Luckily we didn’t have any problems, but we got to the lots pretty late both days.
I was told someone was hit and killed walking drunk down Rt. 9 near the ampitheater after the DMB show so they were being a little extra overzealous this year, although they can be slightly overzealous there every year.
Strange to hear of this level of intensity from law enforcement in a state that’s usually considered a more liberal, forward-thinking type of place. In all the time I’ve spent in New York state, I never got the impression that the cops were this way.
Okay…so how much were you selling them for anyway?
In general no, but the state is broke and Saratoga was trying to make a point. The community doesn’t feel like they get a bump in $ or any big benefit from having concerts like Phish/DMB and it’s a lot of extra work. Now country fest and Jazz fest are things they want to encourage as the local hotels and restaurants see a bump (like track season). SO it’s simply about welcoming some people but discouraging others from coming to their up scale community.
I can tell if this was sarcasm or not. If not, then I wasn’t selling them…I have better things to do. If it was…then $250 a piece 
Ah. I didn’t realize that Saratoga Springs was considered “upscale”, but then again I’ve never been there. Spent more time in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse than I ever did in eastern NY. I think it’s weird that they didn’t see a bump in revenues from the Phish shows, though. Most towns seem quite pleased by the enormous amount of revenue that Phish generates.
Saratoga Springs is the hoitiest of the toity in upstate…
The hoitiest for sure. It’s all about the horse races and holding up century of “vacation spot for the rich an famous”. I bet the biltmore family used to come up in the summer. (hayword, polk, franklin too)
And I’m sure they see some bump, like at the state park camping, but hotels are very expensive (and if it’s track season sold out).
Yeah, it’s really too bad because it’s a pretty venue… but everything else about it sucks. Doojette and I said the same thing after last year… good show, but we’ll never be back.
You mean about how someone bought their tickets with alcohol violations instead of money? Absolutely bull$hit, I’m with you.
I don’t get the pretty venue thing. Who cares about looks it’s all about the sound. I now live in Albany, grew up over the border in MA and have been seeing shows since the early 90s at SPAC. Boy what a treat when I first traveled to Greatwood, and then down the coast.
Sure it “looks” cool when you first see it, but from the inside it’s nothing special and god forbid you have to watch from the lawn (which I did on Saturday). Give me a wide open lawn with good sound any day over SPAC. Maybe if they didn’t over sell and cracked down on the “walk in” but it’s not going to happen.
I skipped the 09 show at SPAC, didn’t feel like the hassle but this year it worked better with work. Bethel Woods in 11 please!!!
^Well, it is nice to be in a pretty place. But, yeah, I agree… that’s not enough to make me return if every other part of the venue sucks. I’m just saying it is too bad, because if the sound didn’t suck, the police weren’t assholes, the views weren’t completely obstructed and the capacity wasn’t oversold by 50%, it would be a decent place to see a show. 
The real problem with the SPAC lawn is that it was never meant to be used to watch shows from… SPAC was designed for only the pavilion and balcony and selling tickets for the lawn was an afterthought.
^ You are both right.
I was pretty annoyed with the venue, the security and a lot of people who I ran into living in the town (rudeness–they felt like we were imposing). We did at least get to park in the non-SPAC lot up the street, so that made for a decent time with no worries. But I’m pretty sure I won’t be making a return trip to this venue either…
I would be there in a heartbeat, wonderful venue! (cops still a pain unfortunately)
^honestly as long as I can drink 1 or 2 beers from a solo cup w/out being hassled I really don’t care.
Yeah, the venue is a logistical nightmare once inside. Beer Garden is nothing but a time consuming overpriced waste, and the only way to be relatively comfortable on the lawn is to sacrifice your show by hanging all the way in the back. Me and my crew had some good lawn on Sat. but there were 12 of us, and we went in pretty early to stake our claim. And it took alot of effort to hold onto it.
That being said I never had a problem with security or police there and this year was no exception. If you encountered overzealous cops I’m sorry, but, I can kind of understand a strong police presence at Phish shows nowadays. Now I know this ISNT ALWAYS the case, but ALOT of the time the people complaining about a Nazi mentality are the same people rolling through the lot with a 40 bottle in their hand smoking a J and screaming across the lot to their crew. They then wonder why they’re getting hassled.
Or the genius’ that set up a beerpong table in the middle of the lot. Hey I love a good beer olympics as much as the next guy, but how can you be surprised when your cooler is getting dumped by troopers 15min after you set that thing up?
It also kills me to see the amount of waste and filth left behind by a show, and I think this grates on the locals and especially the cops working the shows. Especially in a place like Saratoga, a community that already has a built in stream of Summer revenue in the form of its Racetrack.There are enough attrations there that they are not going to drool over a two day stint of Phish to help stimulate their commerce. The behavior of some fans and hanger ons is starting to get really old. I try not to let it bother me but it does. Garbage left behind, Nitrous Mafia all over the place, selfish fans who think its their birthright to make a mess, get fucked up and act like complete Jerkoffs in the name of a Good time.
I understand that I’m not giving credit to a large number of people who do things the right way, and are in it for the right reasons. I know there are plenty of em out there. I met quite a few. Unfortunately when something gets so big, you’re bound to have a seedy underbelly. And after seeing the tour closer last Summer and hitting the past weekend, I can honestly say the fan vibe has been more…overly agressive as a whole at SPAC than anywhere else I’ve seen Phish since their return.
If east coast shows are as abundant next summer as they are this summer, I’ll skip over SPAC and supplement them for a couple shows somewhere else.
^Yes to the whole post