When the Tour was announced, I skipped Atlantic City so I could do Denver but I still needed my East Coast fix. Blossom is only 2 hours away from Burgettstown so I immediately decided to include that in my itinerary as well. Unfortunately, I couldn’t convince anyone else from the area to hit it as well so this was going to be a solo project, ala Gene Simmons’s ego stroking monument Rock and Roll All Over
_cover.jpg)
I was staying at Bennett Acres Campground, which was a convenient 2 and a half miles from the venue. I also knew that you wanted to get into the Lot right by the road or else you would get stuck in a monstrous traffic jam. I arrived at the campground rather early and texted the Miller Brothers (Andy and Dave) of my arrival. Before the text could transverse the cell towers, the Brothers of the House of Miller (Game of Thrones fan) rolled up. They set up camp and we got ready to head in.
We met the newly engaged Nat and Christie right up the road at Miller’s Golf Course and headed into together a little after 2 because that is the UNIVERSAL Lot opening time. We drive up and the parking lot employees inform us they are not opening until 4:30. That’s ridiculous! I believe under the 7th Amendment of the Constitution it states “…persons shall be guaranteed the right to rage the Lot with adequate time to be prepared for the 4 o’clock and 20 minutes past celebration”.
So we rolled down the road to Burgettstown proper, took a Mickey D’s bathroom break, and figured out what to do. While in the lot, we ran into some young kids. If they were 19, I’d be surprised. Even more surprising, the one chick with braces had a ton of ink on her including “Thug Life” across her belly.
We went back towards the venue and found a gravel road just off the main avenue in front of the venue. These roads are all over the place in postindustrial Rust Belt areas. There were maybe 40 cars, everyone just chilling and waiting. A cop stopped by and was just chatting with people. He told us they would probably open the lots at 3. Another guy said he was gonna go and check it out. If he wasn’t back in 5 minutes, that meant he had headed in. Christie also noticed the stream of cars going by us had all but stopped. So we headed back and got right into the good Lot. And I'd Like to thank Christie for reminding me that we were in the exact same spot as 2009. That's how you rule the Lot. Excellent.
We set up Camp Gonzo and as usual, Nate and Christie were the Hostesses with the Mostesses. Grilled chicken wraps hit the spot. Christine and Todd, who like Nat and Christie, are recently engaged (Congrats to all) showed up and our group was complete. It was like an episode of the Newlywed Game, with out embarrassing questions
My Vermont lawyer Shawn was right up the aisle. This guy has seen over 200 shows and when this Tour is complete, he will have seen 100 consecutive Phish shows. Bonnaroo doesn’t count because it was a festival, not part of Tour. I can make this judgement because I have a Ph.D. in Rock and Roll and you don’t. Nice to hang with him. I also scored a Pigpen sticker like I had on my old Shempmobile. Thank you Shakedown Street!
I walked around the back of the Lot to meet up with my friend Emily (famous for braving the insane heat last year with me at Furthur at the Mann in Philly). We headed in, got posters, and headed for the lawn. Her friends were on the same side of the lawn as my crew, exactly as one would expect. We all settled in and got ready for my first Phish in over a year.
Saturday, 06/23/2012
First Niagara Pavilion, Burgettstown, PA
Soundcheck: Shaggy Dog, Bold As Love [Unconfirmed and Possibly Incomplete]
Set 1: Funky Bitch > Backwards Down the Number Line, Gumbo > Maze[1], Torn and Frayed, The Moma Dance > Scent of a Mule[2], 46 Days, You Enjoy Myself[3]
Set 2: Gotta Jibboo > Mike's Song > Simple > Light > Weekapaug Groove[4] -> Seven Below, Bouncing Around the Room > Julius > Slave to the Traffic Light
Encore: The Lizards
[1] Eleanor Rigby tease from Page and Trey.
[2] Mule duel featured Page on theremin.
[3] Scent of a Mule tease from Trey.
[4] Divided Sky tease from Trey.
Notes: Maze featured an Eleanor Rigby tease from Page and Trey. The Mule duel featured Page on theremin. YEM contained a Scent of a Mule tease from Trey. Weekapaug contained a Divided Sky tease from Trey.
The first set was solid. I had been hoping for Monkeyman but anything from Exile is always welcome and Torn and Frayed is one of my favorite songs off of the album. The Maze was really good. The Mule had some nice dueling elements. I asked Nate if he ever thought he would see a sign in the audience asking for YEM, as it had not been played on the Tour yet. So to satisfy us, they closed the first set with a stellar version.
Weird scene on the Lawn. Cops were traversing it back and forth. Nate saw a kid (maybe 16) walk down and stand behind Christine while she was dancing. He said, “Looks like you’re trapped buddy” His reply” I’m working. Trying to smell marijuana”. He had a walkie-talkie and was communicating with the cops. WTF?!?!!? Since I have a degree in American Studies, I can say with some authority that societies have what are called rituals of reversal, when normally frowned upon behavior (think chicks showing their breasts at Mardi Gras for beads) is allowed. And guess what people, shows are one of those rituals. Go do something productive and break up the nitrous mafia.
The meat for the second set was the Mike’s thru Weekapaugh. The Mike’s was great, but 3.0 not 2.0. A 2.0 Mike’s would still be going as I type this. Mike’s> Simple is one of my all time favorite segues, mainly because of how amazing it was the first night of Clifford Ball.
The Simple was really jammed out with some great space for the boys to do what they do. Light took us even further out there and Weekapaugh brought everything back home. Bouncin’ was a nice way for everyone to take it all in. Lizards encore? Hell yes. What year is this, 1991?
We made it back to the campsite and it was raging. I crashed before the nitrous showed up. Dave Miller let it be known he did not approve, and security was all over those people. Wish I could have seen what went down, as the security guard made it very obvious about his disapproval of the situation.
Due to the beautiful weather, I was able to sleep in until almost 9 AM. I’m sure no one did that at Deer Creek. I headed out to Blossom but because I was in a somewhat mountainous region, my GPS wasn’t working. It was desolate, dusty and I wanted to get the hell out of the Pittsburgh area. I drove west towards West Virginia and figured I’d eventually hit Ohio, which I did. Took the scenic route north along the Ohio River. First scenic view? A giant coal powered power plant.
I stayed at a KOA in Cuyahoga Falls ‘cause I wanted a chill scene after the raging at Bennett Acres. Set up my tent, showered, and meet some cool kids next to me. Ben, Kyle, and Matt were Sons of the South, all from North Carolina. But definitely younger than myself. They ate shrooms at the campground and then acid at the show. I’d be laid up for a day or 2 at least if I tried to pull that off anymore. Made plans to see them in the Lot and headed in.
Blossom has multiple entrances and I picked (or should I saw my GPS) picked the main one. Before I even hit the gates, there was a huge section under the shade of trees and cars were already parked there. I wanted to get out toot suite after the show so I parked there as well. Nice chill scene within a 5 minute walk to one of the best Shakedowns I’d ever seen.
There was a sand walkway that split the parking lots, with a waist high wooden fence lining it. There were breaks in the fence and all the vendors set upon the other side of the fence. It was like it had been built for such a purpose. Hung out there for quite awhile and then tried to meet up with my homies from the campground. While walking around, I ran into Ravi from Burlington. I met him at the Afterparty for the Hug Your Farmer Benefit show back in May. Matt Hagen aka Ronnie Hawkins from same show was there as well. So as it should be on Phish Tour, I got to hang with peeps from Vermont. I’d like to thank them for their hospitality. They had pavilion so I headed in to hit the lawn.
Sunday, 06/24/2012
Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH
Set 1: Sample in a Jar, Tube, Axilla, Bathtub Gin, Roses Are Free > Limb By Limb[1], Free > NICU > Possum > The Wedge, Corinna, Meatstick[2]
Set 2: Golden Age > Ghost > Sweet Virginia, Rift > Tweezer[3] -> Walk Away > The Horse > Silent in the Morning > Piper > Waste > Run Like an Antelope[4]
Encore: Loving Cup > Tweezer Reprise
[1] DEG tease.
[2] Japanese lyrics; with fans on stage dancing.
[3] Another Brick in the Wall Part 2, Under Pressure, and Ice Ice Baby quotes; Meatstick jam.
[4] Under Pressure and Meatstick teases; Fernando (Abba) quote (with lyric changed to "Orlando"). Lyrics changed to Marc Orlando Esquandolas from Syracuse, NY" and "Run like Orlando out of control." "Orlando" repeated several times.
Notes: Limb by Limb contained a DEG tease. Meatstick contained Japanese lyrics and featured fans on stage dancing. Tweezer contained an Another Brick in the Wall Part 2, Under Pressure and Ice Ice Baby quotes as well as a Meatstick jam. Antelope featured Under Pressure and Meatstick teases, a Fernando (Abba) quote with the lyric changed to "Can you hear the drums, Orlando?" Antelope's lyrics were changed to "Marc Orlando Esquandolas from Syracuse, NY" and "Run like Orlando out of control." "Orlando" was repeated several times.
I ended up running into my Vermont friends again on the lawn for the first set. The first set was solid, with the only jamming happening in Limb By Limb. Matt said no one in the bathroom knew the song Corrina. F’n noobs. It’s not like it's a super obscure song like Prep School Hippie, which I WILL hear in Denver. Then Meatstick started. It was good and then Trey invited fans onto the stage to do the dance and the energy was cranked up a notch. But watch the video for how few of them actually know the dance…again f’n noobs. Where are my HMLL’s at to show Trey how it’s done?!?!?!?!?
When the Tour was announced, this show looked like it was gonna be a monster. 3 days off after it until Deer Creek, a Sunday show, and a show a lot of east coasters were gonna skip. And you know what? I was right.
Golden Age comes charging out of the gates. The jam afterwards was a monster with some really dark jamming. I wasn’t sold on CK5’s new lighting rig until this song. Wow. If you had played the jam and told me it was from my collection, I would have said ’73 – ’74 era Pink Floyd. The transition into Ghost was great and the crowd erupted in anticipation of the jam. This jam was even better, really some peak storage type jamming. I also found it very reminiscent of the Tower Jam and Disarm from It back in 2003.
After all this jamming, the boys slowed down and went into Sweet Virginia. Another Exile on Main Street gem! I was afraid they were going to go into Alaska but this was a perfect way to catch our breath. Rift was another kick in the pants then came Tweezer. Wow, lots of heavy hitters tonight. The main jam in Tweezer was very similar to the Saratoga Springs Piper from 2004. Playing the fuck out of Tweezer Reprise Reprise riff circa Fall 1995, it just kept building and building. After that rush, Trey quoted Another Brick in the Wall (How can you eat your pudding if you don’t have your meat? line) Listen to it and you will not hear anything remotely like that song being played, so I have no idea where in the hell that came from.
Then Mike starts riffing on Under Pressure. Trey sings the first chorus sounding very much like the Thin White Duke, and then informs us he doesn’t know the words. Everyone passed the buck to another band member to sing the lyrics. I was surprised they didn’t ask anyone in the audience if they could sing it. Mike’s bass lines were somewhat similar to the part of the Union Federal jam off of Junta. I’m not kidding, go back and check it out yourself.
Out of that madness came Walkaway, which has its own jam similar to the Tweezer Reprise rift. Silent and Horse cooled things down but the Piper came to kick our asses again. Antelope finished out the set with even more Meatstick and Under Pressure teases.
The encore of Loving Cup (more Exile!!) and Reprise sent us on our way.
As hoped, I got out of the Lot rather quickly and slept the sleep of the dead. Avoided all the morning commute bullshit of Cleveland and Pittsburgh and was back at my crib by 3 pm. Next up Furthur at the Mann in Philly on July 7th and Merriweather on July 8th
Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
Ph.D. Rock and Roll
No comments:
Post a Comment