This is a must read!!! :o I grabbed this from PT’s own fenmanNC.
Enjoy! ;D
OK, so many on this board may know from my previous posts that Halloween '95 @ Rosemont Horizon is my favorite Phish show of all time. In fact, I can pinpoint my pinnacle Phish MOMENT as being that Divided Sky from set I (still brings me the chills everytime i hear it). That being said, it was also one of the craziest, scariest, and funniest nights of my life. let’s just say i had an angel on my shoulder looking out for me that cold Halloween night in Chicago…
Just to give you a little history…i was 19 yrs old at the time,
living in Buffalo, NY(my hometown) working at a beverage center(aka the Beer Store), going to a community college as a front to my parents, who had no idea how deep my Phish addiction had grown by that time. I had only seen a handful of shows at that point but my tape collection was growing steadily and my friends were diggin on them as well, which led to some pretty kick ass parties back in the day…thats a whole other story though…so I remember it like it was yesterday…waiting and waiting and finally…the announcement: Halloween show at Rosemont Horizon in Chicago!! I HAD TO GO! NO WAY I WAS GOING TO MISS THIS! especially since the year before they pulled off the White album, i knew it would be nutty…JOB OR NO JOB, CLASS OR NO CLASS, I WAS GOING TO THIS SHOW!!
i had no luck getting tix thru MO or on the phone…so i was bummin’…everyone was pulling strings trying to get me tix, cheer me up, etc…SO…exactly ONE week before the show date I come into work at the beer store and my boss, who was a relatively cool guy but i never really talked to about phish or music for that matter comes up to me and says (literally out of nowhere) “hey…you like the band Phish right? well, my wife’s brother lives in Chicago and knows a guy, who knows a guy, blah, blah…I can get you 2 tickets to that Halloween Phish show if you want, are you interested??” ummmm…HELLS YES!!! i got the tix overnighted to the office for free!! I COULDNT BELIEVE IT! IT WAS FATE! the boss let me off work for the next couple of days and I had someone (my friend Eric) to go with that was equally psyched!!! I had just gotten a brand new car in June (first trip was Red Rocks that year!) to take…so things were really coming together…only 3 days and a 9 hour drive to Chicago between us and seeing the boys on Halloween night! what would they play? how could they top the White Album? (damn, remember it used to be so exciting!?! )…at this moment in time, things seemed so smooth and perfect!!
think tiny pieces of paper and the cops … more to come soon…
ok, the day has arrived! spent the night before gathering up “supplies” (nugs, etc…these were Government grade, g7 or something but either way these were the best i’d had ever, white and stinky as hell) and other road trip ‘essentials’ (i.e. CD’s, food, gear)…my buddy had slept over the night before so we could wake up real early and leave. the road trip there was great! a little long but considering we had just gone out to Utah and Red Rocks a few months earlier, it seemed short and reasonable to drive 8-9 hours to see 1 show. parents will never understand this! damn, road trips are definitley one thing i’ll truly miss about going to see Phish!! always a blast to smoke, snack, talk, take in the scenery, smoke,listen to great tunes, etc… one minor setback regarding the road trip… my buddy couldnt get out of work the next day and needed to be back in Buffalo for work by 4pm. damn.
anyways, we finally make it to the lot at about 6-6:30pm after hitting some traffic driving thru Chicago to get out near Rosemont…we had our priorities… get into costume, find tabs, drink a beer, smoke, go into the show. we thought we were running a bit low on time but alas, the time change hooked us up with a free hour of tail-gaiting!!! things are grand! SO PUMPED!
costumes: I went as the song ‘I didn’t know’ …had a hoodie with DOUG written in big letters on the front with a pic of Otis Redding hanging around my neck, also had multi-color afro wig on…my buddy, went as ‘Frankenstein’ dressed in black, mask, the whole nine…
tabs: we scoured the lot in search of and it didnt take long, really, really, really good white fluff going around the lots that day. anyone else vouch for that? …so we find this dude and decide 1 each should be fine, especially if they are as good as everyone says…we between a couple of cars to split them up and ingest…my buddy has one on each finger tip…it was cold as hell, the vibe of excitement was over whelming in the lot and nerves for whats in store for the night are kicking in full throttle now…well, they dont call it the windy city for nothing folks, right as i go to grab my tab…WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSHHHHHH…it falls into a puddle between our feet…
…my friend and I look down at the what is now merely a tiny piece of paper floating in a puddle of water…look up at each other in dis-belief, look down at the tab still stuck on his one finger tip and immediately look around for the dude we just bought them from who by now had slipped into the crowd on shakedown…checked the time, 7:15pm…damn. we looked and looked for one more tab on our way in but had no luck, we had to split the one. little did we know that was the best thing to happen to us that night. the white fluff’s were for real…very powerful pills!!!
to be continued…
ok, so we split the tab, do a pocket/ticket check and head into the
show, freshly smoked and beer in hand…damn, it was cold, sleeting and of course windy waiting in line. funny to see all the costumes, trying to figure out what everyone was, laughing, smiles all around, voices swirling, WAIT! WAIT! WAIT! am i just toasted or is the fluff kicking in already?? just then, we hear a rumor that they are going to play Joe’s Garage and i turn to my buddy to say ‘that would be sssiiiiiccccckkk!’…my buddy looks at me, white as a ghost and
says, straight faced “DUDE, i don think i could handle that or talk, i think we are glad that one fell in the puddle”…and then smiled a bit and we both crack up…had to be there i guess…anyway, we get closer and closer to the door and i realize i left my ‘piece’ in my back pocket! D’OH! not a very good place to hide it i guess, but by the time I put two and two together and my thoughts are going a mile a minute, i’m in a cold sweat and cant stop looking at everyone’s face melting off onto the ground…BAM!!
‘Next please’ the security LADY says looking straight into my
soul…NEXT!!! nothing i can do but get my bowl taken at this point so i step up to the plate and just start laughing hysterically at the situation and my buddy does too…luckily it caught on and the security lady started cracking up AT US too and said “you guys look TOO happy, go on thru and have fun!!” …no pat down, no nothing.
whoa…close call indeed…turns out that would be the first of a couple close calls with the law that night.
we get in the show, got handed 2 chocolate medallions by this dude
dressed in a wolfman’s mask, who i later heard rumored was Trey handing out the candy…anyone else hear that??? anyways, we grab a beer and go to take a leak, ahhhhh only if things were that easy when your trippin…lol…basically between people watching and checking out how the tiles move on the wall, it took us about 30min to get a beer and pee! (funny side note: i drank the first half of my beer in about 2 seconds and took the rest of the first set to drink the rest) and we are on our way to the seats…another adventure but WE MADE IT!! Page side, half-way up…half-way
down…we get to our seats which oddly enough are right next to this
family of four…mom, dad, 2 kids…and US! just as we sit down…and TRY, i repeat TRY to get a grip …we hear this loud, loud, sound of a jet engine flying over head…somehow it had escaped us the Rosemont Horizon is right next to the Airport… the vibe in that arena was off the hook i’ll tell you. electric!! coupled with the ‘fluff’ it was almost unbearable…almost too much to handle…you could cut the electricity with a knife…so we start to freak out a bit with nervous excietment and again, BAM!!!..house music cuts out, LIGHTS OFF…PLACE ERUPTS! blue glow from the stage…
still going…
ok, so i’ll save my actual review of the show for another time. you all have the discs, you know how sick it is. the first set rips for beginning to end, the Quad is gorgeous, the YEM is monstorous and smashing the instruments on stage was the perfect ending.
a few funny notes:
after the first set ended and the lights came on, my friend and I sat down in our chairs and stared at the crowd for 35+ min, it was a lot like looking at one of those ‘Magic Eye’ posters…we sat in silence, jaws on the floor from the set of music we just got blown away by…right as i finally gained the courage to speak, i said “that was aweso…” and BAM que the lights again! on to the 2nd set! forgot to piss, forgot to get a water, forgot to speak…
during the second set, one of the kids that i was sitting next to was messing with my mind. for some reason, his dad told him they were
playing Jesus Christ Superstar which confused me for half the set but then the kid kept staring at me and smiling, tried to imitate me dancing and everytime i looked over at him, he would stop and pretend he wasnt doing anything. my god i thought, does he know i’m dosed out of my mind? can they hear me? did i just say that out loud? lol…great set! great pick! happy halloween!
…LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVEEEEEEEEE!!! REIGN O’R MEEEEEEEE!!!
ok, back to the story…
so, the show hadnt gone AS long as we were thinking it would…if i
remember correctly it was just a little after midnight(or was it 1pm eastern, dont remember off hand, doesnt matter) when we got out and if you remember correctly from earlier, we dosed at about 7:30-8pm which put us just past the peak walking out of the show…so as i mentioned before my buddy had to be back in Buffalo to work the next day, so of course if sounded perfectly fine to jump in the car, smoke one and hit the road…right?
riiiiiiiiiiighttt…
we got out of the lot rather quickly actually and jumped on the
highway, so far so good…trippin balls…i love listening to music after the show…and at that point we were still jonesin for some phish, so i put in one of my favorite shows at the time…12/29/92 New Haven, CT and just crank it! ROCK ON! follow the lines,
stay in between the lines, 8 hours to go… just then, i look in my rear view and start crackin up…“GUMBALLS!” i yell out over the music…my friend Eric, looks at me and laughs “gumballs??” he
says…“yes” i say, “gumballs, the cops…im getting pulled over”
…meanwhile, who knows how long this cop has been behind us trying to pull us over. we are clueless…lights are flashing, we dying laughing still until we realize …this is bad, this is real bad…new york plates, nugs in the car, 2am, trippin, and the cops…not good…not good…
…not good, not good…stay calm fenman, stay calm…you can do this. so i manage to cut across a three lane highway and skid to a stop which definitley in retrospect couldnt have looked too smooth and we wait, still giggling, dont know why…NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT GETTING PULLED OVER BY THE COPS WHILE TRIPPING, IN ANOTHER STATE!
just then i start panicking about where i put my piece and my nugs.
what if he searches us or the car? we would be screwed. then it hit me, i stuffed both items in a little storage area/CD case i had attached to my visor RIGHT ABOVE MY F’IN HEAD! and…I COULD SMELL IT…VERY DISTINCLY… AND IT WAS VERY CLEAR WHAT THE SMELL WAS! I DON’T THINK I HIT A SKUNK BEFORE OR AFTER THE SHOW!
we are SO screwed now i remember thinking! this is right about the time, the cop comes strolling up to my window and i roll it down very slowly, making eye contact right away with this dude who i now come to realize is an Indiana State Trooper, ahhh shit…I’ve heard the rumors about these guys…I’m dunzo… UGHHH!
cop: do you know why i pulled you over?
me: no sir, what seems to be the trouble? (very cool and calm tone,
meanwhile completely shittin’ bricks)
cop: where are you boys coming from?
me: uhhh…we were at a concert at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago
(damn, should i have revealed this info i thought? what else was i suppose to say? your trippin dude, chill…btw, in case you forgot fenman, your trippin!)
cop: oh yeah, a concert huh? who was playing there tonight?
me: phish (DAMN! thats it i thought…its over, going to jail now!)
::: cop busts out the flashlight and shines it in my face, my friends face, then the backseat, and takes a walk around the car…and comes back to the window :::
cop: you mean to tell me, you drove all the way from New York state to see a phish concert in Chicago? you’re kidding me right?
me: yes (sheepishly)…I mean, I’m not kidding you. ummmm…
me(still): well, we wanted to do something fun for Halloween
and…and…this band…they always play…
::: cop interrupts :::
cop: you mean to tell me you wanted to do something fun for halloween so you drove from Buffalo NY (looking at my license now) to Chicago to see a PHISH concert??
me: well, i guess…i know it sounds crazy but…this band …
:::cop shakes his head and interrupts my blabbering ass again::::
cop: well, the reason i pulled you boys over was becuase you have a
headlight out…
me: oh really? (trying to look EXTRA surprised about having a headlight out because I totally would have never noticed in my condition)
:::cop walks to the front of the car…taps headllight with his
flashlight:::
and… THE HEADLIGHT COMES BACK ON!!!
cop: you know what son? looks like its your lucky night, i fixed it!!
me: wow…that was amaaazzzzing! awesome, thanks sir!
cop(cont.): hey, you know what? i saw phish back in Connecticut in like 1992 or something, my roomates at UCONN were real into them so they took me to check them out one time…they were pretty good actually.
::: i look at my buddy in disbelief, our eyes meet and we both cannot fathom whats happening right now :::
me: you know what sir, i have a question, was the show in December by any chance?
cop: yes! actually I believe it was! how did you know that?
me: I think we are listening to the tape right now!!!
cop: no! thats crazy! let me see it!
::: i pop the tape out of the player and hand it to him:::
It’s labeled 12/29/92 New Haven, CT. set I
cop: wow, thats it! that is a strange coincidence huh?
me: (testing my luck) do you want the tape, i can just copy it from my friend here again when we get back to Buffalo.
cop: no thats ok (hands tape back to me)…one sec, wait here…
:::cop walks back to his car:::
my friend and i sit in silence, afraid to even look at each other but
its obvious our jaws are hanging on the floor…i finally say, “this is fucking nuts! do you think he is messing with us??”
just then the cop comes back to the door and hands me a piece of paper keep in mind, i’m still trippin, just saw the sickest phish show ever, got pulled over by a trooper at 2am in rural indiana, i can smell my stash clear as a fart on a humid day and then …
cop: here ya go guys…
:::cop tries to hand sheet of paper to my shaking, sweat filled hand:::
:::note falls into a puddle::: (coincidence from earlier?)
:::hands it to me (also a puddle) anyways:::
cop (cont.): this note will get you guys home safe, if anyone else stops you for your headlight, just show them this note and you should be good. have a good night guys!
me: wow. thank you so much sir!
cop: be safe guys!
the cop drove off and we literally sat there laughing for about 5
minutes straight! damn, i had an angel on my shoulder that night for real!
we drove all the way back to Buffalo without incident and I actually dont remember stopping for anything the rest of the way …we just listened to music, drove the speed limit and thanked our lucky stars!
END OF STORY*****
there it is folks, hope you enjoyed…there are some good cops out
there i guess…or, we just go extremely lucky… either way, dont drive trippin after a show, with a stash and out of state plates, the odds were certainly against us…and even though we made it out, the lesson was learned.
i officially checked off one of my nine lives that night… sorry it
took so long to tell, but hey not a bad way to spend a day at work though. ha!
fate works in funny ways i guess!
i still have the piece of paper actually…it is a blank tkt and he
scrolled “checked headlight” along the NOTES portion and put his badge number and some other office info in there. doesnt matter, because i thought it was a piece of gold the rest of that night! i was invincible to the cops!
we made it home the next morning at about 10am…safe and sound, still buzzin, jittering, coming down, etc, etc…after i got home though…best.sleep.ever!
sometimes, i still cant believe this happened to me. sad part about it is that i havent talked to that kid (Eric) i went thru this with in like 8 years now. maybe we’ll catch up some day re-tell this story over a few beers.
In the end…I’m sooooooooo glad that other tab fell in the water…we were zoomin’ on half a hit, don’t know if i could have gotten thru it on a full one.
god, I miss going to Phish shows!
Cheers!
