Mike Gordon

2009 has been one helluva year, hasn’t it?

We all started out in January, with the electric energy of a pending Inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States.  And we also had the knowledge that Phish was gonna tour again.  I for one, recall standing outside on NYE, and holding my hands wide to embrace what was ‘next.’

Have you ever had ‘make-up sex?’And I mean the ‘grown-up’ kind – full of the peaks and valleys of intimate knowledge of the other, with an understanding of the significance of the recent pasts’ dissonance… It’s sex with the knowledge that one nearly lost this person, and is lucky to have retrieved their relationship from the brink. Sex with someone you LOVE - or maybe ‘loved’ in the past. Sex that’s like physical history in action and re-action - with all the emotional lights left on.

By far the most anticipated concert of the summer at Shoreline Amphitheater, the gigantic outdoor venue in Mountain View, California, was Phish on August 5. I had been growing out my lengthy beard and counting down the days for most of July it seemed.

I saw my first Phish show at the Hampton Coliseum in 1995 when I was 16 years old.  I had such a great time that I lied to my parents in order to go see them again at Hershey Park a few days later.  At the time, I knew nothing about Phish; I didn’t know any of its songs, any of its members names, or that the drummer wore a dress and played a vacuum.  I just knew that when I saw that first show at the Spaceship in ‘95 it was filled with so much positive energy, I wanted to co

Going back to my high school days growing up in Iowa, I specifically remember the first time I heard Phish.  I was with a group of friends (guys I am still in touch with today) riding around on a hot summer day on our way to what had become almost a daily sand volleyball session.  A buddy popped in the Picture of Nectar CD and told us we were in for a real musical treat.  Some band from the East with a simple but oddly spelled name.

The anticipation is over as thousands of fans have descended upon the city of Hampton, Virginia to take part in the first three shows since Phish disbanded four years ago.  The Hampton Coliseum, a favorite venue among fans, will host this historic reunion as the band begins "phase 2" of their musical conquest.

With the famous Vermont jam quartet making their triumphant return to the road this year, one can only wonder what kind of energy and style they will bring to those live performances.  Phish has always been open to reinventing themselves throughout the years, and they very well may invoke something fresh this time around.

Superfly Productions and A.C. Entertainment are excited to announce the initial lineup for the 2009 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. The eighth annual four-day camping and music festival will be held on June 11 - 14 on the same beautiful 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee, 60 miles south of Nashville. Every year Bonnaroo seeks to make history by offering unique and exclusive performances by rock's greatest legends as well as its most significant newcomers.

As the thermometer's mercury spends more of its time below freezing than above, I have a warm spot inside as, in my imagination, I concoct endless paths that Phish may take on their summer tour following the recently announced dates in June. Perhaps all the rumors of the phearsome phorsome headlining Bonnaroo Inc. are just meant to throw us off the scent of their real path.
In 2002, I remember walking down the street that lead to the back of one of the smaller stages at the High Sierra Music Festival late one afternoon and being amazed by the sheet of sound that was slowly encompassing me with every step forward.

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