Twenty diapers later...

This entry is long because it was my son Eli’s first show and I wanted to explain our setup and how crazy and hectic it is getting ready for a show with a two-week old and all of his necessities. We spared him nothing, although he asked for little.

So, we set out on the road on Tuesday June 15 and pulled into Hartford, CT on June 16 at 1230am. The drive with my son, Eli, was not uneventful. He slept a lot of the time, but also was on a regular routine of dirtying his diaper and then needing to eat. My wife was so great about feeding him. Our little family was chugging along like an Antelope jam. We knew generally how it was going to go, but still had our share of excitement. Taking care of a baby in a Jeep Liberty is not really all that easy. There is not a lot of room to do much. Our car is loaded with baby stuff. There are so many outfits and diapers, along with an array of other baby necessities. He is not even aware of what is going on!

We got to our hotel in Hartford late, but had to get settled in. It took us about an hour to wrestle all of the luggage and the pack n play into our room. We were 10 miles from The Comcast Theater, which is a good distance, not too far. By the time we got the room together, it was time to sleep. In tours past, I have slept in a variety of different ways, such as on the floor, sharing a bed with others, or sleeping in a chair. I have never shared a bed on the road with a baby. It was really just like being at home, but anticipation filled our room. It was not a great night of sleep.

So much preparation is involved in getting a baby ready for an outing. We have to change his diapers, my wife has to feed him, we have to pack the diaper bag, making sure that he has extra changes of clothes and plenty of diapers. We have to get his binkies ready, etc. It takes a solid hour to get ready to leave after one makes the decision to leave. So, we got started at about 400 and arrived at the venue by 500. The venue charged $8 for parking, but we opted for the VIP parking, which cost $20. We parked about 100 yards from the entrance. It was a great decision. I met some great people and had some great food. The vending was in full swing. Eliz carried the baby through the crowd and we got some bad vibes from people. Mostly, people were amazed and sent lots of love to baby Eli. I do understand if someone is surprised or judgmental of us for bringing our two week old son on tour, but I am also surprised at the behavior of many people at concerts. People do some pretty stupid stuff. They are usually the ones making comments. Hartford accepted Eli with open arms. It was mostly men who doted over the baby.

We had upper level pavilion for the first night. I had already called the opener “Punch” after nVelos. It was kind of cool because Eli was born during the end of “Cities” into “Punch.” So, that was a great start for my son’s first show outside of the womb. While Trey and Cactus did the cha cha, my son was sound asleep. He slept during the entire show. We put these orange silicone ear plugs designed especially for infants in his ears and they apparently worked really well. I can understand why he slept for some of it. Phish did not really bust a move during the first night at Comcast. I was definitely moved by some of the songs in the first set, such as “Divided Sky,” but was disappointed that Trey missed the “Golgi” vocals and guitar. I was psyched by “Walk Away,” as CK5 was really melting the stage with red, blue, and yellow lights that painted the entire stage in blissful color. No one could forget “Stash,” clearly the canvas for the first set improvisation.

Second set came quickly, although I had time to get to the bathroom, which felt like it was heated. The bathroom had to have been 95 degrees and was climbing with dudes trying to get relief and then get back to their seats. My wife had to change and feed the baby during set break. Everyone around us was cool about that, although maybe it bothered their party. “Party Time” was a soon forgotten memory when they busted into “Disease.” I could tell that things were about to get good when Trey and Mike were at the helm of this monster jam. It felt like Trey sort of pushed things along when he began playing “Sand” and I am not sure that everyone else was on the same page. Nonetheless, “Sand” was just bombastic. Although TAB does a great job with the song, all cylinders are firing when Phish hits it right. And they did. There were all sorts of twists and turns as they made their way through it, but things came crashing down when Trey began “The Horse” before he let anyone else know. He was forcing the tune down our throats for about a minute until we all got on the same page. “Farmhouse” was well played and had an open-ended jam that is unusual for this song. It was a great time. The “Mike’s” was rather standard, short, and lacked any of the deep, dark passion that so often is lacking from this song. “Weekapaug” had a different feel to it, but was really enjoyable. It was obvious the crowd was really into it too. Keeping note of YEMBlog as they updated twitter was really great. They do a fantastic job of updating the songs and expressing the vibe of the show. Before we knew it, Eli had experienced his first show. To top it off, Phish certainly shined a light on him, making for a fun summer evening. More tomorrow night.