Gone Phishin’

Scotty and Brandon

Two friends came from two different directions last night. One from Colorado, and one from Virginia. They converged to follow Phish on their last tour.

They arrived late at night and we said our hellos and hugs, unpacked their car and headed up to the university area to meet mutual friends. Nick, a feller I went to high school with, hosts a free form jazz jam thing there every weekend. I live in this town, and I didn’t know that. Funny how things work out.

Dave came to, after battling the same sinus poop I’ve been wrestling. We took some time away from the music toward the windows and traded stories of symptoms. The good thing, we’re both on the mend.

Nick’s girlfriend fiancĂ© came along later and I got to hear the hilarious story of their engagement while her man thumped away on bass.

It was a sticky night, but the beer took it down a notch, and even after the bars closed, we all still wanted to hang out. With some sixpacks in hand, we took it off site and kept it goin on until dawn, at which point, folks were slowly disappearing to their beds for sleep. I don’t think I’ve stayed up all night in a long long time.

The fellas all decided that food would be a nice way to top off the evening and we went to an all night chili parlor for breakfast foods.

It was an evening devoid of pretense. We laughed until tears filled our smile lines.

I saw Brandon and Scotty off in the am, with the promise they’ll be rolling back through once they exhausted their tickets. Even though it was a brief goodbye it was tough.