Everyone, think of a band that you
really, really like. It could be a band that you’ve loved for many years or it
could be one that you just discovered. Do you recall the exact moment when you
realized that that band spoke to you? Do you remember the moment you heard that
band and realized, “So that’s what
I’ve been missing out on all this time!” I’ve had that happen to me many times
since about 2006, when my journey of musical discovery was in its infancy. It
was that year that I discovered the first band that truly mesmerized me: the
Jonas Brothers. They were just a typical teen pop band on Disney Channel
singing about being in love and traveling to the year 3000. When their first
album came out the following year, it seemed as though almost every girl at school
had to have that album. You couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing “S.O.S.”
or “When You Look Me In The Eyes.” When I watched the Jonas Brothers perform on
The Oprah Winfrey Show in about early
2008, that was when I realized that I wanted to play the guitar. I would watch
Nick Jonas pound out those power chords and think to myself, “I want to do that!” So, in a way, I have
the Jonas Brothers to thank for inspiring me to pick up the guitar, which
subsequently led to my discovery of prog and other forms of music that I now
hold dear.
Fast forward to about February
2016. I received a text from my friend Dylan that the band Phish was rumored to
be playing a show at his favorite concert venue, the Gorge Amphitheater, that
summer. Last year, Dylan sent me a CD of Phish’s album Rift. That album sparked my interest in the band, and in August of
that year, I listened to Phish’s third performance at their Magnaball festival
in New York. Since that show, Dylan had talked about how cool it would be if I
came up Portland sometime so we could go on a Phish road trip. I was certainly
not opposed to that idea, so when the news was made official that they would be
playing two nights at the Gorge in July, we could not pass up the opportunity.
Before I knew it, I had a plane ticket to Portland scheduled for July 13. “Life
will never be the same after this,” Dylan stated. Five months later, the week
finally came. I flew into Portland on the afternoon of July 13. We headed out
for Washington the next afternoon, accompanied by Dylan’s friends Joe and Lee.
Dylan considered Lee to be someone you absolutely had to take with you on a
camping trip, since he had the most experience with it. The plan was to stay at
a camping resort about 15 minutes from the venue. I had never gone camping
before so I was interested to see what the experience would be like. We stopped
at the grocery store and stocked up on what was supposed to be enough food to
last us the weekend. In the end, I think we ended up with what felt like a
month’s supply.
Dylan had talked about how
beautiful the drive from Portland to Washington was. He called it “one of the
most beautiful drives in the country.” It really was a breath of fresh air to
be able to sit in the car listening to music while also taking in the natural
beauty surrounding us. The scenery was definitely not what I normally see in
California. It was very green, calm, and the sky looked massive. That was one
of the things that really stuck out to us. “It makes you feel so small and
insignificant when you’re surrounded by a sky that huge and by things that are
millions of years old!” Dylan observed at one point in the drive. It reminded
me of a similar observation Neil Peart of Rush had made in the Rush documentary
Beyond the Lighted Stage, when he was
discussing his Ghost Rider travels that took place in the late 1990s, following
the deaths of his daughter and wife. Those natural views were part of what
allowed him to heal from all that he had endured. I put that observation to the
test when I traveled through India in December 2012, and it was certainly true.
During the drive from Delhi to Jaipur, the mountains surrounding us looked huge. They were so red and vibrant that
you couldn’t help but notice them. It was that feeling of smallness that made me
look at the natural world differently. I live just outside of Los Angeles,
which is known for city life and the views of skyscrapers and the Hollywood
sign. However, those are all manmade views. There is something truly special
about being able to get away from land that has been taken over by humans and
just take in what hasn’t been touched.
We arrived at the campsite well
after 8:00pm and were greeted by brutally strong winds. None of us were
prepared for that, but I quickly learned that camping is all about playing
things by ear. Things never go exactly as planned, and they certainly did not
for us. I did not want to deal with the hassle of setting up a tent in the
strong wind, so Dylan made some space for me in his car and I slept in there. I
was out of the wind, but it was terribly uncomfortable. I awoke early the next
morning since the rising sun was heating up the inside of the car. Lee brought
along enough equipment so that we could have pancakes and coffee for breakfast.
After I showered and cleaned myself up, Joe decided to take a walk down to the
lake that was just outside the campground. I decided to go with him. When we
got to the water, I wasn’t in much of a swimming mood, but I did stick my hand
into the lake. Had I brought along any swimming gear, I would have definitely
gone in. The water was perfect! Cold, but not too cold. It would have been a perfect way to
cool off since it was a hot day.
The day went on. Later in the
afternoon, another person joined our group: Dylan’s friend Peter. The day was
very laid back. Too laid back, I may say, for at one point, we realized that it
was after 6:00pm. The doors to the venue had already opened! Dylan wanted to
get there with enough time to buy a poster from the merchandise stand. There
was no possibility of that now, so he texted another friend of his who was
already there to see if she could get one for him. We cleaned up our campsite as quickly as possible and then
piled into Dylan’s car. Once we were about a mile outside of the venue, we
realized what a mistake we had made leaving late. Traffic was completely backed
up. However, that gave us enough time to buy a ticket for Peter from a fellow
Phish fan (or Phish “phan”) who was walking by the backed up vehicles offering
spare tickets. Perfect! Now we all had tickets. Lottery tickets, mind you.
Dylan had entered for a chance to buy Phish “lottery” tickets way back in
February. Lottery tickets are supposedly available in limited amounts. They are
printed with artwork that is unique to each concert event, although the artwork
for the two Gorge shows was the same. We all had tickets. Now, we had to get
through traffic.
To be continued…
