LawnMemo

The Daily Ghost

21 in 21 of 2018: #14 08/07/2018 BB&T Pavilion, Camden, NJ (Josh Diskin, @joshdiskin)

 

 

God, I love Camden.

For many, it’s the other side of the tracks to the idyllic Mann Center. For me, it’s Phish home, the place where I caught the bug at Camden ‘09 and across the river from my college hometown of Philly.

Flash forward almost a decade, I’m a different man. I’m ‘Party Dad’ now.

For this show, I did my classic move of flying in and out in less than 24 hours for a midweek show. If you can swing time off work, you can typically find sub $100 roundtrip tickets for Tuesday-Wednesday flights. Awesome way to catch a few one-off shows!

This trip was money in the bank. I flew in on a Tuesday following a half day of work, met up with the crew near Rittenhouse Square, and headed over to the lot across the river. It was smelly, dirty, hot, crowded. I saw Mdawg. I ate a burrito. It was perfect.

Heading in to the venue, we realized there would be some inclement weather. I bought a sick donut towel to wrap up my sneakers on the lawn and found my drink of the night — vodka lemonade with a reusable sparkly straw.

The first set was solid. A strong start, led with a back to back “NMINML”/”Blaze On.” It took a bit of a turn with “Infinite,” a song no one will remember this summer. The rest of the set was quite nice. “46 Days” continued its streak of awesomeness with its re-imagined jam launch. It was one of my favorite songs of the summer 2018 and this version totally typifies the unique style for this tour.

Another highlight was “Bowie,” which, coming in at a whopping 11:27, was still a top 10-15 version of this era. PHISH– MAKE BOWIE GREAT AGAIN!

For Set II, we joined our friends under the shed who had a bunch of rows in the back right to themselves. Ideal spot. I was locked and loaded and ready to boogie.

The intro threw me off slightly but it was definitely “DWD.” I could hear my friend @Dianna_2Ns a mile away yell out ‘Come ON!’. She has a soft spot for “DWD” set II openers….

Well, this “DWD” slayed. Let’s hop into it.

At 7:23, Trey releases from some crunchy tension into a beautiful clean tone that brings on the hose. Isn’t it amazing in these moments? For me, my brain turns off, anxieties fall away, and it feels like i’m coasting with the engine off.

10:15 – It’s time to ramp up and get the fuck down. Trey starts getting all rock star and releases a string of licks that remind me of his torrential playing in the Camden ‘09 “Sand.” Artists have the feel in certain places and Trey sure does let loose at Camden.

12:46 – Reminds me of the moment right before climaxing but pulling out to cool down and regroup for a sec

14:02 – The band stuck it back in and had a little Mike bass slap that ass.

16:00 – Time to light that cig and recuperate.

16:55 Round 2 anyone? Trey comes back up for air and finds some inspiration from Page and delivers a delicious groove lick to take us home.

I’ll never forget the moment when the jam was over and my friend Aviva turned to me and said, “You just danced your ass off for the entire jam and didn’t stop once.” Damn straight! Party Dad has to get his.

This jam literally has 3 peaks, is over 20+ min and nobody talks about it. Phish is an embarrassment of riches. Every summer tour, including 2018, is chock full of amazingness around every corner that people just forget over time. No fluff here. Cold hard truth, bruh.

After the show, we had a picture perfect night. Hopped the ferry, headed over to Lorenzo’s for a slice, and then back for late night chills at my friend’s apartment.

Party Dad killed it.

………….

Bio: Party Dad still has it and can tap back in at a moments notice. He lives in the D and will see you all at Blossom, Alpine, and Dicks. Just looked for his green and orange Nectars jersey that he wears to every show. My favorite underrated Ghosts of 3.0 are 7/12/14 and 12/31/14.