i will be in times square friday with a shine posterboard and my birkenstocks

I say, good for Trey. Let him do what he wants.

I’ve been on a huge Phish kick lately (I think it’s because I’m back in school and associate academics with driving 16 hours to see one show), and I rented the Vegas video. The part where Trey tells his dream about a field full of people turning into love goo while the earth shrivels into a raisin is some seriously awesome shit.

I’m obviously conflicted about this video, as I am about Trey’s band. I mean, the guy is definitely entitled to live his life through music the way he so chooses. But at the same time, I mean, c’mon! This? You broke up what some of us consider to be the f*cking greatest rock n roll band in history to be on VH1? Man, I hope one day we’ll all be lauging about this together, Trey and the fans. Trey WITH the fans.

But…the man is an idol, my idol, our idol, the white suburban kid made good by being a complete dork, feeding an ego, and, oh yeah, playing the most badass guitar on Earth. So, let the man be. If you don’t like it, don’t go. I may not like it, but I’m still gonna go.

Ooooh, Vegas…that may have been the greatest weekend of my life. Picture a 21-year-old Ace Cowboy, a senior in college, fresh off three shows in the Midwest, packing his bag for Vegas with no real hotel room, but armed with his best friend in tow and a dozen acquaintances dispersed around town.

The two of us crashed with friends at Bally’s and the MGM, we gambled for hours, we hung out in the lazy river at the pool in gorgeous weather, we hung out at a friend’s bachelor party in a suite in the Bellagio (that was randomly awesome), and we saw two kickass Phish shows on more chemicals than one can possibly stomach at once. And some other stuff. Including buffets. Oh, did I mention I met Mike and Trey in the Mandalay casino that night? That was right before I gambled from 2 am to 8:30 straight.

But the music…Kid Rock gets a bum rap, but that place was on fire for his performance. Why? Because the band was ON FIRE for those two nights. They came out and smoked. Both nights, incredible stuff. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen two consecutively amazing, amazing shows like that. I’ve seen some great shows, and those will always be near the top of the list.

And I might as well admit, I definitely got a little misty-eyed when Trey made that speech about “another 17 years.” Whoa boy, a little teary…

So thanks for that, Zaptor…a great memory re-lived. I love it when people bring up the great moments in Phish. You the man.

I saw the two shows (two nights in Chicago) before the Vegas dates and I just absolutely shouted out loud at the computer lab monitor when I read the Vegas setlists. Those were beyond epic and I missed it. Meh.

And those two Chicago shows were awesome too! I had such fun there, down on the floor with like 15 friends from Northwestern. They came out ready to go, and just nailed those shows.

Meatstick > Antelope, I’ll never forget that.

Meatstick > Antelope blew the roof off. YEM glowstick war was sick. DWD opener literally made KT nauseous. Good stuff.

I was at the following Shoreline show, the last one before the hiatus. The music wasn’t very memorable, but right after the show, when everyone stayed to cheer on the crew while “Let It Be” was playing, about eighty of us, mostly strangers, all cricled for the biggest group hug I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing. We wrapped our arms around each other, put our heads toward the center, and at first shouted and then laughed our asses off. Good shit.