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On July 15, 1994, my life was completely, irreversibly, changed for the much better. That was the day of my first Phish show, at the Jones Beach Amphitheater in Wantaugh, Long Island. I was 17, fresh out of high school, and my favorite CD was Hoist. Jones Beach was my stomping ground that summer; seen that summer at JB were the Blues Traveler, Dave Matthews, the Allmans Brothers, Big Head Todd, and Bruce Hornsby. The next summer I caught Phish twice at Jones Beach for my fourth and fifth shows. After that, Phish had outgrown the outdoor New York venue and never played again. But the reserved seating laid the foundation for my Phish phandom, and I jumped at the opportunity to see Trey there in the first summer without Phish since 1984--2001. Upon returning to the amphitheater that played host to my first Phish show, I was overflowing with memories. The beautiful venue added an upper deck stadium level looking over Long Island's south shore. I'm sure those new seats had a nice view, but mail order hooked me up with 8th row for my reunion with Jones Beach. |
| My brother, who also discovered Phish in 1994, coincidentally had plane tickets to be in New York on the first week of August. We were going to spend quality time in Fire Island, about 15 miles from Jones Beach. Instead, we caught the tail end of Trey tour, August 2nd at the Mann Center and August 3rd at Jones Beach. And after the Jones Beach show, we took a midnight ferry to the beach, with our friends Beth, Mitch, Elizabeth, and two of Elizabeth's friends. It was the perfect set-up. |
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Both Trey shows were fun, but the JB show took the cake. The great seats combined with a lot of faces from the past really added to the complete experience. Sam Globus and Mike Thomas were there, both chiefs from the Jones Beach '95 run. Ivan Ward (from the South Shore Movement) and Meredith Maynard, two native Islanders, joined us in the orchestra. Marcus and Gabe were there, and Doro, Allison, and Alex (the younger siblings) were present. Jill joined us from B.U., and we ran into Kenny Funk too. The show was considered by many the best show of the tour. A raging Sand second set closer set the stage for a Mike-Trey get-together. I knew Mike was due out when I bumped into him, literally, during the second set. I patted him on the back and said, "Good to see you." It was. |
The Mann Center, above. JB crew, below.
Before the Philly Mann show, Beth and I, withJordan and Elizabeth, grabbed a few daiquiris at the Copa Banana on South St.
