After a long and incredible tour, we’re finally rested and able to reflect on Phish’s Amazing Summer tour 2010 (leg 1). We present a recap of what we saw, what we heard, and the highlights of Summer 2010!
Hershey: This was the first show of the tour we made it to. A day in the park before the show proved to not be all that tiring, although it was unbearably hot. We finally had a chance to meet and hang with Andrew from Glowstickwars.com and once again chilled with good friend Sam from dogoneblog. The lots were chill, the show itself was solid.
Note to fans: when you lose your ID, don’t ask the people giving you wristbands for drinking. They are elderly and could care less. Find security and they will handle it. Took all of 5 minutes. Good security. And be sure to thank the person who found it.
Also, they dont take tips at the bars in Hershey Park. Good thing to keep in mind.
Postshow Hershey: Best Western was the place to be. The entire hotel smelled like Otto’s Jacket. Highly recommend this hotel next time Phish comes to town.
(Grad School is nearing the end for PhanArt Pete, so he headed home to Albany for a few days before going to Hartford. Portsmouth sounded good, but finishing a Masters in Special Education sounds better)
Hartford 1: Getting to the lots extra early with Taraleigh the Healthy Hippie helped to avoid the shitshow of Nitrous Lot South that we endured last year. Instead, the VIP lot for $20 was well worth it. You could throw a n00b and hit the front gate we were so close. Sales in the lot were decent but slow. Fans were enjoying the conundrum of parking that is Hartford. Early Arrival FTW!
Our good friend Ken from Syracuse joined us for his first Phish show. Ken has an open mind to music, although he is a fan of 80s rock like no other. Having been to 70-80 KISS shows, this was a test, but Ken was down for it. He knows we’re not seeing DMB here. Safe to say he was amazed by the show. The Walk Away floored him because he plays that in his own band, as well as Sugar Shack->Alaska. Set 2 had a tour highlight for Pete, Tim, Ken and many others. Party Time->DWD->Sand was 35 minutes of nonstop dancing. The Horse/Silent and Guyute that followed gave us a break to rest. Perfect timing too.
Heading back to the hotel after the show, we celebrated an impromptu latenight birthday party for Ryan Montbleau. Passing out at 3am is never a problem, except when you have a World Cup game to watch at 10am. Time zones, how do they work?
Hartford 2: Pete awoke to Team USA being down 1-0, so game faces were put on and the room slowly awoke. 1st half was terrible. 2nd half was awesome, with our friend Journey showing up JUST in time to get us that first goal from Landon. She was not permitted to leave until the game ended. Bullshit call by the ref on that winning goal. Glad we tied it 2-2 though
And somehow this is now a sports blog. Our bad. Once every 4 years….
We got some food at a Greek Diner down the road, sobered up, and headed to the hotel to packup before getting to the lots. This time we opted for the EXPO lot, as we did in 2000. It paid off. The folks we were near were solid, ran into the folks we were catching up with in Albany later that night, and sorted out a few things. Even the cops were cool, joking with us under the incredibly arbitrary rules for canopies/tents/ez-ups.
Plus, showtime at 8:15pm? Not bad. 12:30am end time was nice too. Depending who you ask.
During the show we caught up with Holly, Thomas and Tyler from down south and showed them Northern hospitality by taking their PBR and replacing it with Bud. We had a great time on the lawn. Summer of ’89 is a great new song. The show was all around great and post show was nice in the lots, where the cops waited till 2am to give us the final push to leave. And just in time as a spunion showed up to demand a ride to Springfield. I informed him that we could only take him as far as Shelbyville and he ran off. The drive to Albany was slow, but worth it. Good to sleep in your own bed the night before show #3 of 4 in a row.
SPAC1: We were all admittedly tired and didnt want to deal with SPAC’s crackdown, but it was a smokescreen. If you were under 21, or looked under 21, you were screwed. If you put up a Syracuse Flag and chatted with a cop with a beer in a cup, you were fine. So keep that in mind folks.
The PhanArt Crew had a great show, although this wasn’t the best of the two nights (Pete’s opinion). Post show we picked up Dr. John at the airport, headed to the apartment, enjoyed the party for a while and rested up for the 42 Degrees and PhanArt Poster show in Glens Falls the next day.
SPAC2: After a successful poster show with great art and great artists on display, as well as great glass and tons of fans and locals visiting the shop, we headed to Davidson’s to watch some South American team smoke some tiny European country. Then it was off to SPAC. Rt 50 entrance is the way to go, and made for a very easy out both nights. Beers in hand, we headed into the show and got right down on the lawn near the bottom, Page Side, a highly recommendable location to watch the show in.
The show started strong with Brother (with all the Mason boys in attendance, a nice touch) continued strong with Undermind and Jibboo, and set 2 got off to a great start for set 2 with Carini->Mango, Wilson. Yes, Drowned was aborted. But there are no complaints about Phish here. Some jams are aborted, some aren’t. And the rest of the show more than made up for it. Maki->Piper->2001->YEM = Best four song set of the tour. Post show was slow moving, but good relaxing at the Mason Ranch with Isadora and Warren and others before heading to sleep.
Oh yeah, they played Sleep Again. That was cool.
Day off – This rest was well earned.
Great Woods: Some days you are out of the starting gate like a horse. Some days you trip out of the gate like a wook who forgot to pull his pants up. This was one of those days. But incredibly, we made it to Providence to pick up Marc and got to Great Woods by 4pm. No Shakedown = No problem. The lack of Vendors boded well for PhanArt, selling books and prints for Mockingbird, as well as so many shirts we nearly ran out of Golgi/Google’s.
Matty FC, an old friend from Syracuse who enjoyed his first show together with Pete on 12/13/97 came in with another first timer, our buddy Tony from Coventry (RI, not that other one). The four of us ventured into the show, proceeded to get lost from each other, found a couple of others, decided to enjoy the lawn, and then ventured back to the seats for Set 2. Highlights include Dr. Gabel (love this song) and the Mike’s Groove and Sally->46->Light.
Then the waiting began. If you dont park in the $40 pay lots before the show, you dont leave until 2am, unless you want to miss the encore. Then by all means. But we didnt leave until 2am, got Marc to Providence at 230am, and were asleep in Seaconk by 330am. And yet again, more soccer to wake up for at 10am.
Day off: Waking up to soccer at 10am after a long day and night of driving, drinking and dancing is no easy feat. Dealing with 90+ minutes of no scoring and sweating the possibility of not advancing? Much worse. So thank you Landon Donovan for scoring that goal! Made the next few days so much easier to bear.
Pete and Melanie hit off Weekapaug, RI, on the way to Camden. This town does not want to be found. It’s like the island from LOST, and since it’s Rhode Island, it’s not far from the truth. Yet we found it. And some solid seafood.
Next stop was Jersey City at Tim’s for Pete, somewhere in CT for Melanie, and then Camden the next day.
Camden1: Having never been to a Camden show, a bulletproof vest was procured. It was too damn hot for it, and with the thunderstorm rushing through the area, being a conductor for electricity turned out not to be a good idea either. Quick storm, nice cool down, and good times on Shakedown were had by all. The show was solid, but the heat does drain you on days like this. The inside of Susquehanna Bank Center was as hotter than a tin-foil tampon and just never got better. Seats on Page side the next night were somehow cooler. Dehydration may have had a hand in here.
Camden2: After a night in Fishtown, we headed back to the show, took the lots very calmly for once this tour, and made it in for the bustout show with Alumni->Letter->Alumni and The Sloth, Free Man in Paris debut, and a second set that had an unfinished Chalkdust and Fuckerpants would have made Brownie blush, but the 2001 that came out of Alaska is potentially the #1 highlight of the 1st leg. The dance party was in full effect and anyone who denies this as being less than awesome needs to go see O.A.R. to remember who they are on tour with.
A late night in Philly with a) too many people in one room, b) security walking in when things were just getting interesting and c) this guy talking security into not making this a big deal = this is why Philly is NYC’s younger brother. They just never learn.
MPP1: Shirzad came along for the ride for the next few nights, and yet again, World Cup took precedence over Phish. Fortunately it was again, 2:30 in the afternoon and this wont happen again till 2014. (No Phish in 2002 and 2006 may have been too good of a thing for soccer fans). Catching up with Rachel from Syracuse and her family for the game was great, but the Overtime was not. It’s bad enough we lost, but we had to park in the Sears parking lot near MPP, after a sick hour of sitting in traffic. Julie had some great seats inside for us which made it all worth it. The show wasnt the highlight of the tour, but did have its moments. Especially the Tweezer.
A drive to Alexandria later to stay with our good friend Phrazz was more than worth it. Great sleep, good food in the morning, and then hitting the lots extra early proved to be worth it.
MPP2: Fans found the Syracuse flag, Kerrigan prints sold, and Pete did a podcast for This Week on Lot with Steve, Emilie and Laura, all the while dripping in sweat, pounding water like it was beer and watching Gordon drive by on his golfcart. The lots were hot, and the show was hotter.
By far the show of the tour, the “I Saw it a YEM’ show never let down. Hanging with Julie from PhanArt and Sam from dogoneblog made for a great night. The Meatstick, the whole 2nd set really, it was all amazing. Just a fantastic, great moment in Phish history there.
A long drive to Andrew’s house ensued. We may have stayed in Ohio. Still not clear on this.
Day off: Long day of driving to Canandaigua ended with a solid group dinner on the lake and some poker with Noah and the gang. Great sleep->prep for the final show of the tour (for us).
CMAC – The venue, the lots, the town, the scene – all of it was ideal, especially if this was the last, or only show you were hitting off this tour. Yes, there were arrests. This happens everywhere. The cops were out in force, but not enforcing any rules beyond ‘Don’t sell drugs to a cop‘ or ‘Don’t be a menace to South Central while Drinking your Juice in the Hood‘. Too many fans went down for this offense. When will we learn people?
The lots were great, so many people came by to use the Syracuse Flag as the means of finding others, we debated charging. So next tour – $5 donation to Mockingbird if you use the Syracuse Flag to locate your friends. There were really no landmarks in this lot, not even a giant Itchy sign or Scratchy sign. Not even a Poochie sign. Something for next year.
Lots were great, and again the searches were so weak there may as well have been a tank inside. The show started off interesting enough with a 1st set DWD, Curtis Loew and Connection, but Set 2 is where it was at. Possum, then a Mike’s with some presence, Simple that took its time moving into I am the Walrus was so far out of left field, Manny would have given up on the first note.
The show ended, the drive home ensued the next day. A stop in Syracuse for some Cosmos hit the spot before leaving some money with the Casino and returning home to relax and return to life in Albany.
All in all, an A+ tour with great friends, especially from Hartford->CMAC. Thank you to all who supported PhanArt and Mockingbird, who picked up a print or shirt, donated a prints (list coming Wednesday), or just stopped by to say hi. It was great meeting all of you and we look forward to hanging out more this summer at Jones Beach and later this Fall.
Yeah, those dates should be coming soon……
Much Love,
PhanArt Pete and the entire PhanArt Crew