Phish Reunion 2009 - Hampton, VA - March 6th, 7th, 8th
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Note: I have procrastinated for a little over a year with this blog. But an event such as today's is reason to get energized and write something.
Having recently acquired a copy of the complete Adventures of Pete & Pete, a line from a simple song referenced in one of the First Season episode has been stuck in my head. Today this line seems very fitting.
"...merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream."
It is rare that I am excited to be woken up at 8:47am. Today was different. Much different. The culprit of this early morning crime was the beeping of my phone indicating a text message. I debated not opening my eyes and going back to sleep, but something compelled me to look. I cleared out the gunk and looked at the LCD screen that simply said, "PHISH IS BACK." I looked away and then back to make sure I was seeing this correctly. Just yesterday the rumor mills on notorious message boards such as Phantasytour.com had been buzzing with claims that a three-peat reunion of epic proportions was in the works. The band itself has also hinted at the idea of playing together again in interviews, but the details have eluded Phans, until now.
My immediate reaction was disbelief. Most likely a keen defense mechanism used subconsciously to avoid being had. I jumped out of bed and typed in that all too familiar web address and was immediately greeted by a brand new intro video for phish.com. The short clip depicts an artist in fast-foward sketching out portions of the discernable Hampton Coliseum. The video concludes with the artist painting the words: "Phish - Hampton March 6-7-8 2009." I then giddily entered the site and was greeted by the news headline that simply said: "Phish To Play Three Concerts." Now it was time to get really excited. Before I even read the the rest of the update I hastily ran into my roomate's room, almost crashing into him, while I stuttered through trying to explain what was happening.
I then ran back through the house to my room and started reading the article. It gave details of the event, how and when
to order tickets and most importantly that the Phish camp would be announcing more tour dates in early 2009. I immediately followed the link to reserve my pre-sale tickets, grabbing two for each night. I sat back, took a deep breath, and realized this was happening. I grabbed my bearer of good news and went down the list of my address book calling and texting everyone I knew who would want to hear the news. Even some that wouldn't. I then hurried through my usual morning and barely caught the bus in time for class. Today has been one of those days that you know you won't forget, yet you just float through it. Excitement is an understatement. I know I am not alone. For many this is an answer to our prayers. The jam oriented music scene has grown in diversity but not necessarily in creative evolution. Personally having been on a moe. kick for my live music fix, this Phish update comes as a good counter-punch to upstate New York legend's recent announcement to take a hiatus after 15 years of continuous touring.
So here we are. On the verge of something that has potential for greatness. The feeling of mystery that has always been a force that Phish manipulates is ever present. What lies ahead for sure is only three dates and some sort of tour in 2009. As always, speculation continues to flood the Phish community, but that only adds to the appeal. The next 17 days will be consumed by thought of whether or not tickets will be given to myself and my band of crazies - all with intentions of taking this epic journey with me. If we come up empty handed, then there will be the great TicketMaster public sale at 10am on October 18th, 2009. Predictions of sell-out time range from 5 minutes to the servers crashing. I am staying positive because I don't think I can feel any other way. No matter what, Phish is back, they are playing three shows for sure, and a tour following those three shows is in the works. See you on tour.
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