Topic: 12, 13, 20 years ago we were .....

[lifeboy13]

     I've been passing the last 2 months of summer recalling the shows I've seen in the past and as each date approaches I recall the show and think about how many years its been since then. 

    It was exactly 12 years ago that I had driven from Minneapolis to Columbus, Ohio (7/23/1999).  I remember many parts of that show and the scene on the lot.  We had gotten into the lot early and had a great time enjoying the weather all day.  The show started off great as we danced through the set with a excellent Bowie and ending with my friends first Possum.  The second set was a fierce jamming set with a Ghost>Free>BOAF combo that must have been 45 minutes leading into Trey teaching us the Meatstick dance and announcing the New Years Plans.  As the second set was heating up so was the air, nearing the end of the set the crowd was starting to watch a storm moving in from behind us.  We were spent by the end of the 2nd set and after the quick break we all stood back up hoping the rain would start soon to cool us off.  Bouncing Around the Room was fantastic and through the song you can hear the audience cheer at some point when a small sprinkle and breeze start up.  Right about when the band breaks into Rocky Top, the sky opens up with a huge down pour.  We were all dancing in the rain like a bunch of hill-billies at a Jamboree and then the mad dash to everyones car ensued.  I changed right next to our car and we headed out towards our long drive to Alpine Valley which I shall tell you all about tomorrow night.   

[G. Augusto]

18 years ago today, I caught my first show.
It was awesome.

[mbw]

18 years ago today, I caught my first show.
It was awesome.

was it FUN?!  can a 13 year old really have FUN?  i'm sure you just loved it at the time for the MUSIC.

[ytowndan]

18 years ago today, I caught my first show.
It was awesome.

was it FUN?!  can a 13 year old really have FUN?  i'm sure you just loved it at the time for the MUSIC.

Yeah, I'm actually kind of curious about that.  Were you already a fan, or was that your first exposure to the band?

[G. Augusto]

Already a fan.
My first show was supposed tobe 02-05-1993

[mistercharlie]

18 years ago today, I caught my first show.
It was awesome.

was it FUN?!  can a 13 year old really have FUN?  i'm sure you just loved it at the time for the MUSIC.

Hell, I was two days shy of 12 when I caught my first show and I had a blast!

[birdman]

18 years ago today, I caught my first show.
It was awesome.

18 years ago I saw my 3rd show.
It also was awesome.

Saturday, 07/24/1993
Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts, Mansfield, MA
Set 1: Llama, Horn, Nellie Kane > The Divided Sky, Guelah Papyrus, Rift, Stash, The Mango Song > Bouncing Around the Room, The Squirming Coil
Set 2: Also Sprach Zarathustra > Split Open and Melt, Fluffhead > Maze[1], Glide > Sparkle > Mike's Song > Yerushalayim Shel Zahav > Weekapaug Groove, Purple Rain > Hold Your Head Up, Daniel Saw the Stone > Good Times Bad Times
Encore: Golgi Apparatus, Free Bird

[lifeboy13]

Twas the night before Alpine and all through Columbus.
not a hippie was lingering, not even 
The cars were all loaded to the ceiling with care,
with hopes that they remembered their old camping chairs.
The drugs were nestled all snug in their place,
where no sherrif will find them, just to be safe.
with my girlfriend in patchwork, and myself in Tie-Dye,
We had set ourselves out for a long summers drive.
Out of the lot and towards the freeway,
through Ohio, and Indy and into the next day.
Waking early next morning to rest area Phish chatter,
70 Hippies taking showers using hand sinks and water.
Awake and refreshed as we finish the drive,
nearing East Troy and Apline we begin to unwind.
At a rest stop a few miles down Highway 43,
The people are waiting for the time to be 3:00.
Its into the Lots and the fun can begin,
Whos got my, whatever that you can imagine.
Through the front doors of Alpine and over the hill,
lays a beautiful, crowded, live music thrill.
On Guyute, On Fluffhead, On the Wedge, and Zero
Tonight they played everything but Time Loves a Hero.
As the crowd shuffled out to continue the show,
I sold cookies and sodas to replenish my dough.
With no tickets for Deer Creek, to be found on the lot,
We bought us a bag of the stinkiest pot.
As we drove home all stoned wearing hemp necklaces,
we were happy to have gone to the places we did!

[lifeboy13]

So as I said last night, Tonight I will tell the tale of Alpine Valley 99'.
It was a beautiful day in Wisconsin that day, blue skies and a lot less humid than the day before in Ohio.  We were able to get into the Lot early and after an hour of hanging at the car were rewarded with a "Mike Drive-By" as he went cruising right down our row and in front of me as I was grabbing for the camera.  The show was fantastic but at the time was a little over my head at times, as I remember during my first TMWSIY.  The second set was incredible as they kept blowing my mind with a Kung, and Happy whip and Dung Debut.  By the time the Encore started I was ready to sprint out to our car to grab our cooler and some cookies I made to try to sell.  We couldn't vend at all in Ohio with the rainstorm, so making a little money was needed.  They started out with Glide which I thought was a little odd and then the faint sounds that I heard in the lots before of Camel Walk started and the crowd starting going nuts.  After they got the crowd elevated they dropped the bomb of an Alumni Blues.  The encore was just another highlight of my two day run with the band that I will remember til the day I die.  Afterwards I ran to our car and grabbed a cooler and about 70 bags of cookies, I walked against traffic for a bit and stopped to vend.  Within about 20 minutes I made $120 and bought a bag of nugs from one of my customers, back then $120 was gas money for the whole trip plus a few Grand Slams at Denny's.  God Bless the old 90's Phish tours.

[lifeboy13]

It was 13 years ago today that I saw my first Phish show on the road.  I had to take a bus to Madison and hitchhike to Alpine to do it but with tickets to Alpine and the two Deer Creek shows I left town with a backpack and a small two man tent.  I got to Madison around Midnight on August 1st and started walking, first to a gas station for some directions where the attendant traded me anything I could carry for a little weed and then off to an interstate exit for HWY 39 south.  I walked for about an hour and eventually got to the HWY and got a lift, too bad it was some perverted homosexual that asked me to show him my dick about halfway to Janesville.  I got out of that situation safely and with my homo-virginity intact and spent an hour calming my nerves at a Denny's.  After some grub I was at a county rd that went to East Troy so I got out there and started walking down one of the darkest country roads I've ever seen and being 2:00am I thought I would never get a ride.  First car drove past me after about 30 minutes and sure enough it was a couple of locals out partying on coke and seeing my Tye-Dye they picked me up.  Partied with them for a couple of hours and took a nap as they kept partying, but they were very nice and took me to Alpine when the sun came up.  Getting to Alpine in one piece just as everyone was showing up from driving all night long from Ohio was cool.  I started talking to everyone and learning about tour.  Everyone was really great and kind, helping me out with a soda or a story.  Walking into the show someone had a reserved they were trying to sell and I upgraded my Lawn for $10+my ticket.  To have a decent seat for this show was incredible, from Ramble On to Been Caught Stealing this show was everything I was hoping it would be and more.  After the show I got my first veggie burrito and witnessed the massive lot party that follows a summer show, then headed to where all the cars were leaving where I sat pathetically hoping for a ride to Indiana.  Within 10 minutes a nice couple about my age let me into their car and I graciously offered gas money.  I can't remember the guys name but his girlfriends name was Erin and they were driving across the country following Phish while heading home to Pennsylvania.  They were on the road to Deer Creek and so was I, with two new friends and a whole new outlook on life!  13 Years Ago (8/01/98)!

[lifeboy13]

  13 Years ago today (8/2/98) I met Mike in the Deer Creek Parking lot.  He was in his cart with some chick and totally answering any questions people could think of.  I remember him not wanting to sign a book of someones because it wasn't trademarked by the band.  I got my Alpine stub signed by him and I was just starting to trip in the cool vibes of the venue camping area so it was truly a highlight of my life.  This show had my first and only Lifeboy in it.

[mistercharlie]

18 years ago today I was a wide-eyed naive 12 year old boy. I walked into the Murat Theatre in downtown Indy and experienced the first of countless nights of happiness watching a little band called Phish. I walked out of that show not fully understanding what I had just seen and was then a wide-eyed naive 12 year old phishhead.

15 years ago today I saw they boys play one of my favorite Mike's songs at Deer Creek.

1 year ago today, there was a massive Paug meet-up at Deer Creek.

[G. Augusto]

Killer show.
This Reba is one of my Top 5 versions, as well as the Disease.
The band killed it for all of those that didn't skip out before heading to The Ball with massive versions of Jim, Tweezer and YEM.
I tagged up a fileset if you wanna give this one a listen.

Wednesday, 08/14/1996 Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, PA

Soundcheck: Funky Bitch, Tush

Set 1: Wilson -> Jam > Down with Disease, Fee[1] -> Poor Heart, Reba[2], The Mango Song > Gumbo, Stash, Hello My Baby

Set 2: Runaway Jim > You Enjoy Myself, The Horse > Silent in the Morning, Cars Trucks Buses > Tweezer, Theme From the Bottom > Hold Your Head Up > Cracklin' Rosie > Hold Your Head Up, Sample in a Jar > Tweezer Reprise

Encore: Julius

[1] Trey sang verses through megaphone.
[2] No whistling.

Notes: Trey sang the verses of Fee through a megaphone. Reba did not have the whistling ending. Julius was dedicated to Brad Sands’s brother Matty.

Enjoy.
a

[WhatstheUse?]

One of my fav Summer 96 shows.  May even dig it more than The Ball shows.

[birdman]

Killer show.
This Reba is one of my Top 5 versions, as well as the Disease.
The band killed it for all of those that didn't skip out before heading to The Ball with massive versions of Jim, Tweezer and YEM.
I tagged up a fileset if you wanna give this one a listen.

Enjoy.
a

You could have waited a few weeks to get your license.
Just saying.