While Phish tour is a feel-good vacation from everyday life, it is also a clandestine mission to reach the most epic peaks of exaltation and self-discovery. Fun spliced with spirituality- and a whole bunch of friends. But anyone who has undertaken whole tours, or legs of tours, will tell you, it is not always a walk in the park. Getting from show to show and state to state requires not only forethought, but organization. Whether you are camping, staying in hotels, or crashing at rest areas, traveling two to six hours every night takes its toll. Or if you are the type to get some sleep and get a move-on during the mid-day traffic, a whole different set of obstacles present themselves. While negotiating this nationwide labyrinth of highways, back roads, and parking lots, there are some things that can help you along the way.
As we enter the last full weekend before the first summer tour in five years, people may be a little out of practice. While many of us will use part of this three-day weekend to begin packing and getting ready for our three week adventure, I thought that some might need to reminded of some things they may be forgetting. So as you prepare yourselves for your return to the road, here are some things you should probably not forget.
Rope, Bungee Cords: You’ll use them at some point, somewhere along the way.
Duct Tape: Whether repairing a car, a shoe, or camping equipment, duct tape is usually the answer.
Garbage Bags: For both inside and outside your car.
Needle, Thread, and Safety Pins: Someone in your car will need em at some point- and if not, it’s because you had ’em.
Advil, Tylenol, Allergy Medicine: Hangovers, cornfields, and night time lot injuries are only some of the uses for these necessary medicines. You never know in what part of the country your allergies will kick in.
CDs, iPods, Hard drives: Nothing is more important than road tunes, and at this point it’s almost all iPods. Make sure to bring the proper wires to connect in cars and to computers. I’m bringing a mini-hard drive to dip my pod in daily. A portable hard drive (pocket-size) is useful when you’re hanging out in a hotel room with some folks who did the same. Note: Those dj mixes make for great late night driving at 80 minutes a clip.
Paper, Pen, Pencils: You never know when inspiration will strike. The computer may be packed away.
Laptop: In this digital age, every hotel, motel, and Holiday Inn has wireless, so bring it, and be able to log onto Phish Thoughts anywhere you go! And your fantasy baseball team won’t go down the tubes when you don’t set your rotation for a month because you’re disconnected from the world.
Suntan lotion, extra sunglasses, hat or visor, bug spray: This is Summer Tour- it’s gonna’ be hot once we get to Bonnaroo! And the east coast mosquitoes suck!
Socks, socks, and more socks: I bring as many “freshies” as shows, and then you gotta’ figure you’re living life and not doing a lot of laundry. Someone once told me to bring two times the socks and underwear as days between laundry- take it for what you will.
Atlas and/or GPS: One way or the other, you gotta find your way. Sometimes maps look like spaghetti when you’re really spun, so a GPS may be useful- an iPhone will do the trick these days. But when trying to find that back route around the traffic at Star Lake and Alpine, you better break out that atlas.
AAA Card: A lifesaver in so many situations- make sure someone in your car has one.
Grinder, your favorite rolling papers, lighters, air-tight container, Ozium: If you’re puffing, you gotta have the goods. And if you don’t bring papers, it’s gonna be an EZ Wider and Zig-Zag summer for you.
Gold Bond Medicated Powder: The “voodoo” herb contained within can be the cure for many a summer ailment.
Bathing Suit and Towel: This is Summer Tour- remember?
Extra Pair of Shoes: You will use them after getting caught in that post-show downpour.
Rain Gear: There’s no festival this year, but you’ll get caught in a shower at some point and be glad you have it.
Extra Set Of Car Keys: And don’t leave ’em in the car!
Snacks: While convenience stores are one of the most frequented places on tour, they aren’t always so convenient if you’re lost or running late.
Corkscrew, scissors, pocket knife: All handy on too many occasions to not have them, and you can store ’em any where.
Chargers for all your equipment: Phones, iPods, laptops, and whatever else can be run without a plug.
Now, that’s a good start! If you have most of this tour gear, you’ll be ready for many a tour catastrophe, and be able to avert many others. If you forget any of this stuff, there is always Flying J’s and Walmarts to fill in your gaps, but if you’re prepared, you’ll just keep on rolling.
What other tour gear must you not live without, and what has come through for you in the clutch?
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FALL ’97 MIX-UP Pt. 2 RESULTS: A THREE-WAY TIE!
Congratulations to George Fetner, Mark Leporati, and Robert G.! ALL THREE of these guys nailed the setlist track for track- a three-way tie! Honestly, I never expected this to happen, but I guess I made it too easy! Anyhow, after some consultation with the winners, the only fair way to decide who gets the free ticket is to have a high stakes playoff tiebreaker! Today, I will craft a tiebreaker mix of Fall ’97 material to find out who is the true maestro of the tour. I am definitely going to make it more c