For my first concert this year at the SBC, my favorite place to shoot shows, legendary jam band PHISH was in town for just a one-night stand with a sold-out crowd of 25,000. As I pulled into the parking lots, they were filling up fast as always with Phish. With parking lots 1 & 2 already full, I spot Charlie  at the head of lot 2 and he ushers me into his lot (as always) and saves me the $25.00 parking fee. I consider this the cost of about 2 draft beers in the venue. As I walk to the venue I notice a few old school VW buses Tie-dye T-shirts, Phish-heads holding up their index finger for a ticket, and the tailgating and partying well under way with that always noticeable scent of pachouli incense and a lot of the funny stuff waffling through the air.
    As the nearly capacity crowd filled the pavilion and lawn, Phish takes the stage ready for some fun. Before the opening song singer/guitarist Trey Anastasio teases the crowd by playing a few riffs from The Theme from Rocky before launching into “Rocky Top,” “Mike's Song,” “I Am Hydrogen” and now a really jammed out “Weekapaug Groove,” “Stash,” “Tube,” “Guyute,” “Guelah Papyrus” and “Scent of a Mule.”  A fan in the crowd had been holding up a sign with this title so that’s cool she got her song played. Then “Cavern,” “The Sloth” and ending their first hour and a half set with “The Curtain With” as the sun was setting over Philadelphia.
    Now, once again before the opening song of the second set, Anastasio teases the crowd again with a few riffs of “Pop Goes the Weasel” before “Down with Disease,” “Free” and “Possum,” before taking their first break of the set. Next came “Big Black Furry Creature from Mars,” “Swept Away,” “Steep,” going into “David Bowie.” The band jammed and improvised on this for 20 plus minutes. For Trey Anastasio, Keyboardist Page McConnell, bassist Mike Gordon and drummer Jon Fishman, it’s all about the middle of the songs. This is where they truly get to show off their unbelievable improvisational skills. Then “Julius,” “Golgi Apparatus,” “Fluffhead” and “Joy” closed out the second set and the crowd waited for the band to re-emerge for an encore where they covered Jimi Hendrix's “Bold As Love.”
    As the crowd filed out to the parking lots, you could hear the buzz of what people believed to be an amazing Phish concert. People began settling into their cars and VW's and talking about going off to the next show at Merriweather Post pavillion. Overall, It was a great show and you couldn't have asked for better weather for my first trip back to the SBC. To view more picks of the concert go to www.coconuttimes.com