Phishing

So, I know, it's been a while since my last post.
I wanted my next blog to be about music. It took a while for me to figure out what that would be. I started scrambling for new albums that released, anything that would inspire me to write. Couldn't come up with anything that really moved me. So I thought... I'm seeing Phish on June 11th, a band that used to be my favorite, so let's wait until then and write about something I care about that isn't forced.

Quick recap: the last time I went to a Phish show was July of 2001. I went with my sister, Michele, and two of her friends. I remember this concert well because it was AWESOME. The encore ended with a "Good Times, Bad Times" Led Zeppelin cover and fireworks exploding in the sky just above the arena. I was 17 at the time and much more of a phish-head back then. Probably because I listened to them all the time and had what seemed like 30 of their CDs. I'd also seen them I think about 5 or so times at that point and my screen name was BadPhishBabe (a reference to both Phish and Sublime). Nowadays, I find myself skipping over a lot of Phish songs on my iPod, but still turning up the volume on my forever-faves. OK, onto the concert...

Last Saturday, I finally saw Phish for the first time in 10 years (with Kyle, your sports expert) and bounced around the (lawn).
There really isn't anything better than being outside on a beautiful summer night, beer in hand, person you love standing next to you, jamming out to great music. I have to say though that we probably didn't love the concert as much as several of the people around us, who were enjoying more than just a beer.

Phish came onstage at about 7:45. They played two sets and an encore. The first set was fairly short, but included "Wilson," which was good enough for me. They took a long break in the middle of the sets to do their thing backstage, while I was getting anxious for them to return. Subtracting the half-hour-or-so break in the middle, they played for 3 hours. We didn't leave until 11:15. Think about that... most shows you go to, the band plays for about 2 hours. Two and a half if you're lucky. These guys are almost 50 and rocking harder and better than most other bands, half their age. The reason? Probably because they have a ton of material to choose from for each show, have a huge following, and only grace the stage on the years they feel like it (meaning, they barely play shows anymore).

Second set. It's now dark out. Enter balloons and glow sticks being thrown around the audience. Phish starts off with "Birds of a Feather," one of my favorites, then "Tweezer," followed by a lot of songs I didn't know. Was it that I hadn't heard these songs before, or that my old phish-head self was forgetting some of their music?! Not sure. One of the last songs in this set was "Wading in the Velvet Sea," another one of my favorites. As much as these guys rock out on their instruments, you can tell that vocals kind of play a backseat. They were all singing along to "Wading," but it was as if they just were playing it for the fans. Or maybe they were just a little tired since they'd been playing forever!

Overall, it was great to see Phish rocking out again. Don't think I'd go to another show in the near future, but they'll always be a band I respect because of their originality and amazing musical talent.

"...you won't find moments in a box..."

~M.