Trapped in Time

Phish - Harry Hood
11.02.96 - Coral Sky Amphitheater - Palm Beach, FL

(via thebutterroom)

This is a stellar version of Hood, can’t wait to get this DVD.  Thanks to Phish for hooking up The Butter Room with these videos!

GPOYW: IU Alum @ Telluride Edition

thebutterroom:

Day one at Telluride was pretty incredible.  Still slightly in shock of how beautiful it was, musically (seeing the band unleash some serious jamming) and just the entire environment (the natural scenery, the crowd and the amazing town itself).  Who knows what’s in store for tonight, but this will go down as a special experience for band and fans alike.

This was my view before the show. Could not be more beautiful out here!

Woke up this morning… TELLURIDE

(via thebutterroom)

Where am I?  How did I get here?  Do I ever have to leave?

Normally Forbin would be staying home when we hop on Phish tour, but I thought it’d be nice to take him along for such an amazing journey.

As usual, he became anxious as we packed and our departure loomed, but I assured him he was coming with. He’s never traveled very far, but is an excellent car dog. Tomorrow we’ll do so some hiking in Boulder before picking up the rest of the crew and leaving for Telluride. Oh, and Forbs won’t be chained to a car tire on lot, he’ll be chilling at our dog-friendly resort.

Pretty much the best ticket ever

Most days I don’t consider myself a very lucky person. Random acts of greatness usually don’t fall into my lap.  But one such act certainly has. Through some good friends, I was bestowed a pair of tickets to Phish’s 2-night run in Telluride, CO’s Town Park on August 9 & 10.

For a Phish fan, these are the holy grail of tickets right now… possibly some of the toughest, most expensively priced tickets ever.  Only 9,000 two-day passes were sold. Town locals were given 1,500 of these, leaving only 7,500 for public sale.  Phish’s loterry received about half, and the other half were sold paperless. You must show up and get a bracelet with your credit card and ID. So in total, there are less than 5,000 two-day passes that even exist.

To put it in better perspective though, one must dig deep into the Phishtory books. The band has not played in the small resort town since October 27 & 28, 1991 when they played to the Elk Ballroom, with a capacity of a few hundred people.  Between stops in Telluride, 980 shows will have passed.  And yet, the band’s performances in the town were fundamental to their rapid growth, essentially the only major stands the band made west of the Mississippi.  In those performances, Phish created life-long fans and an almost mythical legacy for the music created over those stops.

The first show also happens to fall on August 9, a very special date.  Six years ago, I saw Phish open their last tour at the Hampton Coliseum.  It was a very strange and chaotic time, and certainly the opposite of the celebration that will take place in Telluride. The 15th anniversary of Jerry Garcia’s death. In 1998 the band acknowledge Jerry by playing Terrapin Station as the encore on August 9, yet has not played another Dead/Jerry song since.  Many believe Telluride will be the first since.  Others think the summer tour’s re-emergence of long-time bust outs may be the precursor to the first full-on Gamehendge performance since 1994.  Whatever the momentous shows contain, it will undoubtedly be a special experience, and in many ways the most intimate festival the band has played since a free festival at Amy Skelton’s Maine farm in 1991.

Oh yeah, and I managed to get a reservation to a sick mountainside resort passed my way.  Should be a summer highlight for sure!

Phish - “Killing In The Name” (Rage Against The Machine cover)
7.4.10 - Encore Park, Alpharetta, Georgia 

Things just got out of hand when this happened.  Entirely out of hand.

(via thebutterroom)

I was dared to wear a diaper to the show on the 4th.  In retrospect it might have been a good idea.

In Depends Day when this went down…

thebutterroom:

Happy Phourth of July From TBR in Alpharetta!

Of all the trips I’ve taken for Phish, none comes close to the one from last weekend. Incredible improv, some amazing bustouts (finally got my first Col. Forbin’s after 61 shows while wearing my red, white and blue Forbin shirt on the Fourth), and such a great time with three of my favorite people.  Three days later and the euphoria of the whole thing still hasn’t worn off!

thebutterroom:

Phish - Tweezer Reprise
6.25.10 - Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD 

I just can’t get enough Tweeprise this summer, and this is probably my favorite to date given the completely evil bassline Gordo lays down on this.  Strap in for the end of tour phanners, it’s gonna be the southern heat!

I can’t wait for this weekend as Phish closes out the first leg of their summer tour in Charlotte and Atlanta.  There’s a certain anticipation when the band is riding a wave of momentum down the home stretch and pulling out all the stops.

Phish - “Rock and Roll Part 2” (Hampton Comes Alive)

If last night’s Stanley Cup championship (and tomorrow morning’s parade down Michigan Ave) wasn’t enough, Chicago goes into full-on chaos mode tomorrow as the Sox head to Wrigley for the Crosstown Classic, Blues Fest begins in Grant Park, and we’ll top it off with the best live touring band of our generation opening their summer tour (and first shows of the year) at Toyota Park.

Needless to say, I’m just a little bit excited at the moment. And though Trey is a life-long Flyers fan, I think we’re going to get some props from the band for our city’s well timed championship. Rock and Roll Part 2 > It’s Ice > Loving Cup would be one helluva way to get everyone fired up.

And for you Phish fans, the band has been rehearsing at UIC the past couple days apparently. The following rehearsal has been confirmed by some rabid fans who snuck their way into UIC Pavilion to get their phix early. Not that these rehearsals have any bearing on tomorrow’s setlist, but hell yeah!

Billy Breathes, McGrupp, Sugar Shack (x4), TTE, Squirming Coil, Fluffhead, Oh Kee Pah, Reba

thebutterroom:

Hell yeah, Phish playing tonight on CNN.com’s front page!

Also, we’ve got full summer tour dates awaiting us in the morning

The tour looks pretty good if these are legit:

6/11 - Bridgeview, IL
6/12 - Cuyahoga Falls, OH
6/13 - Hershey, PA
6/15 - Portsmouth, VA
6/17 &18 - Hartford, CT
6/19 & 20 - SPAC
6/22 - Great Woods
6/24 & 25 - Camden
6/26 & 27 - Merriweather
6/29 - Canandaigua, NY
7/1 - Raleigh
7/2 - Charlotte
7/3 & 4 - ATL
——————
8/5 - 7 - Greek
8/9 & 10 - Telluride
8/12 & 13 - Deer Creek
8/17 & 18 - Jones Beach
8/20 & 21 - Radio City

briancolligan:

This is outrageous. I find it hard to believe a town that size can really handle the touring beast should it besiege their mountain community, but I sure hope it all works out.

Would be nice to go, too. Who’s got my extras?

I will find a way in, that’s all I know.  It’s too unbelievable for them or us to pass up :)

Phish - “Llama”
5.7.94 - Bomb Factory, Dallas, TX

My favorite way to open a show (in honor of Telluride getting the thumbs up today!)

Today is a particularly special Phish Friday. A year ago today Phish returned at Hampton in one of the most incredibly joyous and moving weekends in their 26 year history. It was an all-day event with many of us getting in line in the early afternoon, drinking beers and catching up with old friends, making new ones, and soaking in the incredible energy surrounding it all. So here’s a few Hamptonversary photos for all of you. We’ve had our band back for a year now!!

(via thebutterroom)

3.6.9 was one of those days that was so incredibly wonderful that you just wish you had a time machine to take you right back to it.