Some of you may remember the legendary 4 night Phish run at Red Rocks. Well, back then it wasn't quite as difficult to get tickets (as Ticketmaster seems to have a ticket conspiracy going on nowadays.) Hearing of the shows, I was in absolute disbelief they were playing not 2, not 3 but 4 shows!! I believe this has never been done before by phish in history.

Me and my friends waited outside Blockbuster Music early the morning they went on sale, and we scored tickets for all 4 nights. wooooohoooo!!!

I could go on and on about all the craziness that went on those 4 days up in Morrison, but anybody who was there knows that we phisheads totally overtook that town. There were thousands of kids running up and down the street; 5 different news stations were there filming it, and I even made it on news. My parents were not so happy to see me running down the street with a case of beer in hand, screaming, "who's got my headies??" A friend who wasn't into phish at the time later told me he saw it.

Anyways, what I remember the most about those 4 glorious days was the second night, second set. I was 3rd row I think, standing on Trey's side with a smile on my face from ear to ear. I could not miss Mike that night, with his bright green neon spandex shirt. Gotta love Mike.

So they opened with an absolutely mind-blowing 2001 into the phattest Down with Disease I think I've ever heard. I can still feel the bass pumping right through me and watching Mike and Trey bob their heads in unison. Man it sends chills down my spine thinking about it. Haley's Comet and a beautiful rendition of fishman on vacuum belting out "somewhere over the rainbow." I think I knew then that Phish was in a league of their own that nobody would ever be able to fit into or compare to EVER.

A few more slow songs.... and the most ripping Mike's> Weekapaug I've ever ever heard. After a Cavern encore I for some reason felt the need to race out of the venue before anyone else and get a beer. So off I go to the right side of the stage and head down the stairs to embark on the trek down from Red Rocks.

Almost to the bottom, I hear this loud yelling coming from the left, and I turn and see Trey, Page, Mike and Fish running at full speed down Red Rocks on their way to the van. I of course starting yelling back at them at the top of my lungs, stick out my hand and managed to get high fives from both Trey and Fish. Man, I was hooked. I will always remember that night for the rest of my life. I keep saying after each show I go to, "oh, they'll never be able to top that one." Yet, after the next show they keep rising to new levels.

Phish is in an entity to me that rises above all bad things in my life and continues to take me to that level where I feel like nothing can go wrong. It's hilarious to me now, when I tell people, "I follow phish" and they say, "oh really, like you run down a river and catch fish?" And I just shake my head, saying, "no, they're a band, you wouldn't understand."

Something you cannot explain to someone who has never stood 5 feet from Trey and watch him smile, tilt his head, looking at the sky, ripping out the phattest riffs I've ever heard come from a guitar. Watch Mike's Afro bounce up and down as he slaps the sweetest bass riffs out, hear Fishman just going nuts behind the drum set, and hear Page bust out the Funk-a-tron on the Makisupa Policecman that we all love so much.

Well I must go now, as I have a date with Pork Tornado, and I will look at Fishman tonight remembering that night, 6 years ago when he slapped me high five, wearing his dress and goggles, screaming at the top of his lungs. For anyone who managed to get tix for Hampton, Ill see you there!!!!!

Peace

- Runaway Jim