My First Phish Show

Last night I went to my first Phish show. When we bought the tickets months ago, I didn’t realize that we’d be seeing them at the end of Thanksgiving weekend and couldn’t know that the weather would be really crappy. But hey, few things in life are ideal, right? And if you can’t go with the flow you probably shouldn’t be going to a Phish show.

So, braving the traffic and the weather, my husband and I drove to Long Island and met up with my oldest son and my almost daughter-in-law for dinner before heading over to Nassau Coliseum.

Right off the bat, I have to say that the guys in the band are great musicians. I kind of already knew that from getting a personal concert from Mike Gordon this past summer  – you can click here if you haven’t read that story already. I really do appreciate good musicianship. In addition, although I have no idea what their relationships are like in real life, on stage Trey, Mike, Page and Jon are a well-oiled machine. They look to each other for signals, especially Mike and Trey, and you can tell that they share a language and a certain kind of chemistry that only people who have been together forever can share. It’s like being an old married couple.

I was a little surprised that the band members don’t really interact or speak with the audience when they are performing. I guess they want their music to do all the talking and tell their stories for them.

And about their audience – wow. Just WOW. Trey had told my husband and I that there is a really nice Phish community, but you have to experience it to really understand it. The people there were just so nice. And polite. And considerate. But most of all, they were so into the show. Like my son, they knew which song was about to be played before they heard the second note and they knew every word to the songs which had words. I have never seen so much dancing at a concert. People moving their arms and bodies and swaying like they do in a gospel church. Which I suppose Phish is to many people.

One thing I didn’t love is the smoke. I’m a bit sensitive to smoke and there was a lot of it. I don’t really care what anyone is smoking; however, I don’t love to breathe it in. The people around me were more than happy to share what they were smoking but I politely declined. Much to my son’s amusement, I also got offered acid, which he said was not a usual occurrence but, again, I just said “no.”

I made a few new friends, including Chris, who told me he thought the show was around his 500^th and another new friend who gave me a sparkly bracelet in honor of my first concert. I enjoyed the vibe around me and loved seeing people so happy. There isn’t enough of that these days.

As a side note, when I had to use the bathroom, I was DELIGHTED to discover that the line to the men’s room was about a mile long, while the line to the women’s bathroom was almost nonexistent. My almost daughter-in-law said that’s how it always is at Phish concerts. I hate to be so basic but, if nothing else, Phish had me at the bathroom situation.

The only song I really knew was Avinu Malkenu, which I LOVED. Apparently, they rarely perform it and it was a real treat to hear it live. My husband and I left before the end and I missed the other song I know, Backwards Down the Number Line, which made me a little sad. But I guess it gives me a reason to go to another show.

One of the things I enjoyed most about my first Phish concert was sharing the experience with my son and his fiancée. As my kids have gotten older, like most parents, I sometimes struggle to connect with them. I don’t love sports, which is a big part of my sons’ lives, so I was grateful that I was able to see one of them in his happiest place, being himself.

Did I love it? Yeah, I guess I did. I may never get to 500 shows, but I’m really glad I got to my first.