i went to the phish show here last night and had an awesome time.
i knew nothing about phish until bryan..... and even though i always enjoyed the shows and the music i guess i always thought of it as being his thing. last night i realized it isn't just his thing, it's my thing too....and it felt good.
my 25 year old cousin Joey came with me and he was the perfect date. he's the life of the party but also very concerned about everyone having a good time. this was his first phish show which was really exciting for me. he fit right in with the hippies. we immediately befriended this guy from buffalo that had just driven 7 hours from the show the night before to get there...by himself. he had been to most of the shows from both legs of the tour. this is when i started to realize i'm really a fan because i knew the set lists from the other shows and we were talking shop. i thought to myself "who am i? maybe i should start dreding my armpit hair or something?"........then i remembered how much i enjoy personal hygiene and wearing a bra and snapped back to reality.
i do love the hippies though. so happy and loving and blissfully oblivious to the fact that jon had to call the police on kate the night before or the "news" that kourt kardash is preggers.
hippie case in point.....joey and i thought we were getting there
so early at 4:30 but clearly it had been years since my last phish show. we were in a 30 minute log jam for the last 1/2 mile getting into the venue. you know the kind where 4 lanes have to turn into 1? well being the aggressive new york driver i am, using my 'only worry about the guy in front of you' technique, i shimmied my way into the last lane. the guy i was getting in front of wasn't so jazzed about my shimmy and proceeded to honk his horn and speed up like a wise guy. little did he know that i lived in queens and was on the marksmanship team in the 4-H and nothing was going to stop me from getting in front of him. plus, hello it's a phish show...where's the love? once all the way in line, my cousin gently reminded me that the wise guy would probably be parking next to me. "oh" i said, and then laughed it off. sure enough wise guy parked right next to me. before i even got out of the car, the angry hippie appeared. "just so you know", he says "i'm a nice guy....but if i weren't a nice guy i would be really pissed off about you cutting me off with no signal or anything....but i'm a nice guy...so just so you know.". i just smiled and proceeded to get out of the car and in my best effort not to completely bite my tongue off, said i was sorry. it was, after all, a phish show and i wasn't going to let this oxymoron of a man get me down. he, his wife and his hippie wing man then set off into the lot with their bongo drum and hoola hoops. a few porto potty visits and beers later, they returned.....looking way more hippie. the once angry road rager immediately approached me and made an amends by offering his peace pipe to joey & i. only at a phish show!
i guess i was always spoiled with pavillion seats and V.I.P parking and V.I.P bathrooms because being in the lawn and parking 5 miles away was definitely a different experience.....and had it been an angry show like eminem or korn i probably would not have enjoyed being that intimate with 30,000 sweaty people. but it was phish....and we all danced, and sang, and marveled at the light show and the always stellar improvisational skillz these musicians possess.
despite the somewhat disappointing set lists, joey really appreciated the music and the experience. i think he's a phan in the making.......and aside from the show, it was very cool to have some one on one time with 1 of my 30 cousins because that rarely happens!
when i was trolling joey around the lot describing each category of phan like 'those are hippies that travel from show to show and don't have tickets but they sell quesadillas from their hot plates' or 'that's the nerdy guy who has an IT job and could tell you every song they've played on this tour so far...and will be taking notes at the show'. so i guess now if you see me at a show you could say 'that's the working mom that rolls on chromed out almost dubs and listens to hip hop but also had a phish wish set list scribbled on a post it note at work'.
the end.
"Goo goo ga ga.....look at me....I'm a cute baby with glasses....."
"Yeah...you think this is really funny...ok I'll laugh and smile and play along but let's not take it to the next level"
"Don't mess with me Willis"
"Freakin fanelly....how many times do I gotta splain to you. Do you speak english?!? Let me give it to you slow. I.....Don't......Wear......Glasses"
"Everybody....look at me...laugh at me......now how bout dat candy bar?!?"
