"I'll tell you something, cause I play in a lot of towns, it's not just
that I grew up around here, but Philly has an ENERGY. It's different
every time I come, man. It's undeniable. The undeniable Philly energy."-Trey Anastasio at the Tower Theatre in 2005 (Free>My Friend, My Friend>NICU, acoustic download)
For the first time in six years, Phish will play in the fine city of Philadelphia this evening, filling the Wachovia Center for two nights. As long time readers know, Phish is one of our things. It just is. Some of you hate it and that's fine, but there's an interesting intersection of hardcore Phish fans and Philly sports fans.
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I was going through the impossible task of trying to "explain Phish" the other day to my special lady friend who adamantly hates the band from Vermont for no good reason other than hating for hating's sake. I obviously couldn't*, but I did come up with a parallel I thought apt. One of the things that is so great about Phish fans is their knowledge and geekery surrounding the band. If you meet and talk to a hardcore Phish fan, they've seen the band countless times, and can rattle off setlists from shows 8 years ago like they're telling you what they had for dinner last night. It's kind of like talking to hardcore Philly sports fans about their teams.
Much like fellow New Jersey native Bruce Springsteen, the boys from Vermont actually spent most of their childhood in the Jerz and love playing shows in Philly.
While Phish technically hasn't played in the city of Philadelphia in quite some time, they did play a rockin' show in Camden this summer, arguably the best show since their triumphant return in March. But seeing Phish play in the shadow of the Spectrum, the place I saw my first show back in 1996, should be awesome.
Here's video of Trey talking about his memories at the Spectrum and here's a customized Trey Flyers jersey at one of his shows.
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Not enough of a Philly angle? Here's a video from Phish's Festival 8 which took place during the World Series in California. They played the Phillies-Yankees game on the big screen on Halloween and the place was mobbed with Phillies fans we are told. You must wait until the very end of the clip to see how the Phillie Phanatic made an appearance. (Thanks to reader Asher for the video)
*you can't reason with a hater, and hell, go watch Twilight or something, nobody is forcing you to listen to our favorite music