I’m very grateful that I was able to see Phish in some of the most legendary venues they had played in during the final year of touring. It would lead me to Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, the Spectrum in Philly, the Pepsi Arena in Albany (formerly the Knickerbocker or “the Knick” I believe), Saratoga Performing Arts Center just up the road from Albany, the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, and of course, Hampton Coliseum. (On a side note, a big regret was not seeing Phish at Madison Square Garden). I think traveling to new places gives a person such piece of mind, and I always see myself in a future career that allows me to go new places and reflect back on what I see. At some point, I’m going to buy a huge road map and highlight the terrain I have covered in this great country of ours.
In any case, I was unemployed and bored out of my mind in the Fall of 2003. Thank God you have good friends like NB there calling you Colorado, motivating you to get to these shows. I have to give a special shout out to him in this thread because he helped me score my NYE ticket to Miami while we were up north at his cottage. Also, in going to these shows, we missed our 5 year high school reunion. BOO f'ing HOO!!!
So we (NB, PS, and myself) took off the night of November 27th, driving just into Pennsylvania before crashing at some hotel in Amish country. The next morning, I nearly killed us getting on the on ramp of the highway because I was an idiot trying to change the music. We did a 180 in the 4runner and ended up off road, but I got us out and moving toward Long Island. I was really thrilled for NB to see New York City (which I had really only ventured alone in for the first time that year) and I thought that we would get a nice shot of the west side of Manhattan going across the George Washington Bridge. Well, it was so foggy you couldn’t see anything, not even the Trump apartments directly on the other side. So he would only see the city from a distance on our way to Philly the next day.
We stayed at a hotel just a few miles from the venue. It was pretty cold at Nassau, and our seats were not that good, but I was really excited to see the boys that night. Here is the setlist.
11/28/03 Nassau Coliseum - Uniondale, NY
1: Bouncin' Round the Room*, Runaway Jim, Ghost -> Jam -> What's the Use, AC/DC Bag, First Tube, Frankie Says, Bathtub Gin -> Jam, Free
2: Waves, Sample in a Jar, Down with Disease -> Jam!, Walls of the Cave, Two Versions of Me, Crowd Control**, Mike's Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove
E: Crimes of the Mind***
Notes: * - with Julius teases;** - new song, with sociopolitical messages ("time has come for changes, do something or else I will");*** - with the Dude of Life on vocals ("Here's to 20 years and for 20 more, ladies and gentleman, Phish!") .
The show was pretty solid. I loved THE DUDE appearance with Crimes of the Mind. Listening to Trey rock that song out is just epic sounding. Too bad the dude jinxed the band when he said he was looking forward to 20 more years of Phish. The show was good overall.
After the show, we got a pizza from Dominoes and crashed.
In the narrow streets of Philly, NB had some employment connections and got us a nice room at a hotel downtown. The hotel was located directly above a mall too. Kinda weird. We met up with his friend DR there and took the subway over to the Spectrum. When we got of the train, I was caught a little off guard to see that all of Philly’s venues are built in the same area; the Spectrum, the First Union Center, the old football stadium, the new football stadium, the old baseball field and the new one. Weird.
Philly was also cold, but a few beers kept us warm in the lot. Our seats were not that good again, and I wasn’t a huge fan of the show. Here’s the setlist.
11/29/03 Wachovia Spectrum - Philadelphia, PA
1: Wilson, Cars Trucks Buses, Limb By Limb, Dirt, Seven Below, The Divided Sky, Fast Enough For You, Julius
2: Twist > Simple, Taste, Makisupa Policeman*, Buffalo Bill**, David Bowie, Strange Design, Character Zero
E: Friday
Notes: * - Trey says this is the official first Phish song (debuted 10/23/84, the only song known to have been performed at the first show where the band appeared as "Phish");** - With Tom Marshall (who co-wrote Makisupa Policeman, Buffalo Bill, and many others) on vocals; tenth performance of this song (debuted 11/21/92)
The next morning before taking off for Albany, we had to indulge in a famous Philly Cheese Steak sub…mmmmm. We then started the long drive north to Albany which would take us through the always crowded New Jersey Turnpike and the NY Thruway. Having traveled along the Pike that summer, I knew that it was going to be bad. Once we got to the thruway, things opened up. What was ridiculously striking to me was the traffic from upstate New York heading back toward New York City which was literally a traffic jam for what must have been over a hundred miles north of the city. Granted this was the end of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, I was still taken back by how the line of cars went forever and feeling bad for those folks.
We got into Albany and got a room at some generic hotel where we had a huge meal at some steakhouse, had some beers, watched some football, and crashed.
The next day after dining at the extravagant Denny’s down the road, we headed into downtown Albany to the venue. The lot scene was crazy and compact, and it felt considerably different than the other shows in terms of how many hipsters were just hanging out, slinging goods. Here is the setlist from the show:
12/01/03 Pepsi Arena - Albany, NY
1: Chalkdust Torture, Stash, Guyute, Thunderhead, Sparkle, Wolfman's Brother, Good Times Bad Times
2: Tweezer -> 2001 -> You Enjoy Myself, Camel Walk*, Possum*, Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress**, Run Like an Antelope#
E: Fire^
Notes: * - with Jeff Holdsworth on guitar and vocals, singing tunes he wrote.;** - with Jeff on guitar and vocals, first song Phish ever played, "for old times' sake";# - with Jeff on guitar and vocals; also with Tom Marshall on vocals and bell; keyword was "spleef";^ - with Jeff Holdsworth on guitar
Our seats at Albany were pretty bad again, but I didn’t mind. I thought the show was going well until Jeff Holdsworth came on stage to reunite with Phish and pretended that he knew how to play guitar, or sing, or perform to a live audience. It was pretty pathetic, and I’m glad Trey drowned his sorry ass out.
After the show, we made our way back to the hotel in Albany. The next morning we picked up NB’s friend DR (the dude from the Philly story) which required a bit of running around Albany to find the right hotel.
When we got into Boston, we checked into our hotel which was literally a couple hundred feet from the Fleet Center. We met up JCT and NB’s good friend “Cwook” with the rolling eyeballs. Our hotel room was the size of a closet, and was supposed to house the 4 of us with others roaming in and out. This would make things interesting when we were going to crash later.
It was cold in Boston. I waited outside with NB to meet up with his other eccentric friend while PS and JCT went in and grabbed 20th anniversary posters. (I later ended up purchasing a poster). The fleet center was huge, and people were pumped for this show. Here is the setlist.
12/02/03 FleetCenter - Boston, MA
1: Harry Hood*, Cavern, Birds of a Feather, Ya Mar**, Horn > Piper, Anything but Me, Water in the Sky, Down with Disease***
Setbreak Video: Half-hour montage of Phish since 1988 or so (practicing "Fluffhead," which ends when Trey breaks a string; Fishman drumming; young Page; Oh Kee Pa video; Halloween, festivals, and NYE footage, etc.; ends with an editor credit, and "We'll be back... in fifteen minutes")
2: Rock and Roll -> Weekapaug Groove -> Tweezer Reprise# > Frankenstein -> Kung## -> Frankenstein, All of These Dreams, The Wedge, Boogie On Reggae Woman > Cities, Maze, Waste
E: Bug
Notes: * - lyrics flubbed; ** - ended with "Banana Splits" theme (presumably after noticing someone with a large banana balloon in the row immediately behind the stage); *** - screen lowered behind band; # - first line of "Mike's Song" ("Trapped in time, and I don't know what to do") sung in place of the first line of "Tweezer Reprise"; ## - mini vocal jam and delay loop; Trey drops to ground each time "stand up" is said; ### - with mini "duel" between Trey and Page during Page's organ solo;
I thought the Boston show was solid. I loved watching the video montage because it reminded everyone the very humble, dorky roots the band came from. These 4 guys who I had dedicated thousands of dollars to seeing were just a bunch of goofballs from cow country who persevered to become one of the greatest bands ever.
After the show, we celebrated with more cocktails in our hotel room the size of a butthole. People came in and out, noise was made, and people started to get tanked. I lied down on the floor around 2am to try and get some sleep. It didn’t work very well. Where I slept was quite close to the door, and I recall the door being slammed on my head a few times as some people in the room continued to rage all night. JC left on a flight early, PS hardly slept because some jackhole was having too much fun. Bright and early, after perhaps an hour or 2 of crap sleep, we had to get on the road again. NB was still awake when we headed out of Boston, but finally fell asleep, and slept in the back of my car for literally 8 straight hours, not waking up once. By the time he woke up, the sun was starting to set on Lake Erie as we made our way back home through New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
It had been another great adventure in the Phish touring history. The music was average overall, but the experience was like no other. Seeing those shows with PS and NB meant the world to me. It felt as if we had turned the clock back 5 years to Deer Creek when the touring adventure had started. Great times.
Thanks for all your patience in me writing this entry. I know it took awhile to get back on the train. Thanks for reading.
