SHARING THE SHOWS
Day 2 of Phish. After enjoying some Pho food, walking around the terminal library, and learning about the history of the Liberty Bell and advocacy it inspired with my friend Melissa, we picked Amy up from the hostel and drove to the venue. We got to the parking lot and were met with a charge of $40. Now that’s taking advantage if I’ve ever seen it. But hey, when you’re catering to an audience that loves to party in the lot, you can pretty much make your price. Like I said yesterday, gotta make that money!
I got a little stressed before the show when I got a text from the person to whom I sold my ticket for the Raleigh show, saying they hadn’t gotten it. I had paid extra to get it to her place by noon on Wednesday. Fortunately, I got another text the next day saying that she did get it. However, as I was told I’d get a full refund on the ticket if it didn’t get there on time, I do believe the USPS will be getting a phone call from me when I get back home (I’m on the train going through Alexandria, VA as I type this). Amy ventured into the pit with the other elites, while Melissa and I got food and headed to our spot on the lawn. She got a bacon cheeseburger and French fries, which she described as some “sad fries.” Of course, I munched on some of them anyway, and they were stale AF. Anywho, the first set started out with some older stuff (“Moma Dance,” “Free,” “Undermind,” “Theme” and “My Sweet One”). All tunes I dig, but not my favs since Phish has evolved to 3.0. Then, they busted out “Steam,” one of my favorites. “Train Song” was mellow, “Halley’s Comet” was groovy, and I fell in love with “Everything’s Right” when I saw it with Drew aka Brometheus on the first night of the Baker’s Dozen last summer. They had a helluva jam before closing the set. Melissa and I wandered around during setbreak before finding food. She dug her cheesesteak, while my jumbo cheeseburger took a while to cook. In fact, “Julius” started just as I got it from the stand. It was a pretty sad burger, but this audience isn’t particularly demanding, so whatever. I’ve loved “Carini” ever since I heard it open my third show on 12/5/99 at Rochester’s Blue Cross Arena. In fact, next May 2, I’m gonna post the following on Facebook, “the thesis that I wrote was a load of shit, but I’m glad I finally finished it.” I don’t think it was, but May 2 was the day I defended my dissertation at UTEP and officially became Dr. Wynne in the eyes of my students and colleagues. Just because I have a doctorate doesn’t mean I don’t have a sense of humor. “Set Your Soul Free” had me jumping around, and I love “Wingsuit,” but it’s not a tune to dance to, so I chose to hit the bathroom. Apparently, others had the same idea, because it looked like a “Drums/Space” segue from a Dead show at the facilities. Once I got back, I lay down on the ground to look at the sky. Sadly, no stars. In hindsight, I could have walked toward the left to admire the view of Philly, but oh well…next time. “Scents and Subtle Sounds” was next; my favorite part is the opening guitar riff, while the rest is just okay IMO. “Waste” nearly brought tears to my eyes, and brought the memory of me playing it for my ENG101 students this past fall, both on my guitar and my laptop. Students compared and contrasted both versions in preparation for an essay exam in which they would write a comparison and contrast of two elements. “Split Open and Melt”is always welcome, as is “Character Zero.” They encored with “Suzy Greenberg,” during which I spun around and did a windmill with my arm a la Pete Townsend (fun note: I have a femme fatale in my screenplay named Susan, and her AOL InstantMessenger screenname is SusieG. It takes place in 1996). I walked Melissa to her car before heading back to that crazy line to the ferry. More interesting people-watching, including the drunk girl who had three Ubers cancel on her while she waited on line. I had a cool conversation with two guys in front of me, one who may be interested in a job as a professor of film. I gave him my e-mail; whether he follows through with this CV is on him, but phamily does help each other out. On the ferry, everybody sang along with Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is” and Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” chanting “So Good! So Good! So Good!” and “Bomp, Bomp, Bomp!” And when we got off, naturally, it started pouring. The walk wasn’t too bad. I got a late-night pizza slice, which I clutched on the walk back to the hostel. I mean, I can’t have a greasy slice getting even MORE wet.
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