I don't know why I didn't use my "day off" to stay in bed late. Maybe I was afraid to miss the breakfast hours ? Anyway, I woke up at 8.30 and tried to warm my neck and back with a very hot bath. It didn't worked very well but at least I could walk better than the night before. 

For breakfast, the food looked exactly the same as what was at my hotel in Reading. Like, exactly. But it was good enough and I didn't lack anything.

After a couple of minutes, I realized something felt awkward. I was alone except for the man at the reception on the other side of the room.

And then it stroke me : the music from the office was only old Christmas songs! I guess they didn't want a time off between the Halloween season (that ended the day before) and the Christmas one! I like Christmas time but it sounded strange on the 1st November!

I went back to my room at 10 and rested or slept the whole day. It rained outside anyway so I didn't want to go out. I don't like massage neither so I stayed in bed all the time,  trying not to move. 

Unfortunately, I still had to walk out to eat something around 12.30. After the pizza the day before, I choose the McDonald's, a mere few meters further, where stayed a little to write on my Journal.

I arrived late at my seat, and missed the beginning of Ghost. Who am I to wait 16 years to see my favorite band and miss a part of the concert ?! Twice as it happend at Reading too !

The music was imaginative, funky, great... as much as my neck was bad. I enjoyed the set but I spent most of it sat on my seat, head down. I couldn't stand up anymore.

People around me understood I wasn't feeling good and were nice with me. I was strange to be at a Phish show finally and to have to listen to it seated, head down, eyes closed, almost like I'm used to with my headphones.

As we're leaving at the end of the set, my contact advised me to go to one of those massages on the Boardwalk and to take some rest the next day. 

On my way to the bus stop,  I met Harry and his friend and we talked a little. Still costumed as Luigi and walking awkwardly, I passed a group of young gangsta-like men on my way to the bus stop. One of them called out to me : "Hey Luigi! Where's Mario ?!" In such a situation in France,  I wouldn't have turned around. But,  I don't know why, I felt safer here. So I answered "I don't know man,  I think he's back at the Hall with the Princess!"

In my hotel bed, I quickly checked Facebook and found my picture in the Halloween gallery before falling asleep.

But the second set was already beginning.

And I was among the first (15000) few to hear brand new songs by Phish, first hand.

They start with the Wingsuit / Fuego combo. Right at the first notes I was transported by the slow and haunting song. I loved the Pink Floyd feel at the end. As the tunes each have several parts, they seems to be connected some way. Especially because the beginning of Fuego sounds like the middle of a song to me. I was surprised many month later when I saw the final track order of the released album. 

The light show was different from Reading because there was no seats behind the stage. So Chris Kuroda used the back to "paint" big splash of colors. The room was bigger too and as I was on the side, I had a very good view to the whole venue. Lights on the far rear of the crowd were great.

Anyway, I really loved every song. It was so strange and special to hear brand new Phish music at my second Phish show! 
The three acoustic set ups (with Mike on upright bass for one of them !!) were a nice surprise even if the some parts were hard to hear because of too much crowd noises. For example, Snow is a beautiful song but the big venue on Halloween night doesn't give it justice. It's too bad it didn't make it to the final album.
The beginning of Waiting All Night made me think of You Enjoy Myself but the feeling didn't last.
The prank and the dance routine during Womba were priceless. Even if I didn't know what a Womba is, nor the Fish TV Show, nor the name of Abe Vigoda (I know him from the Godfather but that's it).
I didn't understand all of what Trey said so, at first, I thought it was Page's father in the costume. I finally understood with the Godfather video at the end of the set. One of there best video in my opinion.

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The show finally started at 8PM.

I won't go into details of the music as it has already been reviewed many times during the 12 last months. So I'll stick to what happened "off-stage".

And if you haven't listened to it yet, look for a picture of my tickets and redeem the bar code to livephish.com/redeem and enjoy !

And if the bar codes aren't readables, just ask me ! But remember : first come, first served ;)

I really enjoyed this set. I danced all I could to the Moma Dance, one of my favorite groove, and to the other fine tunes. I've been pretty lucky when it comes to the song selections : Stash, Camel Walk, Free, Mound... It was fun to dance among all those costumed people. I love to watch people having a great time and dancing like there's no tomorrow in concerts so it was double the fun. And what is said is true : Page side, rage side !

As I re-listened to the show afterwards, I noticed that Trey called Mike "Don Gordleone" during Poor Heart. It was a joke to the yet-to-be-shown setbreak video. I don't know if many people got it at the time. I sure didn't.

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Doors opened at 6.30pm.

The first thing to do on a Halloween night at a Phish concert, is to get the Phishbill. For those who don't know, Halloween is one of the most special night to see a Phish show as they play three sets instead of two and most importantly they do a "musical costume" in the second one. That means that instead of donning costumes on stage, they play a whole album from another band, most of the time an important one in the history of Rock'n Roll.

And in this context, the Phishbill is the program of the night where the album is announced, among other funny fake ads and texts. The name itself is a play on word with the Playbill from Broadway musicals.

 

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Tonight's Phish's show was special of course : it was Halloween.

In France, there's no historical background for this season. It's mostly centered on the business side and monster costumes. So I've never been dressed at Halloween in my life and the last time I donned a costume was for a concert I played dressed as Billy Corgan (and by the way, I did play "Sample in a Jar").

But I couldn't go to my second Phish show on Halloween night without being true to the American tradition. I was lucky enough to be able to borrow a Luigi costume from a co-worker. It as a little too small for me (it kept opening on the back) but it would be good enough. To complete the theme, I've let my beard spread for several weeks so I could shaved accordingly as a big moustache!

I quickly ate what remains of the pizza (I love doggy bag !) and took the bus, dressed as Luigi of course, at 5.20PM. The bus driver asked me if I could do the "coin sound". I said no but I paid the ride with a lot of small coins (I'll talk latter about change) and they did produced a fitting sound when falling in the bus farebox !

There were several people's with costume in the bus. I remember a girl made up like a zombie with a flap of flesh hanging from his face !

By 6PM,  I was at the will call in Boardwalk Hall to pick up my tickets. I was a little worried because they hasn't been charged yet but there were no problems. I had in my hands the Holy Grail for the 3 following nights !
In front of the venue, Phish fans were all around with lots of funny costumes. As I experienced in Reading, there was a great atmosphere, despite the herd of ticket-less fans.

I witnessed a scene that will live in my memory : a guy came in front of a girl who had her finger in the air and gave him a ticket. Yes, he gave it like that. Without expecting anything in return. He gave her a ticket for Phish's Halloween show and simply left.

They call it a "miracle" over there.

The night did not go too bad and I finally been able to have my luggage back on the morning. But my neck and back weren't any better than on the evening.

I can't remember why, but there was no breakfast at the hotel this morning. So I took the bus to Atlantic City at 10.20 and walked on Atlantic Avenue where I bought a coffee with donuts.

Then, I went to the Boardwalk, along the ocean shores.

The weather wasn't bad. Mostly sunny but with a cold wind that didn't helped my neck. I really liked the landscape with the beach, souvenirs shops, restaurants and, of courses, casinos.

The contrast between the roads and streets that resemble those of a normal city (I can't explain why I didn't take pictures of that part) and the buildings along the shore was striking. The closer you get to the ocean, the taller the buildings. Casinos and hotels were huge and extravagantly decorated. The Taj Mahal Resort looked like... well... The Taj Mahal. Another one looks like a roman coliseum... Between the scenery and the mood inside the lobbies, I felt like I was at Disneyland. Really unreal.

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After my lonesome diner, I walked back to the hotel, eager to arrive and take my medicines.

My room had two doors. One inside, leading to a corridor and then to the main entrance, and one outside leading directly to the parking lot. When I checked in, the receptionist told me to use the one that leads directly outside because the inside door would be closed at night.

But when I came back from the city at 10 PM, the door would not open. The key card did not work.
I went to the office to have it re-magnetized but I didn't work better. The manager came with me with his pass but the problem was obviously the lock itself, not the cards.

So he opened the hall so that we could use the interior door. 

Great ! It opened ! ... Partially !

During my nap in the afternoon, I put the inside safty catch (like the one with the chain, but only this one was solid metal). And when I came out by the other door, I forgot to unlock it.

Needless to say, I was fucked. There were no way to open the door without breaking something. After trying for half an hour, he offered me to use the next room for the night and wait for the repair men in the morning as they'd open the outer door. That was fine with me except that all of my stuffs and medicines for my back, neck and my cold were in the other room...

 

It was not as if I had a choice and I fell asleep as I could...

When I woke up, the bus was arriving at Atlantic City. As I turned my head to see the city, I felt a sharp pain on the left side of my neck. Damned, my back was just getting better and now I couldn't turn my head ?! The emotion of meeting Trey Anastasio in Philadelphia, the walk with my luggages on the streets and the uncomfortable ride in the bus ended up ruining my neck...

PER. FECT.

I missed the first stop at Tropicana and got off at Bailey's. As I walked down, I grabbed two copies of Surrender to the Flow, a fanzine I've heard about many times in the past. Gilles would be happy to have one.

I initially planned to walk to my hotel but I finally took a cab because of my neck. That proved to be a brilliant idea as the Knight Inn wasn't precisely near the casino I was at.

I checked in room 114 and, to ease the pain, I tried the hot bath and little nap solution. Without much success.

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...the full report of my Atlantic City run from last year is coming : I'll be "live reporting from the past" in the next days.

Starting on the 30th October and up until the 2nd November, there will be several posts per day, each reporting things at they happened last year. The only concession is that the time of the posts will be switched to french time. That means that what happend at 10PM US Time will be posted at 10PM France time. I choose this to avoid posts in the middle of the night or during one of this year Halloween shows.

 

So see you on the 30th November in Atlantic City !