Staying with the same theme that launched this blog I figured the best way to review the upcoming Phish festival - Super Ball IX this July 4th weekend - was to review the previous seven...err, eight...Phish festivals in all of their glory. We've been waiting for this four-day weekend since the rumor mill started this past winter, and it's finally here. Multiple days of Phish...multiple sets per day...multiple hours of shit show per set...you get the picture. As I was saying to a group of friends the other night as we sat around talking about past festivals, at the same time explaining what to expect to a Phish festival first-timer, "These festivals have, literally, been three of the top ten experiences of my entire life." I say three even though I've been to five of eight festivals for a reason - more on that later - but even saying at 32 years that Phish festivals were three of the ten greatest moments of your life is significant. And I 'm married...yes, that obviously makes the Top 10. Being adopted by my incredible family at four years old is certainly one, probably #1 or #2, and yes, I do remember that, although not without a little help. Hmm, sounds like a Phish show. Vacations at Lake Winnepasaukee, sporting events both played and attended, other Phish shows, and times with friends and family would round out the list. But three of the Top 10 were Phish festivals. Now I can't claim to have been to all of them, but between close friends that were in attendance, literature, and the tapes and digital recordings of the music I think I can offer plenty on the festivals that were before my time (Clifford Ball & The Great Went) and made me cry for the first - and one of the few - times in my adult life (my inability to attend Big Cypress for reasons beyond my control). As far as the others, I was there. In body anyway. But in all seriousness, we were there. And we're going to be there, at Super Ball IX, where Phish claims the greatest festival yet will take place. Here's what they're up against:
Phish 1.0
The Clifford Ball, 8/15-17/96, Plattsburgh Air Force Base, NY
The Clifford Ball was the first Phish festival, and in my opinion launched Phish into it's modern phase of popularity. Of course I don't mean mainstream popularity, but The Clifford Ball certainly put Phish's stamp on the nation as the primary soul-moving - both literally and figuratively - jam band. To this day the Clifford Ball shows rank among all-time shows, and the first show - 8/16/96 - is considered ONE OF THE BEST SHOWS EVER by many die-hard Phish phans. An estimated 70,000 people attended the 'Ball, by far the largest Phish crowd to that date. Those 70,000 phans brought nearly $20 million to the local economy (in an era of $20-30 festival tickets) and made Plattsburgh, NY one of the largest towns in the state for a weekend. Those two facts - among many others - are a few of the reasons Phish ascended to new levels during and after that momentous weekend. I was 17 at the time working as a lot attendant - no, not that kind - for a local Chevy dealership in my hometown in Massachusetts during The Clifford Ball. I was one month away from attending college, what seemed at the time the most exciting thing to happen to me yet BY FAR, and my only concert of the summer was The Steve Miller Band at Great Woods. In fact, the only things I knew about Phish were that my high-school buddy's girlfriend's older brother was into them - and he was what we considered a "hippy" - and a classmate had quoted Phish in their high school year book. My formal introduction to the music of Phish - without a doubt one of the most significant life-shaping events of my life to that date - would not be for another 15 months. This review begins with a soundcheck, easily one of the most exciting moments of any Phish festival for a number of reasons, because they don't disappoint. Soundchecks are always of interest, but the festival soundchecks always seem much more special. They say first impressions are everything, so perhaps therein lies the answer.
8/15/96 Soundcheck:
Long blues jam > long funk jam, HYHU > slow TweepriZe > HYHU, Old Home Place, slow Little Drummer Boy jam, LDB Jam 2 > LDB/Frankenstein Jam > LDB/Frankenstein Jam 2 > LDB/Frankenstein Jam 3 > Frankenstein/Spock's Brain Jam > Frankenstein/Spock's Brain Jam 2 > vocal (Deep In The Heart Of Texas), Clifford Ball Jam (as named by Trey), Clifford Ball/slow Peaches en Regalia Jam < TweepriZe (~55 minutes).
According to Dave Schall (who also wrote up the set list in The Pharmer's Almanac) it was a rare event due to the lack of tapers and the amount of phans listening on the boundary fences from a half-mile away. According to Schall the phans were so loud that once the band noticed, Languedoc turned up the PA and Kuroda started pointing the lights in their direction. That is fucking awesome.
8/16/96
Set I: Chalkdust, Gin, Ya Mar, AC/DC, Esther, Divided Sky, Halley's, Bowie
Set II: Split Open, Sparkle, Free, Coil, Waste*, Talk*, Train Song*, Strange Design*, Hello My Baby, Mike's > Simple > Contact > Weekapaug
Set III: Makisupa, 2001 > DWD > NICU, Life On Mars, Hood > Fireworks Jam
E: Amazing Grace
These sets included epic versions of Weekapaug, DWD, and Hood, which > Fireworks jam with - obviously - fireworks blasting off in the background. The sun also set during the Silent Jam in Divided Sky, which must have been amazing. All (*) indicate Phish playing the acoustic mini-stage, where the band played acoustic instruments and Fish played a mini-set for the four songs
8/17/96 Secret set
Set IV: Flatbed Jam (~45 minutes)
The Flatbed Jam included Phish rolling along the runways through the campgrounds playing soft jazz. The rolled through, never stopping, for about 45 minutes starting ~3 a.m. Many of the people I've talked to say they had no idea it was happening, and if you were lucky enough to be awake during the secret set you were astonished when you saw some dim lights approaching that turned out to be the band. Some talk of following them for the entire time. What an amazing experience that must have been. I was sleeping over six hours away, without a clue. DAMN IT!!!
8/17/96
Set I: Old Home Place, PYITE, Reba, CTB, Lizards, Sample, Taste, Fee, Maze, Suzie Greenberg (apparently I've been spelling that wrong the whole time...or maybe the spelling by phans changes...either way, who cares)
Set II: Curtain, Runaway Jim, It's Ice, Brother, Fluffhead, Antelope, Golgi, Slave
Set III: Wilson, Frankenstein, Scent Of A Mule, Tweezer, Day In The Life, Possum, TweepriZe
E: Harpua
Heartbreaker jam in Wilson. Brother included Ben & Jerry on vocals, Antelope included an acrobat on ropes, and Tweezer included people on trampolines. The Mule duel was between Page/Fishman instead of Page/Trey. The Harpua was unfinished as a hired stunt plane missed it's cue causing the band to leave to intense stage feedback noise. People still argue that the second set of the second day of Clifford Ball is the best single set ever played. I wasn't there so those people don't include me, but it's worth mentioning as The Clifford Ball clearly set the stage - no pun intended - for things to come. And boy did they...
The Great Went, 8/15-17/97, Loring Air Force Base, Limestone, ME
The Great Went, the inspiration for the greatest Phish bumper sticker in history ("I Went"), was the second Phish festival in as many years, but the first in Limestone, located only miles from the Canadian border. This festival also introduced phans to their first of many future unbearable festival traffic jams, a small price to pay for a weekend of Phish and great partying...unless that small price is 52 hours, which occurred at The Festival That Shall Not Be Named. More later. But this festival also offered the first "we've done this before" vibe, and the 65,000+ phans in attendance were greeted by welcoming locals (not that Plattsburgh lacked any) and better facilities (for a whopping $70...wow).
8/16/97
Set I: Makisupa > Harpua, Chalkdust, Theme, PYITE, Ghost, Ginseng Sullivan, YEM, Train Song, Character Zero, Coil
Set II: Wolfman's > Simple > My Soul, Jam > Slave, Rocky Top, Julius
Set III: Halley's > Cities > Llama > Lawn Boy, LxL, Funky Bitch
E: Contact, Loving Cup
Harpua started where it had left off at The Clifford Ball! Unreal! Simple included a "Odd Couple" jam. The Halley's, the last of which was played at The Clifford Ball, included a reprized vocal jam during the regular jam. Funky Bitch included fireworks. The highlights of the show, which are still talked about today, were basically the entire Second Set, and the Halley's > Cities > Llama in the Third Set.
8/17/97 Secret Set
Set IV: The Disco Set
The boys DJ'ed a disco/rave set in the predawn hours of 8/17. Eventually the band retreated into the night while the music still raged and kids danced around the lighted tent. Apparently this annoyed many die-hard phans and tapers who expected another Flatbed Jam a la The Clifford Ball, but everyone I talked to said it was perfect - and perfectly timed - as they danced their last few remaining hours of energy away.
8/17/97
Set I: Wedge, Beauty Of My Dreams, Dog Stole Things > Vultures, Water In The Sky, Maze, Bouncin' > Tweezer > Taste, Carolina
Set II: DWD > Gin > Uncle Pen, 2001 > Art Jam > Hood
Set III: Buffalo Bill > NICU > Weigh > Guyute > Dirt, Scent Of A Mule > Caspian
E: When The Circus Comes, TweepriZe
Tweezer included a Cities jam. During 2001 the band went > Art Jam, in which the band passed along paintings done by artists at the festival through the crowd to an art tower located next to the stage. During the Hood jam CK5 turned out the lights and the crowd formed a glow stick war near the stage. During TweepriZe the art tower was set on fire and burned until it went out. The last Buffalo Bill played before the Third Set was in Boston on NYE '94 (204 shows). The obvious highlights from the show were the Second and Third Sets, especially the Second Set. The DWD > Gin > Uncle Pen, 2001 > Art Jam > Hood is still talked about today. The Great Went marked the second festival pulled off by Phish, but the first in which they were begged to come back by the community. Phish phans showed the tiny community of Limestone that they were polite, respectful, money-generating party animals willing to travel far and wide to see their beloved band - and leave your community the way they found it. It wasn't the beginning of an era, the it was the continuation of a movement...
Lemonwheel, 8/15-17/98, Loring Air Force Base, Limestone, ME
Lemonwheel was my first festival, and if I said I was excited I'd be TOTALLY understating the situation. I could - literally - barely contain myself. By the time Lemonwheel had arrived I had only been to nine shows, and was considering this 10th show a milestone. I had never been further than Pittsburgh for a show - two days before - which made me feel like I was a bona fide "tourer". I had just done Pittsburgh-Vernon Downs, but had to come back home to get the two buddies I was going to Lemonwheel with. So I picked up a friend who'd never been to a show and we headed to Providence - the opposite direction of Limestone - to pick the currently estranged former friend of mine who actually got me into Phish and got me into my phirst show on 11/30/97. 11 hours of seemingly non-stop steamroller smoking action later - hey, we had just turned 20 - we arrived in Limestone, ME. I don't remember any real traffic, but then again, I don't really remember anything from those shows except Sexual Healing and Baby Elephant Walk. Those things are kinda' hard to forget. Oh yeah, I also remember the gel tabs. Very hilarious introduction to gel tabs. The first night we were there we were treated to the Soundcheck Set, though it took about 100 people to convince us they were actually playing, and that it wasn't just a joke on us "newbs":
8/15/98
Soundcheck: Funky Bitch, Ginseng Sullivan, Back at the Chicken Shack, Jam, She Caught the Katy and Left Me a Mule to Ride, Dog Log, Down Home Dirty Blues, I Gave My Love a Cherry, Please Send Me Someone to Love
So although very late, we caught a little Soundcheck Phish, my first of many, and it was magical (although I couldn't see them).
8/16/98
Set I: Mike's > Simple > Beauty of My Dreams, Roggae, Split Open And Melt, Poor Heart, Moma Dance, Divided Sky, Water in the Sky > Funky Bitch > Cities > Weekapaug
Set II: Wedge, Reba, Gumbo > Sanity > Tweezer > The Horse > Silent in the Morning > Chalkdust , Slave
Set III: NICU > Bowie, Strange Design, LxL > Brian and Robert, Loving Cup
E: Halley's > Cavern > TweepriZe
The first set highlights were the Water > Funky Bitch > Citites > Weekapaug, in which Cities included Sneakin' Salley teases and alternate camping grounds-related lyrics. Oh yeah, and an entire Mike's Groove set! Set Two highlights included the Gumbo > Sanity > Tweezer, in which Gumbo included a TweepriZe jam and the first Sanity (my first) in 140 shows (10/31/96). Set Three highlights included a very prolonged Bowie intro out of NICU, and the encore was probably the best I've ever heard. The Halley's also included alternate lyrics that referenced the camping grounds. During TweepriZe Trey commented on the weekend, how much they loved festivals and the atmosphere, and the fact that they would be playing more music soon...
8/17/98
Set IV: Ambient Jam (~60 minutes)
The Ambient Jam was played on stage in the dark with the exception of the hundreds of candles lighting the stage. The Ambient Jam was in the style of famed ambient jammist Brian Eno, and represented the third time in three festivals that Phish played a secret set, all of them being starkly different. Could we expect anything less?
8/17/98
Set I: Ginseng Sullivan, Gin > Rift, PYITE, Lawn Boy, Ya Mar > AC/DC > Frankie Says, Birds of a Feather, Guyute, Possum
Set II: DWD > Piper, Ghost > Fluffhead, When the Circus Comes > Wading in the Velvet Sea, HYHU> Sexual Healing > HYHU, Run Like an Antelope
Set III: Sabotage > 2001 > Wilson > Mango > Character Zero > Bittersweet Motel, While My Guitar Gently Weeps
E: Hood > Jam > Baby Elephant Walk
Set One highlights included Gin > Rift and the Ya Mar > AC/DC > Frankie Says. Set Two highlights an unfinished DWD that > Piper and a sick Ghost > Fluffhead. Set Two also included a HYHU, in which Fishman led the audience on by saying he'd be playing "a song about a turtle", an obvious reference to the Terrapin Station bust-out in Virginia Beach a few shows earlier, but instead they went > Sexual Healing, one of the highlights of the weekend. Antelope also included Sexual Healing teases and a "Bob Weaver" replacement of Marco Esquandolas. Set Three highlights obviously included Sabotage > 2001 > Wilson > Mango > Hotel and the first WMGGW in 103 shows (2/26/97). The encore highlights were Fishman playing trombone during the jam after Hood, and the first Baby Elephant Walk in 503 shows (12/1/92)! Lemonwheel proved - for the third year in a row - that Phish doesn't joke around when it comes to these festivals, at least not the music. I should point out, the art at this festival was amazing.
Camp Oswego, 7/17-18/99, Oswego County Airport, Volney, NY
Oswego was the strangest of any of the festivals I've been to in the sense that it was mid-tour. And not mid-tour like this one with shows of two different legs sandwiching the festival. I mean we came off tour the day BEFORE (PNC) and there were shows the day after the festival ended (Toronto). So despite being a festival, it really didn't have that festival feel, other than the fact that the band had the usual cheese buildings and artwork and misting tents. Oh, and a thousand vendors. Well, there were only five sets. Booo...
7/17/99
Set I: Tube > Boogie On, Birds of a Feather, Guelah Papyrus, My Sweet One, Roggae, Tweezer > Have Mercy > Taste > Character Zero
Set II: Funky Bitch, On My Knees, Jam > DWD, Wolfman's > Sneakin' Sally > Timber (Jerry), YEM
E: Coil, TweepriZe
First Set highlights included Tube > Boogie On and the sick Tweezer > Have Mercy (my first, and the first in 334 shows, 11/12/94) > Taste > Character Zero. The Set Tow highlights are obvious, aren't they? Except for the fact that Son Seals sat in on guitar for his own tune. Which one? Get familiar. Set Two blasted off.
7/18/99
Set I: PYITE, Farmhouse, Water in the Sky > Gin, Back on the Train, If You Need a Fool, I'm Blue I'm Lonesome, Beauty of My Dreams, Moma Dance > Reba, Chalk Dust Torture
Set II: Runaway Jim > Free > Meatstick, Guyute, Axilla > Llama
Set III: My Soul > Piper > Prince Caspian > Wilson > Catapult > Smoke on the Water Jam > Icculus, Quinn > Fluffhead
E: Hood
Set One highlights included The Del McCoury Band joining Phish from If You Need A Fool through Beauty Of My Dreams, which included one of the guitarists breaking their string leading to an ALL OUT HOE-DOWN! It was sick, and my snobby "I don't want anyone on stage with Phish" attitude disappeared immediately. Those guys rocked. Set Two highlights included a record-breaking (did we ever actually break the record?) 6-song burner, in which Phish played Meatstick with the intention of breaking the Guinness Book Of World Records record for "most people dancing at one time". Not sure if we did it. Not sure I even knew what was going on. Anyone? Set Three highlights included the whole fucking set. It was ridiculous. Strangely it was my third Catapult in 25 shows. The Smoke On The Water included Cat Scratch Fever "teases", which was really Trey screaming "It's the same fucking song!!!". By this time I was alone, wandering, and making my mark in the art tent with one of many painted rags that were hung everywhere. Remember that? My first Icculus. What else can one say? I suppose I could mention the Quinn, my first, and only the third since 1987. Then many hopped off tour to go to Woodstock '99 - how ridiculous, and I thought that then - and some went on to Toronto. It was kind of weird. I went home then to Star Lake. The rest is history. Then I went to Japan...just kidding.
Big Cypress, 12/29-31/99, Big Cypress Indian reservation, Big Cypress, FL
I'm going to be honest, this one hurts. I was 21 years old and working at a popular bar. I'm sure I don't have to remind you of the importance of NYE to the restaurant business. I was pushing limits anyway with relationships, school, and work, and it was - without a doubt - because of Phish. Now I'm not saying anything negative about that, meaning that I have NO REGRETS...except that I decided to pick the wrong NYE run to stay at home. I was given an ultimatum from my great paying bar job: If you go to Phish, you have no job when you return. What a horrible decision. It still haunts me. Just at Raleigh a few weeks ago I was in line getting water when two local guys were discussing the past few shows at Raleigh and how great they'd been. Out of nowhere the guy says to his buddy, "Yeah, but nothin' will ever compare to Big Cypress..."..."Oh, you got that right" his friend interrupted. Thanks guys, I need those reminders once in a while. So I'm going to be a little bitch; I'm not really going to get into Big Cypress other than listing the set lists. I'm sorry, I can't handle it. I didn't have my priorities straight and it still haunts me.
12/29/99
Soundcheck: Jam, What's the Use, Ginseng Sullivan, Curtis Loew, Quinn, Timber (Jerry), Jam
12/30/99
Set I: Water in the Sky, Light Up Or Leave Me Alone > Suzy, Corinna, LxL, Che Hun Ta Mo, Big Alligator, Possum, Farmhouse, Ghost, Ya Mar, Character Zero
Set II: Wilson > The Curtain > Tweezer -> Taste, Meat, Golgi, Wolfman's Brother, Jibboo > Hood > GTBT
Set III: Chalkdust, Moma Dance > Antelope, Sloth, When the Circus Comes, Mike's > Simple > Hydrogen > Weekapaug
E: Boogie On > TweepriZe
12/31/99
Set I: Runaway Jim, Funky Bitch, Tube, I Didn't Know, PYITE, Bouncin', Poor Heart, Roggae, Split Open and Melt > Catapult, Back on the Train, Horn, Guyute, After Midnight
Set II: Meatstick -> Auld Lang Syne > DWD > Llama, Gin, Heavy Things, Twist > Caspian > Rock and Roll, YEM, Crosseyed and Painless, The Inlaw Josie Wales, Sand > Quadrophonic Toppling, Slave, Albuquerque, Reba, Axilla, Uncle Pen, Bowie, My Soul, Drowned > After Midnight Reprise, Horse > Silent > Bittersweet Motel, Piper > Free, Lawn Boy, HYHU > Love You > HYHU, Roses Are Free, Bug, 2001 > Wading in the Velvet Sea > Meatstick
This fucking show went on for hours and hours and hours. Do I sound bitter? Good. If you need more information on these shows find it somewhere else. Epic stuff though, I hope you were there to take it in.
Phish 2.0
IT, 8/1-3/03, Loring Air Force Base, Limestone, ME
Phish's third trip to Limestone might have been their most anticipated. Phish had been on hiatus from 10/7/00 until 12/31/02 and Phish was coming off a semi-hot summer tour, their first in three years. We had huge amounts of people rolling in and many of us were used to the place from previous festivals. We were stuck in nearly 30 hours of traffic heading into IT and ended up about as far from the venue and festival grounds as one could be. I always feel like it was two miles. That might be a total exaggeration, but I think it was. Let's put it this way: By the second day were were thumbing "wagon" rides into the venue and trading for Gold Bond "handfuls" from dudes off the side of the street. It was hilarious...and chafey. We rolled deep into IT though and we RAGED. And I'm talking right off the bat, beginning with soundcheck:
8/1/03
Soundcheck: Jam > Skin It Back, Jam
It was the SHIT! Sometimes you take these soundcheck moments for all they're worth. Tunes like Dog Log are HARDLY played at shows - but it's played all the time at soundcheck. Tunes like Skin It Back are never played. PERIOD. Sometimes these soundchecks are magical. Most of the times the shows are, too.
8/2/03
Set I: AC/DC Bag, Ya Mar > Runaway Jim, Reba, Birds of a Feather, Meatstick, Two Versions of Me, Vultures, LxL, Cavern
Set II: DWD > NICU > Brother, Lawn Boy, Discern, Waves > Jam > Bowie
Set III: Rock and Roll > Seven Below > Scents and Subtle Sounds > Seven Below > Spread It 'Round > Bug
E: Dog Log > Mango
Ya Mar went unfinished, Reba had Night Speaks To A Woman teases (which I actually remember being sick), and a crowd-induced Meatstick had Japanese lyrics. Second Set highlights included a a sick DWD > NICU with a monster bass solo at the end > a Brother that I swear I was the first in ~60,000 to hear - ask my crew. Then the Waves > Jam > Bowie. Wow. Set Three might have been the best set of the weekend, which included a MONSTER Rock 'n' Roll > Seven Below > Scents > Seven Below > Spread It 'Round. Unreal. The encore was just as sick for me as they played two of my favorite songs while Trey remarked about the conscious effort not to think about the song choices, while trying to think of the next song choice. Got to love irony. Next came the secret set, and it was EPIC:
8/3/03 Secret Set
Set IV: Tower Jam
I don't really remember any specific jams, but I remember CK5 lighting up the tower and just thinking "Holy shit, those guys are like 300 feet above my head jamming from the old air traffic control tower." These are the things you remember the rest of your life...or at least you remember being there for the rest of your life. IT...that's exactly what IT was. Too bad it always reminded me of the creepy Stephen King novel. Imagine if Phish had played that creepy piano tune that bugged us out the entire movie? Like, if they kept teasing it throughout the entire weekend? I actually never thought of that until just now.
8/3/03
Set I: Daniel Saw the Stone > Saw It Again, PYITE, Army of One, Chalkdust, Wilson, Mike's > Hydrogen > Weekapaug
Set II: Mellow Mood > Ghost > Mountains in the Mist, Pebbles and Marbles, YEM > Chariots of Fire > Loving Cup
Set III: 46 Days, Julius > Lizards, Secret Smile, Antelope
E: GTBT
Set One highlights included - other than the obvious - double time Chalkdust ending and forgotten and changed lyrics, which prompted a lot of play between band members. Set Two highlights included a rager Mood > Ghost, an "IT" lyric in YEM, and the debut of Chariots Of Fire while our more athletic peers celebrated their Antelope 5K accomplishments. I still remember waking up to piss and seeing one of my friends running in the race. Am I...? Nope, it's just Phish and their phans. Set Three highlights included a MONSTER 46 Days, Lizards, and an appropriate Antelope with Under Pressure teases, which was clearly a band joke after Trey had thanked the crew, the phans, the chef, and then promised an IT:2 with a traffic-free entrance. Typical Phish nonsense; typical Phish mayhem.
Coventry, 8/13-15/04, Newport State Airport, Coventry, VT
Coventry was supposed to be Phish's "last show". Unlike the first hiatus, in which the band talked about needing a break, the second hiatus seemed more ominous with statements like "need time to work on other projects", "no plans to play in the future", and "Trey's FUCKED UP". Coventry fucking sucked. 52 hours of traffic, people turned away, almost unbearable camping facilities, and worst of all: SHITTY FUCKING MUSIC. My friends and I laughed at not even including Coventry in the review, but we can't deny it happened. So for the second time in this review, I'm just going to list the set lists. No comments. It's my stand against Coventry, for whatever that's worth.
8/13/04
Soundcheck: Jam, Jam, Light UpLight Up Or Leave Me Alone, GinsengGinseng Sullivan (w/ Danny Clinch on harmonica)
8/14/04
Set I: Walls of the Cave > Runaway Jim > Jibboo, YEM > Sample > Axilla, Poor Heart, Antelope, Fire
Set II: AC/DC Bag -> 46 Days > Halley's > Ya Mar, Bowie, Character Zero
Set III: Twist > Wedge, Stash > Free, Guyute, Drowned, Friday
E: Hood
8/15/04
Set I: Mike's > Hydrogen > Weekapaug, Anything But Me, Reba, Carini > Chalkdust > Possum, Wolfman's > Taste
Set II: DWD > Wading in the Velvet Sea, Glide, Split Open and Melt > Ghost
Set III: FEFY, Seven Below> Simple > Piper > Cool Jerk > Dickie Scotland, Wilson, Slave
E: Curtain With
OK, so I'll say one thing: Remember going home down 91 and seeing all of those abandoned cars all over the side of the highway? That's what I felt like after Coventry. And on top of it all, it felt like we might never get anything else. Wow...holy shit am I glad it turned out differently! PERSPECTIVE, PEOPLE!!! Just think "Super Ball IX" and take a few deep breaths...OK.
Phish 3.0
Festival 8, 10/29/09-11/1/09, Empire Polo Club, Indio, CA
I hadn't been as excited for a festival since...well, Coventry, I guess, but I knew that it would be impossible for Phish to bomb another festival, so the excitement was at a...hmmm...let's say a Lemonwheel pitch. OK, in Phish's defense there were horrible storms the days preceding Coventry, which made traffic and camping a nightmare for some (OK, most), Trey was not himself (to be PC), and it was a very emotional time for the entire band, hence the lack of musical enlightenment one would expect from the assumed "last shows". Regardless, I was looking for a festival that would remind me of the old days. This was the first time in Phishtory that the band had combine "two of [their] favorite pastimes" by combined a festival with a Halloween show. There had also been hot Internet debate over the album Phish was going to cover for their Musical Costume, and the choices had been whittled down from what seemed like hundreds to a mere few days before the shows. They had even brewed a beer called Foam for the festivities. Like I said, I was expecting the greatest of things. Not quite positive if I got that, but as you'll read in a minute, it was hardly Phish's fault. Although I had been to 87 shows I had never seen a show west of the Mississippi River. I had also been calling Camel Walk and counting down to Indio on my now-defunct Facebook page for the previous three months leading up to it...every single day. Imagine reading "Only X more days until Camel Walk" every day for over 75 days. It happened to about 150 people. So we hopped on a plane, flew to the Smog City (not sure if it's called that, but it makes sense...it might be called Tinsel Town...it's definitely called The City Of Angels, but I didn't quite find it to be that exactly - where are my Lebowski fans?), picked up our Pebbles 'n' Marbles from our LA friend/connection, and started a caravan to the California desert.
Once there the worst gate security I had ever experienced tore our car apart. Did I mention the two of them averaged about 73 years. There were times when I thought "I'm going to Scotch tape these two together and take off so they can't keep searching my car. But they were old an easily intimidated - peacefully - so it was no big deal, other than repacking. At least there was no traffic. Once set up the cell started blowing up with all the west coast/mountain kids in town looking to hang out.
BIG MISTAKE. Now Cocineros had Swine Flu a few weeks before Indio, but was medically cleared days before Indio to travel and be amongst 50,000+ people...OK, maybe 30,000+ people. Although we blamed him for months, it turns out it was someone else all together. Apparently my mountain friends had a - supposedly former now - buddy who also had Swine Flu, or H1N1 if you feel my dialogue will generate more mass murdering of poor little pigs. Remember October 2009? Dude, it felt like 10% of the country had H1N1 and 75% of them were in California. Whether hyped or not, people did have H1N1 at Indio, and this little douche-bag who was friends with my good friends was one of them. Well I shouldn't have to explain what hanging with a bunch of kids you haven't seen in almost two years - one of whom has H1N1 - will do to a body. And half the crew he was with...yikes. I did not make it to this soundcheck:
10/29/09 Soundcheck
Set I: Water in the Sky, Sleep Again, Let Me Lie, Invisible, Back on the Train, Driver (acoustic)
Set II: Jam, Undermind > Devil With a Blue Dress On Jam, Starship Trooper Jam, Gone, Liquid Time
At least Friday just felt like bad hang-over, nothing some drinks and a little recreational activity didn't take care of. If I only knew what was coming...
10/30/09
Set I: Party Time, Chalkdust, Moma Dance, NICU, STFTFP, Stash, I Didn't Know, Poor Heart, Cavern, Beauty of a Broken Heart, Ocelot, TTE
Set II: PYITE > DWD > Caspian > Wolfman's > Piper > Joy, Bowie, Hood > Golgi
E: Character Zero
First Set highlights included Party Time, an awesome LA Woman tease in Stash, a hilarious vacuum solo that had Henrietta "blowing and sucking for the first time" in a figure eight shape, followed by a mid-set Cavern. Set Two was unreal at times with a
SICK PYITE > DWD > Caspian > Wolfman's > Piper > Joy, which included an unfinished DWD and Bowie, which included references to the next day's Musical Costume. The end through the encore was pretty standard. And I was starting to feel real shitty. By the time crew members were handing out Playbills for the show the next day- confirming rumors of Exile On Main Street - I felt legitimately sick, although by that time I thought it was a hang-over combined with allergies and dust. Wrong. By the time the Musical Costume Set came around, I was glued to one of the picnic tables in the back, half-dead, with hundreds of people asking me every 2 minutes if A) I was OK, and B) Whether I needed a toke or not. I was physically at the Musical Costume Set, but not mentally. I struggled through the Third Set and Encore, but was toast by the end. I had tried a number of really dumb things to try to pull myself out of it, but they only hurt the situation in the long run. At least I rocked out to the First Set:
10/31/09 Halloween
Set I: Sample, Divided Sky, Lawn Boy, KDF, Gin, Coil, Runaway Jim > Possum, Antelope
Set II: Rocks Off > Rip This Joint, Shake Your Hips, Casino Boogie, Tumbling Dice, Sweet Virginia, Torn and Frayed, Sweet Black Angel, Loving Cup, Happy, Turd on the Run, Ventilator Blues> I Just Want To See His Face > Let It Loose, All Down the Line, Stop Breaking Down, Shine a Light, Soul Survivor
Set III: BDTNL > Fluffhead > Ghost, When the Circus Comes, YEM
E: Suzy Killme...but wait...
Set One read like a greatest hits parade, and if you were tripping, the only thing that saved you from thinking it was 1994 was Kill Devil Falls, which was
SICK by the way. During Coil Trey referenced the actual Coil in the art area of the festival grounds, which was definitely one of the highlights of the festival. Notice the lack of weird Phishy festival grounds art like the cheese house, etc.? That's because the artist who helped design those structures for many, if not all, of the previous festivals couldn't be hired because of conflicting schedules; he's back for SBIX! That may have sounded contradictory, but it turns out both artistic styles rocked...but I like Lars better. Set Two, the one in which I was silently dying on a back picnic table, was epic. The band raged Exile On Main Street, horns and all, and rocked so many of the tunes that they've added a few to their "regular" rotation (
Torn And Frayed, Shine A Light). If I'd been healthy I'd probably say it ranked up there with Waiting For Columbus as far as a straight rockin' Musical Costume went. It was pretty amazing, at least that's what my ears tell me. Set Three highlights included BDTNL > Fluffhead > Ghost. In one of the the most hilarious and ironic moments of my Phish career, I actually gathered the strength to make into the soundboard area to find our crew just in time for the encore -
SUZY FUCKING GREENBERG! Cruel joke? Not this time as it was one of the best Suzies ever played. The horns rocked and Page raged as I remember this Suzy actually being one of the
HIGHLIGHTS of the Third Set/Encore. It's funny how that shit works.
Now keep in mind, I wasn't sick
AT ALL when I got to Indio, and whatever I had was already contagious by the first or second day. I can just hear people saying "Why didn't he go to the hospital or leave the camping grounds so he didn't get people sick?" It was too late for that shit. By the time the third day of shows rolled around I was half dead. I hadn't eaten in almost 24 hours, could barely breath or walk, and could hardly go 30 minutes without throwing up in one of the port-o-potties. Not wanting to ruin anyone else time, I just played dumb and said I was too sick to walk around, but I just needed to be left alone. What I needed was serious medicine. By this time my fiance was also sick, as well as a few of our friends (and 33% of the crowd it seemed), and by the time the much-anticipated Acoustic Set came around, I was half-dead under my rental in the 103 degree heat. We managed to literally crawl into the rental and turn on the AC full blast and thought "At least I'll die listening to Phish...what else can one ask for?" In reality we were just extremely sick and unable - smartly - to go to the set in the unbearable heat dehydrated. Besides, you don't want to ruin other people's time, especially when there's nothing you can really do about it. But my wife and I shed a few tears that afternoon, especially during McGrupp...
11/1/09
Set I: Water in the Sky, Back on the Train, Brian and Robert, Invisible, Strange Design, Mountains in the Mist, Curtain With, Army of One, Sleep Again, My Sweet One, Let Me Lie, Bouncin', Train Song, Wilson > McGrupp
E1: Driver, Talk, Secret Smile
Set II: AC/DC Bag > Rift, Jibboo, Heavy Things, Reba, Wedge, Guelah Papyrus, Undermind, Sparkle, Split Open and Melt
Set III: Tweezer > Maze, Free, Sugar Shack, LxL, Theme > Mike's > 2001 > Light > Slave
E2: Grind, Esther, TweepriZe
The third show was pretty epic. Although I missed the early afternoon Acoustic Set I was able to listen over The Bunny. There was some funny interplay between (
mostly) Trey and the crowd, in which he kept telling the crowd to sit, or stand, or do whatever they wanted. Most people just talked about being confused - call it heatstroke. Either way the First Set - played at noon - was epic as it was one of the first, if not the first, full length acoustic sets. Debuts of Invisible and Sleep Again. Wilson > McGrupp was epic, car tour or not. The Driver was also a tear-jerker as I feel that song - and subsequent pin - describes my life so perfectly in re: to Phish. We grabbed meds from the medic tent and a blanket so that we could at least witness the last two sets by nightfall, and by witness I mean at least my body would be on the concert grounds and not underneath the rental. I remember Sets Two/Three rocking so hard at times that the music actually was powerful enough to lift me off of my blanket and move - for about 10 seconds - until my energy reserves were gone for the moment. Second Set highlights included Reba, Guelah Papyrus, Undermind, and Melt. Set Three highlights included a
MONSTER Tweezer > Maze - as I began to fade horribly as I retreated further back into the dust - Sugar Shack (
although Trey fucks it up every time) and a Theme > Mike's > 2001 > Light > Slave that was
ANYTHING BUT STANDARD. I love the non-standard Mike's Grooves! We were already almost back at the car by the time Phish came on for the encore. I could barely hear Grind, but as soon as we got to our car I could hear Esther. More teary eyes. Not crying, just sadness. My health had fallen victim to a selfish asshole whom I'd never met before; an asshole that didn't have the balls to admit he was sick and couldn't go to Indio. I don't even know this asshole, but apparently he's no longer part of my mountain crew's crew. That dude was responsible for ruining my festival and getting at least 100 people sick. At least. But then again,
A LOT of people were sick at Indio, and the weather conditions didn't help us East Coasters (
dry, hot, dusty). Perhaps it wasn't that kids fault, but I blame him anyway. By the time we had our shit together, Miguel Cocineros found us, grabbed the keys and said "Let's go, I'm getting you guys a hotel". So we went on to go die in a hotel before miserably traveling home to MA in a trip that seemed to take years. Our recovery took weeks. But the scene - although quite tame on the West Coast - and the music
ROCKED.
And that's what festivals do, they
ROCK. Unless we're talking Coventry, these festivals have been some of the best experiences of our lives. The art, the sculptures, the tens of thousands of phans, the fact that we're posted up for 3-4 days, the Shakedown scene - which can spread for a mile or more - the camping villages that pop up everywhere, the wandering souls looking lost at all hours of the weekend, the vending, the times with far-away friends, the bizarre after parties,
AND THE FUCKING MUSIC!!! These festivals - unless Mother Nature, drug addictions, and band meta-emotions conspire at once - are the things
LEGENDS are made of - for the band, the artists, the crew, and the phans. In almost 150 shows I can say without question that the festivals were the most fun. You get to live a liphe phull of nothing but Phish phor phour days, with no traveling, no stress, just phun. Sorry for the ph-bombs. So as you read through this blog and pack up your shit, prepare yo'self for yet another epic event. Phish says this one will be the best, and we have every reason to believe them. Remember those signs: Our Purpose Is For Your Delight...you know it.
Super Ball IX, 7/1-3/11, Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, NY
Set I: ???
- Trigger Treinta Uno
Trigger31.com
Thanks to the Pharmer's Almanac and Phish.net for the set list and scene memory help, and thanks to Phish for making all of this shit possible in the first place! And a special 'thanks in advance' to the festival crew and Green Crew for setting up and cleaning up. We'll do our part! See you at SBIX!!
