Today represents the 100th post ever on Phish Thoughts; our own little hundredth show! I can’t believe the site has been around this long already and has grown into such a Phishy online community. Thank you all for your reading, suggestions, and support. In celebration of this centennial post, I wanted to think of something thematic to go with. After extended deliberations and much soul-searching, I present to you:
“100 Things I Learned On Phish Tour”
100. Avoid buying dense weed with lots of red hairs.
99. Why wait in show traffic when you can cut it all?
98. Anything is better than lot food.
97. Don’t share joints with people you don’t know.
96. Don’t eat the black gel tabs.
95. “Nothing I see can be taken from me.”
94. The ability to get two nights for the price of one at any hotel.
93. I hate burnt sage.
92. How do rage on an arena step no more than 2 x 3 feet.
91. How to never wind up dancing on an arena step.
90. Driving at night is far more efficient than driving during the day.
89. Waffle House is way better than it looks.
88. Buttering up security guards is always a good idea.
87. Avoid dancing too close to dreadlocked fans for fear of getting smacked in the face by one.
86. Take a circuitous route to the show, avoiding the exit everyone is waiting at.
85. How to get free hotel rooms.
84. Don’t talk to the guys on lot with bright tye-dyes, sunglasses and mustaches.
83.Security guards like to puff too.
82. Late checkouts are always possible if you say the right things.
81. Don’t buy anything from the guy who has everything!
80. You can find anything you need on Phish lot- anything.
79. People really do ask random others if they’ve got extra floor space.
78. Fall tour is when the shit really goes down.
77. There is no need to actually *see* the band during a show.
76. International Phish shows are the greatest experiences ever.
75. Coors Amphitheatre in Chula Vista is the best “standard” outdoor amphitheatre in the US.
74. Don’t leave your bong out in a hotel room, even in Vegas!
73. America’s police have low IQs and very little common sense.
72. Don’t care what songs they play.
71. The difference between all the hotel chains’ breakfast buffets.
70. The veggie burritos people sell post-show on summer tour were made pre-show and sat in the car all day.
69. A lot of people’s first names.
68. How to negate hotel’s smoke alarms.
67. Murfreesboro, TN is really spelled like that.
66. Some people go to concerts to talk.
65. A sherlock bubbler probably shouldn’t be your car piece.
64. Shows are a workout. Dress for one.
63. Dancing barefoot is nasty.
62. Pre-roll joints to avoid set break confusion.
61. All you really need in your pocket at a show is your ticket stub.
60. How to have an all night campfire in Dick Butkus’s “Quick Cook” grill.
59. You can get stuck in a vortex in the hallways on the 3rd floor of MSG.
58. There is nothing like hopping in the car and throwing on the DAT of the second set you just experienced.
57. Phish can harness the power of the universe- nightly.
56. It’s always a relief when tour gets out of the South.
55. The lawn and the pavilion are like night and day.
54. Seeing setlists on the Internet sucks.
53. A video game system is a good thing to bring on tour.
52. Phish plays “Saturday Night Specials,” and they usually include Disease.
51. Post-show driving is no more difficult that Atari’s “Night Driver.”
50. The Hampton Holiday Inn becomes a post-show war zone with passed out wooks in the hallway, pizza boxes like shrapnel, and more debauchery than imaginable.
49. The Gorge is the most stunning place to see Phish play.
48. There is nothing quite like an MSG show.
47. Glowsticks were a bad idea.
46. Girls can go in guys bathrooms, but vice-versa- not so much.
45. Trey has a unique “show shirt” he wears for most of each tour.
44. Phish couldn’t survive without one of their members. Apparently keyboardists aren’t as expendable as they were in the days of the Grateful Dead.
43. Grab extra paper towels from the bathroom for the inevitably spilled beer that will make dancing hazardous.
42. Portland Meadows gives you black boogers.
41. 2000 is an underrated year.
40. A bad Phish show is an oxymoron.
39. Some people took on “lot names” – oh the absurdity.
38. Phish is a giant metaphor for life.
37. Trey’s rhythm licks sound a lot like Jerry on many occasions.
36. 12.28.98 is one of the best and most underrated shows ever.
35. Sterilize the mouth pieces of random glass pieces with the lighter if you care to indulge, you’ll be happy later.
34. There is no such thing as a piss break at a Phish show.
33. Any song can go anywhere at anytime. Still waiting for the twenty minute Bouncin’. (Think about it before you guffaw.)
32. Gordon always plays exactly the note you never expected- all the time.
31. Canadian drug dogs can smell a month old roach under your seat that you never knew was there.
30. It’s always good to sleep between shows at some point.
29. Strangers can turn into friends over night.
28. New Years Runs should always be in Miami.
27. Chicken Fingers is a good order anywhere you go.
26. Phish festivals are super-sized psychedelic playgrounds for adults.
25. Some people will pay a lot of money for front row tickets- every single night.
24. Try to avoid the automotive nitrous.
23. Patchouli is no better than body odor.
22. If you roll with herb, roll with Ozium.
21. Some people care more about what sticky pass they have than what the band is playing.
20. 93-95 = 97-99; they are just like two different bands.
19. There is nothing like ’94 Rebas.
18. Just be yourself.
17. People pay money to dance in the hallways of arenas, unable to hear what they are dancing to.
16. Phish is a portal to the divine.
15. Scent of a Mule is not the best choice to drop in the middle of the second set.
14. Something was in the air at SPAC ’04.
13. 1 for $3, 2 for $5 pretty much works for anything.
12. Post-hiatus takes far too much unjustified grief. 2003 was amazing.
11. Most lot dogs are named Marley or Kaya.
10. Flying J truck stops have anything you could possibly need.
9. A month of Phish shows are good for the head.
8. There is a nitrous mafia in Philadelphia.
7. The Island Run was a different thing all together.
6. 12.30 is a better night than 12.31.
5. Bathroom lines are only an illusion.
4. The 12.6.97 Tweezer is perfection.
3. LSD and Phish is like peanut butter and jelly.
2. Phish is much more effective under Democratic Presidents.
1. There is nothing I’d rather do on any given night than see Phish.
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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:
11.13.97 Thomas & Mack, Las Vegas, NV < LINK
Eleven years ago today, Phish began one of their most legendary tours ever- Fall ’97. With more insane shows than you can shake a stick at, it all started here. With a curtain cutting off almost half the venue, the show took on an intimate feel. With the debut of “Black-Eyed Katy,” a solid YEM, and a hot Split anchoring the first set, the show unfolds in after halftime. A twenty-minute “Stash” that got into some tribal territory, officially got the tour underway. A strong set ends with a standout Mike’s Groove. This one is historic. Enjoy it!
I: Chalk Dust Torture, Black-Eyed Katy*, Theme From the Bottom, Train Song, Split Open and Melt, Beauty of My Dreams, My Soul, You Enjoy Myself, Character Zero
II: Stash, Punch You in the Eye, Prince Caspian, Bouncing Around the Room, Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove
E: Loving Cup
*First time played
