I think there is a deep-seated need as humans to feel part of the tribe. We are social animals and as such need to feel a connection to a group of people… and then within that group we ultimately need to feel loved. That is the beginning of opening our hearts. People say “Whats the meaning of life?” I say it lies in opening our hearts… further and further… and just a little more… I wonder what it would be like to have a full and completely open heart?
In anycase phish is a good examle of feeling connected… they brought people together and the more you learned about them the more you could relate to the community. The more you could relate to the community the more you felt loved. What is better than being and feeling loved?
Anyway thats my hippie outlook on the whole thing… I always went to shows looking for those genuine people that I could just give/receive a hug to and know. I found many of them and just look here we are again on this board. I can say I felt the scene changed quite a bit after the Dead stopped playing and was discouraged… oh well all I had to do was poke around and I’m sur I couldv’e found good peeps… but there was a lot of negative. In any case this kept me from seeing them much in the late 90s… oh well I don’t regret it, I travelled down different paths and roads and found some a little more stable.
Hmmmm but somehow here I am still as much in love with the music as the first time I heard Junta in 89’… Well I can’t say I was in love the first time I heard that album but it definetly spoke to me like no other music. Took me another 4 years to see them tho and never really gave myself over to tour… I did move to the northten mtns of NH where I currently reside and phish is definetly what inspired my move… along with a blond hippy chick who is long gone:P… but ironically not far. I don’t know I wanted to live in the spirit of phish, make it my life, become phish!!! Whoa deep man… I felt more connected walking on the “hallowed ground of VT” than anything else… and if none of you heard of the former “Bread and Puppet Circus” from Grover VT well its seems stuff like that is essentially the heart and souls of phish and places like Goddard.
I’m really not trying to be cool here just putting out my connection and vibe is all… this has been my experience. Yuo certainly never had to see the band to feel a connection and embody their spirt so daon’t feel so bad if you never did. All the recordings are there… and you probably own more then I do… (however I hope to get some copies from some of yall someday:):):))
I also thought it was neat to run into people that saw/knew the band back in the late 80s… in the beginning. Most of the phishheads you meet in the mountains of new england were there in the beginning and have some great stories to tell. I’m originally from philly and moved in late 94… I can remember sometime around 91/92 there were these whispers of phish trickling down out of VT… how stellar they were, how devoted their fans were… well as we all know it wasn’t long before the secret was out and now here we are still riding the wave of the cultural phenomenon that is phish.
On hindsight it is easy to see how “phish” got too big for those 4 guys… they are really just laid back VT types wishing to groove. Hmmmm will they ever get their groove back… I wonder. I have not seen 70vp… is the groove there??? Seems Mike grooves well with Leo… love 66 steps. Anyway quite a morning rant by the goldpheeeeeesh… Thoughts anyone… morning coffee yet? That darn war in Iraq? Mozzarella sticks? Those damn consevatives?? Those socialist liberals? I can’t stop… peace:)
