Thanks Phish.

I went in with so-so expectations after a long break and this was the first I saw them since the summer show of 2004 across the river right before Coventry. I had no idea what to expect, but I went in promising myself to just go with the flow and leave all the past at the door. The Philly scene is always rowdy...man, they huff balloons in the parking lot of a 1pm Phillies game. It was the band's first indoor show in Philly since coming back and the first one in the "new" Spectrum as the locals call it. The vibe was rowdy, overwhelmingly positive, fun, and party-like. A lot happens to a guy in 5 years and I was coming into this show from a very different vantage point. The 22 year-old carefree guy in 2004 had given way to a 28 year-old husband and father. Still, I thought, I know how to get down and I was feeling the flow.

Set 1: Perhaps no other song than this could have opened this show. Energy, appropriate lyrics for me personally, and two substantial peaks in the jam make this one of the more solid straightforward versions that I have ever heard live (7-10-99 is different). I was loving it. The Gin was also extremely above average and indicative of the type of Gins that have become regular in the first set every other night. Very solid jamming that builds naturally and organically with patience. I was thrilled so far. Cities by request is ok. Oddly enough, I am not a huge fan of this tune. It just seems a little predictable to me. Oh well...many will disagree. Camel Walk was tight and awesome and I thought kept the energy level up. The Curtain With absolutely made this set for me. What a great song. A Phish-only sound that always makes me breeze back through memories and feelings of the past...particularly With. You gotta have it With. Now I think that this is perfect placement for The Wedge. I prefer it to be first set, or maybe only at Loring AFB, a second set opener. Good version, the crowd was locked in. Moma Dance brought the funk in a standard way. Again, perfect song placement with Reba. Wonderful execution and it was apparent that the band was practiced and serious about playing on this night. We were sure Golgi would end the set, but much to our delight, Faulty Plan kicked in. Phish was reading the crowd that was clearly asking for ass-kicking rock and roll, practically begging for it. I almost think they planned to end with Golgi, but said fugg it...and kicked into one more tune. Excellent first set.

Set 2:
I was still wandering around as the lights went down and Possum kicked in. Got to my seat during the jam and clearly the energy was still there. DWD was perfect and again, the lyrics seemed all the more right for me at this stage in my life. I enjoyed 20 years later, and I respect and like the desire to do some newer stuff. It's a pretty good song, and with such an old school feel to the entire show, everyone was open to it. The Hood was great. The jam was very blissed and I zoned out for a while. I always want that jam to go on forever. One of these days, they should open with it and just play off of that theme for an entire set. Just a suggestion. The rest of the set reads like a greatest hits and each song was VERY well played. A Day in the Life encore was just right.

All in all, this show was a rousing success for the band and convinced me that although I cannot hop on the highway and follow them any more, I will make it a point to catch them locally whenever I can. The band sounded inspired, motivated, and fun. Good vibes and great playing. I also enjoyed the new arena despite wishing that they were playing the old one once more before its demise. Phish felt right in the new place and hopefully will rock it for years to come.

Part 2 of Cosmic Adventures in Synchronic Time by Steve Urban: Fall Tour 2009. Phish is back in Philadelphia for the first time in over 5 years. A group of friends and I decide it’s a perfect night to find the legendary “magical” Rhombus. Tony Smith, a pioneering figure of Minimalism in American visual art, created the black metal sculpture, titled “New Piece.” Its plaque tells us that in 1966 it was a “Gift of the artist in commemoration of Albert Einstein’s life and work. Presented on the occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Institute for Advanced Studies.” Unfortunately, a thick blanket of fog prevented us from finding the Rhombus on that dark autumn night.

"Down on myself again, step into space. Wondering how I can, alter my place. 
In this hull of creation, someone else made. Who was probably wondering, why I have stayed, and never progress, into things I could be. If I found the right partner or if I could see, beyond all four walls, into fog that surrounds, my need for redemption and pins me to the ground. When out there beyond, just a half step away, its something I touched but it slithered away. And it’s something to strive for, and someday ill see if I’m somehow alive for someone other than me."

Determined we returned to the Institute that weekend and found the Rhombus. However, later that evening on a rooftop in Lower Manhattan, a triangular spacecraft flew above our heads. It smoothly glided completely silent and could barley be seen. But we all saw it make a right turn and change direction. The stealth craft is known as “the Wedge” or TR-3B flying Black Triangle developed in the top secret black military as Project Aurora. Somehow this spacecraft and the Institute for Advanced Studies were connected but how? Whistleblower on the Philadelphia Experiment and the Montauk Project, Al Bielek, claims to have been assigned to Project Invisibility at the Institute. Albert Einstein of course worked on these advanced projects during WWII. The encounter with the U.F.O. somehow got me back on my spiritual path. I remembered the vision of the unity consciousness grid, which I had outside MSG at Phish on New Years Eve 2002. For the first time I began to practice the merkaba meditation daily. Then one day at the Alley Pond Environmental Center in Queens, NY while sitting lotus position with Drunvalo Melchizedek’s Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life Vol. 2 on my lap I activated my merkaba. At exactly the same instant I heard the high-pitched cavitation of propellers from afar. Two black military Helicopters flew directly past me and quickly disappeared. The men in black were real and they knew how to time travel.

In Maureen St. Germain’s new book “Beyond the Flower of Life,” she writes, about the Merkaba Meditation, the Unity Consciousness Grid and even dedicates a full chapter to these Black Helicopters. She writes that, “The Christ Consciousness Grid is an etheric crystalline architectural structure of energy that envelopes Earth and holds the energy of… the perfected human. It could just as easily have been named the Buddha Consciousness or Mohammed Consciousness.” “The grid came from a version of the future where mankind achieved Christ Consciousness… and we, humanity, built it.” We recently spoke over the phone and she said that, “there are many versions of the future out there and the ascended masters tuned to the one where humanity made the ascension.”

Furthermore, Drunvalo Melchizedek writes in “Serpent of Light: Beyond 2012” that the Unity Consciousness Grid is a network of energetic connections between sacred temples and sites around the globe and special crystals which link them, creating a grid which supports an increasing, shared, "unity consciousness." This grid is a tool to assist humanity in the evolutionary process and the shift in consciousness that will occur sometime within "The End of Times" window lasting from 2007-10-24, when the Hopi prophecy of the Blue Star was fulfilled, to 2014-10-24 and not necessarily on the date when the wheels of the Maya calendar align on 2012-12-21.

You may be asking yourself, “How does all this relate to the band Phish?” and “Why would the ascended masters want me to share this information with the Phish community?” I had an incredible experience, almost a year after our visit to the Rhombus while in Amherst, MA during Phish’s Fall tour on 2010-10-24. I was meditating within my merkaba, as well as doing the unity breath meditation, and rainbow bridge meditation. There were 3 star tetrahedrons one stationary and 2 spinning in opposite directions, which merged with the Octahedron, a Rhombic Dodecahedron, a Stellated Dodecahedron and a Icosahedron combining to create great complex polyhedrons. I visualized the rainbow bridge around the earth, around myself and then placed the symbol inside of my heart chakra. I merged the sacred space of my heart’s toroidal field with my activated merkaba. At that moment of synchronization I felt the most beautiful feeling of spiritual bliss achieved by a love for all living things. A rhomboidal hexahedron or rhombohedron aka the Rhombus was there too with the Unity Consciousness Grid. Here was the “ ‘solution’ to help us avoid probable self-destruction!” Divided Sky, The Wind Blows High. Divided Sky, The Wind Blows High.

Part 1: 10/21/96 & 12/31/02 MSG New York, NY *Cosmic Adventures in Synchronic Time was originally published in Surrender To The Flow

My very first show. I was not even supposed to go in. I had tickets for the night after, but didn't think I could swing the cash to get into this one. Me and a couple friends went down to rage the lot and meet with friends we hadn't see in awhile, and ended up going in. The show was not sold out and the scalpers had overbought, so we all got tickets for 25 bucks. Man, I am glad that worked out.

Three friends and I traveled to see the first night of Phish on Broad St. and I must say I am very pleased with what they threw down. I knew they had yet played a Reba or a Hood this tour,and voila. Some old classics were played that reminded me of why I love these songs and maybe evinced a few that I was neglecting.
Chalkdust opener always gets the crowd going although I would have liked something different. The Bathtub Gin was jammed out well. Not to long, not too trippy, just some good tight Gin. The Cities->Camel Walk is what we will call the "kick-down" of the first set, and it was SWEET. The Cities was not the Prague 98 Cities(or most Cities circa 97-98)but it was nailed and transitioned nicely into Camel Walk. One of the finest Camel Walk's I remember off-hand having witnessed. I thought the jam to end Camel Walk could have went on for another ten minutes and I would have loved every minute. It was rockin/funky/rip-roarin' Camel Walk!! ...but then it ended. Then came The Curtain With, a pleasant surprise, although it doesn't seem to be as rare as times past. The Wedge used to be a big one for me remembering when they brought it back out of a year-long retirement Red Rocks 95 but IMHO fits better at the beginning of a set rather than in the thick of it. The Moma Dance, good fun, saw the first one, and still enjoy thoroughly(miss Black-Eyed Katy though.)Reba, yes Reba. I needed this song, was looking for it, and got it. Just a Reba, but that jam in the middle is what my mind needed at that time. Soothing-to-the-soul type Phish, if ya know what I'm sayin'. Golgi- Yay. Now, here comes the first set kicker. MAN, do I DIG Stealin Time From the Faulty Plan. 'Twas my first and I sure did enjoy it. "Got a blank space where my mind should be." Heard that!!! Excellent set closer. It usually takes some time for me to warm up to a song. Not this one. Word UP. Must have been a good version cuz it kicked my ass.
Second set. Possum opener. I don't know, still smokin cigarettes in the conveniently located smoking lounge located behind section 109. I missed it, no biggy(reference 10/7/95 I)... I hope. Possum into DwD. Wow another DwD- they are flogging the proverbial dead horse with this one. Great song, but maybe it's time to go back into retirement with it for a while again. Just my thoughts, no hard feelins' all. Next my first Twenty Years Later. Would like to hear this more closely to figure it out. I kinda got out touch with checking setlists, staying in the know, etc. in 2004 as far as Phish goes. Undermind(2004) I admittedly is a weak spot in Phish wisdom. Anyways, it wasn't bad, wasn't "Wooh." It just was. A lot of people in my section were asking around for the song title. Next is the Hood which I predicted to be some of the "meat" of the second set. Harry Hood was Harry Hood. BUT THEN, Here it all comes in a blast of Sweet-Rock-n-Roll-Funk-Nasty-Mind-Blowing-Better-Recognize stuff we all love and hope for. Mango song was happy go lucky till the closing jam, and this jam was SICK. Page was smokin'!! Another jam that could have went another 10 minutes(like Sprach) and the house was on fire. Mike's was sickly good,tight,sweet and it transitioned into Simple. Now, I am usually not a big fan of this transition. But this one here changed my mind. And a friend with me was hoping for a Simple so that made it perfect. Slave, beautiful. Nuff said. Just beautiful. Then complete stop after Slave. Weekapaug. ON POINT. High energy, Trey and Mike groovin' together with Page and Fish right behind em'. Pure bliss from Mango on. A Day in the Life. A Day in the Life =} Good Stuff. Of course I will be back!!!

Scored front row seats from the venue that afternoon! After chaos in Indio (I waited 5 hours in the sun for front row and got booted from my spot by some obnoxious fans during setbreak!), I was happy to be up in the action again! The setlist was excellent, the performance and energy was the best I've seen this year!! Such a GREAT show! I put it up there in my top 3! Hands down! Wonder what MSG will be like this week??? hmmm... LOVE the weekapaug too! something totally different.

Wow, just wow. This was my 2nd show and I couldn't have been more excited to see them again. Caught the Burgettstown show that summer with some friends as my first and went in not expecting much, but was blown away. After a summer of forcing my ears to learn as much terrr as they could, I was ready for more. 1st set was rocking, and everything was well played. Especially Cities>Camel Walk, Curtain, Reba, and Stealing Time. 2nd set was great, 20 years later kinda sucked the energy out of the DwD jam but was followed by a nice Hood, and Simple is a bit annoying, but the rest of the groove more than makes up for it. Slave is just a beautiful song, and ADITL encore? Still one of the best shows I've been to.

Philly couldn't have asked for a better first set.
Highlights of my night include:
*Trey attired in his Mike Richards jersey for the whole first set.
*"It's only the river, it's only Thanksgiving"
*Cities>Camel Walk (Transition)
*Camel Walk - Out of all the Camel Walks I have heard, I can honestly say that this is the cleanest Camel of em' all.
*Mangos
*Weekapaug went from high high gear to about 2nd during the middle of the song.

I lost my shit at this show. I think its still there. Somewhere in that BLAZING first set!

Phish was tight,enthusiatic and energenic. (especially Mike) What alse can I say except for the fact that I am an older fan (55) and when I saw the show last night I was reminded why this band captivated me from the start. They used many rhythm and mode changes. The classic setlist speaks for itself. I thought the first set was the best that I've ever heard the band sound in 20 years with a very professional approach to their music. Too tired to go back tonight but I'm sure it will also be old school Phish. enJOY!

Wow, what a setlist. I hit up Detroit and both nights of Cincy, and I was treated to some terrificly tight playing for 3.0, but very standard setlists. STFTFP is my favorite new song, im so jealous of the set closer. This show not only reads like an all star cast of phish with hood, Dwd, golgi, reba, slave, gin, and mikes groove, but the songs seem to be intertwined beautifully. Basically I really wish I had been at this show just based on the way they've been playing and the killer setlist. Can't wait til hoodstream starts playing this one

This is absolutely the best Reba, with maybe one or two exceptions, and Reba is and always has been my favorite Phish song.

Not an extended spacey, explorative jam though. Just a tight, melodic and absolutely perfectly executed jam that will send you on an out of body experience.

Second only to 5/28/94 IMHO. Give it a listen and if you dont agree, well... you will.

PAGE MCCONNELL IS MY HERO!!! SERIOUSLY?! BEATLES? I know they have played this song before but still!!!! I am a professional Phish Phan!!!!! Meaning... phish phan with priorities!!!! I WORK...I JAM!!!!!!

Also, how many songs from joy outside of TTE have closed the first set

My fourth show of the year and hands down the best. They always play great shows in my hometown. Download it and enjoy. Tight jams, terrific playing a nd lots of energy. Trey wore a Flyers Jersey during the first set. Cities was played by request.