Memories From Camp Oswego (Day 3)

By the time I awoke on Sunday I began to curse the incessant sun and lack of shade. That alone made the heat more unbearable. Like most other people there I had become victim of awful sunburn. For most of the afternoon it rendered us rather immobile. We did little more than sit under the scant shade we had. We had used a canvas army tarp that was stretched between the back end of our car and nearby tent. I often glanced at my watch, until it indicated the time that we would be allowed to enter the venue. Once that time arrived we sat near the taping section. For close to two hours I said little and instead applauded the occasional cloud providing relief. Eventually Phish came on stage to start the first of three sets. The first song was the title track of their upcoming album Farmhouse. Once it was played I realized that the time we waited was truly irrelevant. The smooth melody swept over the crowd and provided all listeners with a tranquil rhythm to start things with until bursting into Punch You in the Eye. It set the crowd into an irresistible frenzy with their precisely timed “Hey’s,” that nicely complemented the opening baseline.

Soon after that song we were treated to the second guest appearance of the festival. The Del McRory band (who played the second stage on Friday) took the stage and led while Phish played background beats. The couple songs they played had a strong blue-grass presence to them. One song that stood out in particular was an acoustic/guitar picking version of Get Back on the Train. This song would also find its way onto the next studio album

The rest of the first set and beginning of the second included well played Phish staples such as the Mona Dance, and Taste. Again the boys from Vermont were leading into another surprise, one that they had hinted at all weekend. It all began as the funk-melody for Meatstick began to play. They did not break immediately into the song’s lyrics however. Instead they shinned the spotlight on the crowd and informed them of their intentions. Trey explained how they were “attempting to break the Guiness Book of World Records feat of most people doing a dance at the same time. They spotlight and picture would be for documentation. Trey and Mike (with the help of a female companion who’s name escapes me) instructed the crowd how to “do the Meatstick,” and soon had the crowd of 70,000 in dancing unison. Unfortunately I later learned the song was not able to supplant the record. After Meatstick, they finished the second set with two fast hard-rock songs. Axilla Part 1 played hard and furious for a few minutes before turning into a wonderful Llama. Both featured a tremendous organ play from Page McConnell and the Bonhamesque drumming of Jon Fishman.

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