12 November 2009

Phish Festival 8 - Part 3.1

The Historic Sunday Afternoon Acoustic Set

Hey all...

Continuing my Phish Festival 8 series (Part One:  http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-350641; Part Two:  http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-353350), here is Part 3.1 -- a dedicated iReport for the band's unprecedented acoustic set on Sunday afternoon.

During a weekend already beset with rumors, surprises, crowd-pandering treats for the senses, and unique experiences all around, for the band to add a momentous, first-time all-acoustic set into the mix seemed almost too much.  I most certainly heard tons of people discussing this once-in-a-lifetime performance all weekend long, speculating on song choices, instrumentation, possible guest appearances, etc…  So, by the time Sunday noon rolled around, we were all ready to see what Phish has in store for us.

There WERE promises of free coffee and donuts shaped like the number "8" for all of us, however, I never saw a single shred of evidence that these things actually existed.  I heard after the fact that the lines were crazy long and the donuts ran out pretty quickly.  A bit bummed, but it was no problems since the set was ahead of us.

It was a hot and mellow afternoon of music.  The weather was gorgeous and the crowd was in a nice, relaxed atmosphere.  The band took the stage and treated us to a fantastic acoustic performance, including many surprising crowd-pleasers such as Wilson and Bouncing Round the Room.  At one point, Trey Anastasio asked the entire crowd to sit down on the grass and groove to the music more comfortably.  It was a rather incredible moment -- I have never been to a Phish show where anything remotely like that has happened.

So, please sit back and enjoy some of the sights and sounds from this set of sets...

(Be sure to stay tuned for Part 3.2…the final in the series.)

In music,

PHAmanNYC (now in CO)