Please me have no regrets
Phish is no more.
I didn't want to miss my last chance to go on Phish tour, so when they announced their impending breakup, I immediately purchased tickets for the last few shows. The final "regular" show in Camden, NJ, and the final festival in Coventry, VT.
Thursday morning, Ian and I loaded up the Comanche and headed off to Jersey. Apart from some impressive rain storms around Lancaster where we had to slow down to 25 mph on the turnpike, the drive out was uneventful. We got a little turned around in Jersey, but eventually made it to the parking lot right as the Comanche was starting to overheat. (I guess it wasn't really expecting to go on a road trip.)
We had a few beers and chatted with some guys from a band called Under New Management. They gave us a CD of one of their shows, which was pretty decent. By then, showtime was rapidly approaching, so we headed in. The band took the stage and dove right into Wilson. Fantastic! From there, they move right into a killer YEM, complete with trampolines. After the YEM, they played Ghost, not one of my favorites, but not a bad song. Then, a fun Maze > Catapult > Maze, followed by a great Moma Dance. Then, to wrap up the set, Horn followed by Pebbles and Marbles. I was pretty hyped up after the first set, and was really looking forward to the second.
To open the second set, they played a fantastic Piper followed up with Sneakin Sally, which I had never seen live. From there, a nice Cavern, followed by an unremarkable Limb, Julius, and Rock and Roll. I think the day was taking its toll, and I was losing energy fast. The closing Scents and Subtle Sounds seemed almost too long.
For the encore, Page belted out a great Lawn Boy, and they closed it off with a very energetic Frankenstein. I was glad they turned it up at the end, because I was going to need all the energy I could get for the drive ahead.
We headed out to the lot and got right in the truck and headed right back to the highway. A good dose of caffiene got me going, and we were on our way. The ipod proved invaluable, as I listened to more metal and hard rock than I had in a long time to keep me going. We cruised through Jersey and past NYC in no time. Stopped in Connecticut to fuel up both the Comanche and me (mmm, late night coffee). The rest of CT flew by, and Massachusetts was wholly unremarkable at 4-5 am. We cruised into southern Vermont around 6am, when I got a call from Bean, who had just woken up over near Burlington at Rebean's sister's place. We arranged to meetup at 7:30 in St. Johnsbury, just south of Coventry on I-91. We did so, ate a quick breakfast at McDonald's, and got back on the road hoping to get in to the festival "early". (Ha!)
We hit traffic about 15 miles south of our exit goal at about 8:30 am. Over the next 6 or so hours, we managed to cruise about 5 whole miles. Somewhere in there, I took a well-needed nap on the air mattress which I inflated on top of the rest of the gear in the back of the truck. By 6pm we were effectively at a dead stop, so I broke out the camp stove and cooked up some burgers for dinner. We hung out and partied with the fellow phans in traffic in the light rain all evening. As frustrating as it was to not be moving, we were all hopeful that things would get flowing soon and we would make it in to camp.
Around 11pm - midnight, Ian crashed out on the air mattress in the back, and I cleared of the front seat and sprawled out for the night. We woke up not long after dawn, having not moved all night. We got out the stove again and cooked up some pancakes and facon.
Finally, around 10 am, the radio let us all know that they were going to have to start turning people away at the gates because there was just nowhere to put anyone else. Apparently, the steady rain over the past week turned the whole place into a muddy mess. Blah. We talked things over for a bit, and decided to take a drive around and see if we could find some other way to get in. We failed at every turn, being turned back by state troopers here and dead end roads there. After some more discussion, one of the guys from the Bean crew decided to head in on his own to meet up with some friends of his that were apparantly close to getting in. We dropped him off at a local school where locals were driving people in as close as they could get and letting them walk in the rest of the way. Not looking forward to a several mile hike with all of our gear, we decided on an alternate plan. The concert was to be broadcast live on XM radio, so we drove off to the nearest car audio joint to pick up an XM reciever with the intention of finding a campground somewhere a couple of hours away.
We picked up the reciever from the nice folks at Audiocarve. We chatted with them for a while and they told us that some people they knew were letting people camp on their lawn, about 4 miles out from the gate. We drove up and checked it out, and the nice guy there was letting people camp out on his lawn for $50/car, and he would provide rides in as close as he could get us. We paid the man, and set up camp. Once we were all set up, we hopped in the back of the property owner's truck, and he drove us up to the top of the hill. From there, we had to hike about a mile down a muddy skidoo/quad trail to where Rt 5 meets Airport Road. From there, it was a 2 mile hike up Airport Road to the gate, then probably almost a mile through the camp area to the stage just in time for the first set. Most of the walk through the camp area was okay, other than being crowded, until we got to the 'Commons', where they had the legit food vendors and general store and such set up. This area was a complete swampy muddy mess. Shoes were lost all over the place.
We made it to the concert grounds and got down as close as we could to the stage, slightly to stage left, just back from the soundboard. The ground was covered in a good 6 inches of thick mud. We enjoyed the first set from here, then decided to head for higher, hopefully drier ground for the rest of the show. We found a good place to chill on the lawn for the remainder of the show, though the ground was far to wet to sit directly on. I found a few discarded water bottles, and sat on those, which worked remarkably well and provided some much needed relief to my feet.
After the set, we hiked all the way back around through the mud and muck, through the camp area, down Airport Road, back up the very muddy skidoo trail, and down the tree line along a sheep field, back to our host's yard. I crashed out almost immediately.
We all woke up around the same time from the sun beating down on our tents, and cooked up another pancake breakfast. We hung out for a while (too long), and got another lift in the back of our host's truck, this time all the way to the bottom of Airport Road, saving us a mile of walking down the muddy trail. We started up Airport Road, and got offered another ride for $5 up the hill to the gate. Best $5 I spent all weekend. We truged through the camp area, through the muck in the Commons, and over to the stage area, missing the first part of the first set (Mike's Song > I am Hydrogen > Weekapaug. Damn.)
The first set was mostly a blur, as I was exhausted and fairly dehydrated. I sat (wisely, we brought two camp chairs this time) and drank some water, and felt much better by the end of the set. We maneuvered around to get a better seat, directly between the first set of relay towers, pretty much dead center stage.
The band was really showing their emotion in the second and third sets, particularly Trey, who was making tons of mistakes, and Page, who couldn't get the words out in Wading in the Velvet Sea. Set 3 ended on a high note with Wilson and Slave to the Traffic Light. The band came back out, and Trey told us how the final song was one he wrote when the band was just forming, in a cabin he shared with his dog Marley here in Vermont. And so, they started playing (first, in the wrong key, but they started over to get it right) The Curtain With. The lyrics were as appropriate as any Phish song could be:
As he saw his life run away from him
Thousands ran along
Chanting words from a song
"Please me, have no regrets"
"Please me, have no regrets"
Came from the baby's mouth
We follow the lines going south
"Please me, have no regrets"
Came from the,came from the,came from the... baby's mouth!
We follow the line going south!
We hicked all the way back to our camp again, this time shot-cutting around the Coventry campsite by taking Airport Road from near the stage all the way out. Again, I passed out quickly after making it back to my tent. We awoke in the morning to a light rain, which make breaking camp all the more difficult. We finally got on the road relatively late, maybe around 11 am.
Driving down I-91 south past Newport and Coventry was fascinating. Cars abandoned everywhere. Lost hippies hitchiking and walking all over the place. A depressing amount of trash left behind; the only consolation being that most of it appeared to be bagged or at least piled neatly along the road to make cleanup easier. (I later learned that the production company was picking up the tab for the highway cleanup.)
We stopped in St Johnsbury for food and fuel, and I picked up a stuffed Moose for my (as of then unborn) nephew Daniel. Headed south through Massachusetts and west through Connecticut, stopping a convient Taco Bell for dinner. Then, the loooong ride home through pretty much all Pennsylvania. Again, the ipod kept me going, particulary in the last few hours along Rte. 220 from State College back to home.
I dropped Ian off, came home, and passed right out.
Was it worth it? Absolutely. Would I do it all again? No question.
I didn't want to miss my last chance to go on Phish tour, so when they announced their impending breakup, I immediately purchased tickets for the last few shows. The final "regular" show in Camden, NJ, and the final festival in Coventry, VT.
Thursday morning, Ian and I loaded up the Comanche and headed off to Jersey. Apart from some impressive rain storms around Lancaster where we had to slow down to 25 mph on the turnpike, the drive out was uneventful. We got a little turned around in Jersey, but eventually made it to the parking lot right as the Comanche was starting to overheat. (I guess it wasn't really expecting to go on a road trip.)
We had a few beers and chatted with some guys from a band called Under New Management. They gave us a CD of one of their shows, which was pretty decent. By then, showtime was rapidly approaching, so we headed in. The band took the stage and dove right into Wilson. Fantastic! From there, they move right into a killer YEM, complete with trampolines. After the YEM, they played Ghost, not one of my favorites, but not a bad song. Then, a fun Maze > Catapult > Maze, followed by a great Moma Dance. Then, to wrap up the set, Horn followed by Pebbles and Marbles. I was pretty hyped up after the first set, and was really looking forward to the second.
To open the second set, they played a fantastic Piper followed up with Sneakin Sally, which I had never seen live. From there, a nice Cavern, followed by an unremarkable Limb, Julius, and Rock and Roll. I think the day was taking its toll, and I was losing energy fast. The closing Scents and Subtle Sounds seemed almost too long.
For the encore, Page belted out a great Lawn Boy, and they closed it off with a very energetic Frankenstein. I was glad they turned it up at the end, because I was going to need all the energy I could get for the drive ahead.
We headed out to the lot and got right in the truck and headed right back to the highway. A good dose of caffiene got me going, and we were on our way. The ipod proved invaluable, as I listened to more metal and hard rock than I had in a long time to keep me going. We cruised through Jersey and past NYC in no time. Stopped in Connecticut to fuel up both the Comanche and me (mmm, late night coffee). The rest of CT flew by, and Massachusetts was wholly unremarkable at 4-5 am. We cruised into southern Vermont around 6am, when I got a call from Bean, who had just woken up over near Burlington at Rebean's sister's place. We arranged to meetup at 7:30 in St. Johnsbury, just south of Coventry on I-91. We did so, ate a quick breakfast at McDonald's, and got back on the road hoping to get in to the festival "early". (Ha!)
We hit traffic about 15 miles south of our exit goal at about 8:30 am. Over the next 6 or so hours, we managed to cruise about 5 whole miles. Somewhere in there, I took a well-needed nap on the air mattress which I inflated on top of the rest of the gear in the back of the truck. By 6pm we were effectively at a dead stop, so I broke out the camp stove and cooked up some burgers for dinner. We hung out and partied with the fellow phans in traffic in the light rain all evening. As frustrating as it was to not be moving, we were all hopeful that things would get flowing soon and we would make it in to camp.
Around 11pm - midnight, Ian crashed out on the air mattress in the back, and I cleared of the front seat and sprawled out for the night. We woke up not long after dawn, having not moved all night. We got out the stove again and cooked up some pancakes and facon.
Finally, around 10 am, the radio let us all know that they were going to have to start turning people away at the gates because there was just nowhere to put anyone else. Apparently, the steady rain over the past week turned the whole place into a muddy mess. Blah. We talked things over for a bit, and decided to take a drive around and see if we could find some other way to get in. We failed at every turn, being turned back by state troopers here and dead end roads there. After some more discussion, one of the guys from the Bean crew decided to head in on his own to meet up with some friends of his that were apparantly close to getting in. We dropped him off at a local school where locals were driving people in as close as they could get and letting them walk in the rest of the way. Not looking forward to a several mile hike with all of our gear, we decided on an alternate plan. The concert was to be broadcast live on XM radio, so we drove off to the nearest car audio joint to pick up an XM reciever with the intention of finding a campground somewhere a couple of hours away.
We picked up the reciever from the nice folks at Audiocarve. We chatted with them for a while and they told us that some people they knew were letting people camp on their lawn, about 4 miles out from the gate. We drove up and checked it out, and the nice guy there was letting people camp out on his lawn for $50/car, and he would provide rides in as close as he could get us. We paid the man, and set up camp. Once we were all set up, we hopped in the back of the property owner's truck, and he drove us up to the top of the hill. From there, we had to hike about a mile down a muddy skidoo/quad trail to where Rt 5 meets Airport Road. From there, it was a 2 mile hike up Airport Road to the gate, then probably almost a mile through the camp area to the stage just in time for the first set. Most of the walk through the camp area was okay, other than being crowded, until we got to the 'Commons', where they had the legit food vendors and general store and such set up. This area was a complete swampy muddy mess. Shoes were lost all over the place.
We made it to the concert grounds and got down as close as we could to the stage, slightly to stage left, just back from the soundboard. The ground was covered in a good 6 inches of thick mud. We enjoyed the first set from here, then decided to head for higher, hopefully drier ground for the rest of the show. We found a good place to chill on the lawn for the remainder of the show, though the ground was far to wet to sit directly on. I found a few discarded water bottles, and sat on those, which worked remarkably well and provided some much needed relief to my feet.
After the set, we hiked all the way back around through the mud and muck, through the camp area, down Airport Road, back up the very muddy skidoo trail, and down the tree line along a sheep field, back to our host's yard. I crashed out almost immediately.
We all woke up around the same time from the sun beating down on our tents, and cooked up another pancake breakfast. We hung out for a while (too long), and got another lift in the back of our host's truck, this time all the way to the bottom of Airport Road, saving us a mile of walking down the muddy trail. We started up Airport Road, and got offered another ride for $5 up the hill to the gate. Best $5 I spent all weekend. We truged through the camp area, through the muck in the Commons, and over to the stage area, missing the first part of the first set (Mike's Song > I am Hydrogen > Weekapaug. Damn.)
The first set was mostly a blur, as I was exhausted and fairly dehydrated. I sat (wisely, we brought two camp chairs this time) and drank some water, and felt much better by the end of the set. We maneuvered around to get a better seat, directly between the first set of relay towers, pretty much dead center stage.
The band was really showing their emotion in the second and third sets, particularly Trey, who was making tons of mistakes, and Page, who couldn't get the words out in Wading in the Velvet Sea. Set 3 ended on a high note with Wilson and Slave to the Traffic Light. The band came back out, and Trey told us how the final song was one he wrote when the band was just forming, in a cabin he shared with his dog Marley here in Vermont. And so, they started playing (first, in the wrong key, but they started over to get it right) The Curtain With. The lyrics were as appropriate as any Phish song could be:
As he saw his life run away from him
Thousands ran along
Chanting words from a song
"Please me, have no regrets"
"Please me, have no regrets"
Came from the baby's mouth
We follow the lines going south
"Please me, have no regrets"
Came from the,came from the,came from the... baby's mouth!
We follow the line going south!
We hicked all the way back to our camp again, this time shot-cutting around the Coventry campsite by taking Airport Road from near the stage all the way out. Again, I passed out quickly after making it back to my tent. We awoke in the morning to a light rain, which make breaking camp all the more difficult. We finally got on the road relatively late, maybe around 11 am.
Driving down I-91 south past Newport and Coventry was fascinating. Cars abandoned everywhere. Lost hippies hitchiking and walking all over the place. A depressing amount of trash left behind; the only consolation being that most of it appeared to be bagged or at least piled neatly along the road to make cleanup easier. (I later learned that the production company was picking up the tab for the highway cleanup.)
We stopped in St Johnsbury for food and fuel, and I picked up a stuffed Moose for my (as of then unborn) nephew Daniel. Headed south through Massachusetts and west through Connecticut, stopping a convient Taco Bell for dinner. Then, the loooong ride home through pretty much all Pennsylvania. Again, the ipod kept me going, particulary in the last few hours along Rte. 220 from State College back to home.
I dropped Ian off, came home, and passed right out.
Was it worth it? Absolutely. Would I do it all again? No question.