6/24-25 Phish @ Wrigley Field - Chicago, IL

Friday June 24th, 2016 was a glorious day for our family with the arrival of my second cousin Teagan.  Congrats to Kelly and Nick.  Months beforehand they'd offered to let me stay at their place but I hedged my bets and found another option.  I stayed with Ryan and Heather from Auburn at the Congress Plaza Hotel which really worked out well.  The proximity to the Red Line (and Dunkin Donuts) made this a convenient locale for the weekend.  I drove from Geneseo to Wicker Park with relative ease.  It's Friday in the summer in Chicago and you're going to have traffic.  Dinner was a slice at Pizza Metro on Division St.  I took the Blue Line down to the loop and stopped in at the hotel before heading up to the Addison stop of the Red Line.  My first walk around to the marquee and I just happened to meet up with Doc and his buddies.  The weather was amazing on Friday.  This confluence of Phish and my favorite sports venue had been something I'd really been looking forward to.


They eased into this show.  It wasn't until the Free with the sun going down behind the 3rd base grandstand did this performance take off.  Miss You is a slower new Trey song that appears to be about his late sister.  A fiery set closing Blaze On was another note worthy moment in the first set. 


The improvisation we saw during DWD and Twist are top shelf moments of this tour so far.  Even the Fuego in between was extended.  Later in this set was a dance party 2001 that had Trey working the echo effects.  Waste was a poignant moment that reminded me of my very first Phish show.  That was one of the better versions of 2001 I've seen.  Perfect for that moment.  The set closing Loving Cup was appropriate in this ballpark setting. Waste and Loving Cup both have farming references which I enjoy.  The Bowie tribute in the encore was a memorable moment for sure.  Run Like an Antelope wrapped up a great experience on Chicago's northside.  After the show I headed back to the hotel room and watched Reservoir Dogs.


Saturday was much warmer.  I spent most of the day relaxing and getting caught up on my sleep.  I went to Dunkin Donuts during the afternoon which was the extent of sight seeing.  My seat was in the right field corner and had excellent sound.  The first set on Saturday was more cohesive than the previous night.  The Divided Sky worked well as the sunset.  Cavern appeared to end the set before a raging take on Led Zeppelin's Good Times Bad Times. 


Someone had made a Carini/Cubs lot shirt and I had that in my mind when they started that up.  This version explored some interesting terrain as did the ensuing Tweezer but neither reached the peaks that the improvisation reached the previous night.  The first Fluffhead since Dick's 2014 was the highlight for me.  The combo of Piper>Steam reminded me of the Sunday show from last year's Labor Day run.  They were short on time so that was a fairly brief take on Harry Hood.  I am the Walrus reminds me of when I saw 70 Volt Parade at the Auditorium Theatre in 2005 which is coincidentally across the street from where I was staying, The Congress Plaza Hotel.  After the show on Lake Street I stopped at Subway.  The sandwich was lackluster and made me realize why I stopped eating their food long ago whenever given other options.  The big crowds were distracting with thousands of casual beer head fans.  You know that was going to be the case though with this being a ballpark.  With Phish playing Wrigley this year and the Cubs having the best team of my lifetime it seems like the planets are aligning.  Ever since high school I've enjoyed seeing shows in Chicagoland because that's where I'm originally from.  I saw lots of good people during the course of this weekend.  After the show I went back to the hotel and watched Back to the Future part III.  Overall, this Chicago run was good for the soul.