After Set 1, Coventry. (via andshecalledherselflil)
Amazingly bitter sweet to flash back to when this was unfolding in front of my eyes. Set one was probably the best set of the weekend musically (the only one that wasn’t a complete trainwreck), but it also saw the handing of the tramps to the crowd during YEM, Tom Marshall saying goodbye with one last Esquandolas, and a final Fire to end the set. Trey appeared to have not slept in nights and was highly under the influence. We were still only about six hours removed from Gordo telling us over the radio in so many words that thousands of us would have to walk a dozen miles or more if we wanted to be part of the sad goodbye. To say it was emotional is a monumental understatement.
While Mike may have also been holding a not so sure footed Trey up as they left the stage for physical reasons, today when I see this photo it reminds me of how and why Phish is still a band. It’s that unending friendship and brotherhood, the shared experience that only they could truly understand that has persevered in spite of a myriad of obstacles that have existed in their career. And in a way Mike stoically shouldered the load for all of us that loved Phish that weekend - before and after - keeping himself composed when the others couldn’t.
It’s the kindness and compassion in this photo that embodies why no matter whether a show is great or horrible, they’re in it for the right reasons and so are we. The community and friendship will always be there, and there’s very few things - especially on the scale of Phish - that are so profoundly real and from the heart as this, as them.
(via mulberrysdream)
