So with the Bug, they left out the “It doesn’t matter” throughout the whole song and didn’t sing it until the end. Do you think this was symbolic in anyway? They sang the “Overrated” and “Don’t need it” part.
Was there a Bug on 3/6? But that’s an interesting observation. It was definitely purposeful and very possibly symbolic of their music mattering very much to them again.
Friday morning at Hampton was incredibly symbolic for me because it started with an increase in salary. I’ve been working a deal to extricate myself from my part time job, and part of that deal involved asking my full time employer for a ten percent raise so I could quit my other job.
Well, about nine on Friday morning, my supervisor called my cell phone, something he never does, but he thought I might like to hear that the company agreed to my raise, and he was oh so right about that. I was dumbfounded, and knew at that point that the rest of that day, hell, the rest of the weekend was going to be pure heaven. And it was.
I was as light as a feather, because I kind of knew that I was quitting the other job, but was a little concerned about the lesser revenue that the pension would give me, but now, all that was wisked right away. I knew that my evenings would be mine from now on, and that just turned Hampton into a major major reason to celebrate.
After calling Marie to tell her the good news, Neil and I left for the Cracker Barrel for breakfast. I was so freaking high, and I didn’t have a drink or a smoke as yet. Had a great breakfast that I was planning to buy, but Neil just took the check before I could treat him, and he paid for breakfast. What a cool guy he is.
After we left the CB, Neil drove down coliseum drive and we went to scope out the place. Things were still pretty quiet by 10, so we dropped the car off at the hotel, and decided to take a walk back over to the venue to see what was building.
When we got in front of the coliseum, I took a picture of the big tetris man in the fountain, and laughed at the guy in the golf cart trying to keep the fans away from lining up at 11 in the morning for an 8 oclock show. Guess he didn’t understand how crazy Phish fans really are.
From there we hunted down Brett at the Days Inn, and after finally meeting the big guy, we had a beer together and talked about the excitement that was building. Some guy came by as we were standing outside his hotel room, selling Hampton posters and magnets. Brett turned around and bought a magnet for both Neil and I, and it now sits proudly on my frig, to be a reminder of both a helluva weekend and a helluva guy.
The day was absolutely beautiful. Neil was in shorts and t-shirts were the choice of wear. The sun was warm, but there was a great cool breeze out of the south that made it just freaking perfect.
Hung with Brett until nearly one as he was waiting for his room across the street at the Ramada to be available. We walked back to our hotel, and I decided to take my car to the lots at 2, just so that I can have my cooler and night time shirt available nearby. So I loaded up the cooler with the appropriate drinks for the day/night… grey goose and lime juice in poland spring bottles was my general plan, with sambuca shooters stuffed into pockets to get by the pat down.
I love Phish show lots. They are typically such a chill scene, with some of the best people on the planet. But I have to break this off for the moment, cause it’s time to return to work.
yea, sorry the Bug was on Sunday, wrong thread.
I knew you were a Man of Class! 
I got one, and my pockets were full and Brett instructed me to “stuff it in my shoe.”
That guy…always thinking.
Wouldt be a Phish show witout em!
Stopped for ice and headed over to the lots. We were a bit early, excitation be blamed, so we parked at the Ramada on the strip and waited for the traffic to start moving in. Hung out with a lot full of excited people waiting to go in, and listened to Bill Frisell Unspeakable. Just like the warmup music inside, nice stuff, perfect day not being challenged a bit.
When the cars began to move and we found ourselves being routed by the coliseum staff and policia to some of the furthest lots. So Neil jumps out on the way and heads over to find Hank and Brad, and or BigB, Brett, etc and see if they were on line yet. He was kind of an advanced guard of the SOA, making sure the coast was clear for continued friviolities.
So I drove into some lot really far away, but also close to the exit, and pretty much filled to the brim with happy Phish fans, so I didn’t mind a bit. I get some pretty ‘cautious’ looks at times, but since 12/3/97, I kind of revel in them. Learned on a Philly subway with a bunch of other fans that the cautious looks were almost always followed by some kind of recognition and a smile.
I love the Phish lots generally, but this one at Hampton, was definitely my favorite. I’m sure there are scaly stories as well, and I have one of those too, but there wasn’t much happening that wasn’t always at one and perfect. There was nothing out of place, whether it was rude or not. And when I opened the grey goose, it only got better.
Red team go, red team go!
nice, love reading the breakdown of the lead up to the show, great stuff!
…I get so overwhelmed by…
I can’t remember exactly, but I think when Neil jumped out of the car behind the convention center to head over to the line, he already had some goose masked in a water bottle. Believe we set them up at the hotel, and I had mine ready in the cooler. So after I pulled into a spot on the perimeter of the lot, near the port-o-lets, port-o-potties, johnny-on-the-spots, but facing out to the street, the remaining lots and the coliseum beyond, I turned off the engine, but kept the 2/28/03 Tweezer blasting on the system, and reached in the back for the goose, and in my pocket for my bullet.
No, I don’t mean THAT. I’ve been convined by most of you here not to use the metal bullet pipe because of the loose aluminum ions that are released upon heating, so I don’t usually. But for these kinds of situations, it’s very very handy because it’s discreet to use, people can barely understand what I’m doing with that lighter.
So I hung out and relaxed for about twenty minutes, enjoying the music, the drink and the smoke, and most of all the thoughts that were flooding in now about the first Phish show in four and half years. I had been unable to conceptualize about what to expect for that first show, that’s why I couldn’t enjoin in the Hampton Pick 25 game that the BigB set up. It was too much for me to deal with because my mind would have just snapped with all of the projected guesses and songs I really wanted to hear.
But I was feeling really good about everything so far. All events leading up to that moment were pretty damn near wonderful. So I decided to walk the lots a bit and see what folks were up to. But first I wanted to text Neil to see where he was and if he had met up with the rest of the Pa.
Texting. I’ve only had my cell phone for about two years. Marie has had one much longer, but I never wanted to be bothered between land line phones. Having a phone in the car, always seemed more of a bother than a good tool. And before last Thursday when I got into the car for the drive to Hampton, I think I had used my cell once to return a text message someone had sent me. So obviously I didn’t have a text plan on my service.
Found out just last night, when Marie and I went to Verizon to add texting to our plan, that I had sent/received 120 messages between Thursday and Sunday while on the Hampton trip. I’m hooked, and if I could turn my phone on right now at work (not allowed in the building because it has a camera), I’d be texting anyone and everyone who gave me a telno.
So I was walking, or even possibly stumbling, around the lot and stopped to buy a Magic Hat Number 9 from a couple of guys from the Albany area. Post hiatus fans who managed to get their tix through the initial lottery, and who were, unsurprisingly, straining at the bit until the show started.
We talked a bit about that feeling and all agreed that there was no way to understand that kind of level of excitement. It was beyond any rational sense, but they knew what I was talking about, and told them about when I first experienced that emotional hook during the first set closing Antelope at Darien Lakes in the summer of 97. Told them at times it makes me feel like Richard Dryfus making a model of Devils Tower out of his mashed potatoes. They knew exactly what I was talking about.
To quote Neil quoting Third Encounters…
This means something!
come on Bill, let’s get to it. i wanna hear how you cried like a girl during Fluffhead when Trey tore out the most heroic and triumphant solo ever and in that moment it fully hit you that they were actually, truly back to stay, like i did. i mean, like the guy standing next to me did.
OK, I cried like a girl when Fluff started. Story over.
Actually, I was still numb and processing what was happening during most of Fluff until almost the end. The tears didn’t come until DS because it hit me where I was and that Marie wasn’t with me because that’s ‘her’ song.
But you’re making me jump ahead, and I’m not saying anymore.
damn Bill, you use a bullet?? :o
I didn’t know you partied THAT hard! 
^very nice 
that pic is awesome. Look how happy they are. Rockin The 3-6 bowie
aw jeez, i’m sorry. i forgot about that aspect of it for you. sorry bout that.
That was during “bouncing”. It popped above Page right after that pic.
Oh, when I was driving east on I-70 to Dayton on the morning of March 5th, I passed Young Jeezy’s tour bus.
I had to Google him to see who the fuck that was.
Carry on.
A got a nice picture of the scene now…Sounds sweet!! Did you guys all chill in the lots? Or did you start waiting in line?
Man this summer is going to be insane. There will be multiple OKP members at every show I guaran-damn-tee it!!!
After the beer with those Albany blokes, I went back to the car to grab some drinks and head off to where Neil and the folks were standing on line. Whilst I was gathering things up, I managed to strike up another conversation with a couple hanging out by their car, two away from mine.
A couple in their late twenties or early thirties from northern CA. He was originally from Boston and sounded a lot like Matt Dillon in Good Will Hunting. Although he’s been in CA for almost ten years, his accent was still wonderfully Bostonian.
They had been attending Phish shows since the mid to late 90s, and the conver eventually came back to that intense love for Phish that drove them across the continent to attend these reuion shows. Mark, I think his name was, said there was pretty much nothing that was going to keep him from seeing these shows, and considered himself very fortunate to have gotten tickets online. He admitted that he would have paid scalpers if it came down to that, but they both “had” to be in Hampton.
They too had no idea as to why the music means that much to them.
Although the portable toilets were real close to where I was parked, the lines into them were really long. So I saw a line of portolets running down the lots adjoining the convention center, and decided to walk to a less crowded one, because I needed to understand this new irregular balance to my walking. The goose and the magic hat had offered a challenge to an activity that was normally pretty standardized.
Arrived at the lines around 330 and found and met BigB and Nina, Hank, Neil, Brett and his friends that I had met earlier back at the Day’s Inn. There was also another OKP’er whose introduction I didn’t get, and I managed to spend half my time trying to understand from conver dipping who he was. Figuring out how to do things was getting a little more difficult, so I apologize to you, whoever you are.
Got to meet Brad as well, although he was hanging in another section of the multiple lines that were formed from the gates, passed the fountain and beyond. It was a really fine time actually being able to express thoughts to the OKP without all this typing going on.
I really enjoyed watching Hank interact with everyone. He was all over the place talking with so many people and carrying the inner lining of a box o Franzia wine, offering it up to all of those he came in contact with. Had I not been so committed to the goose, I didn’t want to mix any more than I had already for fear of getting sick and missing the biggest show in years.
I had forgotten my shirt for after the concert and my Sambuca shooters back at the car, so I went back one more time for them and some freah water for Neil and I. The lots were really cooking by this time, and the carnival atmosphere was in full swing. But from what I saw, even though there was a police presence, unless you were blatantly obvious about what you were selling, things were pretty chill all the way around.
The only slightly scaly experience I had for the two days I was at the shows, happened when I got back to my car, and even that wasn’t really bad. It was just about an old guy from TN trying to make a buck on some Phish fans.