On August 14th, 2009 I woke up at the EconoLodge in Darien Lake (probably early enough for the free breakfast if there was one. I’m a sucker for free breakfasts regardless of how meagre they may be - even to the point of setting the alarm after a late night - and at the EconoLodge it would have been pretty meagre indeed) and got on the road to Hartford for another night of Phish. I don’t remember anything about the six-hour drive so it must not have been very notable, which is how I generally prefer it.

I also don’t remember where we stayed when we got to Hartford, or too much in particular about the show itself*, but I recall that it was another shed-type venue and although we were in the pavilion we were pretty far back. I remember those things because there is one single moment from this show that I do recall, and I recall it like crazy.

Late in the second set the band had just finished up with Ghost and Fishman counted in a quick four. I heard Mike play his low entrance and a split second later Trey and Page hit their first hits. Before the song was one second old it was already unmistakeable to me; I had caught it on literally the first beat. It could be nothing else.

Jumping high in the air before the second beat fell, I turned in m’lady’s direction and screamed with joy, “They’re playing Psycho Killer!”

I don’t know what her reaction was - I was too busy with all that joyous jumping up and down - but I do know it took her a bar or two to buy what I was selling. After three or four bars the rest of the crowd caught up and everyone finally started jumping too. This was only the third time the band had played the Talking Heads classic, and the first time in a dozen years.

As of this writing Phish has only played it once more after this show - three years later at SPAC in Saratoga Springs, New York - and I was there for that one as well, so like I say, it was kind of a special thing to have seen. It’s kind of like going to a hockey game and seeing Gretzky get into a fight; it’s just not something that happens every day. And then three years later you’re at another game and Gretzky goes and drops the gloves again?!? Crazy!

And really, that’s one of the reasons Phish is such a great hobby-band. Because they are willing to throw out little treats like this to their fans and then hold these treats back almost (and often) indefinitely no matter how well they were received, people will inevitably start ‘chasing’ songs. I was chasing a song called Llama for years, a song that isn’t that rare but I still somehow went thirty-one shows without hearing it. At my 32nd Phish show they opened with Llama, but I was stuck in a full-contact Lord Of The Flies-style bathroom lineup for almost the entire song. I would eventually go another thirty-eight shows before getting Llama again, the last one I’ve heard. So you see what I mean. With all the stats and rarities going on Phish tour is almost like collecting baseball cards. Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if many long-standing Phish tour kids are very collection-oriented people, as I am.

(Heck, as soon as I find myself in possession of two of anything all of a sudden I have a another collection. In addition to ticket stubs I also collect postcards, coins, miniature buildings, guitars, records, casino chips, and on and on and on…)

Anyway, the internet tells me that the band jammed Psycho Killer into Catapult (the first time they had played that song in more than five years and the only time I’ve seen them play it) which in turn was jammed into Icculus (another first for me. My second Icculus would come thirty-five shows later on New Years Eve in 2013) before closing out the set with one of my all time faves (and my 17th most-seen song, having been played at 21% of my attended Phish concerts), You Enjoy Myself.

Turns out they encored with While My Guitar Gently Weeps (a song they’ve slotted in the encore position for two of the five times I’ve heard them play it), which is a pretty nice way to end a show.

But what do I know? I don’t really remember.

(Special mention must go to the fried cheese cheeseburger that I thoroughly enjoyed the next day at a place called Shady Glen a dozen miles east of downtown Hartford. If you are anywhere near this restaurant stop what you’re doing and go there; do not pass Go, do not collect $200.)

*Though I know it was great because all the shows I saw in 2009 were great.

https://toddmanout.com/