The Phish 2009 Fall Tour Dates have been announced, and if you live in the east, you are psyched! Normally I’d be a little miffed at no west coast, but we are 3 weeks away from the big throw down in Indio, so no lost love there. Hope all my east coast buddies have a good time!
PHISH FALL TOUR 2009
11.18.09 Cobo Arena, Detroit, MI
11.20.09 U.S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati, OH
11.21.09 U.S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati, OH
11.22.09 War Memorial at Oncenter , Syracuse, NY
11.24.09 Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, PA
11.25.09 Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, PA
11.27.09 Times Union Center, Albany, NY
11.28.09 Times Union Center, Albany, NY
11.29.09 Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, ME
12.02.09 Madison Square Garden , New York, NY
12.03.09 Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
12.04.09 Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
12.05.09 John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville, VA
Buy tickets online.
Ok, things went by the wayside over the summer here, but we’re back and just in time for Festival 8. Is anyone actually calling it that? I’ve been reffering to it as Indio, it just flows better, don’t you think?
So rumor has it ticket sales haven’t been great, hence the two marketing moves of announcing the acoustic set and the “play the last album left alive” gig on their website. Some of the more traditional fans may be a bit irked by this somewhat “comercial” move, but I think this it’s a fair balance between marketing and creating some fun hype around the event.
I’m really looking forward to the acoustic set, how refreshing that after 13 years and 50 shows I can still go and see something completely new. And I think its great that we’ll have some idea of what album it will be, just think of all the pre-show speculation and anticipation. My palms are getty sweaty just thinking about it! See you there!
Alright, I guess it’s time to dust off the cobwebs and get ready for the next big Phish adventure! Our only summer shows will be the Gorge in Washington, unless some Red Rocks tickets miraculously fall from the sky. It’s a bit frustrating to have some big Phish shows going down in your own state but be unable to attend since apparently no one in Colorado actually scored tickets. But I digress.
How great is it to have a summer full of Phish to look forward to? Just like the good old days. Even if you aren’t at the shows, there is the excitement of checking the setlists to see what they played, and waiting impatiently for LivePhish.com to put the show up so you can listen to it. Or if you are the kind of person that likes surprises, you can always check out the No Spoilers downloads from Mr Miner. Just like being at the show, minus all the stinkie hippies and drunk frat boys. Sounds kinda nice actually.
So here’s to the return of Phish in the summer time. Two of the best things life has to offer, back together again!
Thanks to Hidden Track for the heads up about this great article in the New York Times about Phish and their return. Some really positive stuff in there from a fan perspective. Two things in particular really stood out to me. One, they are talking about how to make this a “a format to keep playing for a long time” according to Trey. That’s great, as I think everyone will agree that the big tours of the past may not be feasible, but there is no reason Phish can’t keep things going for years and years to come.
Another point that I really liked was how they have been practicing, and not just the simple songs. According to the article, Split Open & Melt and Foam were being practiced. Foam! When’s the last time they played that? It sounds like they are dedicated to really being on top of their game with this go round, which is really exciting. Part of the joy of Phish in ‘94 was knowing they’d hit 99% of the notes perfectly!
Lastly, there is a mention of a structured setlist for the weekend shows, and I think this is great. Just yesterday I was listening to a bunch of Fall 2000 shows, and thinking how great and varied the setlists were. Apparently at the time Trey didn’t like it though, as he vowed that tour would be the last where they used setlists. And while there is a cool creative element to the open slate of just playing whatever, I think with a planned setlist, you get better variety, at least from a fan perspective. And it’s not like they can’t deviate if they are feeling it too.
Definitely check the article out, it was a fantastic way to start the morning!
Ok, I remember the first time Phish came back. It was hard to get tickets to MSG and Hampton, but the rest of the tour wasn’t a big deal from what I remember. There certainly wasn’t all this despair about not getting tickets and scalpers and such. I mean there are always scalpers, but I just don’t remember it being like this last time. So what’s changed?
Well, for one, last time we knew it was just a hiatus. They were expected to come back at some point, it was only a matter of when. This time, we thought they were done, finished, end of the road. Of course we all hoped and prayed, but really it was always a distant hope.
Back then we only had to wait a little over two years. This time it’s been over four years, so everybody is really jonesing for the Phish! I was honestly shocked at how quickly the summer tour sold out, especially the larger venues. I figured Alpine would stick around for awhile, but no such luck.
So what does it all mean? Is this how it’s gonna be for Phish 3.0? I sure hope not. The second time around, it was nice knowing you could slack on tickets and still see the shows you wanted to go to. I’m hoping once the first year of their return has passed, things will settle and we’ll get back to normal. Whenever the West Coast run is announced we’ll probably have to deal with the same crap, but we’ll see. Whenever you have limited supply and great demand, you get high prices. Damn economic theory is screwing us on this one!