
This is not a music review. If you’re looking for a song-by-song breakdown, I will refer you to the excellent work on this very site by Guy Forget and Aaron Hawley. This is not a review at all. This is a thank you letter. Trey had his list at the end of the final set and I have mine. Some of them overlap, but many do not.
Let’s start with the man who made it all happen: Thank you Watkin’s Glen president Michael Printup. I’ll admit, I haven’t always been a fan. Your desperate publicity whoring and smarmy twitter picture made you seem like some sort of forgotten David Mamet character (with a far worse command of the English language). Some of us were worried that you might crash your own party for publicity purposes, perhaps while driving around the festival grounds in a car shaped like your giant head, a’la Eddie Murphey. Thankfully you did not. We appreciate it.
Thank you Lars Fisk and all the artists who designed the festival, especially the ones responsible for the human hamster wheel. You provided hours of entertainment. The only thing more fun than looking like a complete idiot on a hamster wheel is watching other, even more intoxicated people, look like idiots on a hamster wheel. Whoever conceptualized this is an artistic genius and should be given millions of dollars or, at the very least, a merit badge.
Thank you all the people who beat me in the 101st Memorial Runaway Jim 5k. These people include, but are not nearly limited to: A naked guy, a man in a Vegi-Tales outfit, a man carrying a large boombox on his shoulder, a four-year old, a baby, a mother pushing said baby in a stroller, a guy smoking a cigar and a whole bunch of fat guys. It’s not often that comparing myself to other Phish fans motivates me to get in better shape.
Thank you anyone who sprayed me with a water gun. You not only cooled me down, you also had the courtesy to not dose rape me with liquid acid while doing so. Thanks a lot, bro.

Thank you bathroom attendants. Before the first set began, my girlfriend said “If the music is anywhere as good as the toilets, we are in luck”. The jury is still out on that one. You were even better at your jobs than the hamster people. I’m awarding you two merit badges.
Thank you to our neighbors in the SUV with the DMB bumper sticker blasting your favorite live versions of Heavy Things and Sample all hours of the night. Every good story needs a villain and you provided ours. I hope your crocheted tie die frisbee got stuck in your wheel joints on the way home and all that’s left of your crew is a smoldering Under the Table and Dreaming CD insert. You suck.
Thank you What Cheer? Brigade. You guys fucking rocked. Your Ferris Wheel mini-set greeted us when we entered the festival grounds and set the mood for the whole weekend. Your other sets after the shows, when you let fans circle around and mix right in with you without any security, were fantastic. Everyone was hoping you would play with Phish, yet no one was disappointed when you didn’t. That’s not a knock on you, it just shows how amazing of a weekend it was.
Thank you to the fans watching the Runaway 5k and making wisecracks, some of which were genuinely hilarious. I’d like to offer a particularly special merit badge to the guys that kept yelling “Hurry up, your baby is beating you!” to the stroller-pushing mom referenced above.
Thank you to the fans in general. I never felt better about Phish nation. It was the best combination of old and new energies, each equally enthusiastic. There were less annoying signs and incessant talkers than I’ve seen in a while (aside from the gent in the “Molly is a Slut” shirt that kept wanting to show me a picture of his friend’s languedoc and seemed genuinely perplexed when I chose to concentrate on the ASIHTOS jam instead of him). Most people were tapped into the music, thrilled to be there and generous to those around them. Even before the secret set, when people were antsy and easily could have gotten out of control, everyone was chill. Maybe getting older isn’t such a bad thing.
Thank you Phish. Your attention to detail, on every level, is inspiring. Musically and otherwise, the festival embodied that mixture of meticulous craftsmanship, risk-taking, spontaneity and humor that you embody so well. There was a prevalent feeling that anything could truly happen at anytime, whether on stage or off. In this era of blogging/tweeting/streaming fans, that is a very difficult thing to accomplish. Thank you for caring enough to keep us guessing.

Finally, thank you real world. If we didn’t have you hanging over us all the time, we would never appreciate how amazing it feels to get away from you. You’re what drives us to these shows and festivals and what makes us enjoy each and every moment when we’re there. And then, when we return home to you, we somehow appreciate what you have to offer even more. That is, until the Leg II rolls around.
I really liked the article, and the very cool blog
And for those of us stuck in the craptastic real world unable to attend, thank you to Sirius for broadcasting the Bunny and the shows.
Just call it like I read it :0)
Pee pee? Is that a personal jab? That would be naughty, OPT.
oh- it’s personal.
Good bye then, Online Phantasy Tour. I guess we are hearing, seeing and feeling different things from the band and the scene. I suggest checking the negativity, doubt, and personal attacks. I think you’re missing the point.
Enjoy the dwindling readership.
wow, now that’s a first. A breakup on OPT!!
MY GOD!! PePe, get a fucking life!!
well said, damn I loved that last part so much I’m putting it back in the comments:
Thank you Phish. Your attention to detail, on every level, is inspiring. Musically and otherwise, the festival embodied that mixture of meticulous craftsmanship, risk-taking, spontaneity and humor that you embody so well. There was a prevalent feeling that anything could truly happen at anytime, whether on stage or off. In this era of blogging/tweeting/streaming fans, that is a very difficult thing to accomplish. Thank you for caring enough to keep us guessing.
Concur with the thank you’s!
If I may, I’d like to add a huge ‘Thank You my Man’ to Jim Pollock. His generosity was on full display. He made a series of three fold up race cars for the Waterwheel, then stood for hours autographing them for phans. Jim is a warrior for good causes and a true friend to the scene!
Thanks to the legions of fans that donated to the Waterwheel all weekend.
Believe it or not, our weekend story didn’t contain a villain. Your DMB loving neighbor makes me chuckle! Been there.
A bit disappointed that @ Aaron Howley didn’t divulge his location to Pepe. I was armed with smiles and pre-rolls to share. Maybe out west?
Good call, Jim was on fire this weekend. I’ll be listening to these FTA and House of Live Phish tracks till Leg II.
wow, pepe isn’t complaining about us.
*pee pee
Generally very well written, although you could have laid off the personal issues with the WGI President.
“Most people were tapped into the music, thrilled to be there and generous to those around them.”
That sentence sums the weekend up. Dialed in, ecstatically happy, and surfing a beautiful wave in a raging sea of positive energy.
I also like your analytical view of what we call the Matrix, that annoying real life world that involves jobs, money, possessions and many other things that really don’t matter at all. That is the lattice-work superstructure that holds all of those basics like housing, food and physical travel, which at the time being, are still painfully necessary.
However, we view our musical voyages as being on the outside of the Matrix, because it is clear that we are far far above its surface, and not vice versa, at least in our delusional psychogeography.
If I could just have the video of the inside of my head from this weekend, I don’t think that I would need to go out very often. Play>Rewind>Play…
Thank you, for a well written piece. Peace.
Thanks! My issues with Printup are far from personal. He stepped way over the line to tease the festival weeks before the announcement, clearly without the band’s OK, and use the ensuing publicity to try and bolster his twitter and facebook followers. At one point he even promised to give more info if he received a certain amount of facebook followers and then never followed through.
But it is time to burry the hatchet, so I will congratulate him on a job well done and refrain from talking about his massive head–at least until he pulls this shit again.
Brilliant.
I HOPE TREY IS 4 REALZ ABOUT DOING IT AGAIN NEXT YEAR!!!! 🙂
Had an amazing time at the Glen, the weather was great, music was top notch, and the grounds were wonderful. Really hope we can do it again sooner than later
So well-stated, couldn’t agree more on every single point, and the dose rape line brought the lulz. Outstanding!
There was a moment when I mistakenly thought a friend was trying to hand me something. I asked myself if there was anything in the world that I needed and the answer was “No”.
PS I saw that “Molly is a Slut” guy at the fried food stand in GC. Also, my Bro Stevo invented the Hamsterwheel assist thursday night to really get folks moving.
THANK YOU PHISH!!!
The hamster wheel assist was money.
nice job, you really summed up the experience.
i will throw in the tunnel girl for anyone who was camping in hawaii. she was the one point of normalcy when entering/exiting a void in space and time. that girl was a trooper…i hope they were paying her at least $20 an hour to endure what she did.
also big thanks to the medics (and police) on behalf of the fans, i didn’t need them but saw many who did and i am sure they are grateful.
hey i just wanted to say that tis summary was sot on!! your review solid and on point…..a myself (37) and my GF (older) we felt at home and will try to make many more. Thanks for taking the time ti write this up.
Mike
Nicely written.
Thanks Phish and WGI for throwing one hell of a party.
Also, thank you to the ditch ragers in the ditch party late Sunday night. Hands down the most fun I have ever (and hope to ever) have in a ditch!