Here comes the joker
with his silly grin
he carries a martini
made of bathtub gin
Wendy's on the windowsill
Waiting to be let in
And were all in the bathtub now
Making Bathtub Gin
bloggers:
Tao of Pauly
Daddy
Change 100
The Rooster
Derek
Coventry: A Phish Blog
Al Cant Hang
Live Music Blog
Phish & Chips
Raise Hell, Drink Beer.
Get Trished.
Indigo Boulevard
The Joker
is enjoying:
making bathtub gin:
the joker
31, Pisces
Denver, CO
Windowsill Wendy
is enjoying:
windowsill wendy
29, Capricorn
Denver, CO
"Music is a spiritual expression of what's in your heart. Music as a way of getting rich is a pretty new thing, and I often wonder if the mega-bucks glitzy atmosphere is making the quality of music suffer. You have to work really hard to get around that and remember why you're in it in the first place: because you have to be. It's like an addiction. You can't go a day without picking up your guitar. To me, the only commercial goals that are really valid are, 'Boy, I wish I didn't have to go to work. I wish I could do this all the time."
-Trey Anastasio
"Impose rules to make life simpler. Break them to make life more fun."
-Jon Fishman
Monday, June 28, 2004
From the Road Update Bonus: From the Road Haikus
posted 12:34 PM by the joker
#1
I'm in Chicago
God what a beautiful day
Downtown, Fukkin A
#2
Brooklyn Shows, Jay-Z
Black dog girl forgot my name
Dubya heart Phish, yo
#3
Saratoga Springs
SPSSSSS! Oh there is another tank!
Hey, got some molly?
#4
Wookies, Tour Rats take
My celery, but wont take
Baths. Molly! Ya-yo!
#5
Cute girls love bloody
Marys. I'm in love again
With a cute phish chick!
#6
Jeff's fukkin back hurts
Missed a fantastic phish show
But now has drugs, yo.
Love,
Neil
0 comments
Sunday, June 27, 2004
From the Road Update #4: Indianapolis, Deer Creek and Alpine Valley
posted 6:02 PM by the joker
All I can say is holy shit. A lot has happened, and this might be long. Sorry for misspellings or typo's, I didnt have a chance to proofread this and Im typing on wordpad instead of a program with spell check.
Tues 6/22
Pauly and I left Niagara and drove all day to Indianapolis, where we stayed with a friend of a friend. Our host, Sean, was a childhood friend of one of my best friends and we had never met before. When we got to his house in Indy, Sean was completely utterly stoned. It was really funny to meet this character. I would best describe him as a cross between Spicoli and Joey from friends. The guy was about 30 and still had college fraternity letters proubly displayed in his house. Good stuff. He was funny, and a little strange, but also really nice. Sean insisted on taking us on a driving tour of the "hot spots" and "whore bars" that he frequents in Indy (the hottest area in all of Indiana!) even though we were completely exhausted. I got a really good nights sleep, though, and I sure needed it.
Wed 6/23
The drive to Deer Creek from Indy is only about 30 minutes, so we got up early, got some supplies and headed to the campsites at Deer Creek. Deer Creek is now called Verizion Wireless blah blah blah but everyone still calls it Deer Creek. Its a great Amphatheater and has camping adjacent to the concert area, so everyone just parties all day and goes to the show, then parties all night in the campsites and lot after the show. The weather was beautiful and perfect once again- highs in about the 70's and it got down in the 50's at night- cool enough to wear a hoodie.
As we were driving into the campsites, I ran into a guy I met at Bonnaroo and he is friends with a band that was playing an afterparty in the campsites. He directed us to a awesome campsite that was close to shakedown street as well as close to the area the band was going to play later. That afternoon before the show Pauly and I just had a great time hanging out, meeting people, drinking some beers and enjoying the weather. Chris and Mer from Dallas came to meet us and we all went to the show together and sat in the Lawn. It was the only show of the tour that I sat in the lawn, but I enjoyed it and it was fun to have a bigger group at the show. The Setlist:
Setlist 6/23/04
Verizon Wireless Music Center, Noblesville, IN (a.k.a. Deer Creek), 7:43 PM
Set 1 Llama, Bouncing Around the Room, Bathtub Gin, Ya Mar, Pebbles and Marbles, Army of One, Split Open and Melt
Set 2 Halley's Comet -> Crosseyed and Painless -> Slave to the Traffic Light, Nothing -> 46 Days -> Scents and Subtle Sounds -> jam -> Brian and Robert, Limb By Limb, Cavern
Encore: Waste
I thought this was a great show, but looking back it might be my least favorite of the tour. But it had its moments. The Halley's Comet -> Crosseyed and Painless -> Slave to the Traffic Light was awesome. There was a huge glowstick war during Halley's. And I got my Bathtub Gin in the first set, so that was fun. Pauly isnt too fond of Waste as an Encore, so we left the show at the encore and beat everyone going out. We walked straight back to the campsites and the party was already going. The band was playing (they played all night) and there was also a balloon tank next to us. I sold a few bloody mary's and white russians, lit some candles, and watched the balloon suckers stumble forth into the night. It was a beautiful night and I passed out sometime in the early morning.
Thurs 6/24
Thursday morning I woke up kinda late (thank you Xanax!) around 11am. I picked up the camp a little bit, then set up the bloody mary show on shakedown and played some guitar. I had a great time selling and met a lot of cool people. I even traded a bloody mary for a breakfast a guy next to me was selling- scrambled eggs, sausage, and biscuts and gravy. Sometimes its the little things that make your day. That shit was better than waffle house.
Thurs afternoon we went down to the show a little early and got our seats. Pauly and I met up with Cory from Dallas and some of his crew. We had seats on mike side kinda behind the soundboard and at this show we probably had the coolest most enthusiastic group of people around us all tour (which is saying a lot!). The show Thurs night was one of my favorites all time. The setlist:
6.24.04 Verizon Wireless Music Center, Deer Creek, IN
Set I: Loving Cup, Cities, Back On The Train, Vultures, My Mind's Got a Mind of its Own, Down With Disease > Rock and Roll
Set II: Tube, Antelope, The Wedge, Timber Ho, Prince Caspian > Simple, Walls of the Cave
Encore: The Squirming Coil
This whole show was amazing start to finish. The Loving Cup opener had everyone singing along. Cities is probably my favorite Phish cover and I had been playing & singing it all afternoon on shakedown. The Down w/Disease>Rock and Roll segue was HUGE. I went to the bathroom at setbreak, passed out some prisim glasses, and then it seemed like time slipped through my hands a little bit and I heard the roar of the crowd while I was still in the lawn and Phish was coming on stage. I started moving toward my seat and then they opened with Tube, one of Pauly and I's favorties. Imagine a screaming maniac yelling YES! YES! TUBE! YES! running over people to get down into the pavillion...cause that was me. Antelope was huge also.Marco Esquandolas...OHHHHH to be Prince Caspian with stumps instead of feet...timber! woa timber! we've got it simple! cause we've got a band! It was all a big singalong and I loved it.
The party back at the camp was a little more chill than the night before, but EVERYONE was just fukked up. I mean, I had so many weird conversations with people and it was a lot of fun being wasted and talking to wasted people. I even met a woman that makes custom stickers- Including Aqua Teen Hungerforce. She had made little toys of Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad- we had a little show with the action figure toys she had made- I was the voice of meatwad. Maybe you had to be there and all that, but it was hilarious.
Fri 6/25
Friday was probably the toughest day of the whole tour so far. We left the Creek about 9:30, but didnt get to meet up with Jeff in Chicago until about 4:30 because of HORRIBLE traffic (it was supposed to be about a 3 hour drive to Chicago). I parted ways with Pauly in Chicago at a McDonalds and then rushed to Jeff's to shower and hit the road again to get up to Alpine Valley. It was friday afternoon, 5 pm. More traffic. We are rushing, rushing, rushing, and Jeff mentions a couple of times that his back feels weird. We finally get to Alpine Valley, meet up with Scott, and its 7:45. The band is going to take the stage any moment. Rush, rush rush. Then, something weird and scary happens. Jeff falls down. He cant walk. His back is messed up. We stumble to our seats in time for a great show, but Jeff's back problems where a concern. Anyway, Jeff is gonna be ok, but I had to take him back to Chicago after the show (which kinda sukked), but what do you do.
The shows at Alpine were kinda like the Greatest Hits of Phish shows. The setlist:
Setlist 6/25/04
Alpine Valley, East Troy, WI, 7:52 PM
Set 1 Julius, Roses Are Free -> AC/DC Bag, Glide, Anything But Me, David Bowie, Wolfman's Brother, Golgi Apparatus
Set 2 Seven Below -> Buffalo Bill -> Lawn Boy* -> Mike's Song -> I am Hydrogen -> Weekapaug Groove** You Enjoy Myself -> 2001 -> You Enjoy Myself (vocal jam)
EncoreSample In a Jar
Notes*Page takes time to sign autograph during Lawn Boy
**Seven Below tease
I loved getting to hear the Ween cover Roses Are Free in the first set. The Bowie and Wolfman's were great too. But the real fireworks were at the second set. By the way, we had the best seats I have ever had at a phish show that night, about 12 rows back. The whole second set is just classic phish. The YEM>2001>Yem Vocal jam is just sick and you have to listen to it. I would probably rank that as my favorite segue of the whole tour.
6/26- My most Epic day of the Tour.
I woke up around 11am back in Chicago and Jeff called some of his friends that were going to the show from chicago he knew from work. I met up with them, we got some groceries, and headed back up to Alpine Valley. I mad fast friends with the Chicago crew and we cooked out. It was a beautiful afternoon and I decided to go for a walk in the lot. When I came back, the guys parked next to us, also cooking out and doing the exact same thing as us, were busted for somking pot by undercover cops and each got a $460 fine! I couldnt believe it. That so could have been me. Luck prevails again.
The lot scene at Alpine can be summed up as this: Hot midwestern girls everywhere, everyone looking for drugs, and no one selling drugs. I was lucky and saw a guy I met in Saratoga and he hooked me up with a mushroom chocolate. This is important because it comes in big time later. Oh, and at some point in the lot I met Mike driving around on a golf cart. The nerdy bassist wouldnt sign my book, but he was nice about it. Cool to shake his hand- my hand is bigger than his, which surprised me for some reason.
The show was OFF THE HOOK. Here it is:
Setlist 6/26/04
by Carini, Alpine Valley, East Troy, WI, 7:48 PM
Set 1 Access Me*, Scents and Subtle Sounds, Stash**, The Moma Dance, The Divided Sky, Wilson -> Funky Bitch, Character Zero
Set 2 Boogie On Reggae Woman -> Ghost -> Free, Friday -> Piper -> Harry Hood
Encore Possum
Notes*First time played in concert.
**After Stash, Trey and Mike rearrange their mic stands in jest.
Im gonna go on the record and say that this Set I was my favorite Set I of the tour. Everything was great. I started tripping hard during Stash and by the time Divided Sky came around I was having a spiritual moment with the music. I also loved the Wilson -> Funky Bitch, Character Zero. Great stuff.
Ok, here is where things started getting really crazy. The crowd was HUGE that night, probably the biggest of the tour. The push to the restrooms at setbreak was practically unbearable. It took me about 20 minutes of being packed into a crowd moving so slightly until I finally got to the restrooms. Now I gotta tell you this was a scene. There is about 200 people crammed into the restrooms waiting to take a piss, there are guys and girls everywhere outside shouting, and people are pissing everywhere that there was a tree, bush, or corner. I just waited in line and took this crazy scene in. Then, security comes over and tries to get people to stop pissing in the trees and on the fence and everywhere else. Some people ran, others ignored them. What can 5 security guards do to 100 people pissing on a fence? Then, crazy shit really went down. I see people getting kicked out or escorted out. More shouting. Then someone turns and pisses on a security guard that was telling him to stop. Then, seizing the moment, 5 or 6 people crash the gate (the show was sold out) and run into the crowd. Most get away but one person got wrestled to the ground by 2 security guards. This is all happening while im tripping my balls off and standing in line, inching forward ever so slightly. I finally get to piss and get back to my seat, and about 5 minutes later the second set started.
Set 2 was just SICK! Ive never heard a better Boogie on and Jam. Ghost>Free was great, even Friday was good. Piper. Hood. Where do you go when the lights go out? Harry...HOOD! Harry...HOOD! Where do you go? This show had all the crowd interaction songs in it and the crowd was loud. A great great show.
After the show instead of going to my car, I walk to the hotel/resort that is behind Alpine Valley where the Dallas crew was staying and I was going to party & stay with them for the night. I got to the hotel and it is 100% people who had been at the show, and it is a 100% party. People dancing, drinking, running around, you name it, it was there. I find the dallas crew and hang out for a little bit to let the traffic die down until I thought it would be good to move my car from the main lot back to the hotel. It was supposed to be about a mile walk to my car from the resort- Doughboy offered to drive me but I said I wanted to walk because 1) it might sober me up a little bit and 2) it would be fun to go though the lots at my last normal Phish show. My reasoning ended up being correct, but I had NO idea what I was in for next.
I start out walking up this hill on a paved road. THe road seems to be going away from the lots. I can hear the people partying in the lots and see all the firewords that people are setting off. Im still kinda tripping and it really was a beautiful scene. Its really dark out, the half moon looked errie with a wisp of cloud around it, the stars are out, and i am completely by myself walking in the night. I decide that maybe the road will take me further out than I want to go, so I decide to take the most direct route to the fireworks, which appears to be just through some woods.
I push through the brush (which was pretty thick) and then all of a sudden, i am in a cornfield. Im talking like a Field of Dreams cornfield. It was the trippiest thing ever. I am sorta scared, sort of amazed, sort of thinking that this is just a special special moment. There is no one else around in this huge cornfield and the corn stalks are about waist high. I start making my way though the field, watching the fireworks, and tripping out at the fireflies that would buzz past me every once in a while, making me wonder if im losing it completely or not or if there is really a floating glowstick.
After being in the corn for about 10-15 minutes i see in the distance 2 figures. Im kinda scared that i might get shot at or arrested for tresspassing in a farmer's property. the figures get closer and I call out to them "Do you see me?" they reply relunctantly "Yes...Friend or Foe?" We figure out that we are all doing the same thing, all spun out phish kids lost in a cornfield trying to get back to our cars. Roddick and Bill from Indiana were my new companions in this adventure, and they had a bottle of Whiskey to keep us warm. By the time we get through the cornfield, out pants are completely soaked from all the water coming off the corn (I guess the crop had just been watered). Out of the cornfield, into more brush. We can see and hear the lots still, it seems like they are not very far away. Int othe brush and trees we go.
Now, imagine you are in brush so thick you cant move through it. And its so dark you cant see 1 foot in front of you. Blair Witch times ten. We move through the woods. Down a hill. Up a hill. More brush. We are in the brush for 30-45 minutes. Then our moment of Zen. we can see the parking lot. I can actually see my car. But there is one more thing- a chain link fence with slanted barb wire at the top. We try to climb over but cant. Nothing to do but to walk the fence line until we finally get out of the brush and into the parking lot. Celebration. Rejoicing. We all three hug and laugh and look at each other in the ligh for the first time. What a great experience- this is why I go to Phish shows. This is adventure. A little stupid maybe, but Im still alive and smiling.
So, after an hour and a half I get in my car, drive (on the road this time) to the resort (which was about a 5 minute drive). The party is still going, actually I think it was just getting started. We drink, we dance, we meet people from all over the country. I passed out on the floor of the Dallas Crew's room at about 5 am. What a night.
Now Im in Chicago, recovering...I think we are going to go see Dodgeball tonight and I think the next stop is Mt. Rushmore. Ill keep you posted.
I love Wisconsin corn farmers,
Neil
0 comments
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
From the Road Update #3: Saratoga, Casinos and Strippers
posted 5:04 PM by the joker
The Saratoga Springs Performing Arts Center (SPAC) is located about 30 minutes north of Albany, NY. The SPAC is a beautiful place, the kind of place that I never would have visited were it not for Phish and I am glad that I got to experience the beauty of it. The SPAC is basically an amphitheater in a New York State Park with picnic and campgrounds surrounding it. The 2 days we were there it was cool and sunny- the dry, cool air, the tall trees and soft grass reminded me of somewhere in Colorado, but without the mountains. The first night of the SPAC shows we sat on the floor of the Pavilion. The Setlist:
Set 1: Reba, Runaway Jim, NICU -> Scents and Subtle Sounds, Wolfman's Brother Walls of the Cave -> jam -> David Bowie
Set 2: A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing, Piper* -> Gotta Jibboo -> Limb By Limb, Cavern
Encore Wading in the Velvet Sea
Notes *Tweezer Reprise tease
This show was once again a great show, and very different from the Brooklyn Shows. The Reba opener was a good one, as they nailed the composed sections (Reba is one of the toughest Phish songs to play) and the Walls of the Cave > Jam > David Bowie was very spacey and trippy. In fact, really, all the jams they did were very spacey and trippy this weekend. I set 2 there is really nothing more important to talk about than the Piper. This is definitely the strongest Piper that I have ever heard live, and could quite possibly be one of the greatest Phish has ever played. I have never heard a jam with so many peaks. I?m not exaggerating at all- they peaked that jam at least 10 times. I thought it was going to end or segue into another song so many times, but they just kept it going and the crowd gave the band all of the energy to do it. It was fantastic and intense. Velvet Sea is probably in my most disliked Phish songs list, so Pauly and I left the show to get out into the lot before everyone else?It was a CRAZY scene going through the sea of people getting out of that show- I have never seen so many people packed into a lawn?Pauly and I were literally Wading in a sea of rabid phish fans asking (yelling) at us for our ticket stubs so they could go down closer. I guess that calling them Velvet is more romantic, though.
We got back to the car and had to wait about an hour and a half after the show to get out of the lot- but it was a beautiful night, the stars were out, and there were cold beers in the cooler so there were no worries. By the time we got back to the hotel there wasn?t much energy left for a post party (the place we were staying was filled to the gills with fellow phisheads) and I slept like a baby.
Sunday morning came a little early but I woke up feeling good. After some breakfast we departed early for the lots to get a good spot and sell some bloody mary?s. Sunday afternoon was just a perfect perfect afternoon- sunny and cool. I just had a great afternoon in the park and sold some drinks.
Pauly and I were In the mood for a really over the top spacey show, and Phish delivered. The setlist:
Set 1: Rift, Julius, Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home*, Waves, Gumbo, Water in the Sky, Horn, Poor Heart, Drowned
Set 2: Seven Below->Ghost -> Twist, You Enjoy Myself
Encore: Good Times Bad Times
*with Page's dad, Dr. Jack McConnell on vocals. Dr. McConnell tap dances at the end of Bill Bailey.
During Julius, Trey broke first string on stage since 1995.
The first set of this show was solid, with them playing a lot of songs that I like okay, but somehow making me really like them more by jamming them out. It was also neat to see Page?s dad come out for a tune in acknowledgement of Father?s day. The Drowned at the end of the set is a Who cover and it was a very powerful jam to close the set. Pauly and I were tripping? pretty hard by the end of the set break and Phish must have known it, cause the Seven Below >Ghost -> Twist, You Enjoy Myself was just amazing. Effortless jamming and really spacey/trippy. Lots of great moments in each song. Sometimes a show takes on a personality or sound all its own, and this show is one of those. It seemed like they were continuing the same jam with each song, only pausing for a second to sing the verse & chorus of the individual songs.
Post show the scene was similar to the first night, except I was much more high energy and ready to party. I cranked up the XM radio on the rave station (dum-ch- dum-ch- dum-ch- dum-ch- dum-ch- dum-ch- dum-ch- dum-ch- dum-ch- dum-ch) and lighted a perimeter of candles around the car, creating a little lounge in the lot. It was kinda chilly, so I thought it would be appropriate to break out the prop bag and put on the coors hat and red boa. Apparently, this is an easy way to attract attention in the lot from fellow phisheads looking to party- I met a revolving cast of characters looking for more drugs or trying to get rid of them, but all I did was dance into the night and look at the stars with glowstick in hand. Back at the hotel we also had a little late night jam session/chill party with some VERY cool New York Phisheads. I played a little guitar...My setlist:
Divided Sky*, Cities*#, Iron Man*, Blues Jam Improv>Yer So Bad, Lucky, Fight Test*#
*unfinished
# flubbed lyrics
There were so many funny moments leaving the Sunday show and post show in the lot, but this one I think is my favorite. Pauly was passing a girl in the crow leaving the show and we heard her say to her friend ?Woa, I was really wasted...until that third hit of Ecstasy kicked in?? People, I can?t make this stuff up.
Monday we woke up and drove to Niagara falls to see the sights. Oh, and there also happens to be really good strip clubs and casinos on the Canadian side of Niagara. I lost some money early at the blackjack tables, then we took a cab to probably the wildest strip club I have ever been to. Pauly and I used the names ?Mike? and ?Trey? and told the girls of our band and some of touring life (none picked up on the joke- go figure). After meeting a bevy of Romanian, Hungarian and Canadian strippers (and also being sweet talked and called ?baby boy? by a 6 foot Nubian Princess) we returned to the casino where I hit a hot streak late night & won back some of the Canadian Dollars the breast implants had stolen from my pockets. Probably the best night of blackjack and strippers in my life. Viva Las Vegas, Eh...What can I say?
Tonight we are staying in Indianapolis and Wednesday and Thursday we will be camping at Deer Creek (about 30 minutes north of Indy) seeing a band called Phish.
Meeting more Hungarian women in 2004,
Neil
PS- some of you have asked for me to include some pictures?I would like to, as I am a very visual person, but I can?t figure out how to get the pictures off of my camera at the local Kinko?s. But I am working on it.
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Saturday, June 19, 2004
On the Road Update #2: Brooklyn
posted 8:14 AM by the joker
After resting in Nashville and getting some of the Bonnaroo funk out of my body, clothes and car, I began the drive East through North Carolina. I really loved the mountain drive through western NC around Asheville. On Tues night I made it all the way to Raleigh and stayed with the little brother of an old roommate and bandmate from Dallas. Wednesday morning I got up early and drove to Washington DC. I had never been to Our Nation?s Capitol and I enjoyed myself a lot. It was nice to get away from my music tour for a couple of days and see some history. My favorite part of my DC visit was the Museum of American History, where they had a really cool pop culture exhibit that included quite a few black and white photographs of the Beatles? first visit to the Ed Sullivan Show.
By Thursday afternoon I had made it to NYC and was ready to see some Phish. And Phish, apparently, knew I was coming and was ready to play.
Both the shows Thurs and Fri night were at Keyspan Park, a new minor league ballpark at Coney Island in Brooklyn, on the ocean.
The Thurs show was a great one. The Setlist:
Set I: Song I Heard the Ocean Sing, Dinner and a Movie,The Curtain With, Sample In a Jar, The Moma Dance ->Free, Nothing, Maze, Frankenstein
Set 2: 46 Days ->Possum, The Oh Kee Pah Ceremony ->Suzy Greenberg ->Axilla ->2001 ->Birds of a Feather, Kung, Mike's Song ->I am Hydrogen ->Weekapaug Groove
Encore: Divided Sky
I thought this show was a very strong one. The set I Moma Dance>Free was very funky and very well done. At about Maze it started raining, then at the Setbreak it started raining really hard. I joked that I had brought the rain with me from Bonnaroo, but It wasn?t as bad as the Bonnaroo storms & we had an umbrella. I thought the rain influenced the band to play a very high energy and long second set. The lights during 46 days even used the rain to great effect. Set 2 was just a monster. Suzy Greenberg had 2 huge separate jams in it, 2001 was a great one with lots of smoke and noodling from Trey, and the Divided Sky encore got everyone?s jaw to drop and there were smiles all around. The boys sounded very practiced and none of the 2003 sloppyness was there.
Yesterday (Friday) we decided to drive Marco (The Element) down to the venue and tailgate it in the Lot. This turned out to be a fantastic idea. I sold a good deal of Bloody Marys and White Russians from Marco and it was just fun to hang out and talk to all the interesting people that you meet at a Phish show. Last night was distincly different from Thurs night- Last night we had tickets on the floor, and as an added bonus my old friend Kevin Sport and his girlfriend came to the show. It was great to see Kev and again. Phish delivered with another amazing show. The setlist:
Phish 6.18.04, KeySpan Park, Brooklyn, NY
Set I: AC/DC Bag, Camel Walk, Crowd Control, Stash, Cars Trucks Buses, Carini, My Sweet One, Character Zero, Tweezer
Set II: Wilson, Down With Disease, 99 Problems**, Big Pimpin'**, Chalkdust Torture, Harry Hood, Taste
Encore: Bug > Tweezer Reprise
** with Jay-Z.
That?s right- Jay-Z came out during the second set and just owned the stage. The energy on the floor was electric. Overall every song was very solid, and I can?t believe that I saw Jay-Z with Phish! What a life.
Another fun tidbit last night was that I wore my George W. Bush mask and a T-Shirt give to me at Bonnaroo that read "George W. Heart Getting Spun". To complete the joke I made a sign that said "Dubya Heart Phish" on one side, with "Because Mike Drops Bombs!" on the other. I got nothing but good hearted laughs and about 10 people had me pose for pictures with them. It is hard to tell, but I also am fairly certain that Trey, Page, and Mike all read the sign from stage and chuckled.
Let me leave you with my only disappointment: Thursday night on the subway coming back from the show I became smitten with this cutie from Maryland. She had brown hair, the most beautiful blue eyes, this perfect smile and had such a cute hipster/hippie clean phishy girly style. SMITTEN! I failed to get her phone number, but I fell in love. Those are the most romantic encounters to look back on, no?
Today Pauly and I are driving to Saratoga in Upstate NY near Albany for 2 more shows. I am shaking my head that I have already seen so much and my trip is still at its beginning. Pauly is a great tour buddy and we seem to move at the same pace. I feel great, I look like ive danced off a few Dallas cheeseburger pounds and I am in good spirits.
I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one,
Neil
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Monday, June 14, 2004
On the road update, part 1: Bonnaroo
posted 10:42 PM by the joker
Wednesday/Thursday June 9-10:
We headed out from Dallas about 7pm and drove all night to Manchester, TN to Bonnaroo. It was about a 12 hour drive, and the lines to get into the campsites which have been notoriously long in past years moved very quickly- By about 11am Thursday we had arrived at out campsite and were setting up. We got a great spot- close to the stages, lots of room, and close to other necessities like porta-potties, wash stations and shakedown street.
Thursday night there were no "official" performances, but we ventured into Centeroo to hang out and see the scene. There is a big lit up fountain shaped like a mushroom that is a great place to people watch, and we were entertained by a 20 year old rolling his balls off on X?he was enchanted by a pole on the fountain and was kissing it?the kind of things that are very fun to watch and you kinda had to be there. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band performed next to the fountain, parade-style, and we watched some of Papa Mali before calling it a night.
Friday June 11
Friday we woke up early and started selling breakfast sandwiches and bloody marys. We made some of the money for the RV back with the business and I had a great time selling. We set up shop by a road with a lot of foot traffic, and I perfected my sales pitch:
"Bloody Marys, Breakfast Sandwiches! Dance! All! Day!"
"Bloody Marys, Breakfast Sandwiches! MMMM MMMM GOOD!!!"
and the one that worked the best:
"Bloody Marys, Breakfast Sandwiches, FREE GUITAR SOLOS!!!" (and then I would play on my Tyco Hott Lixxs Guitar to the amusement of passers by and the annoyance of my companions)
Highlights on Friday were Wilco and Dave and Friends. I have never heard Wilco sound so good. Wilco played a set heavy with songs from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and their New Album coming out next week. They did several noise jams that were fantastic and intense. Jeff Tweedy looked and sounded like a new man. Setlist:
1. The Late Greats 2. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart 3. Hummingbird 4. At Least That's What You Said 5. Jesus, Etc. 6. War On War 7. A Shot In The Arm 8. Muzzle Of Bees 9. Company In My Back 10. I'm The Man Who Loves You 11. Theologians 12. Poor Places 13. I'm Always In Love 14. One By One 15. I'm A Wheel 16. Handshake Drugs 17. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
Dave and Friends was also a fantastic show. The setlist:
Dodo, Trouble , Up And Away ,Solsbury Hill , Stay or Leave , Save Me , Oh , Up On Cripple Creek, Some Devil, Dancing Nancies, Thing , Tell Me Something Good, Gravedigger, Grey Blue Eyes, So Damn Lucky, Too High, Fire, Hey Bulldog, Waste
E: Everyday>Bathtub Gin> Drum/Bass/Tim Reynolds Jam
Trey singing "Up on Cripple Creek" was fantastic. Dancing Nancies was just Dave and Tim. Fire was also sung by Trey. The Encore of Waste>Everyday>Bathtub Gin was just Dave and Trey acoustic. The crowd was very enthusiastic for this show and sang along to almost every song. Great Great set.
After Dave & Friends I sampled the late night sets: Vida Blue, Umphreys McGee, Praxis, and Danger Mouse. All were good, but I didn?t stay at any of them too long. There was a Mardi Gras Parade through the campsites & ending by the fountain with special guest Grand Marshall WILLIAM HUNG!!! (of American Idol fame) William sang all his hits, including "She Bangs", "YMCA" and my favorite, the touching "Can you feel the wub tonight".
Saturday
The rain came as I woke up Saturday morning and again in the afternoon. Bonnaroo was transformed into a hot, steamy mud pit, but I got to see some great shows and still managed to have a great day. I started out at Grandaddy, then headed over to Gomez. Both were great great sets. The Grandaddy songs from "Sophtware Slump" sounded great, and my favorite song at Gomez was "Revolutionary Kind".
After Gomez I met up with the group and all of us went to see My Morning Jacket. What can I say about My Morning Jacket other than the just fukkin bring the rock. What a great set. After My Morning Jacket, the first of the large, powerful thunderstorms came- Dan, Courtney and I retreated to a tent?we picked the one Jem was playing at. They started late and we got rained on (it was raining sideways) but once she finally started I really liked her. She is kinda sexy and her band is good and lays down a great groove.
The rain Saturday afternoon made things kinda go a little haywire- Galactic started late and I didn't get to see them. I met up with Lane, JLaw and Jairy back at camp and we got ready for our big night out dressed up as superheroes. Lane was Superman, JLaw- Supergirl, Jairy-Batman, and I was Robin. At the start of the night we had great fun getting attention from just about everyone we walked past. It was especially funny to me because more often than not a person would first see only one of us, and shout "Look, its Superman!? and then, seconds later, would shout "Holy Shit! Its Robin Too! And Batman! And Super girl!!! Holy Shit!!! That's Awesome!" We got our picture taken a lot and it was fun for a while, until about the time that we finally arrived at The Dead. We got to the show right at set break, and also right as the mushrooms were kicking in a little too much. The rain had made most of the well walked areas of Bonnaroo a huge mud pit, making it hard to walk and impossible to sit down. Combine that with no music to zone out to and all the spun out people coming up to us to take pictures and chat, we decided to bolt from The Dead, take a breather somewhere where we could sit down, and then regroup & head to Primus. The walk out of The Dead was amazingly tough with the mud and attention. We finally got to a beer tent and sat down, then things got to feeling better. Primus was supposed to start at 12:30, but because of the rain delaying the start of The Dead, Primus didn't start until about 1:40. The wait in front of the stage for Primus sucked the life out of me and Batman and we headed back to camp. I kinda wish that I had gotten to see some of Ween and more of Primus, but sometimes exhaustion takes over and you just cant fit it all in.
Sunday
Sunday morning we somehow managed to all sleep in till nearly 10am, which out at the loud, sun scorched campsites is quite and accomplishment. It was good to sleep, but it kind of gave us a late start to the breakfast business and a late start to seeing music. The rain and mud from the night before seemed to be getting better in some areas, but also huge mud pits developed in other areas. Sunday afternoon I caught a bunch of sets, each about 30-45 minutes of each band:
Moe.>Femi Kuti>Guster>David Byrne>Medeski Martin and Wood>Superjam
David Byrne, it must be said, is a genius and just radiates coolness. His set was a mix of solo & Talking Heads favorites. "Psycho Killer" was fun but probably the song of Bonnaroo for me was "Once in a Lifetime." Smiles all around and the whole crowd singing along, jumping up and down. Same as it ever was, same as it ever was. And you may ask yourself, how did I get here?
Right as Medeski was ending their set, the sky again opened up on us. I got separated from the group (and my backpack) and retreated to the Superjam tent almost by accident. The tent was more packed than any other show I attended, partly because of the sheets of rain coming down, but also because the show was amazing. The revolving cast of musicians was led by Stanton Moore (drummer for Galacitic), George Porter Jr. (bassist of Funky Meters fame) and Maceo Parker (Sax player for James Brown). Wow. They just laid down the fat funk and had everyone in the audience, despite being soaked to the bone, was grooving their asses off and smiling. Maybe we danced so much it caused it rain harder. Good times.
After the Superjam I attempted to find some of the group, but the rain had washed out some people and I couldn't get in contact with others, so I headed to the Trey show solo. This situation actually turned out to be one of the best of the weekend for me- I "borrowed" a fold up chair from a beer tent and walked straight down to the front of the main stage and sat down. Having a seat right in front (and not in the mud) was a blessing, as I had been standing and dancing all day. The people all around me were great folks and huge Phish fans, so I had a great time and instant friends.
The first set of Trey was with the Nashville Symphony orchestra, the second set was Trey Band. In the first set I thought the orchestra sounded beautiful and Trey just looked like he was having a great time. Highlights for me were "Inlaw Josie Wales" and "Guyute".
The second set Setlist:
Mr. Completely, Sing A Song, Alive Again, Night Speaks To A Woman, The Devil Went Down To Georgia, Curlew's Call, Sultans of Swing, Push On Til the Day, Small Axe, Last Tube, Ether Sunday, Black Dog
Encore: First Tube
I wish I had a video of how hard I was dancing during this set, because I am certain that I looked like a fool. Nearly every song of this set was the best I have ever heard from Trey Band. Very tight, no sloppyness at all, and a very balanced performance from the entire band. They sounded more like a unit than Trey sanding in front of a separate band. None of the jams went on too long or lost their momentum. "Alive Again" is surely the theme song for my summer travels. "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" blew me away. "Sultans of Swing"- amazing. "Last Tube"- fukkin a. "Black Dog" YES!
Every great story needs a peak, a big grand finale, and the encore of ?First Tube? was certainly that. Probably the best "First Tube" ever. The word epic is he closest thing I can use to describe it. Seriously. The band brought the music and there was a coordinated fireworks display over the crowd during the song that was nothing short of brilliant. I probably wont see as many fireworks on the 4th of July. When I look back on my life and think about moments that were just so perfect, so filled with joy, with such positive energy and moving spirit, I will surely always remember those 8 minutes of First Tube with the fireworks. Words can?t describe how uplifting and beautiful it was for me.
So, that is pretty much the summary of Bonnaroo. Tomorrow morning I will wake up and head towards Ashville, NC and the Blue Ridge Parkway. I need to be in Brooklyn for the Thursday night Phish show, so the next couple of days will be spent driving through the Appalachians, listening to XM radio and enjoying the sights. There are little bits and pieces of group drama and random stories that I have left out, but all and all these are the highlights and I am once again very glad that I made it to Bonnaroo. Bonnaroo is surely the greatest music festival on the planet and a national treasure. At departure it was very sad leaving JLaw and Lane- two of my closest friends- but I know that I will see them again soon. Even though I have only been gone for a few days, It already seems like a month. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Sleep deprived but it was worth it,
Neil
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