d and i form our own expedition team, and as we wind our way through the lot, we notice it's about time to meet up with the rest of our gang. we get to will call and see no one from our group. twenty minutes pass, and now we're worrying. we want to sit with everyone, but we also don't wanna wait and possibly miss the opener (ooh how i hate to miss the opener, and at this point in my dead/phish career i've yet to do so. the next night in darien lake i would miss not only the ya mar opener but the funky bitch and half of fluffhead afterwards as well. goddamn ticket checkers at darien). 

d and i are both antsy. i decide there's only one thing to do. yup, you guessed it, use my jedi powers to summon our companions. d is amused but not taking me seriously. i close my eyes and put my index fingers on my temples. i look at d and ask, "who do you want me to summon first?" laughing he says, "mike." i begin intensely sending out signals to mike. d is laughing hysterically as i look now like someone in a deep trance (which i kind of am). 

i look up at him, and as i notice two familiar figures behind his shoulder i say, "laugh if you want to but i just accidentally found brett and jason." d turns around and is astonished to indeed see brett and jason lazily strolling up towards us. as d registers this strange phenomenon, a familiar voice from behind me says, "i thought we'd never find you guys." It is mike, and trailing behind him are five other familiar faces. mike, being the mythic holder of the shrooms, is welcomed by all. we consume and enter. then things get weird.

ahh mystical mike, holder of the shrooms. he has apparently held them well, for almost immediately the tell-tale signs of shroominess begin to occur. they open with amoreena, an elton john song not done before or since. as they begin poor heart, two older gentlemen dressed only in shorts, hat, and sandals find a wee bit of space in front of us. they are all smiles and beer cups. we are not concerned. 

as stash begins, the looks on the faces of our neighbors in front of us begin to change with an alarming rapidity. they look overwhelmed by something. the one on the right takes off his hat to reveal a bald head. over the course of the stash jam i watch this head turn form pink to red to darker red to purple. he sits down and his now purple noggin begins to drop forward. his friend is apparently alarmed, for he disappears at a rate as rapid as the darkening of his friend's head. 

as the set progresses, as does the effects of the shrooms, i take heart in the fact that i am not the only one seeing the deterioration of our forward neighbor. at some point around the gumbo>silent segue, this man does a most odd, and inappropriate thing. he picks up his beer cup, which has fallen beside him, spilling it's contents (saddening me as i hate to see beer wasted). he then proceeds to insert something from his shorts into the cup. that's right, it's his other bald head (the color of which i didn't see, but can only imagine is a purple as his larger head). 

from this horrific appendage comes a yellow stream. as he is unable to remain steady, however, precious little of the yellow stream actually lands in the cup. much goes on his hands, shorts. etc. he then re-enters his head dropping stupor. we are aghast, but too far gone into our own respective states of disrepair to even consider packing up our now substantial blanket operation to move elsewhere. 

as the lights come up we begin murmuring how he may need help. as we begin the nomination process to pick the one who will get help (i am at this point unable to again muster the requisite mental focus to use my jedi powers), our neighbor stands up abruptly, shakes his head vehemently, and casually walks off.

we later see his companion (some friend he has proven to be) return to their old spot, glance around fruitlessly, then wander off again.

he of the bald head has, since the incident, been referred to variously as ol' purplehead, the two headed monster, pee-guy, and various other names. in my mind, however, i have always thought of him as amoreena.

peace,

- kris

Editor's Note: I have a feeling there were a lot of shot people on that tour...