CoventrySo Kelvin gave us
his take on Coventry, but the beauty of the weekend is that there were so many happenings that I can now write all about it as well. If this turns out to be too long, well, FU, I just feel like writing.
THURSDAY
My journey started with Mary at the Greenbelt Metro on early Thursday afternoon. I had not slept much the night before (this would go on to become a theme for me over the next few days), but I was psyched to be heading off to see the final regular Phish show up in Philly before heading up to the final festival in northern Vermont over the weekend. Logistically, things were already a little sketchy as Mary would be getting a ride home to DC after the show while I picked up some random guy to accompany me for the ride up to Vermont. Of course, we did not know when or where either of us were going to meet these people.
The Philly show was pretty strong with the first set YEM>Ghost>Maze being the obvious highlight. Unfortunately, Verizon cell phone service was non-existent around the Camden, NJ venue. So there was some real panic about getting Mary back to DC. At one point, I was actually belting out "anyone have room for 1 heading to DC?" to the exiting masses. Finally, though, Mary was able to get a hold of her ride home. Meanwhile, I went back across the river to Philly to meet my guy. He seemed pretty cool and we took off for Vermont.
FRIDAY
By driving through the night, taking shifts, we figured we were golden. We would get past New York city well before its Friday morning rush hour and would not have any problems or tie-ups until we got within a couple miles of the festival site. This calculation turned out to be slightly (extremely) off. We did manage to cruise past New York. However, at 4:30am when I pulled off in Stamford, CT to grab a drink and switch drivers, the hilarity began. At the first traffic signal off the highway, I suddenly realized my transmission had gone kaput. An hour later, we got a tow to a nearby transmission service center. I managed an hour of bizarre sleep in the car waiting for the place to open. When I woke up, I was confused beyond belief for a few moments. Who was this guy in the car with me? What state were we in? Why were we there? Seriously, I was CONFUSED.
I shook off the wake-up and we left the car with the folks at the shop. So then we realized we were stuck in Stamford for an indefinite amount of repair time with nothing to do. We walked a mile or so to a shopping mall. It was the two of us, looking all Phish-ed out, and like eight old people there to open the place up. The shops were all still closed. This was old-person walking hour. I realized we looked out of place, so I smartly pulled my shorts way up so the waist line was just below my chest. Now I fit in a bit better. A lot of hours later, after loitering in a Sharper Image massage chair, reading an entire The Onion book at Borders Books, and trying to figure out how to sleep in a public place without drawing attention (and did I mention the two of us were wearing matching blue t-shirts, green shorts, and sneakers just by chance), we realized we should find ourselves a dark movie theater to sit in to kill more time.
And that is how I found myself in an actual theater, actually watching Alien vs. Predator. Its besides the point of this post to explain exactly how "AVP" really is the most awful movie I've seen in YEARS, but I found it incredible that I was there. Two weeks earlier, upon learning that AVP would open the same weekend as Coventry, I actually joked "Eff going to Coventry, I'm seeing AVP!" And now here I was, sitting in some theater in Connecticut watching AVP instead of being at Coventry.
Twenty minutes before the movie ended, I got a call from the repair shop. Even though it sounded like bad news, I was pretty happy to walk out of the movie early. Unfortunately, it was very bad news. There was more damage than they thought. The car would not be ready today. So at 4:30pm, we were in a rental car, continuing north towards Coventry after spending 12 hours in Stamford literally doing nothing. By midnight Friday night, we finally arrived at the traffic line-up on Route 14 outside of Coventry. We listened to the radio simulcast of the band's excellent soundcheck on "the Bunny" 92.1 FM - the festival's four day radio station - and then settled in for a long night of not moving.
SATURDAY
Flash forward nine hours to Saturday morning. We've moved about two miles overnight and are still six or seven miles from the venue. At 9:00am, the Bunny suddenly puts bassist Mike Gordon on the air. He sounds like he was either just crying or is on the verge of crying. Not good. We learn they are closing down the festival to all vehicles still on the road because of the incredible mud situation inside. Without thinking twice, I get our rental car into some lady's rural front yard and am forking over $50 for parking there for the weekend. Police cars come flying down the road at almost the same moment and start turning cars away at a point not far from us.
So we've ditched TWO cars, sat through nine hours of traffic, and are backpacking our way six or seven miles to Coventry at this point. Its no longer just a festival. This could now be better described as a quest. Or an odyssey. Strikingly, neither John or I once questioned whether it was worth it. I had been going to Phish shows for a decade. He had been seeing them for even longer. Missing their farewell just wasn't an option. We finally made it in around 1:00pm Saturday. Getting that wrist bracelet gave me quite a rush. And then a half hour later I spotted the green "Ithaca is Gorges" flag above the Ithaca RV and I was home. Thirty-six hours without rest from Philly to Coventry. Brutal, yes, but when it was all over the trip was just that much more memorable. And most memories turn into good memories. At this point I've only had a total of about nine hours sleep spread out over the past 55 - and will be going hardcore for another 15 hours into the wee hours of Sunday morning before getting some real rest - but sitting in the RV, finally at Coventry, everything seemed good. And most notably, the rain that had plagued the area for a week was gone. The weather outside was now perfect.
The camping area of the festival site seemed a bit mucky, but it was nothing to write home about. However, when we walked over to the concert site, we were greeted with the full-on mud. The surface alternated between wood chips, pavement, and wooden boards, but mostly it was just mud. And there was one 100-200 yard long segment near the top where the mud was knee deep at times and was quite wet. Like wet enough that you could swim in it. And deep enough that you could easily hide from the heat vision of the Predator, if necessary, Arnold-style. As noted by Kelvin, this is where we saw the spectacle of the lost guitar. [I felt perfectly comfortable laughing at the guy... how could he expect to NOT lose his guitar given the prevailing mud conditions?] Closer to the stage, the mud at least returned to a more solid form which would support your weight.
The first night's show was solid. The first real highlight came 30 minutes into the show with a strong Jiboo. During the following YEM, I got a bit emotional during the beginning. What a special piece of music. And then after the segment where Mike and Trey bounced on the trampolines, Trey gave the trampolines out into the crowd. Talk about a statement of finality. Antelope towards the end of the set also seemed pretty strong. I remember a great AC/DC Bag during the second set. The third set was a bit of a blur for me with fatigue setting in, but one image from the Hood encore stands out: the film crew getting a shot looking up at Mike and Trey from below while they stood side-by-side on the rocks in front of the stage. It just screamed "classic VHI documentary moment."
The walk out of the show and back to the camping area was epic. There was little talking and little joy. Most folks were just trudging along, almost dead after the seven hour concert drained everything out of us. It was cold out and everything was muddy. A real refugee scene, as I think Kelvin pointed out. Somehow, though, we managed to push the party until 4:30am. Yeah Ithaca! I passed out in my tent instantly.
SUNDAY
What a great day for my 27th birthday. I don't really care about such things, but waking up in Coventry, finally rested, and with the weather still being perfect, I was feeling pretty good. And then there was the birthday enhancement a little while later. Good stuff.
The RV's Bloody Mary sales were strong and I made a contribution this day by hauling 35 pounds of ice over a half-mile from an on-site vendor. That of course seemed like nothing after Saturday's haul into Coventry. I should also take this moment to note that ice was not the only thing for sale at Coventry. It almost seemed like there were actually more people selling various substances than consuming them. I had no interest, but you could tell it was definitely a buyer's market. At times it was a bit silly. For example, do I really look like I want to get into a deal while lugging a giant bag of ice on my shoulder?? People kept asking, though.
Sunday afternoon, we were off for the show. The final show. Still, the mood was generally festive rather than somber. And we were all better prepared mentally for the mud.
Mike's Song opener seemed appropriate both because its a great tune and because Mike was the only member of the band that was against the breakup. Weekapaug raged. The structured section of Reba was played cleanly (unusual over the past two years). A nice first set overall. Down with Disease to open set two was the highlight of the weekend for me. I couldn't even tell you whether it was an exceptional version or not, but the dancing and energy in the crowd at that point was fantastic. I've heard the term "good vibes" thrown around before, but this was the real deal. Very very special moment. And its just a great effing song. I mean, Pat Leahy (D-VT) even got it into the Congressional Record last month as a homage to Phish.
Then the wheels came off emotionally for the band. Page broke down and was unable to sing one of his lines during Velvet Sea. Shortly thereafter, the other band members spoke to the crowd. Mike and Fishman both seemed to be on the verge of tears and Fishman specifically thanked those who hoofed it into Coventry for giving them the greatest compliment they could imagine. Trey was a blubbering mess. His lack of composure seemed almost ridiculous for a moment, but then I realized I had started crying, too.
The final set began with a gorgeous and timely Fast Enough For You and included an excellent version of Piper and a powerful Slave closer. During Slave, I almost felt like I stopped breathing during the quiet fade-outs. You could hear a pin drop at those moments... an amazing show of respect for the band. A nice fireworks display ensued when the set ended. [during the relative silence afterwards, someone yelled "Best Fireworks EVER!" which drew a hearty laugh from the surrounding masses] The encore, The Curtain With, was totally appropriate and made a lot of sense in retrospect, but at the time I think a lot of people were banking on a "big" song like Divided Sky or Fluffhead. The show ended and there was silence. No post-show music piped in on the PA as with regular Phish shows. I'm sure some folks will bitch and moan about some of Trey's flubs or that they didn't play Forbin's> Mockingbird> Spock's Brain> Harpua> Dog Log> Lizards> Harpua this weekend, but I thought they were great final shows. Anyway... Phish was no more, but the Ithaca RV was of course lively for one more late night.
MONDAY
The rain returned. It seemed like the weather gods opened a two day window of sunshine specifically for the festival. We got the RV off the grass and onto pavement just in time as the rain started. Those who waited were probably screwed in the mud. A couple hours later, after a spectacular show of teamwork to direct traffic out of our way and to schmooze our way into a VIP exit pass, we were outside the festival grounds. Some were unfortunately still waiting to exit well into Monday evening and even Tuesday morning.
When we made a final turnaround outside the Coventry gate and actually picked up some speed heading through the corn field and past the concert field, I really got down about the breakup. The weather was cool and damp... it kind of felt like fall was approaching, only there would never be another spring. Harsh.
And then waiving goodbye to the RV as they drove away heading up a quiet, lonely stretch of Route 14 after dropping us off at my abandoned car... that was some serious shit. It took me the whole ride south through Vermont to get over that moment. I was glad to have K with me. Bottom line - it was a great ride over the years and I was thankful to have had so many great folks on it with me.
When we got back to Stamford, CT only to see my car double parked in in the repair shop's lot, my head almost exploded. I just wanted to get home and this last potential hurdle was just too much for me. I was useless in my fuming state. Fortunately, Kelvin took care of business and found the car's owner next door. We returned the rental and then drove on until severe fatigue forced us to stop in north-central Jersey.
TUESDAY
Waking up showered and rested in a Motel 6 in New Jersey made the previous four days' events seem a lot like a wild and amazing dream. Returning to the real world was tough. On the other hand, getting out of New Jersey a couple hours later felt pretty damn good.
