8/28/16

Before I post part 3 of "I Never Ever Saw the Stars so Bright," I wanted to give you all a quick update on what's been going on.

Since getting back from my Phish adventure with Dylan, things have been pretty quiet. I've been trying to keep busy by writing in my journal, listening to music, playing music, cooking, and doing volunteer work. My record collection has been increasing. On the first day of this month, I got an email from The Killers Victims fan club stating that The Killers' second album Sam's Town was going to be re-released on vinyl this October in honor of its 10th anniversary. A limited edition pressing that included two discs, a booklet, and a bonus 45 was made available for pre order. There were only about 5,000 copies of that version available. It was an opportunity I couldn't pass on, so I immediately jumped on it and pre-ordered mine. That turned out to be a good idea, for the minute the order went through, the pre-order sold out. I'm stoked and cannot wait until it arrives in the mail.

I've been getting back into a band that I have liked for many years: the Jonas Brothers. I started thinking back to when I first saw them on TV back in 2006 and became inspired to begin playing the guitar. I found my CD of their 2007 self-titled album and gave it another listen while driving one day. I can safely say with complete confidence that that is my favorite pop album of all time. The songs are memorable, sophisticated, and likable. To this day, my biggest concert regret is not seeing them while they were together. I missed what turned out to be their final concert at the now demolished Gibson Amphitheater back in 2013. I will always regret that. Nick Jonas is still doing music, so my goal is to see him one day, since he was the one member of the band I really paid attention to musically. Some may simply disregard him as just another teen pop star who will soon be forgotten, but I have always admired his talent. He was the driving force of the Jonas Brothers. He played the most instruments, wrote most of the music, and wrote most of the lyrics. I only just now discovered his solo discography and ordered a vinyl copy of his latest solo album the other night.

I will be attending my fifth Yes concert tonight at the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara. We decided to try a venue different from the Orpheum this time around. We began to regret that decision, but I found out something last night that made me feel differently: Trevor Horn will be joining the band onstage as a guest musician. I can't believe it. What are the odds? I'm way excited to hear Drama in its entirety along with sides 1 and 4 of Tales from Topographic Oceans. We'll see how this goes...

I Never Ever Saw the Stars so Bright (Part 2)

Minutes went by. We saw no signs of progress in making our way to the venue. Many people began to give up and start walking the rest of the way. As we moved, Dylan would occasionally ask a passerby how much farther we had to go. Once an hour had gone by, we began to get worried. We were worried that we may miss the beginning of the show. By the time we reached the parking lot, it was a little after 8:00! We parked as soon as we could and hurried inside the venue. Fortunately, all of our tickets went through the scanner. Dylan was hoping to score an event poster from the merchandise stand, but was not able to since we arrived so late. Our main goal was to get to the grass area. As we made our way up the hill leading to the grass area, we could hear excited Phish fans shriek and the first notes of the song “Tweezer” ringing out.

Dylan told me many times before that there is no moment quite like walking into The Gorge for the first time. You walk up a steep hill and once you get over the crest, you see a stage surrounded by an amazing backdrop of hills, water, and incredible shadows cast by the clouds. It really was a great view. Phish took the stage at about 8:15, when the sun was just beginning to set behind the hills in the west.  In the far distance, I could barely make out the figures on stage: Trey Anastasio on guitar, Mike Gordon on bass, John Fishman on drums, and Page McConnell on keyboards.

That night, I was introduced to the unique community that was Phish phans. They reminded me very much of the type of audience Arcade Fire attracts: young, lively hipsters in the full pride of youth, smoking joints and dancing around. This audience was a bit older, but I got a similar vibe. I also noticed something that I have only seen at one other concert in my life: the absence of phone usage. As far as I could see, not one person had their phone out. I had not seen that since King Crimson in 2014. The only difference here was that the band did not plead with us to “embrace the moment” like King Crimson did. I guess that makes sense though. I imagine it would be hard to maintain control over 20,000 people as opposed to 2,000. Throughout the show it became very apparent to me that Phish were capable of playing multiple genres of music. I heard them play prog, jazz, and even country at some points. However, the first set seemed a bit slow. Everyone in my group as well as people around us seemed put off by the lack of energy exhibited by the band. Peter felt that the band was doing that intentionally, just to mess with us. I hoped so. I did not want my first Phish concert to be low-energy. Throughout the first set I recognized a few tunes, such as “Wolfman’s Brother,” “The Line,” and “Rift.” Phish were the only band I knew of that could manage to play a unique show every night. No two shows are ever the same, from what I’ve heard. Not only that, they also manage to go all out with their songs. A song that is originally 5 minutes can become 20 minutes when performed live. They take live shows as an opportunity to show off their wonderful improvisation skills. During intermission, I took an opportunity to run to the merchandise stand and pick up a vinyl copy of Phish’s latest album, Fuego. I was hoping they would have it available in orange vinyl, but from what I understood, that version of the album was pretty scarce, practically out of print. On my way back to our spot, I lost track of where my group was amidst the sea of Phish fans. I was soon able to locate Dylan, who was wearing a flashing glow-in-the-dark vest. We just happened to find that vest at his house when we were packing for the campsite, and it turned out to be a lifesaver. He thought it would be fun to wear at nighttime, when all the glow sticks started coming out. Without that vest, I probably would have had a much harder time finding my way back to the group.

Finally, the lights dimmed for the second set. That is, both the natural and artificial light disappeared. The band reemerged and began what turned out to be a much more fun, energetic, and enjoyable set. They began with a cover of the Talking Heads song, “Crosseyed and Painless.” I had not heard the original version of that song, but they really took it to another level musically. John Fishman actually sounded just like David Byrne. It was at that moment the glow sticks began flying through the air. It almost looked like a glow stick fireworks display. For a while, the sticks were landing everywhere, except where my group was standing, but eventually, a few sticks hit me in the head, and I was able to participate. I would save up my sticks until I had a massive handful. Then, I would release them into the crowd.

Then Phish began a fun jam called “No Men in No Man’s Land.” I think that was where I really started enjoying myself. Apparently, this song was not off of any of their albums. In fact, many of the songs in this set have never appeared on any studio albums, such as “Meatstick,” “Wilson,” and “Makisupa Policeman.” There were a few audience cues that I was not aware of, such as the claps during “Stash,” or the exclamation of the song title during “Wilson.” Well, now I know them for next time.  After playing “Meatstick,” the band transitioned into a cool jam of the theme from the movie 2001. It was during this jam that I finally realized that Phish were a special band, and grossly underrated band. It was this jam that made me wonder why this band never gets talked about in Prog magazine, or why they don’t seem to ever tour outside of America. I was aware of the lack of American prog acts represented in Prog magazine, but it just seemed especially wrong to overlook a band like this. I personally don’t see anything about Phish that international audiences would not enjoy.

Finally, the band closed with the song “Good Times, Bad Times.” Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the campsite, and my first Phish concert was completed. One night down, one to go.