Every single day, from the day tickets went on sale and crashed that awful company Ticketmaster's website, I revisited the site to see if any tickets mysteriously materialized for purchase. This happened in the past on several tours - as the show date drew near, extra tickets suddenly became available from Ticketmaster.
Tickets were, of course, available elsewhere - from scalpers both illegal (on Ebay, Stubhub and Craigslist) and legal (that so-called "ticket broker" bullshit - for upwards of a thousand dollars. Hey, I want to see Phish but I have a budget and, more importantly, morals. I don't support crooks if I can help it.
So instead, I had to make do with two of four shows. And what of December 30?
Well, for one, I thought I had it made with my seat. It just so happened that it was in the 300 section through Gate 77, the party spot from the night before. But this night, there was no party and the guard in the alcove was making sure everyone moved along. Booooo.
Despite my excellent sight line and good sound, I once again got saddled with crappy neighbors.
These two idiots behind me did not shut up for the entire first set. The ENTIRE FIRST SET. They gabbed and gabbed about everything under the sun, talking as if they were hanging out at a diner, shooting the breeze. Why go to a Phish show if you are not even going to listen?
After a while, during what seemed to be a particularly awesome "Sand" jam, I could not stand it any longer and turned around to ask them to be quiet. I was as polite as anyone could possibly be, even though I really wanted to say, "SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU IDIOTS!"
They apologized and did, indeed, quiet down, but the damage was done. They ruined my set. I was upset that they yakked for most of the set, I was upset that I did not say something sooner, and I was upset at myself for being a wuss and being so apologetic about it even though they were the ones in the wrong. But I knew I would be upset if I told them how I really felt, too. It was no-win for me. I remember absolutely nothing else from that set except an excellently rocking cover of Bob Dylan's "The Mighty Quinn."
During set break, I decided to continue to be extra nice, hoping it would - I don't know - have a positive karmic effect? So I apologized again for having to tell them to be quiet (imagine that!).
One idiot replied, "Oh, man, that's cool. I like 'Sand' as much as the next guy, but I haven't seen my buddy here in years and we've been catching up."
And even though I wanted to say, "So you decided to spend 60 bucks apiece to catch up while talking over live music at Madison Square Garden? How frigging stupid ARE you?" I simply said, "Oh OK, but, you know, I'm trying to enjoy the show here and all I hear is you guys talking."
He apologized and that was that. All I could do was hope for a better second set.
But it was tough to get into it, partially because I was so soured from the first set and partially because Phish failed to deliver the magic to me. Some people have been extolling the wonders of that night's "Piper", but I don't remember it being outstanding.
I do recall that the entire second half of the set was dominated by traditional set-closing songs like "Julius", "Golgi Apparatus" and "David Bowie" before finally ending with "The Squirming Coil". "2001" was actually quite memorable with it's climactic peaks. But nothing blew me away.
Maybe I expect more during a New Year's run show, especially Dec. 30, the calendar date on which I have seen more Phish shows than any other. They certainly delivered at the 2010 shows - song after song of great jams and tight playing. And nothing at this show will be as memorable as some of the moments on that date in 2010, 1999 and 1994.
Even the excellent encore of "Boogie On Reggae Woman" and "Good Times Bad Times" could not shake me of the feeling that perhaps it would have been better to have stayed home and purchased the recordings from LivePhish.com to listen to at home and enjoy in high fidelity in the comfort of my home. I remembered being as underwhelmed 13 years before to the day, in 1998, when I left the very same arena with the very same feeling.
Except, of course, back then, we did not have LivePhish.com and we had to find people who had tapes, and were willing to trade, in order to hear the show. But now, there is actually a viable alternative to being at the shows. Next year, I promised myself, if I do not get decent seats, I am immediately selling my tickets and doing "couch tour".
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