Whatever You Do, Take Care Of Your Shoes

We’re only a few hours away from the most hyped up and talked about shows of the tour.  I can only be talking about Phish’s return to Telluride.  It’s been 19 years since the band touched ground here, and the past trips (1988, 1990, and 1991) saw the band playing to minimal crowds in small bars and clubs.  Check out Colorado ‘88 for a great collection of some of these performances.  In one regard, this will be a return to those days, as Phish will play Telluride Town Park to a relatively small crowd of roughly 9,000 people each night.  The town of Telluride has gone through great lengths to ensure that only folks with tickets get into the town, in an effort to reduce traffic and control the scene.  Similarly, tickets to the shows were extremely tough to come by, and sold out in minutes (Phish elected to not go through commercial vendors like Ticketmaster or Live Nation, opting for Ticket Horse, a local distributor, to dish out the remaining tickets not won in the pre-sale).

So, what’s going to happen in Telluride?  There’s been lots of rumors flooding the interwebs and fan boards.  One thing is certain:  Phish is going to bring it.  But it’s still fun to speculate…

BLUEGRASS:

Telluride has a very rootsy/Americana vibe to it.  It’s home to the annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival, where each year the country’s best bluegrass artists gather for a few days of good ol’ pickin’.  Phish has their own history with bluegrass, playing a few acoustic tunes each night during their 1994 tour.  The Rev. Jeff Mosier took the band under his wing to teach them the genre.  Though far from masters, Phish picked it up fairly quickly and incorporated some classic bluegrass numbers into their set.  Will we see a return of these bluegrass songs during these shows?  It certainly would be awesome to hear “Nellie Kane,” “My Long Journey Home,” “I’m Blue, I’m Lonesome,” among others.  The area is home to some of the best pickers out there, so don’t be shocked if we see a guest or two lend a hand.  I could easily see members of the String Cheese Incident, Yonder Mountain String Band, Del McCoury, or Bela Fleck sitting in.

ACOUSTIC SET:

There’s no better setting for the band to perform another acoustic set.  The mellow vibe was great at Indio last year, and another acoustic set deep in the mountains could be in order.  Remember, this is an intimate venue, so Phish may be looking for ways to connect with the crowd on a more personal level.  Unplugging and stripping some of these songs down is one way to achieve it.

GAMEHENDGE:

Just admit it, you’re dreaming about it too.  It’s been 16 years since Gamehendge was played straight through, and people are dying for it to happen again.  Look, anything is possible (who would have ever guessed that “Fuck Your Face” would see the light of day?), but it’s highly unlikely.  Still, Telluride is the perfect place for Colonel Forbin to ascent the mountain.  With “AC/DC Bag” and “The Lizards” just played during the last night of The Greek run, it makes the chances of this very thin, but still, what if?  We talked about connecting with the crowd at an intimate level, and what’s better than a little Gamehendge story time?

Whatever happens, these shows are going to rock.  I’m sorry I can’t be there, but I’ll be following along on the couch tour like the millions of others who couldn’t attend.  Get ready…

(Trey and Fish - Colorado 1988)