This recent roadtrip to Colorado was emotion filled for me being my first time back to the state after my 4 and half month tenure there. In the end I realized that I missed my family and I was not ready to stop following Phish. There's a reason John Madden was based out of Illinois when he was driving all over the nation to cover the NFL. I started being a substitute teacher's aide the week before Labor Day. These were my first 3 days of being an educator. Keep in mind I worked in a factory all summer. Then I felt that calling again. It was time to get back on the road again. It had been about 45 days since Alpine Valley.
The drive out was exhausting. I didn't even try to find anyone to ride with. You can't pluralize The Lone Ranger. I stopped in Julesburg, CO just over the border. This is where the real life Fort Sedgewick actually was. It took me over 14 hours. I went back to Longmont which was nostalgic for me. I spent Thursday night at my buddy Todd's house in Westminster. His son, Toby, chose Steely Dan "The Royal Scam" as the album to listen to. I was very impressed with his musical taste.
I woke up Friday morning and drove to Boulder. Its nice to be a little more familiar with this scenic college town. I went to Chautauqua Park and enjoyed the views of Boulder and the Flat Irons. The weather was gorgeous. At this point I made my way to the luxurious Rodeway Inn near Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City. I spent the afternoon taking a nap and watching Roadhouse. I've been at this Labor Day weekend run 9 years in a row. This was my 160th Phish show. Before the show I heard Jam > Plasma as the soundcheck.
The setlist was fairly pedestrian on night 1 but I felt they were still playing well despite some rust from the layoff. I vaguely remembered Can't Always Listen. Unusual choice for the opener. During Everything's Right it sounded like Fishman wanted to go into Wider but was denied. This version of Mercury was stronger than the one at Alpine Valley. I didn't mind the placement of Shade. Light didn't bear its usual fruit before Party Time. Sand picked things back up. What's the Use featured some delicate playing. That wasn't my favorite Hood but I appreciate the sentiment. I heard that encore at Alpine Valley. Pure Prairie League "Amie" was a nod to the prairie dogs and their plague ridden fleas that caused them to cancel the onsite camping this year. After the show I watched Lethal Weapon. Am I too old for this shit?
On Saturday I slept in until after noon and then made my way to Eric's house that he shares with Karla and her son. I've known Eric since 3rd grade. He also lives in Westminster. We watched Iowa State defeat UNI in 2OT. Then we viewed a DVD of Axiom: History of the Geneseo Green Machine. It gave Karla a pretty good look into the little town where we grew up for better or worse. Later in the day I saw one of the UPS drivers I had worked with in Longmont. What are the odds of that in that in the Denver metro area? I appreciated the brats for dinner before making my way to the parking lot. I drove myself to the lot each night despite warnings that taking a shuttle bus might be necessary. There was plenty of parking left. Without the campgrounds and the normal Shakedown Street (referred to as Shakedown Alley by the Commerce City authorities) it was a different scene this year but no less festive. During the show I thought about how we had watched that movie about my hometown. We laughed as people seemingly clung to the past but isn't that what we are doing on Phish tour?
The Saturday show had some highlights. Ghost, Tube, Mist was enough to make the first set a success. Setbreak music was Prince. Set two started with a standard Mike's > Hydro > Weekapaug. This went into a rocking 46 Days. The rock star Trey would continue with DWD. This was an extended version that lead into a strange second set NICU. I like Bug. It's kind of a polarizing tune within the community. The sentiment of taking the highway was appropriate with The Wedge but that wouldn't have been my call at that juncture. Slave continued the driving theme to wrap up the set. Maybe if this was a rando 98 show Brian and Robert, Character Zero would have been okay for an encore but it seemed kind of phoned in on Saturday night at Dick's. I went back to my dump of a hotel and watched Die Hard. That kind of sums of my status as a Phish fan at this point. I enjoyed doing a run of shows alone to be honest. I was able to watch all three shows from very close in Section 104 on the Mike Gordon side. The sound was excellent. There was very little anxiety or stress that can come from trying to roll with a crew of people. I saw Bobbyluv, Joel, Nickmo, and Sunny in the lot each night. I just can't handle 4 hours of standing on that field. It's nice to have a place to sit. These shows were somewhat standard for this era. I'm still grateful that we have Phish so I can enjoy myself at a "standard" show. Aww what the hell? It was fun anyways.
Sunday was the best show of the run. Stray Dog was a nice reference to the nearby plague in the prairie dogs. I'm over Stealing Time but I get the message of it that's for sure. This set was highlight by a strong version of Wolfman's Brother. Fishman took the jam to a different level. It was nice to hear Birds of a Feather and Taste. Sparkle worked in that slot before their second Crazy Sometimes at Dick's and a decent version of Bathtub Gin to round things out. Al Green was on the PA system at setbreak.
Trey had opened the final set of TAB in Vail with Sightless Escape so it wasn't out of left field that he would bring it over to Phish. Despite its overtly religious lyrical message this song has potential. This was a better than average version of Fuego. Trey has really got his tone under control at this point. Last summer that wasn't always the case. It seemed like they tried to play Piper the "right way". This led into a slow funky Tweezer that eventually made its way to the space of 2001. "Can't I live while I'm young?" has a different meaning from guys in their 50s. Waste was sloppy. Lyrics seemed like they got mixed around. Cavern was a good call. Hearing Waste and First Tube toward the end of the Sunday show at Dick's made me think of the Sunday 2017 show. They played Horse > SITM and Tweezer Reprise in the encore "just last year". Get it? Life Beyond the Dream may have been a message about the recent passing of Neal Casal. Don't give up hope.
