Quite the Site
10/30 1:29 am
Indio Sunset (A.Lansing)
As people continue to trickle into Festival 8, this site is shaping up to be quite the host for a weekend of Phish. Speckled with palm trees and carpeted with soft grass, the lush desert surroundings of California provide a completely different vibe than past Northeast weekends. The Empire Polo Grounds boasts a walk-ability that creates an atmosphere of over-sized intimacy very different from the endless airforce bases of lore. With campgrounds – all named, as expected, for eight remaining albums – within a 10-15 minute walk of the concert grounds, the entire festival feels a bit more within reach.
From The Archives Video Show (A.Lansing)
A relatively thorough search greeted everyone at the gate; but no harm no foul. Getting in and setting up, I was busy watching the Yankees tie the World Series while The Bunny broadcast Phish’s soundcheck. Through word of mouth, the band broke out a few new songs off Party Time, highlighted by a ten-minute jam of “Liquid Time.” Look forward for that one coming up this weekend! The evening was highlighted by video “From the Archives” show at The Overlook, the central part of Festival 8 with multiple bars, food stands, and tented areas. Featuring amazing Halloween footage from all of Phish’s past musical costumes, fans congregated, danced, smoked, and drank while watching the massive video screen. When the video mix broke into an unknown “Tube” followed by a “Tube Reprise” we soon realized we were seeing exclusive footage of 11.2.98. When the “Tube” jam ended, the video spliced into the beginning of Dark Side of the Moon, and proceeded to play highlights from the memorable performance. After the Utah portion ended, it had grown freakin’ cold and I headed back to the RV to listen to Shapiro’s archives show on The Bunny, which so far had unleashed two of my favorite jams ever in re-upped SBD quality – the Cypress “Split” and the Winston-Salem “Bathtub Gin!” That’s all for now, the festival calls.
10/30 11:13 am
Just wakin’ up to a gorgeous Indio day. The sun in shining bright and coffee tastes good as we prepare for day one of the weekend. California’ Dreamin…
2:37 pm
Got the turntables set up, and have been enjoying a daytime Phish set spun by myself and various others. Highlights included the the “Rebas” from The Gorge in ’98 and Laguna Seca ’94, the Barcelona ’98 “Tweezer,” Lemonwheel’s “Ghost” and assorted other summer funk. The vibe here is beyond chill once you are through the gates, and the weather seems to be coming through perfectly. Got a chance to hear “Liquid Time;” definitely carries the sound of a new Trey song, and certainly has a wide open door to psychedelic improvisation. The band really took it out during soundcheck, and we are looking forward to what they will do come gametime. I would expect we’ll be hearing this song in a few hours from the stage. Still no real clue as to the Halloween album. Have given up thinking about it since we arrived and set up camp. Desert mountains, palm trees and Phish. Life is good.
6:01 am 10.31
A phenomenal start to the weekend. A deep-dive into a first-set “Stash” provided the improvisational moment of the set after an explosive beginning of “Party Time,” “Chalk Dust.” The second set offered a high powered festival-sized Phish sequence, highlighted by “Disease > Caspian > Wolfman’s.” The “Wolfman’s” had a distinct point when it moved from groove to Halloween music, summoning the spirits of the night before All-Hallowed’s Eve.
1:11 pm
Exile! They are handing out Phishbills on site. With singer Sharon Jones – let’s see about this one.
Happy Halloween everybody! About to go out with the kids dressed as Green Man. Have fun and be safe! See y’all tonight! Wooh!
So…I am going to bitch and moan for a second…
I got home last night for the hood, golgi, and character zero…whatever…
i am working tonight, but thought the second set would start a bit later…i am now bummed because unless a miracle happens i won’t be listening to the costume set…maybe only set III
CRAP
bummer. I fell asleep while listening last night so I’m listening to my stream-ripped set II and kept hearing the annoying ‘inactivity beep’ that Sirius gives you… Middle of Character 0… kaput.
Oh well… can’t be too mad considering how spoiled I feel for listening to it stream last night… and I did fall asleep… Where will i ever find another copy of this? 😉
i LOVE party time!! what a great call for the opener by those on here and the band. its a freakin party weekend and i get to listen with everyone. we for sure exceed BC in number of listeners. so thankful they are streaming it. what a hookup to the fans.
huge hook up indeed
boris… how important is that job, really? 😉
hello
Butter, stop by!
E z access to oasis via back corner fishman side
Trey brought the business tone, many successful transactions
super stoked u all can listen from afar!!!
Sweet Pollock print fr show
i gotta say the soundboard sounds good. sounded really good last night too tho so maybe things are back in order in livephish land.
jonesing a bit to read Miner’s assessment from night 1 – i think “second level leg II” is the best characterization i’ve read so far, though certainly right at the top of that second level, all pretty much based on set 2 imo (beauty of a broken heart was excellent though). RR/gorge/hartford still reigning thus far for 09.
wow pollock for sure robear!
http://www.expressobeans.com/public/detail.php/112935
prob the best pollock all year
Whats up with all this extreme search security
isnt this the west coast where pot is not a big priority?
dogs arnt gonna find doses…. jeeez
thanks folks for the updates.
If only 1 of 8 sites is complaining that is not too bad… although considering how many pholks had to fly to the show, not having good vending nearby can suck, as you prob were limited with what u could bring for yourself.
And every fest has it’s 1 or 2 crazy remote locals. i was in it at Bonnaroo. I have found that if you can bring some form of RV/Trailer or van and try to get into the RV section, U always get decent area. worked for Osewego, It and Coventry for me. Had to drive something econimical south to TN so we got boondocks in Bonnarroo
I did not listen to the second set, went to bed after 1st set. The first set sounded pretty good, with highlight being a fantastic Stash. I called Partytime opener months ago after hearing the first one played at Hartford, so that was a pleasant surprise. Dropping TTE to close 1st set of 1st night of Fest8 surprised and disappointed me at first, but I finally got to listen to the song with ‘open ears’, and by the end I liked it.
Overall, I would have expected a much different opening set for Fest8, more bustouts, and shelving TTE until fall tour, just my 2 cents.
In addition, I really hope they play Oracular Spectacular tonight. I know its a long shot. However, I believe this is the best album Phish could cover to show all their fans that this is truely a new era by playing something that is not so nostalgic. In other words, I believe it would be better to play something modern. MGMTs Oracular Spectacular is a fantastic album, and Phish could destroy Electric Feel as a 20+ minute funk-exploration odyssey.
Here’s hoping!!!
I hope my post is not last on page, i was hoping someone would read it 🙂
read it mOOnshake – TTE was not bad i agree – though i think listening to it is better than the at the show experience of it, an oddity for phish. agree on expecting something bigger for set 1 fest 8.
exciting on the unknown cover ablum! still think # 100 kills all 8 left.
alright – see ya at 3 PT!
piper from last night was the shit
wolf > piper > joy = 3.0
good lord! 72 pages of comments! Just got done goin back through em from about 63 to now.
Liking what I am seeing regarding the show.
Downloading it now.
re: warm up show –
i havent listened yet so I cant say much, but just a friendly reminder that if you dont have expectations going into a show, you don’t have to worry about them not living up to them.
m00nshake
MGMT will have unbelievable fall out from many fans. They’ll get over it eventually, I’m sure. Personally, I would rather they play something with icon status rather than something from a band that we may never hear from again. that’s just me.
On a related note, has anyone at Indio seen a guy dressed up like Hitler dressed up like Ziggy Stardust?
Where can I download the show?
I hope they don’t play MGMT. I am so sick of that album. My roomie plays it all the time
also NOT on the MGMT train
Ladyland…lock it up