PHISH SUMMER 1998

I had just graduated high school not two months before I officially "toured" with Phish for the first time. I can say that I "went on tour with Phish" but I didn't see the whole tour. To say that you have "toured" with Phish, you have to at least have gone to 3 locations or seen more than 4 shows in a run. That's pretty standard IMO. Whenever Phish would do a short tour like Island tour in Early 98 (2 shows on Long Island, 2 in Rhode Island) you saw four shows which would be a standard short tour. Most of Phish's tours were at least 10 shows other than an occassional improv performance here and there.

For those of you who have absolutely no idea what Phish is, here is Phish in a nutshell and what it has meant to me.

Phish developed out of Vermont in the early-mid 1980s. They evolved into the huge grossing touring act they left as when they hit big arenas and amphitheatres in 94 and 95. They have a bit of east coast bias, especially when it comes to the final shows of an extended tour of 10 or more shows. I saw my first show in 1995 at the ripe age of 15. Phish can play just about any kind of music they want: rock and roll, blue grass, techno, funk, jazz - what would be collectively be known as cow funk (see Vermont). The people touring with Phish are an interesting and diversely or conversely or inversely minded crowd who share a common love for Phish's improv jams, a great party, and maybe a little of that hippie togetherness. By the end of all of it, it was just great to be with the people you had partied with and survived the long drives with over the years.

Phish would decide to break up in May of 2004 for God knows why. But really, I'm not going to lose sleep over not seeing Phish ever again. I accept it as a part of my youth that will stay with me for the rest of my life. And that is why I want to memorialize it on this blogspot.

Back to business. The Summer of 98 went down in history like the Summer of 94 and that rockin Fall of 97. (what did I just write?) The first Phish show I saw that year would be in Columbus, OH at the Polaris Amphitheatre. It would be my first outdoor Phish concert. Here's the setlist.

07-31-98 Polaris Amphitheatre, Columbus, OH

1: My Friend My Friend, Ya Mar, Roggae, Rift, Cities*, Water in the Sky, Stash

2: The Curtain > Free^, If I Could, The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday -> Avenu Malkenu > Twist -> Izabella, Julius, Cavern

E: Punch You in the Eye, Slave to the Traffic Light

*"Oye Como Va" (Santana) jam at the end; theme recurred in "Julius." ^With an "Eminence Front" (The Who) jam.

This show was amazing. There was big crowd of us down at this show including NB, CC, PS, PH, JK, LE, and even my “bro” JF. I remember sitting with NB & LE on the lawn at the show. The version of Free could be the best Free the band ever played, and the rest of the second set rocked too. I had not listened to the first set until recently, and you discover the first set was perhaps as good as the second. The Cities played in the first set is arguably the best version of Cities Phish ever played. A great musical experience to say the least.

After the show was a little bit more crazy. While we had traveled down to Columbus from Detroit in a packed suburban, some of the crew decided to make a dash for the Alpine Valley (Wisconsin) show the next night. NB and I were more content with taking our time until Phish would play in Deer Creek (Indianapolis) two nights later. (Just keep in time, at this point in time, we were newbs and didn’t know that we could have driven straight to Deer Creek and set up camp late at night). So NB and I were quite awake after the Columbus show so we started driving toward Deer Creek. We had planned to get a hotel not long after we left Columbus, however as we got farther away from Columbus and closer to Deer Creek, we realized we were not going to find lodging or camping anywhere. Why you say? NASCAR and the Brickyard 400.

The fans of NASCAR had booked every single hotel room within 120 mile or more radius of Indianapolis. There was no place to stay. Finally, after driving until 5 in the morning, a kind woman working at a hotel informed us that we could sleep in our cars in the Wall Mart parking lot down the road. Yes, I slept in a car in a Wall Mart parking lot AND I ate White Castle for breakfast. Let’s just say it was not the most comfortable sleep ever, but it would have to do. To make matters worse, only an hour after getting to sleep, someone began operating a machine to clean the parking lot that was ridiculously loud. The machine would approach the car, get louder, drive away and then repeat. Lets just say, we got some shitty sleep.

The next morning after White Castle, we would sit in the longest traffic jam ever as NASCAR descended upon Indianapolis. We would see other “heads” in this traffic jam as well, one who would have their mini van run into by a NASCAR fan. And lest we forget that it was like 90 degrees out plus the heat from the cars.

We finally arrived at the on-site camping at Deer Creek around noon or 1pm and set up camp near some trees. We had a whole day and night to relax until the show the following night. I was particularly taken back by the size of the “shakedown” (the local hippie marketplace) at the campground and little did I know that we were only 1 of several campgrounds hosting fans down in Deer Creek. In later years, we would migrate to other camp grounds around Deer Creek. The next morning, JK, PH, and PS would arrive and set up camp near us as well.

There really isn't a lot to say about the 2 Deer Creek shows except that they were awesome, particularly the Divided Sky, David Bowie, Rhinocerous, Ride Captain Ride, and the Antelope. It was all really amazing music to me at the time. I remember that we had pretty good seats (pavilion) for both nights I believe. Here are the setlists from the shows.

08-02-98 Deer Creek Music Center, Noblesville, IN

Sound Check: I Can't Turn You Loose, Better Believe It Baby, If You Need A Fool#

1: Roggae, The Divided Sky, The Horse > Silent in the Morning, Too Much of Everything, Boogie On Reggae Woman, Reba*, Weigh, Birds of a Feather (1:10)

2: Possum, Ghost -> Lifeboy > David Bowie^, I Get Kick Out of You^^, Loving Cup (1:03)

E: Harry Hood+, Bittersweet Motel (0:18)

#Played several times. *With whistling. ^With "Possum" and "Divided Sky" teases. ^^First time played (Cole Porter cover from "Anything Goes"; made famous by Mel Torme; also performed by Frank Sinatra, Ethel Merman, et. al.); Mike on vocals (introduced by Trey as "Captain Gactain"). +With glowsticks, and "Ramble On" (Led Zeppelin) tease by Mike..

08-03-98 Deer Creek Music Center, Noblesville, IN

1: Rhinoceros*, Halley's Comet, I Didn't Know**, Ride Captain Ride***, Cars Trucks Buses, The Moma Dance, Strange Design, Character Zero (1:05)

2: Gumbo, Axilla, Limb by Limb, Meat, Hold Your Head Up > Bike^ > Hold Your Head Up^^, Tube, The Wedge (0:54)

E: When the Circus Comes > Run Like an Antelope+ (0:25)

*First time played (Smashing Pumpkins cover); allegedly has been part of soundchecks for years. **With vacuum solo. ***Blues Image cover; last played 12-30-92, 486 shows earlier. ^With a second vacuum solo. ^^After which Trey calls Fish "Bob Weaver." +With lyric "Bid you to have any spliff."

These would be my first 2 of 11 shows at Deer Creek, a venue located in the middle of corn fields for those of you who have never been. In any case, the shows rocked and we got back to Detroit safely. We would head out to see Phish again in another week. The story gets even crazier as we go on.

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading.