Phish

[Drunk Monk]

It was a stunningly gorgeous morning and dm took the coast road up to Mic's magik mansion, a dear old deadhead friend who has a majestic Victorian on Ashbury, getting there by lunch. Dm scored a great parking space (always auspicious). Mic's place was busy as next door, the Phishheads were taking pix outside the dead house (right next door) plus an array of Mic friends (dm friends too) came parading through to catch a mmmoment with ol' Mic. Dm took a break to walk Haight, something he hasn't done in years. Checked out his friend's tye dye shop, which is housed where Positively Haight street used to be. It's mmmagnificent. And then mused about, poking his head in the bookstore and other odd shops that caught his fancy (there's a super cool Star Wars store there now). Then it was over to BGC with Mic at the wheel (that dude can really drive SF, no mmatter how mmmedicated). Also along for the ride was rugmaker Yuyu, Space and the ever enchanting RM party gal, Ms. Jenny. We got to BGC and it was a fucking mess. The truck from the Greek came to unload the gear as the season closed, plus there was some Shoreline gear as their season just ended too, so there was just gear everywhere, plus the last show's crew (for Bruno Mars) left the place totally trashed - even vomit powder on the floor! Lawd. But we got it all sorted, astonishingly quickly, as more vols arrived and were eager to do stuff (dm has taken to ordering nooBs about quite nicely). Mic had scored sammiches at the Haight market where his daughter works now (he gets a major discount) and we were soon fed, mmeded and ready for some phishin....

One of the tasks I took care of was to dump a container of my dad's old sharps into the sharp disposal at RM. My mom found a cache of his needles for his blood sugar tests, and was going to take it to some proper dumping place, but I knew I'd be at RM so that seemed best that I take that over. It was melancholy, another moment of closure.

My zen priest friend showed up at Phish. He looks for me at every concert he goes to and finally we connected. His daughter and mine were classmates, and our families have gone camping and on other trips together. I helped him build his hottub. He was there with his wife and two other parents from my kid's old school who remembered me but I didn't really remember. Those other parents were lit - prolly X given how deeply they hugged me - and I joined them for the 1st 2 songs. Phish opened with Walfredo but they were all playing in each other's positions, which really confused me at first. Then they went into Ocelot, which is a song that reminds me how much the echo the Dead style (BTW, you probably heard Furthur called it quits - sad, but fitting although next year marks their 50th). Then I went back to RM and was soundly chastised for not responding to being called for the last 15 mins. DM replied "You only told me to take a radio. You didn't say I had to turn it on."

Psych was light - The Skipper , Pearly B & Viv from Whitebird, lean for Phish, but we managed. The Skipper & I executed a fine takedown early on the first night - a biggish dude but we put him down right into a stack of mats so it was an extremely soft landing. Then I coached a bunch of nooBs in the fine art of restraint as Skipper did the talk. He was one of those annoying IPRs with even more annoying friends. He had like $2k in cash on him and a bindle. His friends said they would take care of him, but they lost him and he was found later wandering around outside. We took him in again and got a different friend, but it reminded me of why I don't care for Phishheads. It has the trappings of Deadheads but in the final analysis, they are much more selfish. That tripper did get off one great line "Kadinsky is Bullshit!" which made me laugh.

Phish also played Take me out to the Ballgame, Thus Spake Zarathustra and A Day in the Life, but I was stuck is psych the whole night.

There was one other IPR, a gal with a history of seizure. She was rigid, almost like full body cramps, and we rolled her because it was presenting way too weirdly.

After the show, we all hopped into Mic's van, waiting on Jenn for a spell, until she confirmed via texts that she had found somewhere else to spend the night (she's still a party gal and opted for someplace more lively than a house of old hippie dudes). Everyone crashed early when we got home (although Mic said later he stayed up to watch the niners game). Alex, Yuyu's son, both of whom who some of you might remember from my TCEC Dragon Crew, came in late. He works for APE now and as dm was tweakin with aftershow glow, he got up and hung out with Alex as he ate some noodles and chatted. It was very pleasant, although Dm hardly slept at all.

[Drunk Monk]

I had selected my only RM tiedye from summer tour '94 because that was a pivotal year for Phish, when they first stepped up to big venues. Unfortunately it was blue, blue and purple, which was an embarrassing choice for game 5 of the world series. Civic center was a buzz. I checked out the Asian art, and grabbed lunch at Ananda Fuara, enjoying their delightful ham&cheese sammich, which probably tastes nothing like a real ham&cheese but it's been so long for me that I can no longer tell. I was seated at a table with a gorgeous woman, the spitting image of Charlize Theron with piercing snow-capped blue eyes and her gay hipster friend, and eavesdropped as the two of them discussed their cosmic views of the universe - it was very SF. Then I stumbled about my old haunts on Market, searching for my fav military surplus store (now closed) and hoping to find an enabler for a beer. I gave up on that and tucked into a little bar where Marley was playing for a quick pint. Two cute bartenders started working me for old Phish tales as soon as they learned I was there for the show, surely getting me to drink more, and it worked. By the time it was showtime, I was 4 pints deep. Maybe 5. I decided I would assign myself the task of reporting how the game was going on RM's radio channel, but abandoned that shortly after the 2nd inning as that was the night of that brutal shutout.

Of the show, I have little to report. I stayed way clear of RM (it was a quieter night and they didn't need me), spending most of my time at table service which has been relocated to a niche at the back of the house where there is a view of the stage when the doors are open. I reunited with a lot of old Phish head friends, including a grower that followed up with me later (cleverly acquiring my home phone number which I almost never use), trying to get me to teach him qigong for trade. I was flattered but I stopped teaching a decade and a half ago and while his trade would be bountiful, I already get kicked down more than I can use as tribute. I also got in this long discussion with a visiting psych doc who does similar work in Europe at trance/edm festivals. He claimed to run BOOM, which is a large one in Portugal, and said if I ever got over there, he could take full care of me. I might follow up on that just for research sake. So I really have little to report on that night beyond that it was phun.

[Drunk Monk]

7/18/16 bgc. Show #1 of 3. Starting on a phriggin Monday. I'm here with the dawta after her first day of work. She just got a new kitten and is phading. Me too.

Band sounds strong tho.

[Drunk Monk]

So I would've finished that post above from the phriggin BGC but I got interrupted by some drunk babbling woman who just decided to talk at me for no good reason at all.  Should not have made eye contact, but that's reflex at such shows to judge pupil size and symptomatic nystagmus.

Phish is in phine phorm.  Set 1 was rocking and psychedelic.  Dead & Co have lost their psychedelic crown with Mayer; it has been usurped by Trey after Fare The Well.  Set 2 was a little slower, as if they were pacing for the three day run.  The phishheads are as entitled as ever.  The floor was replete with spilled beer, so much so that our shoes were very sticky by the end.

RM had a poor showing - minimal vols with a smattering of veterans but mostly nooBs.  And the nooBs were silly.  Dispatch was keeping a paranoid OCD control, announcing even when set break happened (but if you weren't sensitive to that, you had to be totally stupid because everyone floods the hallways immediately).  There were a lot of wild goose chase calls, nothing of significance, which was good because I was the lone psych vol who could take it past verbal restraint, so I just took Tara on tour.  She was amused but I think she was more amused to be catching some pokemon in a different locale.  

More tonight.

[King Bob]

Dead & Co have lost their psychedelic crown with Mayer

I would think they also lost it since they don't have Phil.

[Drunk Monk]

The new d&c bassist is ok, but yea, he's no Phil.

Grabbed some beers with an ol' Kung Fu brother who works at Civic Center at City Beer next to where AFS was. Nice place. Playing Jerry on the sound system.  Had a few stouts: Pugilist & awwww....forgot the other ones.  Musta been good.  Man, if that place was open back when AFS was open, we never would have left Folsom street.  

Went back to bgc and realized I forgot to eat, so grabbed some samosas at Ananda Fuara. Show just started and we already got our 1st puker.

[Drunk Monk]

Got phished. 

Gonna b sore 2morrow

[Drunk Monk]

Coming back to my room at my moms's house after the show, I hit an 80s station and had this crazy flashback....

Already sore. 2 old 2 wrassle now....

[Drunk Monk]

I feel better than I thought I would this morning.  Not too stiff.  Not too tired.  It'll probably hit later.

Damn, that was a big boy.  Strong, young, thick muscled and solid.  Kept saying "Mom!!!"  Took six of us.  We found that one thing we really hate to find: an empty vial.  It was a great teaching moment.  When we first did the takedown, I looked around and it was all us old guys, grey hair everywhere.  So I pulled a young team in (we were short staffed - only two teams) and they were such wide-eyed nooBs, but they all hung with it like champs.  The one that was originally the most scared by it all came back for a second round to try another position.  He was telling me that when I led the in-service on Monday, he was thinking 'I'm never going to use this'.  For one gal, it was her first Phish and Rock Med show.  A great experience for them - the heart of Rock Med.  

The band was on FIRE!  Trey picked up a lot from sitting in on Fare The Well last year. Phish is as strong as I've ever seen them. Ran into John Mayer in the hallway, surrounded by some big security guards.  He was at soundboard, probably posting on snapchat or catching pokemon.  I hope he was taking notes too.  

A nooB volunteer asked me how many Phish shows I've seen.  Honestly, I have no idea.  I worked for them doing west coast tour and Vegas Halloween shows in the mid/late nineties.  I know I got over 300 Dead shows (not counting Other Ones & Furthur) and somewhere near 200 Jerry shows (I figured it out once, but forgot the exact number), but I really never thought about trying to calculate the number of Phish shows.  That would take a lot of backtracking.  

I may have to pick up the new Phish album.  I've never bought any Phish.  I have a few odd recordings, but nothing significant, and I still don't really know their song catalog.  I seldom get to listen to it that much.  I'm always working.

[Drunk Monk]

An old deadhead called me out by name. A former IPR patient who I helped out in 94. He was grateful. And it impressed my comrades.

There was a major phireworks display after the show. Right in the middle of civic center. Totally rogue. Totally illegal. Phishheads don't give a phuck. Started a small phire.

Phinal nite now.

[cranefly]

Did you, perchance, see any elefants at the show?

[thatguy]

I don't know much phish, but this Halloween show makes me respect them:



--tg

[Drunk Monk]

Last night was chill.  Didn't have any calls.  Just hung out.

Phinal thought: Phishheads spill more beer than any other crowd.  The entire dancefloor felt like walking on flypaper by the end.  My shoes were so sticky each night.  

If you follow this link, there are embedded vids in this article: http://uproxx.com/music/phish-halloween-...t-history/

A Complete History Of Phish’s Bizarre, Legendary Halloween Concerts
#HALLOWEEN
BY: RYAN O'CONNELL 10.28.15  •  7 COMMENTS


[img=637x0]https://uproxx.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/phish.jpg?quality=90&w=650&h=375[/img]

GETTY IMAGE

You can trace the origins of Halloween back 2,000 years to the Celts, who roamed areas that are now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France. They celebrated a festival called Samhain, taking place on the night of October 31, where people would gather, light bonfires, and pay homage to the dead. These ancient festivals featured costumes (made of animal skins) people wore with the intention of driving away evil spirits, and banquet tables covered in various kinds of food, all meant to keep the spirits happy. And while there is no direct evidence of it, you can assume these festivals featured a local band, also in costume.
Bands dressing up in costumes when playing shows on or around Halloween is as much of a tradition as toilet-papering trees. Any bar or party you go to with a band will feature that band wearing a costume. It’s become standard operating procedure.
Phish have never been ones for standard operating procedure, and the band’s Halloween shows are no exception. They dress up, but they don musical costumes, not physical ones. Instead of dressing up, Phish becomes another band entirely; playing a classic album in its entirety during the second set of their annual Halloween show. It’s become part of the lore surrounding the group, as fans spend months speculating about which album Phish will play at that year’s show. Trey Anastasio and company are taking this year’s holiday off, but we decided to look back at their Halloween history, anyway.
1994

Before heading out on their fall tour, Phish announced that they would be taking votes from fans, asking them what album they should play on Halloween during their show at the Glen Falls Civic Center in Glen Falls, New York. Votes were received via regular old snail mail, meaning fan voting didn’t produce the attention and numbers it does today. The band received about 50 votes, but The White Album by the Beatles was the clear winner.
The second set kicked off around 9:30 p.m. with Ed Sullivan’s famous “Ladies and gentlemen, The Beatles” introduction piped in over the PA. From there, Phish ran through all 28 songs on The White Album, all songs they had never played before, with the exception of “Piggies,” which they had played 10 years earlier. The show, which even featured a third set of Phish originals, didn’t end until almost 3:30 a.m. with the Ringo Starr-sung closer from The White Album, “Good Night,” playing over the PA.
1995

Playing the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois, Phish once again solicited votes from fans. Joe’s Garage by Frank Zappa ended up getting the most votes, but the band elected to play The Who’s Quadrophenia instead.Joe’s Garage’s extensive overdubs and dicey lyrics took the album off the table. Plus, a lot of the songs on the album were songs Zappa had asked never to be performed live again. Quadrophenia had come in second.
Joe’s Garage wasn’t the only album on fans’ minds that night, though. The set break music (“Wanna Be Starting Something” and “Thriller”) had people thinking the band was going to play Michael Jackson. But no, sir. No Zappa, no MJ. Fans would have to “settle” for The Who. Phish added horns and additional vocalists, and capped off the set by going full Keith Moon on a replica The Who drum set that drummer Jon Fishman used during an acoustic version of “My Generation.”
1996

No double albums for Phish’s ’96 show in Atlanta, as the band went with the classic Talking Heads album Remain in Light instead. The sound of Remain in Light jived more with Phish’s sound than The White Album and Quadrophenia,and was an album closer to the heart of the band’s fans. A percussionist was added to help with the album’s wild, afrobeat rhythms, and Phish was once again joined by a horn section to play the songs, all of which had never been performed by the band before. The band would later credit the ’96 Halloween show for having a profound influence on their sound going forward.
1998

The band pulled into Las Vegas to play the Thomas & Mack Center amidst rumors that that year’s musical costume would be Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Instead, the band wore Loaded by the Velvet Underground. Phish lore has somewhat forgotten the Loaded set, mainly because of the legendary third set, which featured only three songs, including a version of “Wolfman’s Brother” that “passes through a cloud of fearful noise before emerging into an exhausted groove.” You know, whatever that might mean.
Phish rolled through Loaded solo, minus any extra musicians. They had played “Sweet Jane” and “Lonesome Cowboy Bill” before. “Rock and Roll” would end up living in their toolbox for years to come. As for that Dark Side of the Moonperformance that was rumored, fans would have to only wait until the next show on the tour. Phish ended up playing it at the Salt Lake City show on November 2, an unofficial entrant into their Halloween show catalog.
2009

In between the ’98 show and 2009, Phish went on hiatus, came back, briefly broke up, then came back again, making their shows in 2009 all that more special for fans, who again assumed the controls for that year’s Halloween show. It would take place during Phish’s multi-day Festival 8 in Indio, California. Exile on Main Street by The Rolling Stones beat out Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Metallica’s Master of Puppets, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, and 96 other classic albums, all of which were displayed on screens prior to the band beginning the set.
Once again, the band brought some ringers with them, enlisting a horn section and backup singers – but not just any backup singers. Joining Phish was Sharon Jones, of Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, and Saundra Williams, who was a backup singer for Jones and is currently in her own soul band, Saun and Starr. Phish had played some of the songs from Exile on Main Streetbefore, most notably “Loving Cup,” as well as “Sweet Virginia.”
2010

I don’t know how well-known Little Feat’s catalog is, but either way, Phish fans were treated to Little Feat’s Waiting on Columbus at the 2010 show in Atlantic City. Phish 3.0 (as they were referred to by Phish fans) had returned in peak form, and it’s apparent at this show, easily the most polished Halloween show the band has done.
“Times Loves a Hero” had been played before, but the rest of the album was uncharted territory, tackled with the help of percussionist Giovanni Hidalgo and a five-piece horn section. Phish played “Don’t Bogart That Joint” a cappella, while their version of “Spanish Moon” was a highlight.
2013
Since 2010, Phish has played two more Halloween shows, approaching them differently than in the past, seemingly abandoning the arduous task of covering a legendary album from start to finish. In 2013, again playing in Atlantic City, the band trotted out a musical costume “from the future,” the costume being their next studio album Fuego (then called Wingsuit).

Never one to shortchange an audience, though, Phish did bring out legendary actor Abe Vigoda at various points throughout the show.
2014
In 2014, playing in Las Vegas, the show’s second set was comprised of original Phish tunes, the majority of which were instrumental, and accompanied by sound effects and narration from Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House, a Disneyland album from 1964, as well as an elaborate stage set and dancing zombies.

***
With Phish off this Halloween, fans instead are being pointed west toward Las Vegas, with Trey Anastasio’s solo band playing two shows at Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas. On social media, fans are simultaneously lamenting the absence of a Halloween show, with whispers circulating that the Halloween shows as they know them are done.
You never know with Phish, though. Halloween 2016 is a long time from now, plenty of time for them to change their minds. But hey, if they don’t, we’ll always have YouTube. Because, you know, it’s more reliable than our memories.

I was at the Loaded Halloween show in 98, working for RM. For a moment, I thought I remembering being at the Remain in Light show too, but I'm too phuzzy in the wake of this phish run, and now I think that might just have been a hallucinated phlashback.

[Drunk Monk]

BGC 7/24/18

They covered Cities by the Talking Heads. I was delighted to recognize a song.

[Drunk Monk]

Well, that wuz phun. Tara had a good time too. It was quite a day. But the next three daze are gonna suck. Well, today tomorrow & fri. I can’t bounce back like I used to. 

And yeah - cities was the only tune I recognized.