Hello phriends. Summer’s here and the time is right for Tour. Once again it is time to break out the coolers and Quik Shade and hit the road in search of eternal joy and never ending splendor. Time to brave the heat and humidity and undertake a ritual as old as mankind; listening to minstrels weave their magic under the starry skies. I kick off the summer of 2011 the right way with 3 nights of Phish in upstate New York. The boys and 15000 of my closest friends show Bethel, NY how to do 3 days of music.
Myself and my friend Bubba left Hanover Friday morning. We had to make a brief stop in Harrisburg. It appeared that a massive thunderstorm tore through Thursday night. Trees were down all over the place. We saw a Mazda Miata that was crushed into an even smaller package. Power out all over the place. But no traffic issues as we hit the interstate. In fact, the roads were almost empty and even desolate as we got on I-84 right out side of Scranton, the jewel of northeast PA.
We take all back roads to get to Kittanny Campgrounds (‘cause that’s all there is in the Catskills, back roads.) The campground had no electricity but we were able to check in right away. I made a bet with a loud guy that Phish would open up with “Prep School Hippie”. By the expression on his face, he did not know which song I was talking about. He gave me 4 to 1 odds and then gave me the first 3 songs. I still owe him 5 bucks but I’m sure I’ll see him some point on Tour. He had a tat of Jerry’s right hand on his arm so if you see him, tell him I’m looking for him.
Our campsite was absolutely gorgeous. Right along a good size creek, we had tall trees giving up an ample amount of shade. It was so green with an almost constant breeze that foretold of a weekend of perfect weather. The visuals with the sound of the creek gave it an almost magical quality, like we were in the Shire. Then our neighbors started filtering in.
There was a couple next to us that were Heads. They had a Quik Shade set up with ribbons and bows on it. When the smoking hot chick came over to ask me to open her beer with a lighter (HMLL’s search me out), she told us they had just gotten married and this was their honeymoon. She never came back to ask for another beer to be opened. I’m gonna assume he saw my beard and realized he better buy a bottle opener before my testosterone overcomes her. She did spend a good portion of Sat sunbathing next to our site. Again, amazing visuals.
2 sites away in each direction were families from the City. Group one was made up of maybe a dozen guys along with wives, girlfriends, kids etc. They tied up yellow Caution tape to mark their territory. They were playing crappy music but it wasn’t too loud so no complaints. Group 2 was one big family, with at least 3 generations there. Lots of Quik Shades and a giant American flag hanging from one of the tents. The father of the family sat in the center of the rings of chair, looking like a lion overlooking his pride. On Sat a group of clean cut Phish kids rolled in next to us. Their early AM music of choice, Drake. Yeash. I’m on Phish tour, not crappy Autotuned pop electronic hiphop tour. Which I believe runs in the lawless border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Switzer and her husband Josh show up and we get down to business. Our camp is set up and we head for the Lot. We encounter incredibly slow moving traffic on winding backcountry roads. We finally get into the Lot and it’s all luscious grass. I’ve never seen such hardy grass in my life. All the rain we’ve had this spring and this grass is holding up perfectly. Inside and outside the venue the grass held up like a champ, with nary a mudbog to be seen.
The venue is on the site of the Woodstock concert. I think it’s even more beautiful than the Saratoga Performing Arts Centre in Saratoga Springs, NY. Rolling hills and trees as far as the eye can see. No light pollution blocking the stars at night. We settled on the lawn and waited for IT.
Friday, 05/27/2011
Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Bethel, NY
Set 1: Tweezer > My Friend, My Friend, Poor Heart, Roses Are Free > Funky Bitch, Wolfman's Brother[1] -> Walk Away, Stash, Bouncing Around the Room, Kill Devil Falls, Bold As Love
Set 2: Carini > Back on the Train, Boogie On Reggae Woman > Waves > Prince Caspian > Crosseyed and Painless > Wading in the Velvet Sea > Possum, The Squirming Coil
Encore: Julius
[1] Streets Of Cairo tease from Trey.
Notes: Wolfman's contained a Streets of Cairo tease from Trey. Before Stash, Trey teased The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus) by Yes.
Tweezer tour opener?!?!?! Wow what balls. 5 months off and the boys come out of the gate swinging. Nice solid jams into an intense My Friend. The highlight of the first set was Wolfman’s>Walkaway. The transition was flawless and sneaked up on ya. The jam in Walkaway was mindblowing; probably the best one of the weekend, with major Tweezer Reprise teases.
The sun set and set 2 was on. Carini had massive waves of noise rolling over the hills. The Boogie On>Waves>Prince Caspian was one for the ages. Very heavy ambient jamming reminiscent of The Lemonwheel but more so the 8/3/03 second set. Very spacey and lead to Waves creeping up like a proud black panther. Crosseyed kicked the energy back up. Coil had some rather angry piano playing at the end of the solo that the crowd appreciated. Julius sent us on our way after a really solid tour opener.
Leaving the venue took forever as the Lot was raging afterwards. More nitrous than customers and Shakedown in full effect y’all. Get back to the campground a little before 2 and a lot of people are still raging. None of them were Heads. Little kids under the age of 10 dancing around large campfires. No loud music but a lot of people still up and about.
The next day broke cool and crisp and I somehow managed to sleep in until 10 am. I don’t do that in my own bed. Fatty breakfast and then kicking back until we head to the Lot. Rained on the way there but upon our arrival, it appeared as though Bethel got nothing. We get there earlier than the first day and are situated in the prime Lot. A strong breeze blew all day and enough cloud cover to occasionally hide the sun. Cool neighbors from NE PA, right off of Shakedown. Met up with a lot of peeps from Vermont and made our way into the venue, settling on Page’s side.
Saturday, 05/28/2011
Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Bethel, NY
Set 1: Theme From the Bottom, NICU, Cities, Halley's Comet > Runaway Jim, Gumbo > Quinn the Eskimo > Limb By Limb, Horn, Bathtub Gin -> Manteca[1] > Bathtub Gin[2]
Set 2: Down with Disease > Free > Backwards Down the Number Line[3] > Makisupa Policeman[4] -> Harry Hood > Cavern > David Bowie
Encore: A Day in the Life
[1] Golden Age and Manteca mash-up jam.
[2] Manteca quote from Trey at end.
[3] DEG tease from Mike.
[4] With lyrics referencing several band members' houses (and Trey's favorite show, House).
Notes: Gin included a mash-up jam of Golden Age and Manteca and later closed with a Manteca quote from Trey. BDTNL featured a DEG tease from Mike. Makisupa included lyrics referencing several band members' houses (and Trey's favorite show, House).
Theme was a surprisingly good choice for an opener; Halley’s was the one we’ve all been waiting for, really jammed out, typical 2.0 stuff. The Runaway Jim had some serious grooves before the return to the chorus. The boys are on fire! Quinn was a nice nod to Mr. Zimmerman's recent 70th birthday, a news story broken here on Kempepedia just 2 weeks ago. The Bathtub >Manteca>Bathtub was sick. They’ve played it 3 times between 1994 and 2010 and now twice in 3 shows. I love it!
The Disease kicked off the second set right. Sweet jams lead into a short, nonjammed typical 3.0 Free. The boys then ripped the shit out of Backwards. This opening group had the setup for an epic session but for some reason, Trey refuses to jam out Free anymore. Sandwiching it between 2 monsters is almost cruel and unusual punishment. I’m convinced he hates the song. The Policeman was hilarious with all sorts of references to Page’s house and Mike’s house. Fish had porn at his house. We kept yelling Mike’s house all weekend and the Hood had some nice runs in it. Bowie and A Day in the Life were the perfect ending to an outstanding show. Switzer had her HMLL tank top on. While kicking it post show in the Lot, some guy leans out his window and asks what it stands for. Switzer, cleaning up our site responds “High Maintenance Lot Lady, can’t you tell?” I love it! He laughs and heads out on his way.
Got some rain overnight but my tent held up so no worries. Another beautiful day dawned upon us, we just chilled at campsite and then headed out early to the Lot. Josh made pizza with a pesto sauce that was outstanding! And again I had the opportunity Had to perform the lighter trick for some future HMLL. Just another typically awesome Lot scene in upstate New York.
Sunday May 29, 2011
Set 1: AC/DC Bag, Sample in a Jar, Rift, Ocelot, Ya Mar, Timber (Jerry) > The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony > Suzy Greenberg > 46 Days > Twenty Years Later, The Ballad of Curtis Loew, Run Like an Antelope[1]
Set 2: Mike's Song > Simple -> Weekapaug Groove, Meatstick[2] > Fluffhead > Joy, Also Sprach Zarathustra > Light > Slave to the Traffic Light
Encore: Loving Cup > Tweezer Reprise
[1] Curtis Loew tease from Trey and Manteca teases from Trey and Page.
[2] Japanese lyrics.
Notes: Antelope contained a Curtis Loew tease from Trey and Manteca teases from Trey and Page. Meatstick included Japanese lyrics. A fan ran across the stage during Tweezer Reprise.
The boys definitely decided to play it safe for the final night. The whole run from Timber Ho through 20 Years Later was pretty tight. Ballad of Curtis Loew was really sweet. The Mike’s Groove was solid but without any crazy jamming. Trey cut off any momentum in Meatstick by rushing into Fluffhead. The 2001>Light was pretty tight but without any out there jamming. Slave, Loving Cup>Reprise was about as perfect a way to end our three night run as was possible.
I loved the fact that Phish never played into cheeseball Boomer nostalgia. They didn’t play any famous songs from Woodstock nor did they play the song Woodstock. This is our thing and you cranky old Boomers who never saved enough and are now going to bankrupt our country can take your mudcaked myths and shove it.
A massive thunderstorm struck that night but everything dried out rather quickly in the 90+ degree that greeted me upon my return to Hanover on Memorial Day.
A fantastic way to start off Summer right. Good times, good friends, a great venue, and some amazing visuals in the lush green mountains that are Upstate New York. One weekend off then the classic Camden/Merriweather run.
Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
PhD in Rock and Roll
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