Phish in Camden: July 30-31, 2003

My first visit to Camden, New Jersey, was for Phish in 2000. I later visited the Philadelphia-area venue for Bob Dylan and Phil Lesh in 2001. Then, for Phish's first summer tour since 2000, I visited Camden for a third time. The venue on the river waterfront is no longer called the E-Centre, though. With corporate America taking over the world, the concert locale was renamed the Tweeter Center. The Philadelphia skyline and Ben Franklin Bridge are shown above from the Camden Riversharks parking lot. (Zander told us to park at the minor league stadium; as a result, we paid $2 instead of $15.)

The Camden E-Centre (now the Tweeter Center) is a modern venue with mellow security, clear sound, and an unparalleled view of the City of Brotherly Love. The traffic is notorious, though. Despite 8th row center tickets in the pit, I walked around the arena to soak in my first Phish summer tour show in three years--since my first time to Camden, in fact. (Also like 2000, I attended a show with Chrissy, Bethy's younger sister, while Beth was focusing on her studies.) See below for a panoramic view from the Camden venue, with the Philadelphia skyline lit in lights in the distance.

Zander, a resident of Fort Washington--a historical Philadelphia suburb about 20 miles north of Philly--smiles with Gabe in the shadow of the Ben Franklin Bridge below. Below right, Phish is captured from the back of the Camden pit. Waiting for the show to begin, I admired the T-shirt in front of me. Lenny and Carl, Homer's co-workers from The Simpsons, have their arms around each other on the front. In Carl's right hand is a knife. On the back, in red blood lettering, the shirt says,"He's Got a Knife." A brilliant Phish-Simpsons reference, and a great song to boot.

Naturally, Phish opened their Camden 2003 stand with My Friend, My Friend. I snapped a picture of the shirt while the band played the tune in the background. A great opener, followed by a rare Velvet Underground cover, Lonesome Cowboy Bill, from the 1970 masterpiece, Loaded. It wasn't quite Sweet Jane, but I appreciated it nonetheless.

Phish's first set featured a slew of other highlights, including my personal debut of Scents and Subtle Sounds, which meandered a little too long for me, but them slammed back into a powerful climax after 25 minutes. A Bob Dylan cover, You Ain't Goin' Nowhere followed. I recognized the song but couldn't place it, as it only exists in Dylan's catalog on the Basement Tapes and several greatest hits compilations--none of which I owned. In retrospect, I realized I recognized the song from jamming with Justin; he had performed the song during an open mic Tuesday on Fire Island in 1997. We had probably even played it together, before I played guitar and simply tried to keep a beat with a jimbay drum.

Despite not being intimately familiar like so many others songs from Dylan's library, the words from You Ain't Goin' Nowhere hit me in only a way that Dylan's lyrics do. Trey picked the version of the song from the Bootleg Series, the one that has the lines "Pick up your money and pack up your tent," and ends another verse with "We'll climb that hill no matter how steep, when we come up to It"--both clear and clever references to the end-of-tour Phish festival coming up for the weekend: IT.

The boys cooed Whoo-ee and Trey sang about a bride about to come. Though single for the night, my bride was most certainly on her way. The song's references to Genghis Khan made me smile, even if I only share a name with the founder of the Mongol Empire. [Postscript: Less than a year after hearing this song, my uncle sang You Ain't Goin' Nowhere as my new wife and I walked out of the church, moments after I kissed my bride.]

The rare and strange fan-named Spock's Brain came after the Dylan cover and before an exploratory Chalkdust Torture. Page shredded the vocals on a Little Feat cover, On Your Way Down. Any rock cover where Page McConnell gets to wail is all right by me. Phish closed the long first set with a strong segue from the majestic Fast Enough For You to the composed beauty of Taste.

I had forgotten how enjoyable it is to go to a Phish show in the summer. It escaped my mind to remember how good it is to walk into a venue in a T-shirt and sandals, with a refreshing beer in your hands. A great ticket stub doesn't hurt either. I spent much of the first set dancing in the aisles with Sam and Doro Globus, and the rest of their large posse, including Ezra, Sammy, and Nick. By the second set I was crammed in my seat with Gabe and Zander on either side of me.

The second set was highlighted by perhaps the best You Enjoy Myself of my life. It was long and funky, 27 minutes of bliss. Otherwise, a short second set, a weak encore, and some annoying neighbors soured the second set experience a bit. Still, it was great to see Phish up close again, and the lighting was unreal.

Click the images below for some video with audio from some highlights of the concert!

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After the show, Gabe, me, and Zander pose for a picture. Gabe represents Brooklyn with his "B" cap (no it's not Boston), and Zander displays his alma matter with a Texas Longhorns cap. Zander is also a folk star. Me, I've got some sort of swordfish sewn on my shirt.

Due to the nature of the traffic (it was simply not moving), we hung out in the parking lot for a long while. We drank a beer or two, wandered the lot, and played at least an hour of night Frisbee on the Campbell Field baseball park parking lot. Below, Zander and Gabe chat in the woods between the Franklin Bridge that follows Interstate 76 and a traveling tour bus.

Eventually we made it out of the Riversharks parking lot, and we headed directly to an inner city late-night diner. Little Pete's was the ideal 2 a.m. omelet joint to reflect on the great music of the evening.

Little Pete's follows some Little Feat
After the midnight diner snack, we drove north to Zander's residency.
I remember a winding road, deer on the road, and a soft, comfortable bed.

Summer, sitting out by the pool. A ray of sunshine getting in my way. I dive headfirst into Zander's 67,000-gallon pool and drink Yuengling from a tap.
Runaway, Runaway, Runaway Jim
Gabe talks to Zander's Dad above, Jim, over a few pints of the local brew.
These Rocks Will Fall Away At Last

Sweet blossom come on, under the willow, we can have high times if you'll abide.

Zander's Dad's house was in a majestic neighborhood on gorgeous Pennsylvania property.
Walkway to Heaven

The family's house, which dated back to the pre-civil war era, was built alongside a small creek.
My weariness amazes me, I'm branded on my feet,

I relaxed and was awed by the natural plot of land.

I slept until 1, chilled about in a hammock, and practiced diving into the cool pool. Refreshed and recharged, I was ready to hit the Camden venue again, this time for a show in the sprawling lawn. I had to meet Chrissy and Kyle, as well as Meredith and Christina; I had their tickets. Unfortunately, Meredith and Christina got stuck in Long Island, NYC, and Jersey traffic and we late getting to the show. And although it rained for most of the night, no precipitation could prevent Chrissy and Kyle from the enjoying themselves. See Chrissy laugh at huddling masses beneath a tarp makeshift shelter.

Chrissy Rejects the Shelter from the Storm

Chrissy and Kyle were troopers. They drove from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, about an hour's drive, and they arrived at the parking lot before we did.

As the rain started to fall, I left my remaining tickets at the box office for Meredith Maynard, Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT). Chrissy, Kyle, Gabe, and I went into the show to find a decent lawn spot, some overpriced venue beers, and Gabe's younger sister Alex.

Earlier in the day Gabe and I had bought a handful of Dollar Store tablecloths. We laid out the checkered tablecloth coverings to claim some lawn land for ourselves.

Kyle and I bribed a janitor for some garbage bags, and we did our best to protect ourselves from the steady rain that deluged the Camden lawn audience on Thursday, July 31, 2003. It was the last show before the summer festival, It.

The second night of Camden had its highlights as well. The first set featured a funky Moma Dance, a rocking Seven Below, and an appropriate Divided Sky--for the clouds that opened up and dumped their moisture on us on the lawn.

The sound from the Camden lawn is excellent, and usually the sunset over the city of Philly makes the view from the Camden lawn one of the best in the country. The weather took away our sunset, but we still had a pleasant experience--especially when the rain dissipated during set break.

Phish's Water in the Sky was an obvious call, which I why I told Gabe it would be played.

Continuing the younger sister theme, Gabe's 17-year-old-sister Alex joined us for her first Phish show. Adam's sister Alison and her friend also grooved in our area, making it one big, happy, wet, dancing crew.