It was not how I imagined my 20th anniversary show.
On July 23, 1993, I went to Jones Beach Ampitheatre with my brother and a couple of his friends to see Phish, a relatively unknown band with a growing and dedicated following.
We decided the week before to go see this band that we had gotten into the previous summer. We went to our local Ticketmaster outlet and bought tickets for $19.50 each. I only recognized the "album" songs, but was thoroughly impressed with the way they jammed on the songs. I was 18 years old and had never heard rock music do this thing that I had only known jazz to do.
Twenty years later, almost to the day, I attended my 92nd Phish show at that very same venue. The ampitheater has gotten larger, as has the Phish crowd - good luck getting tickets the day they go on sale, let alone afterward - and the prices have gone up to $45 to $60 (still much cheaper than many other bands!), but it was still Jones Beach and it looked much the same.
Unfortunately, it was pouring. Not a shower or a sprinkle - POURING. This wasn't the warm summer rain of SPAC, this was torrential. And it simply would not let up.
I wore my quick-drying polyester running clothes, figuring that if the rain did stop, I would dry off quickly. What I did not expect was the cold ocean wind that would have me freezing on a July night coming off of an intense heat wave.
Listen to it now and you will hear an amazing show. The first set included a string of excellent songs, including my first treat to Page's "Beauty of a Broken Heart" (a "purple" for the set list book!), one of my favorite of Mike songs, "Sugar Shack". It was a perfect mix of the old and new, culminating in a one-two punch of "Reba" (the song that hooked me in 1992) and "David Bowie". But it was so difficult to enjoy while being drenched by cold rain.
We huddled under whatever cover we could find during set break. Many guys were hanging out in the bathroom because it was warm and they could try to dry their clothes under the hand dryers!
The rain thankfully slowed down and stopped for the second set, but it was just as (if not more) uncomfortable with the cold ocean wind whipping through the apmitheater while Phish did a monstrous, non-stop, segue-filled jamfest of the Velvet Underground's "Rock and Roll" into Deodato's funked up "2001" ("Also Sprach Tharathustra" to some), into "Tweezer" with an awesome segue into the Talking Heads' "Cities" and a seamless move into "The Wedge".
"Wading in the Velvet Sea" was almost a given (what with the water theme of the beach and the rain also alluded to in the first set's "A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing" and "Water in the Sky") and the big ending of "Character Zero" topped it nicely. But, damn, it was cold - yes, COLD - and uncomfortable and I would be lying if I said I was not glad it was over.
Well, almost over. A totally botched (but charming, I suppose) "Sleeping Monkey" coupled with "Tweezer Reprise" ended the night and I could not get to my car fast enough. I had a towel and some dry clothes in there that were calling my name.
Some shows have a you-had-to-be-there vibe. For this one, I would say you might be better off if you were not.
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