Here is a reprint from Summer of 2009. My dad passed away that year on Father's Day. So i figured now was as good enough time as any to post this entry from the Classic Shemp files. Enjoy
Well, the wheel is turning and it won't slow down (sorry, mixing my band metaphors) After showing Bruce how to jam it out at Bonnaroo and playing their smallest venue in I don't know how long (St. Louis's Fabulous Fox Theatre), Phish was making a return to Pittsburgh. They played what might have been THE show for the Phish 2.0 era here and now were in Pittsburgh less that a week after the Pens won the Stanley Cup. (Side rant: The media were making a huge deal out 95000 people showing up for the Lakers victory parade. Pittsburgh had 350000 at theirs. Eat it Kobe!) I was going out with Switzer (orignally from Hanover, now resides in VT), her fiance Josh, and their dog Wilson. I had to drive by myself 'cause they were following the rest of the tour and I couldn't find anyone to take the extra I had after other people dropped out.
We left at 7:30 AM (That may seem a tad bit early, but as you all know, I don't fuck around when it comes to going to shows). It was still raining here, but as we made our way west, it tapered off and the sun fought to break thru the clouds. I headed to the campground and Switzer and Josh headed to Pittsburgh to pick up our friend Abby, who took the bus down from Buffalo. (That is the sign of a hardcore fan. No one would take a Greyhound unless they had to) I get to the campground and the owner tells me one tent per site, no partying and I can't bring anyone back from the show. I'm not there 5 minutes and I'm getting cockblocked by this guy. I set up and take a nap.
Switzer, Josh, Abby, and Wilson get back and find out they made their reservation for JULY 18, not June. D'oh. The place is booked but Switzer tells the owner her friend Brian is renting one of the cabins and would it be cool if they set their tent up there. Mind you, Brian isn't even here yet. The owner says sure, go ahead. Then another friend of ours, Nate, shows up and he doesn't have a reservation either. Sure set up your tent by the cabin. So, evidently I'm Charles Manson and everyone else is the Partridge Family.
Now as I mentioned before, Switzer lives in VT and she knows Mike Gorden, the bassist for Phish. I mean they're good friends, exchanging texts and hanging out when he's in VT. She has also waited on Page and Fishman where she works, so she's in the know. When they are at the bus station, they see Page there as well. She didn't say anything to him and we wondered why he was there.
1) He knows that's a good place to pick up runaways
2) He had his woman hope a bus from VT to join him on the rest of the tour.
We pondered and decided it was number two. That's right people, Page buses in his bitches from Burlington (yea alitteration!!)
We left the campsite early and got into the good lot right by the enterance and Shakedown St. A bunch of people from Hanover were already there so we settled in. It was partly sunny so I didn't even bring in the QuickShade. (Hello sunburn) We were hanging out and who should Switzer get a text from but Mike Gorden. How awesome is that? I think he just asked if she was in yet. Still, the only band I ever have contact with before a show is Devolver. We head in to get a good spot and prepare for IT.
06/18/09 Post Gazette Pavilion, Burgettstown, PA
Set I: Golgi Apparatus, Chalkdust Torture, Bouncing Around the Room, Wolfman's Brother, The Divided Sky, Heavy Things, Walk Away1, Wilson, Tube, Alaska, David Bowie
Set II: Down With Disease> Free, Guyute, Piper> When the Circus Comes to Town, Harry Hood, The Squirming Coil, You Enjoy Myself
Encore: Grind, Hello My Baby2, HYHU> Bike3> HYHU, Loving Cup
1 Last Played 10/5/2000 (80 Shows)
2 incomplete; there were two false starts; after the first, Trey said that if they messed up again, Fish would sing Bike
3 Last Played 9/12/2000 (95 Shows); Fishman banter included him saying "welcome to the trainwreck portion of the show"
The Golgi opener unleashed the hose of pure energy. Divided cranked it up even more. And then Walkaway. First one since 2000. Unreal! They even did Wilson for Wilson. Alaska was good and Bowie was ripping. Brent, Blunt, Bobbi, and Josh were 5 feet behind us on the lawn (who needs cellphones)and 4 of Switzer's friend from VT were with us, so we now had a party. Already, the first set destroyed the really good show that Camden was .
So myself, Abby, and Switzer head off to the bathrooms. There are no lights in this venue and then the stage lights go down while we are walking to our group. Double d'oh. We have no idea where they are and the band rips into Disease. We met Cash (from VT) who also is lost. It took most of Disease, but we finally do met up with them. The Disease>Free was dare I say, epic. The rest of the set speaks for itself. Then the encore. Fishman accused Page of giving the wrong note when the sang Grind accapella. So they attempted Hello My Baby. Screwed that up twice and Trey stuck to his guns and made Fish sing Bike, complete with vaccumm solo( I don't think I've seen the vaccum out since 96). Fish introduces everyone and then they do Loving Cup. I called this as the show opener. I also called them bring the Stanley Cup out on stage.(Had that happened, I think a hole in the fabric of the universe would have occured) Alas, that did not happen but Loving Cup was the perfect way to end the night.
And for those of you who read my Camden review and are wondering about my dad, he's in Hanover Hall now but bad. He started going downhill yesterday and it doesn't look like he'll make it thru the weekend. That's OK because Alzhimer's is so bad, death is the only way to end the suffering. The last time I was able to talk to him coherently, his face lit up when I told him I was going to see Phish(He wasn't a fan but knew how much I loved them). And his last act of being a dad to me and for me was to recover and hold on so I could get the release that these shows provided, which was really fucking cool. Now that I did that, I can deal with whatever comes next.
So thanks Dad, my friends, and Phish.
Dave
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