Going Down South

Things have been relatively tight around here as we were saving our money for last weekend when we went to see Phish in Alpharetta, Georgia. Wow.
On another note - after having to miss Chicago/Ohio shows FINALLY we were able to go see Phish. It had been far too long and while I was in California Rob was able to see Trey at the Pageant so he was able to at least see a member while I was stuck seeing them on IClips (which - was better than nothing).

Georgia is beautiful. We drove through the mountains and the state park with what looked like the biggest lake in Georgia. It was a beautiful drive. We stayed in Alpharetta which was a pretty town a little northeast of Atlanta.



Words cannot describe how amazing and special these shows were. The venue holds only 12,000 people and most of those "seats" are general admission pit and then a few reserved/VIP seats - supposedly the smallest cluster is the lawn. The bathrooms were big and clean and the beverages were not that badly priced. The staff were OVERLY friendly and hospitable and I believe even the non phish fan/staff felt the energy and the positivity from the crowd and the band. (I had to include the pic from the merchandise stand just because of how ridiculous it was.) One couldn't have asked for better weather also - icing on top of the cake.


The line for the posters was another kind of experience. Only two people manning the first merch stand and it was a frenzie. Luckily we got a poster (we collect them from shows we go to - not exclusive to Phish). But this was the line.


The first night we had GA pit tickets. We were about 4 people back between Trey and "Cactus" Mike (could someone explain to me why he is called Cactus?). We had never even been remotely close like that at any of our other shows. Looking back at the audience was quite a sight:

It was pretty incredible, especially when Mike started the bass up for Harry Hood.
Trey took the sign from the kid standing in front of us to start "McGrupp" - the kid lost it and I believe I saw his friends crying. It was a pretty special moment.

I may be wrong about this but this guy who is holding up the "waste" sign:

proposed to his girlfriend when Waste was played the second night of the show.

Some pictures of the first night show:


After the show we decided to walk home (we caught a ride with some people we hung out with at the Phish show in Cincinnati). Luckily, our hotel was only 1.5 miles away from the venue. The walk wasn't bad but we were ready to crash after. The next morning we ate at J.Christophers in the "uptown" area of Alpharetta. YUM. I'm going to shamelessly promote them because prices were not bad and the food was amazing. Try the Cinnamon Coffee... I still crave it.


After breakfast we hung out in the pool all day to relax before the night's show. We met other fans who were staying at the hotel and chatted with them. Time flew by and before we knew it - time for night number two. Time to get ready for the show with which Rob had his own special outfit.

But he seemed to fit in just fine...


And take this role a little too seriously :).

Shakedown street was happening - a lot of vending going on. My favorite purchase was the $1 quarter of a watermelon slice (what's 4th of July without watermelon?) Also it was HOT AS HADES. We found some shade up on a hill and watched everything below. Eventually we hopped into the misting tent and stayed there until we decided to get into line.




Another side note - tshirts at a Phish show are another form of entertainment on their own. Most being lot shirts of course.


this one being my favorite next to the "I'm checkin em out" Trey shirt, which unfortunately I did not get a picture of.


We were a bit further away on the 4th in lawn seats. Which was fine - we were glad to be in there with how many people were trying to get tickets and there weren't any to be sold. The sound was still great - but I missed being able to be up close. Phish opened with Star Spangled Banner which set the mood. Panties were thrown at Page when he was doing "Lawn Boy" lounge style:

Highlight of the night was most definitely the song selection all but not limited to a cover of "Killing In The Name Of" sung by Fishman after a much sought out Harpua.

I thought the place was going to be torn down, it was insane. I have never been in the middle of something like it. People were shooting bottle rockets and other fireworks INSIDE the pavilion.


Rob has a list going of what songs he would like to hear I believe this weekend we crossed off 26 songs, which is pretty impressive for only being our 5th/6th shows.

What an amazing weekend.

Til next time-
Much love
L