Phish: Friday, 11:00PM, What Stage, and also Sunday, 8:30PM, What Stage. I was an enormous Phish fan for about ten years, trading bootlegs, scrutinizing setlists, and generally being a huge geek about the whole thing. I also saw them 17 times between 1996 and 2003.
I've been skeptical about the reunion. I completely understood when they gave it up; I felt like I was ready for a break just as a fan, so I can only imagine how they felt about it. The best (non-live) music any of them had recorded in years came in their solo discs and side projects after the breakup. But the solo output petered out, and Trey has had some well-publicized drug problems since then, so I have to wonder what brought them back together. Did they need money? Did they just not know what else to do? Or did they really feel like the time was right to start things up again?
That said, I am officially casting my skepticism aside for the Bonnaroo shows and allowing myself to be the geek that I once was.
