SHARING THE SHOWS
A personal note: I took some NyQuil before going to bed last night, and ended up rolling out of bed at around 10:30. I planned to do some grading today, but my body essentially told me I need a break. It makes sense with all the work I’ve been doing with this dang portfolio.
Anyway, after writhing about and drinking some soup and tea while finishing last night’s blog post, I went to pick up my friend Kelly from the airport. She sold me a ticket to 12/31/17 at MSG for Face value, and we’ve been Facebook phriends ever since. So, when she responded to my “less than 24 hours till Phish” posting with a question about whether the Coliseum allows backpacks and I responded by telling her no, I had to offer to let her stash her bag in my car. Awesome person, high-energy, very upbeat. I had to introduce her to the Cove’s She-Crab Soup. Phish Joke #1 of the day: There was a “Wedge” salad, and we hoped Phish would bust out “The Wedge” (“We’re bobbing on the surface, and the shadow glides below”) I gave her a poor man’s tour of Newport News (City Center, the fountains), as our time was limited, my cold was rampant, and it was raining. After a nap, I helped her get some stuff from her bag so she could prep to meet a person from whom she was buying a ticket for the show for Face (a tough one to get on this particular occasion). Phish Joke #2: “I’m foggy, a little groggy, but I’ll help you to your car.” My new nickname from her is the Stash Dangler; as I was helping her get her bag out, I said, “I’ll try not to dangle your stash.” Rule of threes! Once Kelly’s shift was offer, Maggie was on duty. We drove down to Mission BBQ, a local fast-food barbecue chain with which I wasn’t familiar, to meet Drew, Jesse, and Mark. I enjoyed some nice brisket, Maggie’s Mac and Cheese, green beans, cornbread, and a Diet Dr. Pepper (I don’t normally drink soda, but phuck it, it’s Phish). My buddy Fred from Rockland County, the place of my inception, came down from New York for the shows, so Maggie and I waited for him. After he downed some nice-looking turkey, we drove through the orange cone-adorned street to park on a grassy knoll. As I was looking for a landmark with which to locate the car, Fred introduced me to “pindrop,” where you could pinpoint your location on the phone. Phucking brilliant! After some phishing around, we found Drew, Jesse, and Mark in some seats on the second tier. Before the show, I went to the venue, and this is where I’m going to gripe: Through a lot of soul-searching, I’ve come to the realization that I don’t want human children; I like kids, but when I come home, my cat/son Chester is enough (“your cat is a big beautiful black animal”). I have no beef with those who are parents; Drew, Jesse, and Mark are all awesome Dads, as are some of the best people I know. But I take exception to those people that say crap like “It’s different when it’s your own” or “you might change your mind” or whatever. And I’m part of two Facebook groups with the word “Childfree” in them (as opposed to “childless;” Google the terms if you don’t know the difference). In that virtual space, we make fun of people who say shit like that. We also rank on parents who have no business being parents. Like the guy in front of me on the bathroom line. It was a super long line, and the show was most likely going to start in 10 minutes (7:30 start time means 8:15, and it was 8:05). The guy was wearing a shirt that said “Grateful Dad,” and he asked a couple of us, “do you think I could pee outside and nobody would notice?” “I wouldn’t,” someone responded. He did it anyway, after which he came back to the line and said, “Pro tip: pee outside,” before walking to the show. That is what we in the Facebook groups call a “breeder.” Google the term if you’re not familiar. Seriously though, dude, nice role modeling. The tall, ponytailed dude next to me said, “I’ll wait. I don’t wanna be labeled a sex offender.” Dude, if you’re a Dad, good job. Anyway, personal gripes aside, onto the show. I did miss part of the slow “Llama” that opened the first set. It’s awesome, but worse thigns have happened. “Fuego” has some catchy lyrics, and “Runaway Jim” has a helluvan energy. When the crowd yells “Bug” and raises their hands in the air in unison, I get a little skingasm. “Mound” is always cool, and “Tela” gets me tearing up (they rarely play that one). “46 Days” was rocking, and “Fluffhead” was rolling. Setbreak: since the crew waited for me, it was my duty to hold the seats. Jesse got his “First Tube” to open the second set. That’s two of his wishes on two runs; he got “Curtain (With)” 8/11/18 at Merriweather. I’m thinking he was a saint in his past life. “Dirt” is another skingasm-inducer, and “Backwards Down the Number Line” bops. I remember my friend Sal snapping his fingers when we hit SPAC on 6/19/10. “No Men in No Man’s Land” got a little spacey. I associated it with the “Drums/Space” the Dead does, so I figured I could hit the bathroom. I was mistaken because I was met by a somewhat long line in the Men’s Room (seven stalls in one bathroom and no urinals!? For real!?) and “Cavern,” one of my favorites, came on. I was getting antsy because it’s a short tune, but fortunately, I was able to make it back for my favorite part (“Give the director a serpent deflector”). Then “Gotta Jiboo” followed, as did “Oh Kee Pa” into “Suzy Greenberg” for the second-set closer. They encored with the uplifting Stones tune, “Shine a Light.” Another awesome show. After the show was another adventure. Maggie and I met up with Fred and Kelly, both of whom were in different places. We ran into my friend Ashley and caught up quickly, which was nice. Driving out of the venue was a little tricky, as the venue seemed to have placed cones at the entrance where we came in. Oh well. Anyway, when we got back to my place, Maggie took off while Kelly hung at my place waiting for her Uber to Virginia Beach. We bullshitted for a bit while I piped Phish’s Walnut Creek show for Summer 97 tour into the DVD player. Fred and I shot the shit for a while until we both started drifting off. My cold’s gotten a little better (knock on wood); I think hosting people and socializing helped a bit. I don’t host out-of-town visitors very often, so this is fun.
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