having fun, we're ALL having fun. Seems simple doesn't it? I would have preferred to see the band, but I suppose we never really saw them during the Tower Jam either. I loved it though - we all did - and I'd be interested to see/hear what people on the Ferris wheel experienced. A night of raging ensued as we rolled into the Dakotas to get our pah-ty on with our Central Mass Phamily. It was 7 a.m. when we rolled back to Glen Close...that's what epic nights do to your soul - keep them awake until the time you usually get up. In case you were wondering, Day Two contained over 6 hours of live Phish. This festival was achieving legendary status already.

Sunday, Day Four

   We were running out of gas by the time Sunday rolled around. Maybe it was the 6 a.m. downpour that had water dripping all over my sleeping gear for my last two hours of "sleep". Three miserable hours is enough, right? You bet your ass it is when those three hours are propelling you into the last day of a Phish festival. There is no rest for the die-hards. And there's no whining on Phish Tour. A little breakfast pick-me-up had the day in perspective as we roamed out into the camp grounds to explore one last day. The sun was beating down, but as it made us sweat, it dried our shit. It's a good pay-off. What was in store for this third day of shows? They had destroyed so many things. They had already burned down so much of Watkins Glen. What was left? A Ghost, for sure. But what else? Steam? Would we finally get our Clone? As Cocineros would say, "Just you wait Billy". We don't know a Billy, it's just our random go-to name. Kind of like Randy. Would the third show trump the previous two? Is it possible???

  7/3/111


Set I: Soul Shakedown Party (4:14) > AC/DC Bag (6:36) > Curtain (6:40) > Forbin's (11:39) > Mockingbird (6:52) > Destiny (6:38) > BBFCFM (3:56), Wilson (7:30) > Mound (8:40), A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing (10:58), Time Loves a Hero (4:57), Reba (16:07) > Bowie (13:31)...total = 107 minutes (longest set of the festival)

   The longest set of the weekend could be the greatest set I've ever heard. I'll know in a few days when I finally get my emailed stub numbers (Henry The Third!!!), but I'm pretty sure. First of all, Soul Shakedown Party. Only the sixth ever and second of 3.0 (12/30/09 Miami). That's a clear warning sign. If it's true, thank you hot chicks from the rail! Soul Shakedown > AC/DC > the first Curtain W/o since 1.0 (9/9/00 Albany) - and I love With - > Forbin's > Mockingbird > A BOMB Destiny > BBFCFM with a Leave It To Beaver tease. Are you fucking kidding me?!?! After that mayhem came more: Wilson with Mind Left Body teases > Mound, a reminder of the Alpharetta mega-storm. A Song I Heard The Ocean Sing seemed epic UNTIL IT WAS TRUMPED BY THE GREATEST TIME LOVES A HERO EVER PLAYED!!! Just when we thought it couldn't get better, the boys rip into an EPIC Reba, that not only included the first whistling since Coventry, but contained supposed Dave's Energy Guide teases that I would have bet my life was the Gamehenge Time Phactory. Like I said, I haven't been able to re-listen to it yet, but we'll see. Any thoughts to stomp my hopes in the meantime? This RIDICULOUS Reba > Bowie to end the set. Like I said, it could be the best set I've ever heard...certainly in 3.0.

Set II:  Big Balls (3:39) > DWD (12:59) > No Quarter (9:31) > Party Time (8:03), Ghost (8:36) > Jibboo (8:40) > Light (12:41), Waves (11:07) > What's the Use? (4:59) > Meatstick (6:14) > STFTFP (7:23), Star Spangled Banner (5:20)...total = 98 minutes


   Yes, they opened the Second Set with their debut of Big Balls. Holy shit! As they were playing giant bouncy balls bounced across the pit area and looked FUCKING RIDICULOUS! One of those epic festival moments you always remember...like the burning art tower or the Baby Elephant Walk. It's what separates Phish from most, if not all, of the others. Big balls > an unfinished DWD > the second No Quarter of ST11 > Party Time. EPIC. The eagerly-awaited Ghost followed > Jibboo that reached Type-II status for sure and > another Type-II BOMB in Light. Waves was mind-boggling and > What's The Use? > Japanese Meatstick > STFTFP. The stuff legends are made of. Phish closed with the obligatory Star Spangled Banner and encored with First Tube > Fireworks to end the festival. What a way to go out.

E: First Tube (7:42) > Fireworks (forever)

   Super Ball IX certainly lived up to the hype. As I said before, I'm not so sure it was the greatest festival ever, but it was damn close if it wasn't. The music was the best collection of music in 3.0. The song choices, the segues, the jams, the length of the songs and jams, the Type-I/Type-II shit that kept bringing people to different dimensions. Everything. Super Ball IX was another in a long line -save maybe one ;) - of epic musical adventures peppered with tent partying and vending. We were winning...all weekend. We rolled out of Watkins Glen around 11:30 a.m. on July 4th and the only traffic we hit going home was some idiot Phish chick with a wrecked car rolling at a snail's pace on 17 South and some construction traffic on I-86. Maybe 45 minutes tops. Amazing. I spent a total of 13 hours in the car and the place is 11 hours from my house round-trip. It's a sweet thing living near Phish. However, my gloating will be short-lived as we prepare for the Second Leg in exactly one month...beginning with the Gorge. Ahhh. So savor the sweetness that was Super Ball IX, and know that more is coming because it's clear that the few bumps in the road along ST11:1 were just that - bumps in the road. Phish still has it in spades - the song list, the choices, the segues, the jamming, and the Type-Everything. It's all here for the taking, you just have to be there at the right moments. Will you?

- Trigger Treinta Uno

Trigger31.com

Thanks to Phish.net for the set list help, my crew and friends for making this past weekend another epic one, The Green Crew & Phish Crew for cleaning, planning, and maintaining, Watkins Glen International for having us, and especially Phish for making it all possible. We'll see you on the Second Leg!