Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a big Phish fan. And given the amount of their music I have in my collection (2.3 gigs or 1.7 days worth) it's no surprise that I usually hear at least one Phish tune per day, usually more.
Some of you not familiar with Phish may wonder how (or why) I can have so much music by a single band. Several reasons: 1) Phish allowed taping of their concerts; 2) Phish played a lot of concerts (1,183); 3) Phish played a lot of songs at their concerts (19); and 4) Phish had a huge repertoire (647 songs).
Today I heard the last song Phish ever played together, The Curtain With. I was lucky enough to be in attendance for this performance, along with my long time phriend and road trip buddy, Chris K. Of the 50 or so shows I attended over the years, Chris was there for many - a better brother one could not have.
Another buddy of mine, David T., recently forwarded me this great link. The set up is basically that a prankster sent a bunch of letters to a variety of bands (The Rolling Stones, Janes Addiction, among others) under the guise of being a rabid fan who "accidentally" downloaded a copy of a song. Along with the letters were checks representing payments for the songs.
I don't want to ruin the prank for you but let's just say that the boys from Burlington showed another reason why they are one of the best bands of all time and will always be one of my favorites.
Which of your attended shows ranks as #1? I will put 12/1/95 up against any non-festival show- they blew us away at hershey pa that night (mmm, chocolate). Ranks above 12/31/97 in madison square garden. I did enjoy your antics in virginia beach summer '98 (soaking in the late afternoon 'bronzing' rays), and loved the august '04 show in philly - especially tucker almost throwing fists with the george castanza look alike in the parking lot after the show, I guess that dude just didn't appreciate the tuck man's styling lacoste polo and shaggy hair- very o.c.
Cheers to phish for the good times!
Posted by: finnious maximus | March 04, 2005 at 07:30 AM
It's tough to make a call on a single best show. Hershey certainly kicked ass. Virginia Beach 7/8/99 was memorable for my great seats and the Terrapin Station encore. And I was lucky enough to be at the "Hampton Comes Alive" shows which we all know were stellar. However, I'd have to say the entire experience at Big Cypress for New Year's tops the list.
It wasn't that the band played especially well but that the whole vibe was really special. There was a real confluence of time, place, and community that's hard to explain.
Posted by: Buck Smith | March 16, 2005 at 09:01 PM