As I took a shower this morning, I realized that the music looping in my mind was Drew's YES bass line. Thanks for invading my thoughts! Low brass kicks ass!

nice one.
a couple of days ago, my wife and i sat in a circle,
with street musicians,
at a piazza in firenze utill four in the morning.

they sang local songs in local tounges,
and we understood perfectly,
each other.

we all sang 'wild world' in this great figure eight
and 'let it be',
let it be.
our souls were shared with a spliff and a song,
that has no words.

this was an experience i'll treasure as long as i live!!
i hadn't really listened to phish in a few weeks and as i strolled home with my honey,
i thought...
...boy man GOD shit i want to hear some PHISH!!!!

san souci, my phriends. and to each his/her own. peace.

Not sure if I should thumb you up or down...

Why is something like this on the front page of phish.net, and not in the Forum?

@dick_tatertot said:

Why is something like this on the front page of phish.net, and not in the Forum?

This

I have these moments from time to time, but then the shows that I bought tickets for arrive and I realize that 50 seconds isn't enough. This year I'm hitting both MPP shows. It seems like I see a lot of negativity toward MPP shows in these threads, but I've yet to be disappointed and, always leave satisfied. Couching every show doesn't make them money. So, the real question is do you want them to stop and are you satisfied with what has already been produced? I don't know...maybe I'm missing your point.

Admin attention whoring essentially.

Dude can play the tuba, I'll give him that... but this doesn't need to be on the front page.

I've come to terms with the fact that anyone who likes a band as much as most of us do has to go through peaks and valleys. It's impossible to jump in that deep and stay there forever, and if you do, well... you're missing a lot of other music.

I'm currently in a Phish wane. I don't know when it will return to waxing. But I know that an ebb and flow is natural, and that's okay. And as we get older, it's to be expected.

> As to the people complaining about this being "front page,"
> it's a blog entry about Phish by a Phish.net staffer. That's legal.

I sort of get where the blogger is coming from. I almost agree with him wholeheartedly, expect for the fact I would not have followed YEM with Ol Dirty Bastard. I went through my "do I need Phish phase" after the breakup. I probably went months without listening, by far the longest stretch of my adult life. But I came back(and they came back), because, honestly, there really isn't another band that can get me to the place Phish gets me. So enjoy your gangsta rap there blogger, enjoy bumping UM, or raging to the Biscuits, because while you are absolutely correct that many of us(myself included I am sure) miss so much music because we obsess about Phish so much.... I honestly don't care. I'll be 50 years old, embarassing my daughter's friends by playing the Hampton Halley's on repeat. My time without Phish reminded me that there shouldn't be a time in my life without Phish.

Been there with GD, Sonic Youth, YLT, Tweedy, a lot of my favorite music. This is a push-pull phenomenon with a lot of my art preferences that I obsess over (musicians, writers, painters, filmmakers, photographers), and I actually think it helps me develop an almost healthier relationship. I accidentally went on an 11 year hiatus of seeing Phish. Didn't mean to, just happened. But what I (re)discovered upon the return was like a (re)baptism. I did the same thing with the Grateful Dead after the "Touch" phenomenon. Then, I sort of wandered into a Warlocks show in Hampton, and BAM! Wow. Sonic Youth, same thing. Unfortunately, I wandered away from them a bit and then heard that they broke up. Dang. Makes me wish for those final shows I could have caught while appreciating those I did. It may be a way for you to be subconsciously detaching and discovering new forms, styles, interests, only to come back into the fold refreshed. I remember not having seen SY for a number of years and reentering during the "Murray Street" tour. My jaw dropped, and I thought, Where have I been? I do that with bluegrass, too, though for the über traditional stuff, I stepped off that bus around '92 and have yet to return, unless it's on the radio or something. As some good friends once wrote and sang, "Man oh man oh friend of mine / all good things in all good time."

I disagree with this post wholeheartedly. 50 seconds should not be enough. Go to a show and rediscover what you are clearly jaded on. Surrender to the flow

I absolutely love this band since. Since my very first show over a decade ago that love never wavered one bit. I am excited as ever to get back on the road this summer it can't come fast enough for me (get it, ha!). Im sure a shitload of people love this band just as much as I do but no1 loves them more. that bein said see you cats at merriweather

Really though what is the point of this blog post?

Pretty sure he didn't use the "Open Letter to..." properly.

This story should have just been about the Tuba player himself because a true PHAN will be sharing the stage as a peer of one of his favorite musicians.

What a bunch of cry baby bitches.

Start your own forum / blahg / stats resource if you don't care for the admins of this site using this one as they see fit.

Clearly you don't have enough real problems in your lives.

/rant.

Interesting observation. Always good to hear about the different ways people appreciate this music.

But my dog really liked the tuba. He's now convinced that there's some kind of small animal living behind the TV. Or maybe in the speakers.

If you listen to Phish constantly, and have yet to reach (have never reached) the point where you've not listened to Phish in several days, or a week, or several months, then it's a good bet that you're still a noob. And this is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, of course. Your love of Phish and devotion to the listening of Phish's music and immersion in things Phish is something never to be ashamed of! But this blog post -- authored by a volunteer admin of this site -- just wasn't and isn't for you, and there is no need to insult the author.

I thought this blog post was and is great. And I listen to Phish constantly, and have done so for many, many years... though I did take a break post-Coventry in late 2004.

$0.02.

@Icculus. I am not sure that your definition of a noob is accurate. So noobs listen to Phish all the time, but vets are allowed to take a break? And only when that break is taken you lose your noob status? Great and knowledgeable my ass!

And you are correct about the blog post not being for me, or anyone except the blogger himself, but the problem is he put it on the #1 site for all things Phish, and one of the oldest fan sites on the internet. If you me to expand on that for you, I will, but I trust you understand what I am getting at. Something like this belongs on the blogger's personal blog, not this site. The post has a negative feel to it, and it is not a negative review of a show, but rather a negative blanket statement about his feelings for the band. Yes, I am sure he loves(d) Phish, and everyone appreciates his work as a volunteer admin for this site. But it sounds like Phish has run their course in his life right now, so why post here about it?

It's not about being a crybaby @ZapRowsdower. There is legitimate criticism of this blog post. To prove my point here is a quick run down of the news on the home page:

All the Mystery Jams
Mockingbird Pin Release
Trey snags Tony Nomination
An old Interview with Gordo
Mothership Art Collective Print Show
News About Hands On A Hardbody
The Ultimate Phish Nerdgasm
Phamily Poker Classic
Interview with Trey on CBS
Tour Announcement Video
...ect.

AND right on top is an Admins post about how he really doesn't like listening to Phish anymore.

How do y'all not get that it does not fit. It's a thread for the forum not some grand insight into Phish.

Thanks admins for all you do, really. I dig this site and the show and song stats are a priceless resource that if it disappeared today I would be crushed, so thank you. That being said the whole too cool for school, jaded vet thing gets old real quick.

In other words this blog post is a bigger buzzkill than Buzz Killington.



Oh, I'm sorry is this not the forum? My bad.

::heads to forum to chat with all the n00bs that still like listening to Phish::

/rant

You can't force these things. If you keep listening to phish even though it all seems kind of blah, then you're going to really get burned out on them. Just personally, I usually rotate for a few months of phish, then a few of the dead, then a few of all other kinds of music.

You'll know when you haven't listened for a couple of months (or a few) that you're ready to come back to phish when your jaw drops at a jam or you find yourself genuinely enjoying hearing NICU for the 40,000th time. Then it's like rediscovering them all over again. That's just how it's been for me, but I wonder at the poster's undercurrent of anxiety and willingness to project dark forebodings about his relationship with phish. It's really not that big of a deal, and frankly kind of surprising that this hasn't happened before, as Dirksen points out.

One thing I will say is that for whatever reason I was on a non-jamband kick in 2010 and the shows leading up to Alpine (DwD-> WTU) I was really, really not into. Jadedvet mode, arms crossed, superior, generally an asshole. There were some fun moments I missed out on and didn't really appreciate the turning point in the band's development that DWD represented. Instead of enjoying WTU, when I realized what it was I immediately shut off the enjoyment of the moment simply because I realized it wasn't an "original" jam.

I don't know if it's related but I can't help but think that being in such a different musical place then probably didn't help. So while you can't really force it, give it a shot for a couple of weeks before the shows and see if you don't change your mind about hitting multiple shows. There's never been one I've seen that hasn't at least been worth the travel and money.

I went 5yrs without listening to them,now I love them more then ever

Sometimes I get burned out, then I come back, then I burn out again, and then I come back. Phish will always be one of my pillars.

I wholeheartedley agree that if anything this should be in the forum, if anything. Yea I guess if your the admin you can do whatever you want, but this was a sorry ass letter that we dont give 2 shits about. The best part about it is the Ole Dirty Bastard part actually. Keep your diary to yourself.

Forum or front page...I couldn't care one way or the other. It does raise an interesting point though.

I'm currently in a lull with Phish. I just finished reading the Parke Puterbaugh biography on the band which drove me back to the catalog for a few days. Otherwise, I've been digging deep into other bands (the new Dawes & Vampire Weekend albums are phenomenal) and rediscovering stuff I haven't listened to in a while (after seeing Ben Harper a couple of weeks ago at the Beacon, I blew the dust off the Innocent Criminals and the Relentless 7). I'm seeing Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers this Thursday and have been listening to his old and new stuff too.

Summer tour is still in the future but when those tickets arrive, I'll be firing them up. From time to time, I've read posts on this site about those who listen to Phish constantly without really considering other music. Very short-sighted. Plus, as others have said, coming back to the boys after a short hiatus has me giggling and dancing like a school girl. It's not quite rediscovering them, but it sounds new and fresh and I marvel at their awesomeness after I let things cool down.

@Tmbgnicu said:

the problem is he put it on the #1 site for all things Phish, and one of the oldest fan sites on the internet. If you me to expand on that for you, I will, but I trust you understand what I am getting at. Something like this belongs on the blogger's personal blog, not this site. The post has a negative feel to it, and it is not a negative review of a show, but rather a negative blanket statement about his feelings for the band. Yes, I am sure he loves(d) Phish, and everyone appreciates his work as a volunteer admin for this site. But it sounds like Phish has run their course in his life right now, so why post here about it?

Wrong. So wrong. There wasn't a negative sentiment in my mind at the time I wrote it.
Go read it again, I'll give you time to try and decipher the actual point I was making. There's a massive number of people here on this jaded-fan witchhunt, I'm sorry that anything short of "OMG, my face melted" doesn't tease your intellect.

To everyone else who had a problem with where this was posted... @mrjones @theemporerjoker @runlikeacantelope

I am a blogger here. This is my (shared) blog. I don't need another venue.

@ledzepmaster said:

Admin attention whoring essentially.

Dude can play the tuba, I'll give him that... but this doesn't need to be on the front page.

Attention whoring? Please (I have much corser language that I'd prefer to use, honestly)

I thought I would share an emotion and a moment that I had related to Phish. Blog posts go to the front page automatically, whether they are good or not..

Clearly the point I was trying to make was missed. You win some, you lose some.

This is absolutely NOT, jaded vet malaise. I have not listened to much Phish lately, fact. I might not go to any shows this summer, fact.

I am totally over Phish, pure fiction. That wasn't my point. I was trying to express the purity of what I heard and how it immediately connected with the core of how I love Phish. The fact that I haven't listened to Phish lately has nothing to do with my love of the band. The point was that it never leaves you.

@TMBGnicu I am a huge TMBG fan btw, and you're embarrassing us. You missed the point of this blog post. As Eric has already explained.

But one thing I do want to make clear, again, since I've said this before: the PhishNet blog is run by volunteer fans, for fans. We are fans like you. We are vets like you. We sometimes don't listen to Phish. We sometimes post negatively about Phish, even in harsh terms, and do so on this blog. Phish fans love Phish in diverse ways, and I wouldn't want it any other way. If you check out this blog only to read "positive" viewpoints of Phish, prepare to be disappointed, especially by my blog posts. (So skip those!)

In my opinion someone who expects only positive views about Phish on this blog is akin to a Fox News watcher who expects only positive reviews of the Republican Party on Fox. It is silly to expect that, even if views expressed about Phish on this blog are largely "positive" about Phish, and views expressed on Fox News are largely positive about the Republican Party. It ain't all Hood, my friend, and thank f'ing God. I might be able to handle a single show where Phish plays nothing but Hood. But consecutive shows? Seriously, though, if you don't like what you read in the blog, then write something better and submit it to me for possible publishing.

WE ARE JUST FANS LIKE YOU, BUT ALSO DIFFERENT.

I get you to some extent. For the past month or two I've been putting on a Phish tune once every couple of days just to give me a boost, but mainly listening to other stuff. (although this morning I sat down and watched 8-19-12 set two because I saw it in that "Phish 3.0 sucks" thread but that's a rarity these days) However the idea of skipping a tour completely would terrifies me. Is that healthy? Probably not. In fact I'm kinda bummed that I only have seven for-sure shows this summer.

@ericwyman said:

Clearly the point I was trying to make was missed. You win some, you lose some.

This is absolutely NOT, jaded vet malaise. I have not listened to much Phish lately, fact. I might not go to any shows this summer, fact.

I am totally over Phish, pure fiction. That wasn't my point. I was trying to express the purity of what I heard and how it immediately connected with the core of how I love Phish. The fact that I haven't listened to Phish lately has nothing to do with my love of the band. The point was that it never leaves you.

Fair enough. But welcome to having a blog and receiving criticism in the comments when anyone and everyone is allowed to post.

You post, we comment-- so the wheel spins round.

(I honestly didn't realize the Front Page of phish.net is a blog, and am kinda disappointed. I thought there was some degree of censorship over what got to the Front Page. Back to PT for me!)

Hey Eric I found it refreshingly introspective and touched a nerve with most of us. I didn't listen to phish after the first hiatus until 09". You don't have to devote every waking moment to phish! Even the band doesn't do that!

Looks like people got their panties all bunched up.

@dick_tatertot said:

(I honestly didn't realize the Front Page of phish.net is a blog, and am kinda disappointed. I thought there was some degree of censorship over what got to the Front Page. Back to PT for me!)

I'm truly at a loss as to why anyone would be "disappointed" by that but in the spirit of offering solutions, you can set your bookmark to http://phish.net/news and bypass all of the Blog content.

You know I wasn't pissed about your art

I honestly had no problem with your article until you responded to everyone and sounded like a pompous prick. If you don't like it, don't listen. If you are tired of shows, don't go. Maybe the sharing of your personal diary should be through other avenues besides the front page of .net.

Definitely respect and love this site though.

Every once in a while I take a break myself, but I'm talking a week at the most. I might just listen to one or two songs a day. I have also been on a TAB kick lately after seeing the Oakland shows, but I don't know if listening to TAB counts as a break or not. I can't imagine my life without Phish and am counting the days until BCGA. My feeling is that 3.0 is all a bonus because we all thought is was truly over. When I thought it was over my goal was to either get a sick home stereo system and car stereo and just go the rest of my life blasting Phish and annoying my kids.

I suppose I thank you all for your feedback on content. It's disappointing to see the meta discussion as a response. Specifically, because if you have been around here for the last 3 years, you've hopefully read my thoughts on Phish before. And if you've read any of those, you'll have seen that I speak openly about the connection I have with the music and use no filter in expressing my thoughts. In this case, I'm shocked and frustrated that the emotion here has been so misconstrued.

Additionally, there is a tremendous amount of combative comments towards "the admins." By my count, we're pretty low touch around here, but I suppose our history of being "pompous prick" label is pretty tough to shake.

And since at least a few people must be wondering why the Phish-hating, pompous, boring admin quit tour...

My wife and I will be taking my sons to Disney World for the first time when tour starts. I found takers for my tickets and decided that the time with my family was more valuable than another show. Not that it's really pertinent to anyone, just figured everyone needed some answers.

But that still wasn't my point here.

@ericwyman said:

The point was that it never leaves you.

Now this I can get behind! I didn't listen to Phish from 2002 - 2009, they came back and I came back. This failed to come across to me in your post.

Sorry to jump down your throat man, I get fired up with no filter as well.

Also,sorry you cant make any shows this summer but Disney World with your wife & kids frankly sounds more badass.

p.s. your Avatar does not help your argument

@Land2reform said:

Definitely respect and love this site though.

You have an interesting way of showing it.

Same ol' same ol'. Can't post anything other than slobbering, sycophantic praise of the band without drawing the wrath of the "true Phans" who think that if you don't lap up latest paint-by-numbers version of "Free" then you're a hater who doesn't deserve to listen to the band, let alone see them in concert.

Thank you to the people who decided to comment on @ericwyman's post and engage in a discussion about it.

i haven't stepped very far away from phish since i came to it full-tilt in 99. it's an all-encompassing thing. i do go in and out of odb though, since 96, sometimes for years. and since i've been sober hiphop's really not that much fun anymore unless i'm making it.

You should have one bowl of ice cream at a time instead of eating the entire gallon in one sitting.

After having seen them from 91-93, and even playing in a band in college from 91-92 that played a bunch of phish covers, I stopped listening from 94-98. Yeah, I know, not exactly the popular time to NOT listen to them. But sometimes that's just where life takes you. Some will drift and come back, some will drift and never really return except for little nostalgia trips. Such is life. Maybe so and maybe not.

I'm in the third "waxing" period of listening and it's great, 09 set this off big time for some weird reason. Probably the lack of great shows during the breakup by other bands, maybe travel was the difference, but it's here.

Although it can definitely seem weird to someone who has been pretty obsessed with the music for 20 years or more, I think it is only natural to have periods where one doesn't crave it or need it as much. All the enjoyment and benefits and memories of the thousands of hours of listening, traveling, attending shows, writing, coding, creating art, learning and playing the songs, and myriad other phish-related activities is still there, practically ingrained in your DNA at this point.

**********

Its disheartening to see such a backlash to simply sharing this experience. It would be one thing to comment on or disagree with the sentiment in a rational way, but to automatically infer that one is jaded and negative because they are in a phase where they are not listening to a ton of phish is really closed-minded.

I guess by definition we have a community that includes some of the most obsessed fans out there. By contrast, one of the things that I always found attractive about the phish community is the open-mindedness of most fans - the ability and willingness to go outside a comfort zone, in terms of both music, culture, ideas, lifestyle.

But, oddly, the cross-sections of fans that spend a ton of time on message boards seems to contain its own little subset of people that are really locked into their own mindset, unwilling to entertain the perspective of others, always needing to prove their knowledge or correctness. (Generally about something that is inherently subjective, nonetheless.) Bunch of weird birds, and not necessarily that fun to interact with. How do you really respond to someone that wants to tell you that the way you partake in recreation is wrong? Either flame or ignore. There's no constructive, interesting way to engage with someone like that.

Even worse, virtually inexplicable to me, is the meta-discussion questioning whether this is an appropriate topic of discussion. As a blog post. On a phish website. "Admin attention whoring?" That is about as ignorant, inaccurate, and unnecessarily mean-spirited comment as I've seen on this site. "Why is this on the front page?" Um, well, because its a blog, about phish, and one of the functions of the site is to post thoughts about phish. We'd use it more, but for the fact that more often than not, people would rather discuss things like whether the blogger is an attention whore as opposed to the thoughts presented. Or reveal their own insecurity and defensiveness by attacking and insulting anyone who experiences phish differently than they do.

***********

Personally, I haven't listened to hardly any 3.0 since January. Mainly because I want this tour to sound fresh when it hits my earholes in a month. But I'm also not able to hit many shows at all - maybe one or two. And I'm also ok with it. I'd rather go to more, but there are other obligations and responsibilities. C'est la vie. Am I a shitty fan because I am not pitching a fit or blowing off my family? (...which I may or may not have done repeatedly over the years...) Am I sucking the energy an life out of the community due to my lack of obsession? That's what some of you make it sound like. And I'm sorry you feel that way, but moreover I pity your inability to acknowledge an experience different than your own.

***********

Thank you to those of you that are able to comment on and discuss the ideas in the original post.

@ericwyman said:

I suppose I thank you all for your feedback on content. It's disappointing to see the meta discussion as a response. Specifically, because if you have been around here for the last 3 years, you've hopefully read my thoughts on Phish before. And if you've read any of those, you'll have seen that I speak openly about the connection I have with the music and use no filter in expressing my thoughts. In this case, I'm shocked and frustrated that the emotion here has been so misconstrued.

Additionally, there is a tremendous amount of combative comments towards "the admins." By my count, we're pretty low touch around here, but I suppose our history of being "pompous prick" label is pretty tough to shake.

And since at least a few people must be wondering why the Phish-hating, pompous, boring admin quit tour...

My wife and I will be taking my sons to Disney World for the first time when tour starts. I found takers for my tickets and decided that the time with my family was more valuable than another show. Not that it's really pertinent to anyone, just figured everyone needed some answers.

If only Phish would play Disney World...right in front of the castle at the magic kingdom. Tinker bell would be flying around over our heads and fireworks would be going off.

To be honest, when I "rotate my music choices" I rotate what actual phish show (date-wise) I'm listening to... or perhaps make the change 1.0 vs. 2.0 etc.

to each their own.

I wish I got to see them back in the day. But I am glad that I'm not a jaded vet and still consider myself a noob.

see ya'll reaaaal soon!

dont worry op you'll be back into fish before you know it. happens to the best of us. thanks for the share

Awful lot of activity in response to something that supposedly wasn't qualified to be on the front page!

Sounds to me like someone hit the proverbial nerve, eh?

My two cents.....Back in the late 70's an old Head sat me down on his couch and told me to shut up and listen as he popped a cassette of a '72 soundboard into his player. He sat back, toked up, passed me the pipe and told me "Tours comin' in a month. Time to get your ears ready." I learned that day that this music requires emotional and mental preparation and concentration. You can't "listen" to Phish casually, and that's why we have to shut it down once in a while. It's normal. I didn't think the blog was negative at all......but thoughtful.

@FACTSAREUSELESS said:

Awful lot of activity in response to something that supposedly wasn't qualified to be on the front page!

Sounds to me like someone hit the proverbial nerve, eh?

My two cents.....Back in the late 70's an old Head sat me down on his couch and told me to shut up and listen as he popped a cassette of a '72 soundboard into his player. He sat back, toked up, passed me the pipe and told me "Tours comin' in a month. Time to get your ears ready." I learned that day that this music requires emotional and mental preparation and concentration. You can't "listen" to Phish casually, and that's why we have to shut it down once in a while. It's normal. I didn't think the blog was negative at all......but thoughtful.

Thanks. I'm glad you appreciated it.