The original Summer Tour 2013 shirt with PHeanuts characters on the front and full tour dates from Bangor to Commerce City on the back (including the original Toronto date). This shirt is designed by Andrew Cariboni and printed on Gildan ‘Sand’ colored shirts (off-white). As always, shipping is free on all orders. (Canadians, add $4 to your order for shipping)
Only 2 Dicks XL shirts left! Want one? Leave a comment below and you’ll be contacted!
“Buzz In The Honeycomb” is Isadora Bullock’s 3 color linocut print (one of the layers is a hand rolled 3 color fade), measures 15″ x 21.5″ in a limited edition of 150 for the Phish shows in Commerce City, CO at Dicks. The lights in his eyes are the new light rig for 2013. Buy now for $35 plus shipping.
Watch a process video of Isadora making her poster
This four color triptych features an original design by TRiPP. The sky is filled with a three color fade signifying the change from summer into fall and day into night. Available only as a three piece, you will receive a matching numbered set. This is an edition of 200, signed and numbered by the artist.
If you order before Noon MST on Friday, August 30th, will receive FREE SHIPPING! Order here
Phish tour in July meant that I could plan to see a bunch of shows without fear of missing school or having to rush home after a show to be up in time for students. This summer was filled with incredible music, great times, good traveling from show to show and meeting new friends and experiences along the way. Here’s my recap of Phish tour from Holmdel through Merriweather.
It turns out I could have done some more work on Monday, because I was up until 4am Wednesday packing, editing, writing, even vacuuming before I left. I didn’t get on the road until 3pm, which wasn’t good because New Jersey rush hour is just the worst. I got to the Garden State Parkway around 5pm and sailed to the exit, bypassed it, tried to cut in and was met by the cop parked right there. Gotta admit, good spot if you’re low on that ‘illegal lane change’ ticket quote. Still, I got in and parked within 100 feet of the entrance. I had only been here before for TAB in 2001, which you can read about here
I caught up with Tim and Shaun and Bryan and others, sold a few shirts and went inside. First set was nothing crazy special, although I do enjoy a nice ‘Theme’, but second set contains my vote for 2nd best jam of the summer (after Tahoe Tweezer) – Crosseyed > Hood was incredible for a great 30 minutes of deep jamming and a blissful 4 minutes in the last section of Hood. This second set was the heat and steamy inside, and showed that the band was on track to play better and better each night, which they did for the most part of the summer. It helped I was down low (thanks Tim) and got to see the spaceship aspect of the venue, very underrated in my opinion. I found my way to the Shakedown in Lot 3 that was quite a hike down and up hill, where I caught up with some artists and sold some shirts before taking an easy drive to Shaun’s.
In the morning, I left with Satoshi and Yasunobu to head out to Yankee Stadium, meeting up with Jason and Jules to see the Royals at 1. Bonus – great seats in right field only a half dozen rows back and Ichiro playing Centerfield. IPAs in hand, we brought two Japhans to their first American Baseball game and basked in the sun on a relaxing as hell day. Jeter came back, got a hit and run and promptly got hurt again; the Yanks came back to win 8-4, and Satoshi and I drove to Long Island, where we stayed the night before the Jones Beach show with Amy, taking it very easy and drinking Blue Points galore.
Friday was my last day to finish my SPAC review, and managed to get it done by noon and then get through all we had to take care of before getting to the lots. Yasu took care of his streaming stuff, Mark came over with his kid Henry, it was a crazy day and that was before picking up cases at Swiftway and some Italian next door. Looking at 5% chance of rain and nothing on the radar, things looked good for Jones Beach.
Then we got there, 20-30 mph winds were a norm and this was going to be interesting. This is one of those times when being an Eagle Scout is awesome. We set up the EZ-Up, tied it down to the wheel of the car, put up the tarp and tied that down, and holding one arm of the EZ-Up in place, we had a shelter for a dozen people at a time. For two hours before a show, this was damn fine group work, getting a little comfort in before the show. And we needed it. That was the worst rain I have ever dealt with at a show, on par with Bonnaroo 2004 and SummerCamp this past year. First set was fun though, I was so pumped up because I have this full body orange rainsuit, and I stay pretty dry in it. They are the best. Yet I got wet because gale force winds and driving rain that seemed to blow upward. Set break Sue, Bryan, Jada, Toombs and I took refuge outside the tunnels, and then, the rain stopped, and the second set began with a reward for toughing it through the rain – “Rock n Roll > 2001 > Tweezer”, all of them just driving the energy in the venue higher. The jam into “Cities was greeted as all Second Set Cities™ should be – with freaking out, and again into “The Wedge”. Even Velvet Sea and Zero were good, and now that I was drying off, the night was looking better and better, even though the rain was manageable, to an extent.
Post show, I took my sweet time getting dry and ready for a drive straight to the hotel in Columbia, because it was going to rain on and off and taxing. Satoshi and Yasunobu drove with me, but they stopped for a bit in Jersey. I had to get to a bed before I slept and didn’t want to miss going to the venue at a reasonable hour. I got to the Comfort Suites, a pretty nice new chain, for me, and checked in as soon as I could. The drive down was great, the destination even better.
Lunch was a crawfish boil at Noah’s place, with all the fixins and some incredible spice to the crawfish. It was on the way to the venue and Julie and Lesley were both there, a pleasant surprise for all. Crawfish were tasty, but have so little meat on them compared to other seafood I eat. It was damn tasty nonetheless and a culinary bucketlist item to cross off. We managed to get to the lots around 6, ending up in not the good big Lot, which was chill and brought out the Baynes, Charlie, Herschel and Mike Lawrence, who is shooting a 30th anniversary fan film, look for him at Dick’s and on Fall Tour!
There wasn’t much to write home about with MPP night 1, except that I was really glad I was in the pavilion, that rain during the end of Set 1 looked rough, and with the odd slope of the lawn, fuck that. Actually Taste, Maze and Melt were all good in the first set, as was the Hood, but the heat came the next night. Post show, the cops were happy to rush us out the door and back to our hotels, which had a wide array of late night revelers, some spunions, dudes drinking good beer, tweakers and girls drinking good beer. I met some dudes from Texas I think. It was a late night.
The next day, I was patient for the opportunity to go to a Gastropub for the first time, Victoria’s in Columbia, based on Tim’s recommendation and reminders of ‘duck fat fries’. I ended up with Eggs Benedict, but with prosciutto and crab meat, on a biscuit, with citrus hollandaise sauce. Quite possibly the meal of the tour. We got to the main lot early and got a prime spot – maybe 5 car lengths from the RV the cops were using for surveillance. I put up the Syracuse flag, as I do at most shows, and this year I didn’t get any grief for it. We ended up with a nice lot spread, met some new artists and chilled with everyone who was done with tour and not heading south. In fact, I wouldn’t see some of these folks until Dicks, or even Fall Tour. The first 8 shows there was a good crew of folks, from Twitter and just over the years hanging together. That was cool.
The day was humid as fuck, so inside the circus tent of MPP, it wasn’t going to be any better. The show started out nicely with First Tube and had that pretty awesome debut of the Marimba Lumina in Mule, and as always, a Tube so short you couldn’t take a piss during it. Set 2 with Golden Age > Twist was a perfect combo of songs to get things going, but Light > Boogie Man was where I ended up getting down, all leading up to YEM. Plus a good amount of the Chicago crew I would see in a couple days was there, plus a pair who drove down from Camp Bisco, which ended at dawn that day. There has to be an award for that, driving from a festival you worked at for four days, then to a Phish show. Well done Clownshoes!
Post show, I milked every second out of the lots, because shirts needed to be sold before the unpredictable Alpharetta lots. Back at the hotel, Satoshi and Yasunobu were leaving at 4am to drop off the rental car and fly home (Satoshi) and to Atlanta (Yasunobu). By the time I passed out, I had a big smile on my face, as now my tour was more than half over and it had already been an awesome adventure so far.
Insert appropriate quote from The Curtain here.
Better late than never, and just in time as I head west to Dick’s, here’s my recap of the 14 shows I did this summer, from Bangor>Toronto, warts and all. Plus a brief recap on Summer in Saratoga: A Rock Art Exhibition, which you can see more photos of here.
Phish tour in July meant that I could plan to see a bunch of shows without fear of missing school or having to rush home after a show to be up in time for students. This summer was filled with incredible music, great times, good traveling from show to show and meeting new friends and experiences along the way. Here’s my recap of Phish tour from Bangor through Toronto.
Myself, Sue and Bryan – all planned to leave on the 2nd from Albany, so we weren’t driving six hours the day of the show. About a week before, Jake hit me up looking for a ride. When a girl like Holly is your reference, say no more. Jake was in with us and we headed up to Bangor after a whirlwind day of getting things in order before starting tour with a clean slate. I had just finished writing a children’s book two days prior that I had put off for entirely too long, and the lack of time to get it finished was a nice propellant to get it done. With the book done and my first Phish show in Maine since IT on tap, the drive was an easy one. Albany>Bangor took just about six hours, but the longest part – Maine, was made extra creepy with a rolling fog on the 95 the entire time. We joked that the home state of Stephen King would be like this.
Arriving at a Motel 6 around midnight, we checked into a fine 2-star motel and ordered Dominos, because that’s what Maine has to eat at midnight on a Tuesday. We missed the Trey interview on PBS’ NewsHour at 11pm, but we were lucky enough to get a replay at 1am and stayed awake to watch it. Aside from Trey and the interviewers voice, we were so silent we may as well have been in space. I’ve seen this before – when Phish is on TV, or a member of Phish, you stop what you are doing and remain SILENT until it is over. Trey’s interview was the equivalent of putting up three fingers in Boy Scouts or a teacher counting 1….2….3…., but it was all instinct. And an awesome interview taboot. If there’s one aspect of Trey I am fascinated with, its his playing with orchestras these past few years. I actually wrote my first post on PhanArt about the Carnegie Hall show in September 2009.
We all woke up the next day excited as anyone could be for the first show of the tour, and for Sue, Bryan and Jake, the first show they’d see in Maine, which is cool if you’re into traveling for Phish. By awesome coincidence, Stu, who I went to Syracuse University with, happened to be vacationing in Bangor. We planned to meet for lunch as a group and visited Sea Dog Brewery, which was located just down the street from Darling’s Waterfront and right on the Penobscot River. The beers were far better at the brewery than in any bottle I had ever had – while this is true for most beers, it is especially true for Sea Dog – and tasty Fish Tacos with the local catch. For only seeing Stu a couple times since he graduated, and our chats and interactions on Facebook, it was a welcome treat to go to a new town and find a friend there, even more so because that friend wasn’t in town for Phish. After lunch and a couple of pictures together, the four of us, now sans Stu, took a short walk up the road to find Stephen King’s house. You couldn’t have found a more awesome/creepy house, complete with dragons, spiderweb gates, a Benz in the driveway, and a gate that was wide open. A few photos and it was back down the hill to the lots, but not before some random as hell dude drove by and tried to sell us pot; apparently Phish being in town means that locals who grow their own use this method of marketing. Naturally, we balked and found an open spot in the lots next to Sea Dog and set up the EZ-Up among a few old friends, and got some more to join us in a packed lot (carwise) for a good 3 hours on lot vending some and catching up with friends we hadn’t seen since NYE in most cases.
We could hear soundcheck from where we were, not too bad and how many people can say their favorite band gives them a treat like that pre-show? We wrapped things up on lot, walked to the show and ran into Parker Harrington who was shooting the show for Livemusicblog, just as Possum was about to get started, because naturally. Overall, I thought the show was fun, with first set a series of standard with some jams, but the Golden Age and Antelope from the Second Set boded well for what lay in store the rest of the tour. (I’m not getting into details on music with these recaps, unless something was pretty awesome).
The ride back… I had been up since 9am (still on teacher sleep schedule) and it was nearly midnight when we got on the road. I’ve driven farther on less sleep, and with the help of (no joke) the new Donna the Buffalo album and assorted Disco Biscuits and Daft Punk, I was able to make it within 2 hours of Albany before handing the reigns over to Bryan, just as the sun was breaking through. Endurance driving is fun, but after a while, it gets old. Alpharetta to Chicago was easier than this drive and nearly twice as long.
We dropped off Sue and Bryan, Jake and I went back to my place, getting whatever sleep we could. The 4th of July was looming and with a party at my folks place, this was going to be the one night I would sleep halfway-decent until Sunday. After unpacking and squaring things up, I was in bed by 9 AM and able to enjoy the 4th of July, so so much for that plan. Food, pool, drinks, new friends, old friends, everyone filtered in and out during the day over at my folks place, a perfect spot for those days off before SPAC, now in its 4th year! Some folks from School of Phish stopped by, Satoshi flew in to start tour the next day, plus Jules, Scott, Laura, Erika, Adam, many others as the night progressed, because there’s only so much to do in Albany on the 4th besides wait in traffic leaving the EmpireStatePlaza fireworks display.
I woke up on the 5th needing to get to last minute advertising for the art show in Saratoga the next day. Phish was the furthest thing from my mind at this point. I shot up to Saratoga, got some flyers printed, laminates made, checked in at the hotel and helped assemble some of the cardboard displays before rushing back out to get to Albany Airport to pick up Sam (90 minutes late) and Dr. John (30 minutes late), grab food for myself, Sam, Dr. John, Jules, Laura, Jake and probably Toombs, shower and get ready to drive up to the show.
This all unfolded in the short span of 4 hours and got the adrenaline going nicely. To top it off, I had to be on the road by 4pm so that we were in the ‘good lot’, the one across the road from the venue on Route 50. There’s limited vending while you’re up there, and this was the safer of the options. Plus, I had to get out as soon as possible after the show, with the art show and all the next day.
Picking up the media pass for the day and catching up with Andy Hill, photographer for UpstateLIVE.com where I’m the Online Editor, we snuck in just under the wire before they wouldn’t let anyone else in due to a strong thunderstorm cell that was passing over. This is the kind of caution that I can respect, unlike say, NortherlyIsland, but I’ll get to that later on. Watching the crowd pour from the lawn into the balcony, then back out in an orderly manner was actually a thing of beauty – how many other bands have fans that would have done that, without making a scene, pushing, shoving, or being general dicks?
With seats in the third row Page Side, I got some pre-show time to chat with ScottyB from Jambase, talked to some local press and saw familiar faces around the venue (Scott Marks, taper Lenny Stubbe) before resting my legs for a bit prior to the show. I thought the first set was a solid one, especially the Bathtub Gin and Yarmouth Road, but second set had that incredible jam leaving 46 Days that stuck out more than anything. I was happy to be down close and get a good view of the band, something I’ve been more cognizant of in recent tours. Naturally, the rain came down as we left and I wasn’t home until 12:30 AM.
I love being a part of The Mothership Art Collective and help to put on these great art shows that feature amazing artists and a little something for everyone. I hope to continue being a part of this as long as the band is around and longer. Here’s an idea of what its like to put on these art shows the day of the event:
I woke up on Saturday the 6th around 730am, when some were still awake from the night before, and rushed to shower, put my final art and boxes in the car, filling the entire thing up (plus cooler – these events are dehydrating). These events are great because they are in the middle of a three-day run, so its just one night of sleep, but it’s also a REALLY long day. I’m used to them by now as I’ve been part of a half-dozen or so art shows with PhanArt and Mockingbird, so it’s a marathon like no other. Leaving by 8am and arriving around 830/845am, we unpacked the car and quickly watched the largest room we have ever had (!) come together. There were last minute additions (Michael Boyer, Mark Serlo) and many regulars (AJ Masthay, Isadora Bullock, Noah Phence, Branden Otto) and first timers (Nate Duval, Drew Suto) among the two dozen artists in attendance. Some see each other on Shakedown at shows throughout tour, some are meeting for the first time, or some degree of familiarity with each other. I set up my tables with PhanArt goods and a wide spread of art donated to Mockingbird Foundation – shirts, posters, ties, stickers, and finally assembled the PhanArt pin board with all the pins donated, and for sale, to benefit Mockingbird Foundation. THAT was a task and a half, and done mid-show taboot. There were great volunteers helping out this time, which made things a bit easier and I was able to chat with fans to a greater degree than past shows. Great thanks to Chris, Kelley, Jesse, Windy, the always helpful Dr. John, Satoshi and other I am forgetting, but wow, what a show! We raised nearly $500 for The Mockingbird Foundation, brought in other donations from artists at the show and had the largest crowd yet – 1200-1500 Phish fans, friends and locals coming to check out some awesome art. I was pleasantly surprised when Marc, who I went to SU with, happened to stop by – he was in town and saw about the show, so we caught up and got to introduce him to the Phish art scene, as well as a little Phish. The entire day was just that great.
My good friend Shawn, who I saw TAB shows with in 2001 as I drove across the country, stopped by and joined the party for the next two days. We packed up the cars, drove over to the lots, barely got into the West 50 lot and had time to breathe for a little, amid the Tweetup of all the Phish #twibe folks. That was awesome too. The show, not so much. The first set was a dragging affairs, until that Melt came around. Second set Tweezer>Sand>Carini was a highlight of the night, and the tour for me, although I didn’t like Architect since it feels like a TAB song at best. For my one night on the lawn, it was a nice party with everyone.
Post show, Shawn and I decided to hit off Twiddle at Putnam Den, because if I awake after this long of a day, I’m certainly going for the trifecta – three shows in one day (and yes an art show counts). We only stayed for a drink over an hour, but it was a great night. Twiddle are quite incredible and are on the rise in just the right way, not rushing it or pacing it. Bed finally came at 4am, when a few of the other 8 staying upstairs and downstairs at my place, were just getting to sleep. Ah, youth.
Waking the next day, my friend Erika caught up with us as we had lunch at Dinosaur BBQ, a must for anyone who likes food. It’s a regional delicacy for us and damn if it isn’t some of the best BBQ out there. We were on the road in time enough to meet up with Tim and Shaun and Steve and Katie, to set up TWoLArt again on lot. Perfect timing too, as we were one of the last 50 cars to get in that day. One day, I’ll get there early. One day.
With rain looming, as it did for most east coast shows this summer, we headed in a bit early, picking up the 3rd poster to cap off the three prints for the run – great work Drew Millward! – got our seats in the balcony, somehow, the second time for me, and this is a ‘hometown’ summer venue. First set was a rocker, second set a jammer. DWD>Ghost>Piper and Antelope>Meatstick>YEM are the things fantasy setlists are made of. We rocked out with security stopping by to make sure we didn’t breathe on the walkway (but still did anyways) and ended the night with a Loving Cup encore, with full release. Here’s my review for UpstateLIVE.
Post show, the fucking Rains of Castamere came down on us, that is, the handful who were dicking around leaving the venue. I was soaked when I got back to my car, but no complaints – Erika was driving us back to my place, a relief after so much driving already for me. Jake and Laura had decided to skip a Sunday show, a lesson quickly learned. Toombs did too, and left me a cooler full of warm PBRs. We mostly stayed up late, knowing there was little to be done on Monday, aside from travel for some and sleep for me. Monday was a take-it-as-it-goes day, with no rushing for any reason. Satoshi, Erika, Sue and I went to see the Lone Ranger (Jerry Bruckheimer old-west action film porn) and had an early night by comparison. I had Tuesday left to me for editing and final preparations for the next 9 shows I would see, taking me all the way to Chicago. It sucked to hear about Toronto being cancelled, especially for affected friends, and was able to attend the rescheduled date, making it 10 shows for the summer.
4 down, 10 to go.
Curt Wayne, new to PhanArt, grew up in Massachusetts, went to college in Burlington and received a degree in 3D art and Animation in 2010. After graduating, he moved to New York where he is now the owner of a Sign Shop and Design Studio, focusing on hand crafted signs for homes and businesses.
Curt created this poster for the upcoming Phish Dick’s shows digitally using Adobe Illustrator. The size is 11 x 17 printed on cardstock. They are signed and numbered in an edition of 100. Curt is part Native American and knows the history of Colorado and its native tribes, making for a proper inspiration for this piece. Even though they are not screen printed, Curt still tries to create all his artwork with limited colors so each poster has a screen printed feel.
Posters are 1 for $10, 3 for $20, plus shipping. They will be on sale on lot at Dick’s as well.
Tim Ripley has released his Phish Commerce City 2013 poster, “East Meets West”. This five color screenprint measures 22″ x 16″ and is printed on 150 lb acid free 30% p/c recycled paper. If you disregard the ring of fish, there are 30 fish scattered throughout the design, a nod to Phish’s 30th year.
Each poster, including shipping, handling, insurance and confirmation costs $33. If you won’t be at Dick’s, you can reserve one by emailing Tim: timothyripley /@/ hotmail. Tim will be at Dick’s on lot with these posters, so keep an eye out for him there!
Tim has offered to donate a poster to benefit Mockingbird Foundation. Thanks Tim!
This is a five-color linoleum block print by Eric Eskildsen of Osso Inc., to commemorate the three night run of Phish at Northerly Island in Chicago. The size of the poster is 15″ x 22″ and is printed on archival Stonehenge black paper using archival oil inks in an edition of 50. Each poster is $30
Erik’s inspiration for this print was the old ship paintings where a boat is getting pummeled by the sea and storm with no refuge in sight, yet this kraken kept coming to his mind. With the skyline of Chicago in the distance and Northerly Island the only thing between the ship and certain death.
Quinn Sabitini from Denver has made his first (and second) Phish posters for the Lake Tahoe shows this week. Having done a good deal of poster art for Denver area bands, he took his talents and put them to Phish. Below is a description of his work in the artist’s words.
“While reading a lot about the Lake Tahoe region, I stumbled on a ton of info about the local Indians that inhabited that part of the state many years ago, particularly The Washoe Indian Tribe. The inspiration for these posters came from a portrait of an Indian woman from said tribe. She looked weathered and worn but you could see the experience and wisdom in her eyes and skin. I used the portrait as a reference to hand draw an illustrative version of the Indian woman. The illustration was then scanned in to Photoshop and manipulated from there. I’ve always loved the concept of two posters for multiple night runs. I chose two color schemes that I thought would best represent the region of the country. I will be selling the posters on the lot in Lake Tahoe.”
The poster is in an edition of 40, signed and numbered, for each night. The prints measure 12″ x 18″, are digitally printed on 100lb (Night 1) and 110lb paper (Night 2). Each print costs $12, which includes shipping.
Lake Tahoe Night One
12″x18″ Digital Print on Classic Cream 100lb paper
Lake Tahoe Night Two
“12×18” Digital Print on Sky Blue 110lb paper
Josean Rivera has recently rested a couple of ink and watercolor paintings that are inspired by Gamehendge. The 4 prints are the AC/DC Bag, the Famous Mockingbird, Rutherford the Brave, and Divided Sky. All of them are $10 a piece or all 4 for $35. Each print is a limited edition of 50. Feel free to visit his website here!
AC/DC Bag
The Famous Mockingbird
Rutherford the Brave
The Divided Sky
Gamehendge all 4 series
