The Joker's Greatest Hits: Red Rocks and The Gorge

Its taken a few days for the magnitude of what I experienced at Red Rocks and The Gorge to sink in. I truly believe that what I was a part of is something not to be taken lightly. It was special. There is so much that happened I have decided to tell you about the best. I believe Phish is about an experience more than the sum of its parts. I will attempt to fill you in about a few of the moments I will remember for the rest of my life. These are my Greatest Hits.

Red Rocks Friday-
I will never forget what it is like to wear my Fishman dress to the Red Rocks Friday Phish show. In short, it is an incredible feeling. Want everyone to welcome you? Want tarp Nazis to let you though to find your friends? Dress up. Wear a Viking Helmet. It was amazing. Everyone smiled at me and I felt so warm inside.



I will never forget the Split Open And Melt jam with the rain pouring down. I was tripping and the dissonance of the jam seemed to be played just for me. As I was just on the edge of madness, the band finished up the jam and the set. I went to find shelter from the storm under a beer tent with Jenn. What would follow was one of the more hilarious set breaks of my life. It felt like we were part of a refugee camp underneath the beer tent. I met some interesting characters and eventually Jonas, Corey and Daphne came to find me.

The rain subsided and I spent the second set with Jonas on row 13, Fishman side. I was surrounded by cool people, some I just met and some I had known for years. It had that vibe. We were all going to that place together. I finally got to witness the first of many epic Phish moments with one of my best friends, Jonas. I loved the entire second set, with the Joy being perfectly placed for me to take a piss. I felt Red Rocks move and be locked in with the band during the Fluffhead>Piper>Day In The Life. I remember every second. I get chills listening to the Piper intro and those words...those words I truly sailed upon.

Red Rocks Sunday
I will never forget the moon setting over Red Rocks during 2001 and standing with Jonas, Katie, Pauly and Change100. 2001 is one of my favorites...at that moment surrounded by my best friends, CK5 lighting up the stage and the moon in the sky, it was perfect.



Gorge Saturday
While the 4 nights at Red Rocks were incredible, I think the Gorge Saturday show was my favorite. I made the analogy that the Red Rocks shows were like having sex with a hot Hollywood starlet. But the Gorge...It was like sex with Angelina Jolie before she met Billy Bob. Wild. Crazy. Beautiful. Powerful. Tender. Blissful. Better than your wildest expectations.

On Saturday DiscoSis1 and I never left each other’s side. At one point during Wolfman’s Brother, I hugged DiscoSis1 and we looked at the beauty of the massive glow stick war together. "This is the moment I came to The Gorge to see," I said. And It was true- I thought it was THE moment of the weekend and the kind of moment I did not want to take lightly or let pass.


But it wasn’t over after that- the Character Zer0 had us yelling and jumping and the multiple orgasms of Antelope overwhelmed me. I was a little disoriented after the first set on Saturday. For a moment I thought they had just skipped the set break.

At set break DiscoSis1 and I climbed the mountain to find the Honey Buckets. Somewhere along the way I met a guy eating a Mango. He brought a Mango with him to every Phish show he attended and it was the first time since 2003 that he let himself eat it. Phish fans do a lot of crazy and nerdy things…but that struck me as one of the coolest things I saw on tour.


The second set of The Gorge Saturday had another massive glow stick war during Rock and Roll similar to the one I pointed out during Wolfman’s in the first set. The moon rose over the lawn of The Gorge. Mike and Trey traded bass and guitar mid jam during the childish fun of Makisupa Policeman.

Next, we heard Trey tease the Harry Potter theme during the YEM jam. DiscoSis1 and I jumped with excitement together during Piper. I got slapped in the face by pure rock and roll during Good Times, Bad Times > Tweeprize. And again I was with Pauly, Change100, Jonas, Katie, and of course DiscoSis1. What an amazing time. Jonas and I agreed...The Gorge = Epcot Center.

Thanks to my friends and everyone I met along the way. Thanks to Phish. 2009 - A Joyful Summer.

Comments

Nicholas Stock said…
Nice write up Joker. We really did get something special at Red Rocks. I guess I will have to make that trip out to The Gorge next year. That place sounds magical.

Popular Posts