"IT"

After talking to friends who have been in traffic for 16 hours, we decided to stay the night and deal with the traffic in the morning.
Which turned out to be the BEST IDEA EVER! We woke up at noon and slowly made our way towards the IT fest. We had some in-side directions and a map of the area, so we circumnavigated all the traffic and drove right in without waiting in any traffic at all !!!!!!!!!

Needless to say the sound check and the air-traffic-control-jam was the best music Phish has played for us in a while. Non-obligatory jamming I call it, music they would play if they if they weren't obliged to play Phish songs for a crowd of newbies.

The first nite of IT was a big joke on us about the mud being so bad.
Cavern to close 1st set was a cruel joke.

The next days concert reads like a epitaph.
"Commin down to redeem a mighty world"
Obviously the band was in a somber mood about 2 of their friends dying while setting up the event. Plus the Feds had several dozen cars,trucks and vans filled with computer equipment,and undercover operatives scourging the area. It was a heavy scene. Definitely one of the most emotional shows ever played by this band, hands down. All the songs had a bittersweet feel as the emotions built up. Each song was like a remorseful warning to us all. ARMY OF ONE-WILSON-MIST-PEBBLES all dealing with anger, fear, and sadness over losing a friend, being watched by the man, the possible final end of Phish tour and the helplessness felt by them all about the whole situation.
We laugh in full light of their frown.

 

Subtle hints the band was feeling remorseful :
and expressed it thru song...1. the lack of Harry Hood........
They didn't tell us about the deaths-------------GHOST-which was SIIIICK!
"Danger i've been told to expect it--------------JULIUS-whatever
"Taste the fear,for the devil's drawing near"----46 days-Humongous jamfest
"Their clumsy end was perilously near"---------Lizards- Botched but who cares
"Run like an antelope out of this show"--------Antelope interrupted by Trey sullenly thanking the crew .
"Good times bad times, you know i've had my share" GTBT- Go figure
"Pebbles and marbles like words from a friend we try to hold close but are lost in the end"-HEAVY STUFF.
"Can you still have fun?!"----------------------Wilson-
Kill you till you die-----------------------------PYITE

I could go on but im going to assume the reader is smart enough to understand where im coming from.
I had an amazing experience where I understood where they get the energy and motivation to play the incredibly high energy music they do. Each song is written about a direct experience that someone in the band had. Many of those experiences were either very painful or tragic , a few of them were very happy IE: Harry Hood.
So when playing these songs, they have a historical reference point in their life as to where to draw the energy from , to play the songs with emotion and feeling.
Because the majority of inspiration comes from tragedy , and painful or unpleasant experiences, the music is ROCKIN! Almost screaming at you.
These moments in time transcend into the bad ass rockin funk we love.
MUCH Thanks to Phish for playing great music thru their time of sorrow.
We laugh in full light of your frown.
I didn't know I was so far gone.
Truly:
Noah Phence