I woke up at 8am, which is unheard of for me, and started writing. ROUGH DRAFT. Here goes. Open for all proofreading/suggestions…
Chapter 1
This story starts with a little bit of failure, but ends with success beyond previous comprehension. I think it was Patrick who woke me up sometime in late ’08
with a text message. I think it said something like, “check Phish.com right now!†Patrick, at the time, was a really good friend of mine, and someone I could talk Phish with for hours. He had seen Phish multiple, multiple times before they decided to “quit.†I hadn’t…
Rewind a little bit back to high school. I was a sophomore and in the marching band, discovering what would be my life’s biggest passion, musical performance. Music had always been my one true love, but it never solidified so well until that year. That’s when it all started happening. One night, before a marching band festival or football game or something, My good friend and musical comrade, was talking about this band, Phish, and the crazy shit they would do on stage, such as performing a cappella Freebird’s. I got pretty hooked soon after that thanks to Kiel Neff, my Geometry teacher. He burned Junta and Rift for me that year, my two favorite studio albums ever recorded by anyone. They didn’t do much spinning until my junior year, when I became obsessed, after hearing various live tracks over my sophomore year.
Then came the announcement that the train had derailed. I was 16. I had started driving about 9 months beforehand. My car, though loved, was crap. My money, though enjoyed, was non-existent, other than what my parents slipped me every now and again. I tried to hop on that last tour, but it was too much to ask of my ever-generous folks. And I think, at that point, it was a little too much to ask of myself. So, I went to Bonnaroo with the hopes of Phish playing. After all, it was in the midst of their “last†tour, and Trey Anastasio was closing the festival. It wouldn’t have been that surprising, considering that Phish playing surprise, un-billed shows, and generally dropping the jaws of the community, was something they were pretty well-known for. Instead, we got a set of Trey conducting a philharmonic orchestra, and a set of the ten-piece TAB, full of horns and intriguing composition. Though, incredibly wonderful to see and hear, I was quite disappointed that I had missed out. And so were my friends. For years…
So, with no means or REAL drive, which came later, we went to see Phish at Coventry…in the movie theatres…The shows were cast nation-wide, in a theatre near you, and this was the LAST chance. We purchased our $20 “Phish†tickets and went and witnessed the shit-show first-hand and up-close. Big-screened and zoomed-in. Balloons, glow-sticks, smiles, dancing, drum circles, smoke, alcohol, cocaine, confusion, Trey-hate, anger, and tears all around. In the middle of the God-forsaken West Town Mall…
Then came the 4 years of sadness, realization of un-fulfilled dreams, actual dreams about seeing a Phish show, and regret of not hopping on that last run, no matter how horrible the last tour was musician-wise. I started seeing other shows and eating acid, which, don’t get me wrong, was all superb. I started hitting up festivals as much as possible, and doing small runs with bands like Widespread Panic and The String Cheese Incident, my other live-music passion, trying to find that great show. Though, SCI was always SUCH a great show, there was always something missing in life. That Phishiness was never really a part of anything any of my musical comrades had experienced live, and we wanted it, SO BAD. We felt so unlucky to had been born so late and oh-so-South. But we didn’t beat ourselves up, much.
Then came the times of hopeless rumors of a reunion. The times of 70 Volt Parade. The times of Trey saying incredibly ridiculous things in interviews while fucked up on the many substances he was fucked up on. The surprise Superjams and Trey/Mike shows, which were incredibly fun and meaningful, but not quite there. Those shows were reminders of how meaningless this missing-out factor was. It was quite a time. I remember at the surprise Superjam at Bonnaroo, with Mike and Trey, the Duo, and Phil Lesh, I ended up crying my eyes out. I was spun out on LSD, and that show struck many nerves. It was one of the most exciting times of my life, but there was also that “what the fuck?†feeling. I didn’t understand why Trey wanted copies of Phish, and that he wanted to constantly tour and play, but without, in my opinion, the greatest band that ever existed. Why couldn’t IT BE anymore. Why did this happen? Why did I miss out? Why, if these people were still alive and kickin’ and playing together, weren’t they PLAYING TOGETHER?
I made many bets that the universe would allow such happiness to return to Planet Earth. I told everyone that they, being the intelligent people that they were, and are, would come back. I told everyone that they would come back, and that they would be good again. Not many believed me. There are some that still owe me reunion-show tickets, due to the bets. Too late. Either way, I found the Oh Kee Pa in ‘06. The Oh Kee Pa is a website full of wonderful, Phish-loving, intelligent, ridiculously witty people, much like the jamband crowd, especially Phish’s fabled crowd. This WAS Phish’s crowd! Online! I found ‘em!! This was a foundation for many vents of frustration, studies of Phishtory, predictions of the future, and later, a network of close friends to lean on no matter where we were seeing Phish…
Fast forward. Patrick. “Check Phish.com!†It was very early. I remember I had guests at my house that morning. I may have even woken up next to a female. I don’t remember clearly, but I do remember not caring at all and standing straight up, still asleep, and running out of the house on a chilly, fall Tennessee morning, with no shoes, and jumped in the car. I had my own house at that point, but no internet. So, I jumped in the car, with no shoes, and flew up to Patrick’s house, whom lived right up the road. I went straight in, jumped online. I saw The Announcement. Phish in March. It was ON!
I knew from the summer that something was cooking. I think about a year before The Announcement, Trey got busted. He had gotten pulled over and arrested for having an assortment of different drugs in his car. I’ve never been so thankful of the Police in my life... Long story short, Trey went through programs, got clean, got smart again, and things started happening. Rothbury ’08 signaled the return. Look it up. We all KNEW after that. Then came the Fall, and the wonderful news!
