Hey all!
I changed my name to the Wal*mart Kid.
It suits me better after this wild week.
I am still the same ol’ FloydtheChimpanzee though.
Read on.
I just got back from the show tonight at Webster Hall.
Okay.
Here is the rundown.
Got to the place at 5:30 stood on the “guest list” line.
Their were about 10 people there at the time.
Me and the missus were nervous cuz we weren’t sure if we were really on the guest list, just nervous I guess.
Anywho.
6:45 we walk in. We say we are on the guest list…AND WE ARE!!!
They hand us V.I.P. stickers to put on our clothes.
I ask him where we should sit and he says, “Anywhere. You’re V.I.P.”
Cool!
We make our way to the front of the stage and that is where we stand the whole night.
At the feet of the “man”!!!
All the years of seeing Phish and solo Trey, I never got this close to him on stage.
We were literally at his feet.
Hey.
Can I post pics in here?
I don’t know how.
If anyone knows, lemme know, and I will post the few crappy camera phone pics I got.
But I digress.
So we see a bunch of people with passes around their necks.
They say that that pass gets you into the after party with Trey.
We didn’t think that our stickers were enough.
We didn’t THINK that!
THEY DID!!!
Okay.
Quick note.
The show was “Shine” heavy, my least favorite of all his albums.
He did a “solo” acoustic Divided Sky.
I say “solo” cuz actually he had a 4-5 piece orchestra playing along as well, but the Parade walked off stage.
My girl got teary eyed.
It was fucking amazing and beautiful.
Trey was having a ball playing it.
He said, before playing it, that the next song he played he co-wrote with his mom when he was really young and it was her birthday and he dedicated it to her.
That was when he strummed the first chord of Divided Sky and everyone went ape-shit.
He even did that “note hold” in the middle of the song.
When he got to it and stopped playing, I can’t explain the chills that went through my body.
The crowd went absolutely crazy!
In the middle of the pause he got the crowd started in singing Happy Birthday to his mom.
Right after that, he picked up with the Sky.
But I digress again.
So the show comes to a close.
We don’t know where to go, so we go to the V.I.P. lounge upstairs and just hang out and see what everyone else does.
We see Trey up there and Brad is rushing him downstairs, and as Trey passes the crowd upstairs he says, “I gotta do this thing downstairs.”
I thought that was it for me as far as my whole high.
I follow him downstairs towards the exit and then me and my girl take a peek inside the room he walked into.
Their was a DJ and a whole shit load of people.
I looked at the bouncer working the door and took a shot.
I pointed at the V.I.P. sticker on my shirt and he waved me in.
WOO HOO!!!
We walk in and their is a buffet table and drinks and Trey and Tony and a whole shitload of people surrounding both of them.
We sat at a table and just stared in awe at Trey from afar.
I bought a concert silkscreen and wanted him to sign it, but I didn’t want to push my luck as far as being somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be.
Me and the missus hung for a half hour and then we get up and make our way towards him.
Their is a line.
We stand in it.
We make our way closer.
Finally, it is our turn and he looks at us.
We were watching him as the line was moving and he was really sweet to everyone and being cordial while he was positioned for pictures and signatures.
Well, it was our turn.
He looked at me and my girl and he was like, “Hi, how are you?”
We both blurt out “Walmart".
And he lights up and goes…"WALMART!”
And he grabs me and hugs me, then he hugs my girl.
He leans over to Brad and says, “Remember when I called you the other night from Wal*mart. These are the kids!!!”
Brad did not seem to care at all.
So I ask Trey if he could sign my poster.
He obliges and he asks if we had a good time.
I told him we totally did and that I think his new album is his greatest so far.
He was very thankful.
He leaned to us and he says, “We need to get together and have some burgers some time.”
Me and the missus were wondering if he was, at least, half serious and if we should really exchange phone numbers…
hahahaha
He laughed and we laughed and I said thank you and he thanked us for coming.
He wrote:
Raph and Alicia
Best to you!
Trey A
I suspect he meant to fully write out his last name, but as he was signing my poster some guy tugged on his sleeve and said something to him and when he turned back to us, he dropped that “We should have a burger some time” line.
That was it.
Me and my girl went outside and jumped like goofballs and then sucked down a cigarette like a couple of fiends.
We got in the car and read what he wrote on the poster and just stared at it like a couple of psychos.
So yea.
This was hands down the greatest week of my life.
I got to talk to Trey twice and he autographed something personally to me.
And…
HE HUGGED ME!
Like he was genuinely happy to see the both of us.
He is the warmest fucking dude I ever met.
He just made me a loyal fan for life.
I guess I will give Shine another shot.
