Asheville > Bonnaroo > Fox
The most intriguing and enticing slice of this upcoming tour has to be the week-long stretch of Asheville > Bonnaroo > Fox Theatre. With all other shows contained within four-night amphitheatre runs, this will be the week of unique Phish experiences. Carved out seemingly so that many can skip the chunk if they want to (or have to), some of the most magical moments will no doubt come from these unique shows.
After seeing pictures of the Asheville Civic Center, I can’t believe Phish will be playing there. The place is not meant for such a monstrous act, boasting nothing more than an ovular field house. Yet Phish will play there, and it will inevitably be an intimate indoor treat for the 7000+ with a ticket stub in their hands. Coming directly before the largest show of the summer, and the largest show in stature of the band’s career, Asheville will be the kick down before the storm rages.
When Phish steps to the stage late-night at Bonnaroo on June 12 and 13th in front of 80,000 people, what do you think will be the result? Monster-sized Phish of the likes we may never have seen before. With a musical message to send to a generation that largely missed them, and a diverse audience that will not automatically love what they hear, Phish will crush these shows like none other. With two nights of gargantuan grooves, I can guarantee you it’ll be worth it musically. I keep trying to convince myself that I should skip it and side-step the unbelievable hassle and nonsense I will have to deal with to attend the ‘Roo, but the thought of what will happen there is drawing me in. With the industry and the audience in the palm of their hands, you know Phish will step to bat and rip the cover off the ball– we are talking massive festival sized crushing. I have read everyone’s posts about the misery of the festival– the crowds, the heat, the cops, and the corporate rape– but will any of that matter once swimming in the bombast of the summer’s murkiest Mike’s jam? The magnitude of the Phish could be too much too miss. Any way I cut it, it’ll be pretty hard for me to sit by and wait for St. Louis!
Fox Theatre
Following up the colossal headlining explosion at Bonnaroo, Phish will travel to the 5,000 person, ornately designed Fox Theatre. In what will almost certainly be one of the most vibrant summer memories, Phish is set to blast off in the stunning room untouched by the band since 11.23.1994, when they dropped one of the most magnificent Tweezers of all time. As small a Phish show as we will ever get in America, this night is sure to be something to remember for the band and audience alike.
It’s always fun when they mix it up with indoor and outdoor shows, and this this week will be the ultimate indoor/outdoor Phish experience. Tickets for these indoor shows will be tough, but I don’t think we’re talking Hampton here. There is a spread out demand at this point, the shows are both on Tuesday nights, and the limit is four so people can hook up friends. It will be interesting how it all shakes down.
With all of the other shows in 20,000 person amphitheatres, the ticket scene should be pretty mellow, even if you don’t score em right away. Things should fall back into place a bit this summer. Jones Beach will be the most difficult just because of the population of the New York metro area and the fact that they are the tour openers. But Great Woods, Camden, Deer Creek, and Alpine are looking good from this perspective. But honestly, it’s hard to believe this is really happening.
While pondering a topic for the day, it was very hard to sit down and write something about the past when all I can think about is the future. I will most certainly get back to some more conventional and historical posts, but for tonight the adrenaline inside is keeping my fingers typing about the upcoming road.
All that, and Hampton is less than two months away! Yes, kid.
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PHISH AUDS: I definitely plan on posting the Phish shows in mp3 format like I did for the Trey shows. I know a lot of people have been asking about that, and the answer is most definitely yes. I have to either find a taper to work with or I may do it myself. If anyone can help, please email me! Not sure if the turn around will be the next day due to driving et al., but I will do my best to get a great copy of the shows up for download ASAP. This is not against any policy of the band.
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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:
7.12.96 Melkweg, Amsterdam < LINK
Throwing down a request for a loyal reader, this is a classic nugget of Phish history. Marking the band’s first trip to Amsterdam, the band played a three set show that included as much comedy as anything else. With the band enjoying the city’s delicacies as much as the fans, this night made for a hilarious memoir, but didn’t amount to a whole lot musically. With some good tidbits thrown strewn about a sloppy, smoky show, this one is certainly a must have for its place in Phish’s legacy.
I: Wilson, The Divided Sky, Horn, Split Open & Melt#, Ya Mar, Funky Bitch*, Taste**, Theme From the Bottom, Tweezer > Llama
II: It’s Ice > Prince Caspian, Mike’s Song, Run Like an Antelope, Purple Rain > HYHU, G D E A- Minor Ska Groove***, NICU, Slave to the Traffic Light, Suzy Greenberg****
III: David Bowie > Free, Hello Ma Baby
E: Bathtub Gin, Johnny B. Goode
#With “The Landlady” tease. *After the end, Trey made a comment about the lack of curfew. **Trey announced that this will no longer be “Fog That Surrounds” and will be “Taste” from now on. ***Trey asked the audience to help make up a song. He asked the audience to shout out keys and the band played them. Trey then asked a guy in the front row for a groove, and he shout out “ska.” They start the GDEA-Minor (keys) Ska Groove but Trey said that this was too weird and that they were going to play one of their own. ****Trey unplugs and then plugs in his guitar, resulting in weird noises. Fish calls it, “It was cool when he plugged in his guitar song.”
Tags: Summer '09
Miner….
You speak of the bonnaroo shows pretty highly if hypothetically phish does decide to show up on the lineup for a couple of nights. If you had to pick between bonnaroo and Hampton which one would you choose?
Miner….
You speak of the bonnaroo shows pretty highly if hypothetically phish does decide to show up on the lineup for a couple of nights. If you had to pick between bonnaroo and Hampton which one would you choose?
Miner….
You speak of the bonnaroo shows pretty highly if hypothetically phish does decide to show up on the lineup for a couple of nights. If you had to pick between bonnaroo and Hampton which one would you choose?
Mike’s H20…
It seems Miner has chosen Hampton over Bonnaroo and i probably would too if i was in the position. I’m going to try to do the Bonnaroo > Fox Theatre part of the tour, plus Alpine. Gonna be Sweeeeeet. It up to you though, do you wan to be a part of the reunion.. or have an utter face melting?
your right about your face melting…from the heat! Last i checked Hampton is air conditioned, and i sure love some fine A/C….
its a toss up……sure everyone wants to be at Hampton….but not everyone is willing to pay huge sums of money to be there. Then you have bonnaroo, which everyone is pretty much guaranteed a ticket to, but most people don’t want to deal with the extra hassle and uncomfort that comes along with camping out in Tennessee during the hottest time of the year. Either way, I’m skipping both. But that dosen’t mean you have to!
I desperately hope they’ll offer show downloads the next day or so, although i agree, i get really fussy over the mixes and lack of space acoustics. But otherwise i’d have to wait for Miner to post mp3s, remaster them, (it’s anal i know but i REALLY want to like the quality of recording so it never distracts me from the jams) and then listen, which would be disastrous since i don’t want to know what songs are going to be played until i hear them!
$10 is perfectly fine to pay for a SB. I mean, you can ALWAYS find an audience recording for free. Give me the shows in a listenable quality ASAP and i will draw little hearts on the $10 i send. Theoretically at least.
My deepest wishes of health and heartiness for Paul Langudoc!
miner.. what would be the best way to hear the shows asap without knowing the setlists before hand?
^^ If you figure that one out, let me know! That would take a taper sending you an uncut file directly i think……
haha other then actually going to the shows
BONNAROO TWEEZER!!!!!
Believe it or not, back in the day I actually figured out how to download a show from LivePhish and listen to it without seeing anything that would spoil the setlist. I even drafted an elaborate email to them describing how they could make their system “no preview” friendly, but figured I was the only nerd on the planet that cared. 😉 (no offense intended Camman). It involved some careful screen resizing and window dragging, the occasional strategic hand block and you had to be careful what you looked at, but it worked. I’ll see if I can reproduce the technique sometime and document the results. I can’t believe I’m actually typing this…
NERDS!
harrisc,
nooffense taken man, i just wanted to hear the hampton shows before i actually knew what was played at them…that probably wont happen though
i’m looking at the one night in deer creek. its on my birthday, and the last time they were there was the best show of the summer. tube antelope wedge to star the 2nd set was probably the best post-hiatus material (with the possible exception of burgettstown 03)
Mr. Miner-
I know this unrelated to the topic (although, yes, spac 04 is amazing), but i must ask you something.
You seem to always be involved in the rumor mill. Is there any word for a Hampton theatre simulcast? I’ve been hoping for months but now im losing hope.
a noobish phan
ive been up for the past 2 hours to fucking giddy to go to sleep: the Asheville> Fox run may be some of the best phish we’ll have seen in a loooooong time… im honestly too dumbfounded for words
Miner, it’s cool you talk about that run cuz it’s the same 3 shows me and my girl have been pumped about. The Roo will be epic no doubt. Phish knows how many other amazing bands will be watching them soo the pressure will be on. Wouldn’t you want to impress at such a huge multi-faceted gathering?? Asheville is by far the best area to be with the mountains etc. We somehow lucked out and got every show on the tour. Can’t wait til the Fox!