Busy, busy, busy...

by Yome NetSan 21. October 2013

After 8 days in Morocco, I'll head up for my trip in the US of A. I better get some rest on the beach because I'll be very busy during my stay across the ocean. 

I like to plan stuffs out so I have landmarks, althought things are always subject to change of course. But this is basically to help me keeping tracks of the mandatory eandez-vous like bus departure, concerts...

I sometimes have several options for things like the bus from Philadelphia to Atlantic City or IMAX 3D screening for Gravity.

 

October already ?

by Yome NetSan 3. October 2013

What happened ?!

I thought I would flood this page with dozen of posts in the weeks leading to my trip in the US to see Phish. I wanted to change the blog's design and colors, even lighten the overall color as the days past, ending in a completely bright website. I'd have loved to add a widget on the top right saying something like "34 days before my first concerts !"

But time past too quickly and I happen to be too busy with work and family to do all that. It's not that I'm not excited to go, but maybe I don't fully realize yet that I'll be living a dream I dream for so many years in just about a month from now !

 

Meeting some fans

A nice thing that happens during the process of finding tickets is that I met some french speaking fans ! Some contacted me though this blog and I found others on the forum of phish.net. They are from France, living in Paris, in the south or in the US ! One of them, Gilles from Switzerland, has been seeing jam bands for years and has been writing in a web fanzine some years ago. He might write some trip report here in the future (he's been to Alpharetta this summer) and will be at the same shows as me in the fall.

 

 

Planning my trip

Right after I secured my concert tickets, I searched for hotels and flights. I found out that the booking fees were lower depending on the hour of the day I place the order. So I woke up in the middle of the night (4AM or so) to booked my flights to have free fees !

As I accidently bought a ticket for the October 29th show in Reading, I made arrangement to be there. The thing is that I already have vacations booked in Morocco the week before and I'll be back from there on October 28th. I didn't want to leave my wife too early and I tried to avoid one more hotel stay. 

I'll finally take off from Lyon very early on Tuesday morning to be in Philadelphia early in the afternoon. Gilles will arrive from Geneva an hour before. He plans to rent a car and offered me to drive me to Reading and from Atlantic City to the airport for my flight home on the 3rd November. I'll arrived in France on the 4th and my return to the office on the 5th (with a work meeting already planned at 9AM) will be tough.

I also quickly booked my hotel nights. I was afraid of finding myself with only expensive and far await possibilities. I'm not that satisfied with my Reading option but the one I found in Atlantic City is rather near the venue (it's actually across the street from Bader Field) and cheap. I don't know if the quality will meet my expectations but I don't think I'll spend a lot of times in my rooms anyway. 

I don't know neither if there are many things to do in Atlantic City except for the beach and the casinos. Anyway, I already spotted several video game stores in town !

 

Still things to do

Apart from that, I still have things to do to be ready. I almost forget that I have to change a bunch of Euros to Dollars !

A Halloween costume is also mandatory. I thought about several possibilities like dressing like Guy Forget (because of the Phish connection and he's french) or the Eiffel Tower... I now have 2 options, both related with video games. We'll see...

The trip from Reading to Atlantic City also have to be planned. I'd have loved to take the train but that's long gone apparently. Greyhound buses are one of the only options so I checked ou their website. Times and rates are fine but it's better to search for two seperate rides instead of one :

  • Reading to Philadelphia = 18 $
  • Philadelphia to Atlantic City = 12 $
  • But Reading to AC = 52 $ O_o

 

Predictions 

New Year's run at Madison Square Garden has been announced so we know there won't be an 30th anniversary show on the December 2nd. We could have predict that because they already did a 25th anniversary run in 2003. 

The overall guess is that the minestrone will be celebrated in a way or another at Halloween or MSG. The fact is that the 30th Phish show in the Garden will happen... on December 30th !

About the musical costume, many assumptions have been made, from the brand new album they told to have recorded to Junta or the White Tape. I also thought about Michael Jackson's Thriller because it's an iconic album, it's been released in late 1982 (that's almost 30th years ago) and it would be a funny nod to their first show ever. But they already paid tribute to the man on 6/25/2010 during a marvelous 2001.

For the same reason, I don't think it will be a Pink Floyd album, although that would be my top choice !

I could be a Grateful Dead record because of the obvious links between the bands and the recent sit-in by Trey Anastasio with Furthur.

My personal favorite (but totally unlickely) would be Daft Punk's Discovery. Since the fist time I listened to this record in 2001, I thought that it could be played by our band. Just imagine the a giant funky dance floor Boardwalk Hall would become !

 

Can I go to Reading by bus ?!

by Yome NetSan 12. August 2013

I live near Lyon, France. And it looks like there's a direct bus from Lyon Station to downtown Reading, PA !
It's Route 22 from Batrabus.
Very convenient ;)

No luck...

by Yome NetSan 7. August 2013

After spending all of yesterday checking my bank account every 10 minutes, I finally got the bad news with an email this morning : I didn't won the lottery. So I don't have tickets yet. My next move will be the public sale on thursday 12AM EST at TicketMaster. That's 18PM in France, a time when i'm usualy at the station, waiting for my train after my day job... I'll have to stay late at work or come back home very early.

Meanwhile, I got e-mails from two french speaking fans in less than 24 hours thanks to my website ! The first one is a french guy living in Toronto and the second is living in Geneva, Switzerland. Maybe will work things out to have their Phish-related stories on the blog and get tickets for Atlantic City...

Will 2013 be finally THE year ?

by Yome NetSan 29. July 2013

When the fall tour 2013 has been announced last week, I read the news like any Phish tour announcement for sixteen years. Where will they play ? How many shows ? Basic stuffs. But when I saw that they'll play 3 days at Atlantic City from October 31th to November 2nd, I got pretty hyped : Halloween + 30th anniversary show during the same run ?! I HAVE TO GO !

Ok, I realized a few minutes later that their birthday was on December 2nd, not November 2nd...

Nevertheless, my brain was already on fire. The run will be at the very end of the Toussaint holidays in France. I already planned a family trip to Morocco but it won't last the 2 weeks. With one flight to the U.S.A., I could attend 3 shows, including a pretty rare Halloween 3-setter ! I talked about it to my wife and her answer was both encouraging and full of common sense : "How much would it cost ?"

Yes, the main concern will be the money, as it has always been.

The following day, I checked several websites for flights booking to have an idea of the grand total.
First surprise : Atlantic City International airport can't be reached from Europe. So I search for Philadelphia from Lyon, Paris or even Geneva. I found several possibilities with or without stopover for a price from 600€ to 700€. I can find cheaper with 2 stopovers but I don't want to spend 24 hours in planes and airports...
A 3 day ticket would be 180$ but I have to add the fee and shipping for a total of 217.10$.
I have also to count 4 hotel nights, a way to go from Philly to Atlantic City (it seems I won't be alone), food and pocket money.

OK so I have to find a 1200€ bill.

I could fight against my habits to buy countless video games or vinyls to finally save this amount until October. The problem is I have to spend most of it (tickets, plane and hotel) at least in august and I don't have it now. So, like many times before, I dug the idea...

 

On Saturday, I received a letter from my company about my annual bonus. Usually it's stuck on a special bank account for 5 years unless I get married, have a baby or buy a house, which is not planned. But for the first time, this year, I have the option to request the full amount to be paid immediately.

 

Wait a minute...

 

This morning, I did something I've been dreaming of for sixteen year : I request tickets for a Phish show on tickets.phish.com

Oh my. I'll go to a Phish show !

Phish summer tour 2013

by Yome NetSan 13. March 2013

Out of nowhere, Phish just announced their first show outside of the USA since 2000 at the exact same venue they played their last : 9th July at Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto, Canada.

As time past, my guess is that a European tour is less and less likely to happen... What about Dick's for my first show ?

  • 07/03 Darling's Waterfront Pavilion , Bangor, ME
  • 07/05 Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY
  • 07/06 Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY
  • 07/07 Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY
  • 07/09 Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, ON
  • 07/10 PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
  • 07/12 Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre, Wantagh, NY
  • 07/13 Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD
  • 07/14 Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD
  • 07/16 Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Alpharetta, GA
  • 07/17 Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Alpharetta, GA
  • 07/19, Charter One Pavilion on Northerly Island, Chicago, IL
  • 07/20 Charter One Pavilion on Northerly Island, Chicago, IL
  • 07/21 Charter One Pavilion on Northerly Island, Chicago, IL
  • 07/26 The Gorge Amphitheatre, George, WA
  • 07/27 The Gorge Amphitheatre, George, WA
  • 07/30 Lake Tahoe Harveys Outdoor Arena, Stateline, NV
  • 07/31 Lake Tahoe Harveys Outdoor Arena, Stateline, NV
  • 08/02 Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA
  • 08/03 Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA
  • 08/04 Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA
  • 08/05 Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA
  • 08/30 Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO
  • 08/31 Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO
  • 09/01 Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO

http://phish.com/summer2013/

 

Happy New Year ! [UPDATED 2]

by Yome NetSan 31. December 2012

I don't know yet if I'll be able to watch the webcast tonight but I'm already getting prepared... and ridiculous too !

[UPDATE] I'm set. I'll be there at 2 AM in France and posting on the European Phish Phan Page on facebook ! See ya in the webcast !

[UPDATE 2] READY !

Setting up and loosing money

by Yome NetSan 12. March 2012

Mike Gordon is currently setting up at Melkweg where Jam in the Dam will take place in two days.

via https://twitter.com/#!/mike_gordon/status/179162960541921281/photo/1

 

Meanwhile, our hotel in Amsterdam called me to told that our Groupon voucher was valid until the 29th february ! And of course, the voucher is not refundable...

We found another hotel closer to the Melkweg but we just lost the 350€ of the voucher ! Ouch !

 

Final (?) schelude for Jam in the Dam

by Yome NetSan 7. March 2012

Here is my final (?) schelude for Jam in the Dam next week. I'm pretty sure it won't stand still. but the goal is to see all Mike Gordon shows and at least one show of the 4 other bands.

I'm a little bit disapointed that Mike doesn't have more that 1,5 hour each night while moe. have 2, Lotus have 2 on the last night and Dark Star Orchestra 3 or 4 hours !

Amsterdam is getting closer and closer

by Yome NetSan 27. February 2012

Our flight is booked and we'll travel from Geneva.

I made a map on Google to gather all the important places we'll go to.


Afficher Amsterdam March 2012 sur une carte plus grande




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