Here we go...it was last summer and me and my bud were driving from S. Louis to Kansas City to see Phish perform their first show for the '99 summer tour that started in Bonner Springs. It was 6-30-99 and we left St. Louis around noon after picking up some smokes and incense. We hit highway 70 and are completely smoking out my friend's car having a good ole' time enjoying ourselves. The weather was beautiful and the tunes were even better enjoying the 1995 New Year's Eve show. The trip takes about three and a half hours until we get to our hotel in Blue Springs just outside Kansas City. We check into the Super 8 and check our our phat room that we will be crashing at later. It was pretty sweet. We realized we should probably head to the show and we take off. By this time it is raining and we have rush hour traffic to deal with in Kansas City. Well we finally make it through the city and towards Bonner Springs to wait in line to get parked for the show. While waiting in line we smoke out my friend's car again and enjoy the smiling faces we see in all the other cars around us. We finally start moving in line when we have to stop real fast and the car behinds us hits my friend's car breaking up a beautiful Sample in a Jar. We get out and I notice that the license plate of the car was NICU420. I started laughing when I saw that. Luckily there was no damage to either car and we went on our ways. I know I will probably remember that IL plate for the rest of my life. Anyway it starts pouring again when we hit the parking lot. Everyone is drenched and lovin' it. We start tossing the frisbee and enjoy the company. Then we realize that we need to find our friend's who we were suppose to meet. We go to the gate and on our way there we see my other bud who I didn't even know was coming to the show. He brought his girl and we stuck together looking for my other friend. So we are just chillin in the rain waiting inside the gate. Since it is raining so hard, the people at the lines are not searching anyone. It was nuts how much stuff people got into the show. I saw a seven year old kid drinking a bottle of Jack while we were in there!! Anyway we finally hook up with my other bud and head into the venue. We find our place on the lawn and get ready for the show. I told my friends that with the rain I had a feeling they were going to start out with Bathtub Gin. Well, they did and it was a gorgeous 25 minute version. We were greeted by so many smooth people during the show. One lady was handing out joints and another guy bought me and my buddies some beer since we gave him good company. They then went into Horn, Farmhouse, Back on the Train, Maze, and some others that I can't remember right now. It was a beautiful set though. During the break, some really drunk kid was walking around asking people who their favorite band was. Of course people would say Phish and then he would say "Me too!!" in his slurred version. The kid was absolutely nuts. While we were sipping on brew my friend brought out some dried mango she had brought back from England. Boy, were they tasty!! I thought for sure it was a sign for the Mango Song but it didn't make the next set. Phish came back out and started with The Squirming Coil...I was like hell yeah...Page didn't get that long of a solo though before Trey popped into Free and the crowd went nuts. We were dancing and jivin' having the best time of our lives smokin' bidis. They then moved into Birds of a Feather. This was gorgeous because people were getting on other people's backs and flockin their arms like birds while it was raining. It was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. Then they moved into Simple and the crowd exploded with energy. I about lost my mind. Swept away came on next and it was a nice relaxer. Then they moved into Piper and I about lost it hearing the first cords. It was my first time hearing it live. We all converted those mangos in us into dancing. Then they played some phunky jam. Trey then announced the next song "my left toe"(stash). It was a wierd jam that sent me into another realm. I believe that was the second set closer. Then they came out for the encore...could it be....no....bouncin...the whole crowd was jumpin up and down to fishman's beat. It was thoroughly insane and I loved every minute of it. Then they played Sample which made up for the one that was broken up while we were listening to it in my friend's car when we got in the accident. It was beautiful. I could have stayed there all night. When the show was over, my bud and I said goodbye to our other friends. We got in his car and met some people waiting to leave. Then we headed to Denny's to grab some grub. By the time we got there it was 2 in the morning. We were mud coated and wet but they still served us with a grin. We crashed at the hotel and then headed out in the morning. It was raining again which made for bad traffic. At one point on the highway, we were completely stopped. We saw another car that had a Phish sticker on it and we waved. Then they asked us if we had any green to smoke with them. We said we didn't. We gave them some bidis and some incense and went our separate ways. We had to burn incense the whole way home in my friend's car to get it smelling good again. We got back and my friend had to leave to go to a swim meet. I chilled at his house till he got home. Then we went out and got some forties and chilled with some cigars reliving each moment of the previous night. Sorry if this is too long. Feel free to email me at anytime.
Your Phellow Phish Phan,
Jeff