After an extensive run down the eastern seaboard, hitting up all the classic sheds, Phish will wind up the first leg of summer with their return to Atlanta. Visiting Encore Park in Alpharetta, for the first time, fans will find this venue setup perfectly for a tour-ending party. With an over-sized GA orchestra “pit,” there will actually be the ever-elusive dance floor right in front of the band! Seats don’t even come into play until the “100″ section of the venue, behind the first moat of the pavilion. Only one of strip of seats will line the inner pavilion before an undersized lawn rounds out a rather intimate 12,00o person amphitheatre, 7,000 less than Phish’s usual stop in Lakewood.

This medium-sized landing point for summer’s first leg seems to be an alteration of the classic cookie-cutter shed. While still bearing the Verizon Wireless brand, Atlanta’s design team had some foresight, putting removable chairs in the lower pavilion, creating the potential of a huge GA orchestra section, something that should be a staple at every venue built going forward. With open space to throw down, and a fully-oiled Phish, sixteen shows into tour, Atlanta has the makings of a tour ending gala.

The July 4th weekend is part of five two-night stands during leg one, as only six shows will float alone. Catering to less travel for everyone, Atlanta provides a final destination weekend for fans from all over the country. Coupled with SPAC, Alpharetta comprises the north-south highlights of the first leg, and, arguably, the four most-anticipated shows of June. But there are a few others.

What started as a down-low highlight has blown up into one of the most anticipated shows of tour at nTelos Pavilion in Portsmouth, Virginia. With a tiny capacity of 6,500, and a first come, first-serve GA policy, one can be sure people will be lining up long before doors open for this gig. With rail spots at stake, there will be a mad dash to the front where people will sit for hours before showtime. With everyone able to go anywhere, dance space could materialize nicely at the smallest show of June. Located on the water in Southeastern Virginia, only a stones throw from Hampton, Portsmouth is one of only two sold-out shows of the first leg, the other being Great Woods, and looks to be a special Tuesday night.

Two weeks later, Phish will make their return to Canandaigua, New York for the first time since the infamous “Theme >Tweezer > Reprise” set during Summer ’95. An out of the way stop on a Tuesday night spells a recipe for free tickets, but, simailarly, CMAC looks like the quintessential show that many will skip in favor of continuing south from Merriweather to Raleigh. The combination of rural New York, a Tuesday night, and many heads moving south, creates a forecast for a standout show.

While the venue nor locale are anything special, everyone knows Camden will blow up – it always does. One of the other shows that looks like a gem-in-waiting is the band’s return to Walnut Creek in Raleigh, the site of so many momentous Phish shows dating  back to ’94. Coming in the last four-pack of tour, the band will be firing when they return to the familiar environs, and this could materialize as an indelible tour highlight. We can sit here and predict all night, however, sometimes that’s all there is to do when there’s only 58 days left before tour.

Tick, tock…tick, tock…tick, tock…

=====

Jam of the Day:

“Stash > I Didn’t Know” 6.15.95 I

A dip into darkness during the first set of Lakewood.

=====

DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:

4.13.92 After The Gold Rush, Tempe,AZ SBD < Torrent

4.12.92 After The Gold Rush, Tempe, AZ SBD < Megaupload

I: Golgi Apparatus, Uncle Pen, Stash, The Lizards, The Landlady, NICU, Fee, All Things Reconsidered, Foam, Take the ‘A’ Train, David Bowie

II: Llama, Fluffhead, Sparkle, Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Magilla, Ya Mar, The Squirming Coil, Cold as Ice > Love You > Cold as Ice, Possum

E: Memories, Fire

Source: SBD

=====

Jam of the Day:

“Ghost” 8.7.98 I

This whirling, melodic “Ghost” emerged after an early rain subsided at Walnut Creek ’98, providing a show highlight.

=====

DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:

7.30.93 The Veranda @ Starwood Amphitheatre, Antioch, TN < Torrent

7.30.93 The Veranda @ Starwood Amphitheatre, Antioch, TN < Megaup

On the brink of August, Phish carried a month of momentum into Tennessee this evening, and it typical Summer ’93 fashion, crafted a beast.

I: Contact*, Llama, Horn, Uncle Pen, Stash, Esther, Chalk Dust Torture, I Didn’t Know, Reba, Cavern

II: Also Sprach Zarathustra > Tweezer, The Horse > Silent in the Morning, Poor Heart, Fluffhead, My Friend, My Friend, Golgi Apparatus, The Squirming Coil, David Bowie

E: Walk Away, Amazing Grace

*cuts in late

Source: Set I: Crown Stereo PZM Mic > Sony PCM DAT > SSL SBD > API EQ > Pultec Compression > DAT / Set II : Unknown

Never has a singular experience, at the same time, been as intimately personal and intensely communal, as a Phish show. Though ultimately navigating this rite alone, with companions on the ride, relationships are forever changed and deepened. Regardless of any psychedelics, Phish provides a drug unto itself, and when people share in the highest imaginable high, bonds are cemented, relationships fostered, and irreplaceable connections made. It’s all a bit different when meeting on the astral plane rather than the local watering hole. And interestingly enough, a Phish show shared in silence can trump hours of beer-driven small talk in forging a personal understanding.

Congregating amidst this phosphorescent fantasy land eliminates a lot of the formalities that one encounters in conventional social situations. Without speaking, people connect through, dance, spirit, and shared energy – meeting points that create intimate relationships. Powerful Phish jams can spark or strengthen interpersonal bonds, as the unspoken experience of the moment allows for ample common ground. Shared moments catalyze legitimate friendships with the understanding that everyone is on the same page.

With an air of universal magic surrounding Phish shows, most people bring their best selves into the arena, leaving their everyday baggage elsewhere to be picked up another time. Shedding these layers of societal pressure, individual worry, and the ennui of routine, Phish shows become beacons for basking in the moment; places where  conventional responsibilities fade away. As people enter this realm on individual missions, the similarity of their spiritual goals unite them in a profound way. Raging a monumental “Tweezer” together will bring two people closer to an existential understanding than four martinis could ever do. Interestingly, American culture values surface level interactions lubricated by alcohol, rather than spiritual exchanges facilitated by hallucinogens that have proven, since the beginning of time, to bring people closer to each other and the natural world. But that’s another subject for another day.

Whether people become a close friends, or even just show acquaintances, powerful emotions flow between those who connect on the plane of Phish. More than any other place in my own life, Phish has introduced me to my best friends on the planet — unquestionably, friends forever. Attracting eccentric characters from all walks of life, the Phish community provides a patchwork of unique personalities that radiate vitality. And within this spectrum, friendships naturally arise due to mutual love of Phish and the irreplaceable live experience.

Not to paint shows with the intimate brush strokes of Kesey’s acid tests of lore, but within the many subgroups at Phish, these type of personal dynamics takes shape nightly. And every now and then, a profound moment will occur with someone you never met before. Although you’ve never spoken, for that moment, you both completely get IT. Maybe a nod suffices, or perhaps a high-five or a hug, depending on the context, but that moment of understanding – seeing soul to soul with someone – lives within you forever.

At Phish, we expose our true selves without fear of judgment, allowing our inner core to commune with the music in an unmatchable symbiotic journey. Simultaneously, thousands of others are immersed in the same process of introspection, forming a glowing and connected whole. The energy exchange between individuals, and between the audience and the band, becomes palpable, and the unknown adventure unfolds, in slow motion, before our eyes. Within three hours of a Phish show, one can learn more about themselves and their place in the world than three years in school, as few things provide the perspective of a transcendent experience. Feeling a part of something larger than oneself – a glimpse of a greater potential – everyone donates to something more, and a sense of communal purpose glows.

While this may sound a bit over the top, the unparalleled Phish experience pushes the boundaries of human possibility; conjuring magic like nothing else on earth. And that is exactly why we keep coming back.

=====

Jam of the Day:

“Wolfman’s > Sally > Timber” 7.17.99 II

This musical triumvirate provided the meat of the second set on the first night of Oswego.

=====

DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:

7.9.99 Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD < Torrent

7.9.99 Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD < Megaupload

Phish made up for an underwhelming first set with a fiery second frame. “Punch, Free” sparked the set with adrenalized textures, while a thick “Mike’s > Twist” with a “Macerena”-laced “Weekapaug” brought things home. And a “Hood” encore to cap things off in style.

I: Limb By Limb, Farmhouse, Back on the Train, The Divided Sky, Train Song, Llama, Driver, Runaway Jim

II: Punch You In the Eye, Free, What’s the Use?,  Meatstick, Mike’s Song > Sweet Emotion Jam > Twist > Weekapaug Groove

E: Harry Hood

Source: FOB Schoeps mk4v > KCY > VMS021B > DA-P1