Trey Anastasio played(setlist and live blog available from hidden track) at the Music Hall in Williamsburg tonight, and I really wish I could be there. I managed to keep my emotions down after I saw the announcement of the show, but as the day came on and the phone calls rolled in a surge of emotions came back that I hadn't felt in a long time. "What do you mean you're not going to be there?", was one of the quotes from a friend, and it wasn't until that moment that I realized that this was for real and that it was really strange that I wasn't going to be there.
This really sparked the hardest part of being a Phish fan, and that is dealing with tickets. I spent years waiting in line at outlets, then when everything moved digital I spent my time lining up as many computers as I could to try to get a shot at a low cost ticket. I say low cost because no matter what I was going to the show, and the cost of me getting a ticket to a sold out show was always higher then lucking out on ticket master. Even though sometimes a friend would have tickets or I'd luck out with a face (sometimes below) value ticket, it was always stressful and emotionally expensive. It was always worth the stress to me because the end result was another show. Never once did I fail at getting into a Phish show (or any other show I can remember), but today that kinda changed...
After my "I have to be there!" epiphany I set out to find my tickets, friends weren't really an option here, as the show was just too damn small, so I looked at craigslist. I can't remember ever buying tickets off craigslist before, but I decided to give it a shot, I found a post for "fair priced tickets" and felt like this might be a scam but they were hard tickets and I am good enough at spotting fakes that I knew the worst that could happen was a wasted subway trip.... I was wrong. I got up to our meeting spot and he was nowhere to be found... he was stuck at work and kept me going for over an hour, until finally he sent woman to meet me because he was so tied up. I asked to see the tickets and what did I find? The worst set of fakes I had ever seen, shitty ink jet print job, not even perforated, come on! I declined and decided to head out. During this I saw two out of place people who I feel were also waiting for these tickets, I think this was one big scam, hitting up as many people who wouldn't open the envelope as he could, I hope no one fell for it.
I went home at this point, only losing an hour or two of my time, and a tiny bit of my pride. All I could think about was how shady this deal was from the start and how Phish/Trey tickets had compromised my common sense again. I of course had the option to try to go to the show and find a ticket, which would have worked for a price, but tonight I said fuck it. I wasn't going to pay $200 bucks+ for a ticket this time, it just isn't right. I can't be that irresponsible again....at least not yet! It is amazing what this band can do to me and I want to be prepared. I am working on a solution to address the supply and demand problem caused by the conflict between business and the "band-fan dynamic", but Phish will always be a beast, with ravenous and relentless fans... even when they aren't a band.
Hopefully, I'll be able to get my fix and continue to thrive in the adult world...time will tell.
