Tuesday, August 10, 2004

Hampton Comes Alive




8.9.04 The Phish, Hampton, VA

Set 1: Chalkdust Torture, Bathtub Gin > Runaway Jim, Walls of the Cave > Loving Cup

Set 2: All Of These Dreams, Limb By Limb, Lifeboy, Crowd Control, Seven Below > Stash > NICU, Bug, Contact, Zero

Encore: David Bowie

It was a nightmare getting to the show. Here's a short list (well, fuck 10 awful) of things that went wrong (at least I wasn't stung by a scoprion on my cookie!)...

1. My ride bailed.
2. My credit card got declined at a car rental place.
3. I got a speeding ticket in Virginia.
4. The cop searched my car.
5. I couldn't find Alea at Will Call.
6. I was 25 minutes late to the show.
7. My cellphone antenna broke.
8. I missed Zobo and Beano.
9. On my way home, I got stuck in NYC rush hour traffic.
10. I dislocated my pinky.


My ride was doomed from the start. Some people are just plain fuck ups and I had too much confidence in my ride (Don't ever call me again Geoff and your evil wife, Mrs. Fuck Wad), when I should have bailed long ago. You get what you pay for. And I was looking for a cheap way to Hampton and got fucked. I'd almost rather not talk about the nightmare getting to Hampton, Virginia. Suffice to say, my ride never materialized and I scrambled, getting a walk-in rental car in Midtown, only to have my credit card get declined! After finally resolving the matter, I took off for Virginia, made great time to Philly, then Baltimore, even got through a bit of nasty DC traffic... and then just when I was about a half hour from the venue... it really took a bad turn.

It had been a couple of years since I was pulled over by a Southern cop. Yeah, Smokey clocked me doing 83 in a 65. I was going at least 90. He took one look at my Yankee plates, and my Yankee license and licked his chops. Officer Numnuts took his sweet time punching my name through who knows where. Homeland Security? FBI? NSA? Google.com? When he got back... it got ugly. He really started sweating me. Grilling me about random things, like the year of the rental car, where I was going, etc. He even asked to search my vehicle. Could you believe that shit?

I'm super pressed for time... as I write this... and I devoted too much time to getting a speeding ticket. That was all. I let him look in the trunk and then he let me go. I;m glad he didn't search me. Whew.

I got to the venue very late. Found a spot. And couldn't find Alea. I had her ticket. She wasn't where she said she'd be... in front of Will Call. Of course... my cell phone starts flaking on me. I'm not getting a decent signal and I missed Zobo's text messages. I found her, well she found my red jacket and we finally ran inside. I missed the first song. And found a space in the back during the end of Bathtub Gin. They played a 20 minute Chalkdust to open and I missed it all. Yeah. I couldn't believe everything went down! But I arrived and I fired up. Fuck the police.

Show had its ups and downs. My cell antenna broke at set break, and I couldn't make calls/text messages. Second set to start was very weak. Seven Below and Page during NICU were my favorite parts. Trey was ripping it up in Zero for sure. Bowie was hot, but rushed it seemed. I was shocked they played it as an encore. Something they rarely do. Sorry I couldn't call ya Modeski!!! They'll play it again in Coventry, so I'll get you then.

The show was weird. Five song first set? The second set seemed like a first set and the first set seemed like a second set.

The highlights:
1. Walls of the Cave
2. Seven Below
3. Bug
4. Contact
5. NICU

Worst part... not meeting up with Zobo and Beano and Chris and not getting to spend enough time with Alea. I can deal with a $155 speeding ticket. But missing friends just sucks. I'll have to win a $30 SNG to make up the money for the ticket.

First show was rough... and then I had to drive all the way back to NYC. No sleep til Brooklyn, eh? Of course I got stuck in Jersey traffic into the city. Add a terror alert and you can imagine how backed up the George Washington Bridge was. Bittersweet. First show was bittersweet.

I'm off for Providence to pick up Senor, then its onto Great Woods. Let's hope all the bad karma was left in Virginia!!

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