Trick or Treat?
6.12.09 Bonnaroo Late Night (J.Kravitz)
One simple flash animation and the entire community was whipped into a frenzy. Leave it to Phish to fuck with us until the end, and if my supposition is right, that is exactly what they are doing. Yesterday, on Phish.com, the Save the Date map saw California lifted off the map by hot air balloons- supposedly meaning the Halloween festival will not be in Indio, CA- the location that everyone and their mother assumed it would be. Due to all of the hype and anticipation, Indio hotels have been booked for weeks and some fans have even gone as far as purchasing plane tickets to southern California! (Questionable decision making in my book.) But with the airlift of California off Phish’s animated map, everything was thrown into question, and the Phish community turned into an all-out freak scene.
The Mystery
It took no time at all for rumors to begin circulating about the festival’s “real ” location, Datelan Army Airfield outside of Yuma, AZ. These rumors spread like wildfire on message boards and Facebook, and before long, people had RVs on lock-down in Phoenix and Tucson for the festival in the middle of the desert. It made sense- an old military airfield out in the middle of nowhere- much like their former festival sites, and it still fit in with the heavily rumored fall dates that start in the southwest and move up the west coast. Leave it to Phish fans- the most obsessive sub-genre of people on this planet- to get to the bottom of this.
Halloween??
All of a sudden, plans were changed. Whether it was Arizona, New Mexico Georgia, or Vegas- all ideas tossed around the web- it wasn’t gonna’ be Indio. Or was it? To be honest, my initial thought was that Phish was pulling a prank on us. But that thought didn’t stop me from booking 30 footers out of Phoenix and Tuscon just in case! But there had been too much talk about Indio; locals had confirmed the plans, there were all the semantic correlations with the suffering date crop of the region, people in the organization freely talked about it at Alpine Valley- and all of a sudden it fell through? It just didn’t feel right.
My first thought was that because the animated California never got destroyed, pillaged, or blackened- like the other eliminated states- it would somehow survive. Possible clue number two- the design on the balloons had arrows pointing up and down- “What goes up, must come down!”- of course. At the end of all this, when all the other states are gone, California would float back down and be presented as the official site. That’s what I thought, but who really knew? I could definitely picture the band members and Flash animators laughing their asses off as they watched the community spin into a tizzy over the newly-created mystery.
California Hovering Out of Plain Sight
And then later in the day, it was discovered that California wasn’t gone at all, it was in Canada! If you held down the command button and pressed “+,” the animation zoomed out showing California-very much intact- hovering over the lower 48. It was brought up that it might just be a fault of the Flash animation, but come on! If they wanted to take California off the map, they would have- bottom line. Theories, obsession, mystery, hype, adrenaline….this is all part of the Phish game too, and five years later, it was funny to be in the midst of another full-on freak scene! Some things never change.
6.14.09 (J.Kravitz)
Once people saw California hovering over the country, the consensus seemed to shift back to a festival in Indio, but the mystery is still out there to be solved. Regardless of where Halloween ends up- and I’m 99% sure it will be in Indio- it’s great to see Phish’s prankster spirit alive and well in 2009. Taking their fans on a mental scavenger hunt to find the next site, and boosting their heart rates for a while, the organization shook things up on Monday, making the normally mundane start of the week far more exciting.
It’s so great to have Phish back- not only for the music- but for the sheer excitement they bring to everyday life. Nothing else could have caused such a hectic, yet positive, stir in all of our lives yesterday, and that just speaks to the power of it all. Reason number 1001 why the world is a better place with a happy and healthy Phish around. But keep those reservations- wherever you may have them- because who knows what the next twist will bring!
See you in southern California! Probably.
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Phish Thoughts Jam of the Day!
With the new Flash audio player, I thought that I’d add a new feature to the site! Every day I will feature one standout jam to listen to, separate from the day’s post. Sometimes I’ll write a paragraph, sometimes a sentence, but there will always be some quality Phish to listen to every day! You will always be able to download the selection by clicking the orange song header. Enjoy!
Simply put, this changed my life.
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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:
10.11.95 Compton Terrace Tempe, AZ < TORRENT
10.11.95 Compton Terrace Tempe, AZ < MEGAUPLOAD
Rumors spread faster than a California wildfire that the Halloween scene was shifting to Arizona- and it still might! Here is one show that Phish did play in Arizona back in the Fall of ’95. A sparsely populated affair that served as my wife’s first, Phish brought out a great second set featuring the rare “Mike’s > McGrupp > Weekapaug”, a hot second set “Gin,” and a bust-out in “Crossroads.” I love the ’95 Phish, and this one gets glanced over most of the time.
I: Stash, The Old Home Place, Cavern, The Divided Sky, If I Could, Fog That Surrounds, Acoustic Army, Julius, Sample in a Jar
II: Possum, Bathtub Gin, Mound, Mike’s Song > McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters > Weekapaug Groove > Llama, Suzy Greenberg > Crossroads, Hello Ma Baby, A Day in the Life
E: Chalk Dust Torture
Source: unknown (possibly Tascam PE125 > DAP1) fob?
Tags: 2009, Halloween
My buddy cancelled his reservations today immediately following the hijacking of Cali. He then called back and the total of his room had increased from $300 to somewhere around $800. Sit tight everyone. It’s Phish. Just when you think you know what they’re gonna do, they throw you a nasty curve ball. Don’t cancel anything and don’t book airfares until it’s confirmed on Phish.com. All they told us to do is Save the Date, nothing else. There will be a festival, but don’t spend your hard earned dollars until you know for sure where it will be held. Come on, just ask off work for five days and the rest will take place in due time. I freaked out about tickets (as we all did) on the first leg and got into every show without a hitch, including Asheville and I didn’t pay more than face. “Patience is a virtue, but I don’t have the time” – DB
In closing, like I said before just ask off from work and Phish will give us plenty of time to prepare. RELAX, the world will spin beside itself and suck you in with threats and hopes beyond compare!
Trick or Treat?
Both, but the latter will prevail!
Yes, Room rates have been going way, way up!!
It’s still Indio.
On another note, I’m thinking next year they will go back to a traditional summer fest….Limestone, of course, the one venue that always delivers for the fest, with minimal headache factor…
BTW,
Thanks Miner for the Tennessee nuggets from this past weekend. My fourth and fifth show and after silly partying at DC, Champaign and Louisville, I finally got IT in Knoxville. It continued in Nashville. My first consecutive night of shows I will never forget. Like your Hood from I think 12/30/95?, not 10/30/95 (no show) it truly was an eye opener. Great quality. Thanks again and perhaps some more Mike’s discussion today!
Great post and LOVE the new jam of the day feature. I generally don’t have time for a full show each day, but a single jam per day is just right! (and yes, that should be 12/30/95).
Another great prank (possibly the best non-tour one yet imo) – the phan/band dialogue continues!
HAS ANYONE RECEIVED THEIR PRINTED TICKETS FOR THE GORGE TWO-DAY FROM TICKETMASTER YET? Thanks!
Miner – have you thought about writing a piece on “songs of summer” (using an appropriate Phish lyric as a title of course), that discusses songs that tend to get played outdoors more than inside (The Old Home Place, Ginseng Sullivan, Ya Mar, Makisupa Policeman, My Sweet One, Rocky Top, Uncle Pen, maybe even Timber?) as well as songs that otherwise tend to flourish in the open sky. Related topic is the difference in vibe generally between Sets 1 and 2 when played outside. And, of course, there’s the weather that adds an element to the outdoor mix.
Anyway, just thought it worth mentioning as an idea for a “thought” one day.
@Marshall – did not receive gorge tix yet ..
from kevin shapiro’s twitter yesterday – “looking back on a big sunday: bbq > grace potter > les (always scares me) and recalling to n.t.a.p.”
never trust a prankster!
http://www.key-z.com/NeverTrustWeb.jpg
A big part of the allure of the Dead was it’s tie-in with the Merry Pranksters. Love the Pranksters and good to see Pranksterism alive and well in Phish 3.0!
I’m betting on Cali. They’re going to do it someplace warm, plus, they need to announce it very soon and it looks like the due diligence has been done on CA.
Anyone remember the “Secret Presentation” of the IT Tower they were wheeling around in 2003. There was some video on Phish.com about it, although nobody knew what it was at the time.
Also, why would people be getting hotels and paying $300 +??? Why wouldn’t you camp?? Isn’t that kind of half of the fun?
I’m sure you called that Miner….sure you did….
@Marshall– LiveNation tickets (no longer Ticketmaster) are supposed to ship today according to the confirmation email I got way back when I bought them.
Thanks for the compton terrace upload! I was at that show and it was the first for a few of my now phish obsessed friends. First set was terrible, but the second set got good quick!
@BTB, I get hotels at these things whenever possible now, because it’s easier than getting into a fistfight with the knucklehead who invariably decides to test his car stereo’s limits with a looped track of Yanni or some godawful techno at 5am right next to my tent. Some of us can’t afford to lose 4-5 night’s sleep for a festival anymore.
Also, for those of us flying, it is hard to bring the full camping rig across the country. For some reason, they get fidgety when I try to bring the ole Coleman stove onto the plane.
When I was much younger the all-night lot scene was half the fun– now, not so much.
@Marshall: sorry, I meant tomorrow. I was willing the week away a little too fast– what with the Burlington BrewFest up in Vermont this weekend, I’m sure I can be excused for so doing…
Hot air balloon jam over the festival site in Cali.
It will be epic.
Miner, awesome JOTD idea (jam of the day)! Full shows often get interrupted at work, so this is perfect. Love it.
On a separate note, did anyone catch the Daily Show last night? The tag line on the feature about Sarah Palin stepping down read “I don’t know, Alaska”. Nice Phish reference.
T. Leo, I saw that, made me wonder if Alaska was a cover or if it was really a phish reference?
I would not be surprised if some of the writers at The Daily Show were heads.
@Pebbles
Gotcha, didn’t think about those points. Although, I travel with a one man tent (from my Appalachian Trail days) so I keep it simple in my own little way I guess.
Do they allow people to go in and out? I hope so. The RV rental I think would be sweet (have yet to do it).
One link says it all:
http://www.desertusa.com/mag06/dec/balloonfest.html
Not sure the RV thing would work for me. Are there even any hotels in the area or do we go all the way to Yuma?
Pebbles,
You hitting up the Burlington Brew Fest on Friday or Saturday?
@ Marshall
I like the songs of the summer idea you threw out there for Miner. Although, you could almost group those as bluegrass numbers, except for Timber and Makisupa. But that still goes with the summer idea anyhow. Bluegrass = the south which = hot which = summer.
All those bluegrass numbers are tremendous. I love them all.