, attached to 2006-07-20

Review by NICU4LIFE

NICU4LIFE In back 2006, I thought I was never going to see Phish. I had just started listening to them the summer of 2004, literally the summer of the Farwell Tour, so with a heavy heart, I had accepted the reality that I could only hear my favorite band in live recordings and albums. However, the year of 2006 brought us the creation of GRAB (Gordon, Russo, Anastasio and Benevento) or Trey Anastatio/Mike Gordon and The Duo. And while I did not know the Benevento/Russo Duo at all (that shortly changed after this show and now their music is one of favorites), I was beyond elated to see two members of Phish together. I knew that if I was not going to see full Phish, at least I could see half of Phish! The atmosphere at Northerly Island was amazing, very welcoming and inviting. I was around a caring crowd, who loved Phish, missed Phish, but was grateful to see at least two of The Boys playing together. At that time, Northerly Island had not expanded its venue to the rest of the airfield so it was only the pit area and the stands. This created intimate environment, which matched perfectly with the crowd’s spirit. The Duo played first and I was blown away by their sound. It prompted me to buy their album that night. Then Trey and Mike came on stage. I was in the front and seeing Trey’s smiling face made me the happiness kid in the world. When they started playing I was jumping around like a madman, full jubilation and ecstasy over the fact that I was seeing two of my favorite musicians from my favorite band. I was dancing with so much elation that I fell down, and as other crowd members help me back up, they asked my friends if I was on acid. “He’s not” they responded, “He is just really happy to be here.” Now I would admit that the quality of jams might not have been the best. I have heard during this time Trey’s opioid use was rather severe and people have critique this tour has having a lot of “hit or miss” jams. But the stage was filled with some excellent musicians. Joe Russo and Mark Benevento significantly made mark on me. When you listen to recordings, you can particularly hear how much of a genius Joe Russo is. I was happy to hear several Trey originals, but when Trey and Mike busted out Poor Heart and My Sweat One for the acoustic part of the show, I was beyond blissful. This show will forever hold special place in my heart. It gave me strength for all those years during the hiatus as a special treat of getting to experience at least some of the awesomeness that is Phish.


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