Phish-ing.....

TJ and I had a great opportunity to go to a Phish festival this year. Phish broke up a few years back and we never really thought we would see them, especially on the West coast. TJ got tickets as soon as he found out about the festival, but wasn't certain he would allow me to go. He was worried it might not be safe for me, being 25 weeks pregnant and all...

Thursday 10/29

We packed up the car and headed out at 6pm. We stopped a few times for gas, bathroom, snacks, etc. We arrived at 10pm. We were really surprised by the lack of welcome signs, etc. around town. We finally entered a large open field with several checkpoints. There was only one car ahead of us in the line we were in. They made us exit the vehicle and two guards did a thorough search of the car. One of them looked at my big belly, asked if I was pregnant, and laughed as he commented that I “probably won’t be smoking any pot this weekend.” At the second checkpoint they checked our tickets and gave us each a festival wristband.

We headed out Thursday evening thinking that we would get a campsite closer to the venue than if we left Friday morning, however we ended up still fairly far away. They directed us to a campground called “Exile on Mainstreet”. TJ set up the tent really quickly and we laughed a little as we watched some of our neighbors struggle with their setup. We hung out for a while before going to bed. We met our direct neighbors, Kristen & Vinnie from Wisconsin (I found out later that Kristen is a Torgerson, which is my grandmother’s maiden name – we are going to talk more to see if we are related). The temperature that night dropped to 39 degrees so we bundled up well before cocooning ourselves in the tent.

Friday 10/30

People continued to arrive at the campgrounds through the night and into the day. The sun came up around 7:20am and it got too warm in the tent to sleep in late. We got up, ate breakfast out of the back of the car and changed clothes. We walked from the campsite to the overlook area. This area was supposed to have some activities, vendors, and a great view of the concert field. Security wouldn’t let us in because TJ had an aluminum water bottle in his bag. He had the choice to trash it or hike it back to camp. We decided to walk over to check out the farmers market instead. They had fresh bread and just about every fruit and veggie (organic of course ). They also had concert merchandise, a general store (where you could buy everything from tampons and chap stick to burritos and dresses), portable potties & mobile showers, and all kinds of additional vendors (selling everything from hammocks and glass works to patches and spare pocket aprons). There was a lot to see and explore.

After checking out the market area we walked back to the campsite to relax before the first set. We hung out with the neighbors and their neighbors (young kids age 20-22 from Northern CA). I jumped into the tent to try to take a nap but the temperature jumped to 85 degrees that day and the tent was like a sauna. I made so many trips back and forth to the port-o-lets that I started making friends with people along the way. I met two guys, Jason from Colorado & Rebel from Fresno CA. They were really nice and TJ even started stopping to talk to them on his trips to the potties.

We ate some dinner and dressed in warm clothes. The first set was at 7:30pm. We walked over the gate to the venue and there was a huge mass of people being herded through the gates. TJ & Jason stood around me to protect me from being shoved around be the crowd. There were some amazing sites to see. Palm trees were lit up and they had metal sculptures that shot fire. I tried to take some pictures but my camera didn’t really like the dark. TJ & I found a great spot on the grass near enough to one of the many sets of port-o-lets for me and with a great view of the stage. Well, within a short time we were engulfed in a sea of people, mostly standing, and could no longer see the stage. We picked up our blanket and moved back far enough that we could see again. We were told later that 40,000 fans had attended the festival. We weren’t shocked. The second set was at 10:30pm. By this time the temperature had dropped to 40 degrees again. It was cold and we were tired but the music was great! The show ended about midnight and we walked back to camp, brushed our teeth, and climbed into our sleeping bags.

Saturday 10/31 Halloween

TJ was up at the crack of dawn. He told me how beautiful the sunrise was with the mountains and palm trees. I knew better than to try to sleep in too long because I was sweating by 8am. We got going and walked over to the Overlook area to checkout the venue in the daylight. It was about 10am and TJ was thinking about trying the special “FOAM” beer that had been created just for the festival. We were told that ALL 150 kegs had already been sold out. Wow! It didn’t even last thru the first night. Someone came around and passed out newspapers about the festival. We grabbed a couple extra for our camp neighbors. It was Halloween and so we noticed “everyone” was at the Phish festival, even Jesus. I snapped a photo of him reading the paper.

There was a huge line of people at the merchandise tent. There were waiting for posters. Apparently many people purchase the limited edition posters for $50 at the show and then sell them online for hundreds. I didn’t even get to see what any of them looked like, they went so fast.

We headed back to the campsite and the heat was pretty intense. I was already sunburned and TJ rigged up a bit of shade with the extra rain fly we had in the car. I pulled my blanket and body pillow into the shade next to my car. I had to keep most of my body on the pillow to avoid the sharp burrs in the grass. TJ and I decided it was too hot to go to the 3pm set. We stayed at the campsite and ate some lunch. I walked to the mobile showers and washed everything but my hair. I loved it. It felt so good to be under cool running water. We walked to the venue near the end of the first set. We found a spot in the shade and watched as people headed out between sets. People were wearing some of the most creative & interesting costumes. We even saw one woman who had painted her breasts instead of wearing a top. It was pretty entertaining just people watching. We wandered around and checked out all the vendors.

The Halloween set started at 7:30pm. The costumes became even more interesting as the time drew closer. We camped out on our blanket and TJ worked on trying to guess which album the band might cover for Halloween. Phish has a tradition of Halloween shows where they dress up and cover another band’s album. It ended up being the Rolling Stones, “Exile on Main Street.” We weren’t familiar with the album but the music was great! We got some food between sets and even though it was cold out we tried the waffle ice cream sandwiches. These were addictively delicious! Walking back to camp after the final set that night was a good way to warm up a little before sliding back into our sleeping bags.

Sunday 11/1

It was a little warmer on Sunday so we were both up bright and early. The first set was acoustic and started at noon so we headed right over to the venue. We got a nice spot in the shade around 10am. I took a nap and we had some yummy pizza for lunch. Unfortunately, when the set started it was very quiet and the people who had gathered around us were chatty so we could barely hear the music. Eventually most of them moved closer and we were able to enjoy the music. After the set we waited in the shade while the crowd dispersed. We thought the next set began at 3:30 but then realized it was really 5:30. We decided to head back to camp for awhile. On the way back I ran into a guy selling very cool posters so I bought one. It looks like the cover of the book “where the wild things are” only the kid in his pjs has the face of the lead singer of Phish. We got #78 of 150 limited edition. We decided to frame this for hanging in the nursery for the baby. A souvenir of his 1st Phish concert. We also found him an adorable onesie on our way back through the farmers market. We made it back to camp and chatted more with our neighbors.

We headed back for the last two sets. This time I was smart enough to take a big swig of Maalox before we left camp and my heartburn was a little less intense that night. Everyone seemed just a little more worn out by Sunday night – it was pretty mellow. There were a few people still wearing costumes, esp. the “stickman”. These people put on black jump suits with neon lights making them look like stick figures from afar. When we got back to camp Sunday night I was excited to crawl into my sleeping bag to get all the rest I could.

Monday 11/2

We were up early and started packing up the car. It seemed that everyone in camp wanted to borrow our jumper cables. I finally had to start saying no when people asked. We jump started our neighbors car, exchanged contact information and headed out of camp at about 10am.

We had a difficult time getting out of Indio. The freeway entrance was difficult to locate. We gave ourselves a long time to get home. We stopped to pee, eat, get gas, and even pulled off the highway in Quartzsite to check out a rock shop. It took us about five and a half hours to get home but we had a nice time. We got the car unloaded and TJ downloaded the music from the show. The dogs were happy to see us and I was thrilled to take a shower and shampoo my hair. All in all it was a great weekend! We had a blast and I have a new appreciation for Phish!