IT was a long strange trip...

i love to drive. i really do. the thought of driving 14 hours to see one of my favorite bands was not a strange one for me; i had done it on several occasions in the past, and been very glad i did.

we left Old Forge, NY at 6:30AM on friday morning. we had wanted to leave earlier, but some of the crew had to work late, and this was decided to be the best time. the gates opened at 8:00AM, but the shows wouldn't begin until saturday.

additionally, rather than taking the highway route down I-90 to I-95 to Maine, we took Route 2 across Vermont, New Hampshire, and much of Maine. this seemed more direct.

along the way we encountered a few traffic issues, but we still arrived in the Limestone, ME area around 8:30PM. at this point, we ran into a traffic jam, but this was expected. we figured we probably had a 4-6 hour wait to get in, annoying, but tolerable.

16 and 1/2 hours later, we parked on the airfield.

you might wonder why we would do this to ourselves. "who the hell would wait in line for 16 hours to see a band?!?!" of course, we really had no choice. although we could have turned around an arrived home before we actually got in, we had all spent $150 to go, and driven a long way; we were there for good.

in truth, we didn't know how long we were going to be waiting. we expected some wait, and due to a change in course we took a different route in than the other Limestone veterans had taken before, we didn't know how far away we actually were from the venue.

we were about 13 miles away.

burgettstown warmup...

man, what a show...

i couldn't believe my good luck to see this show. i barely made it; i had a really good job interview in manhattan on thursday, and was so sure i was going to need to make a day trip down there that i almost didn't go to PA. of course, i didn't get the job, but before i knew that i decided it was important for me to go to this show.

when this setlist first started coming up on the rhombus, a number of people surmised it was a fake. never before had phish busted out with so many rare tunes.

07/29/03 Post Gazette Pavilion, Burgettstown, PA
Set I: Daniel Saw the Stone, Camel Walk, Gotta Jibboo, Cool it Down, Scent of a Mule, Fee> Timber> When the Circus Comes to Town, McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters, Golgi Apparatus
Set II: Crosseyed and Painless> Thunderhead, Brother, Harpua> Bittersweet Motel, Harpua, I Fooled Around and Fell in Love> HYHU> Harpua, David Bowie
Encore: Farmhouse

this was the first time i got to see Camel Walk, Scent of a Mule, Fee, McGrupp, Brother, and Harpua, all tunes i had wanted to see for a long time, and all at one show!

what a fine warmup for IT!!!

let's go phishin'...

i'm pretty stoked about phish's evolution lately. it's kinda funny; they have so many side projects going on, and it just seems to make them better and more solid as a band. look at their latest show:

07/15/03 West Valley Amphitheater, West Valley, UT
Set I: AC/DC Bag, Ya Mar, Theme from the Bottom, Saw it Again, Poor Heart, Two Versions of Me, Secret Smile, Mike's Song> I am Hydrogen> Weekapaug Groove
Set II: Mr. Completely> Low Rider> Big Black Furry Creature from Mars> Buried Alive> Big Black Furry Creature from Mars> Ha Ha Ha> Big Black Furry Creature from Mars> Mr. Completely> Spread It Round, Walls of the Cave, Golgi Apparatus, Slave to the Traffic Light
Encore: Sleeping Monkey

i was blown away when i first saw Mr. Completely come up, since it's definitely one of my favorite trey band tunes. from there the set just went into outer space.

which brings me to my next thought, which is whether i should try to go to the Burgettstown, PA show on the 29th. i'm sure i could pick up a ticket on lot (there are many around on the extra ticket boards, and it may not even be sold out yet), but the issue that is going to decide this is primarily financial.

i have a couple of job interviews coming up (one today, actually), and i'm hoping i'll have a job within the next two weeks. if i don't, i'll pretty much have to move back in with my parents (seinfeld was right; there is nothing about moving back home that indicates that your life is going in the right direction). however, if that does happen, i won't need to pay this coming month's rent, so i'll be a little richer from the unemployment cashish...

i guess this is something i'll decide on the 28th...