The Oregon Trail

I apologize to my 5 readers for the lack of posts. Someone asked me why I haven't been blogging.  I will answer that by starting with another question that people seem to always ask each other when first meeting: "What do you do?"  While this seems like a pretty open ended question, it is very telling (and a shame) that the response people want to this question is what do you do for work.  As someone who retired from the 9 to 5 grind a few years ago, initially I struggled to answer this question when asked.  Lately I have become more and more comfortable answering this question with two words: I LIVE.

I travel. I adventure. I phish. I exercise. I read. I eat. I dog. I hike. I bike. I swim. I write. I chill. I talk. I listen. I browse. I hang. I dance. I LIVE. So why haven't I been blogging.... I have been too busy living! Now that I am back home for 48 hours, I have a few moments to blog so here is a better late than never Oregon overview.

Activity Summary

Having not spent much time in Oregon outside of passing through on the way to the Gorge, we decided to head up on Friday and spend the weekend adventuring. We spent 24 hours in Portland and it was awesome. Lance, after providing very explicit directions on what not to wear, took us on a tour of the Nike Coproate Headquarters, aka The Campus. Easy to see why they call it The Campus: It looked and felt like a private and very expensive college.  Perfectly manicured lawns, full athletic fields, basketball courts, everyone walking around in the same uniform and modern architecture (all named after Nike athletes).

After Nike I met up with an old college friend who somehow ended up in the medicinal marijuana business and now owns a dispensary called Farma (http://www.farmapdx.com).  Another friend with a card and went in and purchased some "medicine" in case we got sick during Phish tour. Spoiler alert: we must have been extremely sick as we needed lots of medicine.  No joke, this was some of the best gear ever.  Before you accuse me of pimping my friends business, note that Farma was named the best dispensary and best budtender in July 2015 by the Willamette Week. 

After our day and night in Portland, JW, Kim and I headed out to Rainbow (seriously that's what the town is called) for an outdoor adventure weekend. JW has a buddy who owns a beautiful cabin in Rainbow right on the McKenzie River and offered to host us for the weekend. He also happens to be one of the baddest dudes I have ever met. 63 years old, trail runs 10-15 miles in the morning and then does insane mountain bike rides in the afternoon. He is the 2015 Oregon masters cycle cross champion. Dude was legit and reminded me a bunch of my pops.

Rick led us on 3 days of the most epic mountain biking I have ever done, culminating Monday on a 22.5 mile ride down the McKenzie River Trail, named the top MTB trail in the country (http://mckenzierivertrail.com). This was serious business...on the first day we were shuttled up to the top of a mountain and rocketed downhill. Within 2 minutes of dropping in I looked at Kim (who had a look of absolute terror on his face) and we knew we were into some advanced trails and getting seriously hurt was on the table...one wrong move and goodbye Fink. This turned out to be the most challenging, scary, at times painful, exhilarating and rewarding riding I have ever done. I bailed a few times and have some serious battle scars. Relaxing at the cabin every day, eating delicious home cooked meals, enjoying the medicinal...what a perfect way to (not) ease into tour. 

Bend is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever experienced. The weather was perfect (San Diego weather has been following me everywhere lately - meanwhile its about to be triple digits in Texas), the read icculualy delicious beer flows almost as heavily as the Deschutes River, mountains, outdoor activities everywhere you turn, delicious food, easy to get around all make for a kick ass town. We did some stand up paddle boarding on the Deschutes one day and white water river rafting the next day. The rafting was a more adventurous than I was anticipating, it was awesome. 

I really dig Oregon - it quickly became one of my favorite states in the country and one of the few places in America I could live. The people, the vibe, the scene, the food, the active lifestyle, the fun, the party, the bikes...what a great state. Thank you Oregon. 

Grinds

I have always heard that Portland was a big time foodie town so was very excited to experience the food. A summary of some of my Oregon meals:

Mothers. First meal in Oregon was at this well known brunch spot. I ordered off the lunch menu. Mistake, good not great. Expectations can be dangerous. B-

Nostrana. Italian restaurant in the SE. Portland is on a grid system and you refer to each area of town by SE, NE, SW, NW. We had a delicious family style meal at Nostrana that restored my faith in the Portland foodie scene. Although like most places in Portland I found the service to be lacking. Food: A, Service C. 

Pine State Biscuits. Portland. Oh. My. Goodness. I had the one with mustard and pickles and honey and this was one of the best things I have ever eaten. Wow. Blown away by how good this was. A+++ 

Big Island Kona Mix Plate. Bend. When my pops moved to Kona 20 years ago via basketball he befriended the Kim family, proprietors of the Big Island Mix Plate. One of the brothers moved and opened a mix plate in Bend so my pops suggested that I swing by, say hi to the family and eat. It was absolutely delicious. I suggested to friends as a PhSA and those who went loved it. Fresh delicious food, great value, good beers on tap = A+. 

Chow. We had an outstanding brunch at what has to be the best breakfast spot in Oregon. 2 hour wait (for hours polloi), awesome vibe, great service and outstanding food. Had a delicious Bloody Mary and a decadent chicken fried steak and eggs. Yet another A+. 

Drake. Bend. Had a decent meal here, nothing special. Service was again suspect. B. 

Tee Shirt Time 

I struggled with my tee shirt decisions in Bend. I was definitely going to wear my Hood shirt one night. It says HOOD on the front in big letters. This is actually a shirt from Neighborhood Bar and Grill in San Diego, not a phish shirt per Se. I stopped by or called Neighborhood at least a dozen times over the course of a year trying to buy this shirt (it's rarely ordered or in stock). It made it's debut in Eugene at the tour opener last year, Phish dropped a hood and we were up close. At the end of the show when Trey does his lookie Lou's, he spotted my shirt and pointed at me and gave me a thumbs up (I know who cares, but I was super stoked). Anyway I try to wear this shirt when I think the band is going to play hood. Like everyone I assumed we would be getting one in Bend (everyone saw Mt. Hood on their way to the show no matter how you got there), I guessed night 2 so wore the shirt for the second show. Night 1 I went with my Kuhl button down shirt, same one I sported for Santa Clara kick off. Saw some symmetry there and it was really hot so went with a comfortable sweat absorbing shirt. 

Phishing Report

7/21/15

Heading into this tour I couldn't be more excited for the state of Phish. As indicated in my last post, I have serious expectations for this tour due to the community, trey being on point from GD50, trey being excited to be back leading his band with guys that can seriously jam. Once again expectations can be dangerous but I was pumped up. 

The venue was a beautiful tiny shed on a field of grass right in the middle of town next to the river. Hundreds of people listened to the show by floating on SUPs or rafts on the river. It also happens to be close to some homes. As such, the show had a very early start (6:30) and finish (10:00 pm). I have mixed feelings about early Phish. I love being done with the show early and having time to go out and explore the town, however Phish at night is better than phish in the light. This wasn't as big an issue in Santa Barbara because it was fall and the sun went down early, however in bend around the summer solstice it was weird walking around during set break during what felt like the middle of the day. 

The reason I bring this up is I felt that it had a big impact on the bend shows. Kuroda was non-existent, our core four seemed to be a bit slowed down by the sun and the phans didn't quite have their mojo either. Who had a bigger impact, the crowd on the band or the band on the crowd?

The boys came out with Sample again. Nothing to report. The sand was well done and gave me some hope but then a bunch of pretty standard first set numbers and a new tune, Blaze On. When it started I thought they were covering the dead - turns out it was a new tune however it was clearly influenced by Trey's practicing the dead for months on end. I had assumed that Trey was busy learning the jerry role and wouldn't have time for new songs. The opposite has actually happened - Trey seems to have been inspired and created a bunch of new songs. Jar says lyrically this seems like a Jimmy Buffet tune and now I can't get the thought out of my head that Blaze on is phish's margaritaville. The jam was good and has potential (as evidenced at Shoreline). Phish still loves the tunes from wingsuit, devotion had a good jam, tube was super short yet again. In the end the wolfmans was really the only decent highlight of the first set. 

The second set opened with Ghost. Nothing special. It's always fun to see where Phish is based on the ghost drop. For a tour opener not a bad drop but nowhere close to on point. Again the daytime threw me off a bit, ghost is a song for the night. Then birds followed by mikes (yet another night song). When they went into wedge I immediately thought of Chicago and how that wedge turned that night into a great musical evening. Not this time. This wedge stayed in the box. 

Everyone gets a fuego marked our 4th wingsuit tune of the evening. Seems like fuego is regressing. Early in it's career Fuego was a great jam vehicle, however it hasn't really been jammed out proper for a bit. Too bad because it is set up to be taken out for a spin. After fuego the band cold stopped and then started a horrible new tune. Maybe the lyrics are great to read or something but this song bored me to death. Put Shade on the shelf, please and thank you. 

After that middle of the second set snooze fest phish dropped another new song - no man in no mans land. This song is dope! Straight funk, super danceable, just a fun tune. Definitely my favorite of the new songs. All things considered, 2 of 3 new songs were solid. And even if you don't line it, new phish is good phish. 

Then the paug...no hydrogen, definite starts and stops between, no alligator mouths made this this as far from a traditional "mikes groove" as possible. The paug transitioned nicely to boogie on (4 shows in and the only cover thus far) and then an in the box chalkdust to close the set. Not quite the chalkdust I was expecting when I heard rumors that Trey indicated during GD50 that he couldn't wait to get back to Phish and play a 45 minute chalkdust. Theme is one of my favorite phish tunes, enjoyed it in the encore slot but again standard fair. 

Overall I would consider night one pretty standard phish, it's great to have the boys back however nothing extraordinary here. Wolfmans was ok, liked 2 of the new tunes but overall musically a below average night of Phish. Similar to a great basketball team, it takes time to find the zone with each other if you haven't been playing together for awhile. 

7/22/15

Following another fun day in Bend, Phish opened with Stash. Stash is a great song and good opener. Well played, the band seemed to be a bit more on right away - they had a show under their belt. Then we got another new number - How Many People Are You. Page's vocals on this tune are brutal. Too bad because the song is a straight fire rocker. Out of the gate this song reminded me of panic actually. Hard charging rock n roll jam. 

Winterqueen followed with yet another beautifully played piece by Trey. Much to my surprise, the Winterqueen from Miami is one of my favorite tunes from last year. I have listened to that version again and again. This is another beautiful version and apparently I have become a huge fan of Winterqueen. 

Another new tune, heavy rotation, a bluesy type of number again with pretty rough vocals by page. Let Phil Sing. Or something. Again I liked the jam out of the song. It is has been obvious to me for a long time that I like phish for the music, not the lyrics. All of the music I gravitate towards is skewed towards the instruments than the lyrics/singing. The new songs are reaffirming this for me. Trey crushes a solo here again. As much as the band is still finding their sea legs together, Trey is the greatest guitarist in the world at the absolute height of his powers and crushing and destroying everything in his path. 

Back on the train follows, always a fun number. Again Trey is on point and you can hear some of his new GD50 sounds. Fun version. 

Similar to last year in Eugene when Phish added Plasma to the mix, we got another new song for Phish from Tab. For now I can take or leave this song although I see some potential. Maze comes firing out of Scabbard and as usual is a pretty hot number, hard charging throughout. Good times. 

Up next is Mercury, another new tune. No better place to drop some new songs than the tour openers I suppose. Mercury is a good tune, I like the harmonization, standard part of the tune has a nice beat to bob your head to. Again too many lyrics and too much singing for my taste but the musical part of the song is pretty cool. I like the slowdown and speed up at the end. That speed up at the end of the song has the potential to be taken out as a serious jam vehicle and can easily see Mercury opening a set and then alligatorig into a rocker. Standard fun possum closes the set. I felt like band was much more in synch than night one and was ready for set 2. 

We had been white water River rafting during the day so I predicted a water set was coming. With a beautiful opening combo of ASIHTOS -> Waves it appeared we were heading in that direction. Nice start to the set, enjoyed the way they opened and both numbers were very well played. 

Then I think daytime phish got the better of the band and instead of letting their jamming legs out and going for a run, they slowed it down way too much. I like wingsuit but the placement here wasn't to my liking. To follow that with farmhouse was turning bad call to worse. Farmhouse in the middle of the second set after wingsuit = recipe for disaster. 

Fortunately after another middle second set snoozer we were rewarded with the best playing of the weekend. Coincidence that this was when the sun went down? Probably not. Either way, Phish dropped easily the best jam of the weekend in Simple -> First Tube. This simple immediately will go onto my great phish jams playlist. Absolutely crushed the jam, Trey on fire, patient, bluesy, beautiful playing. He and page (also shining here) are going back and forth and the band is locked and loaded in perfect unison. First tube standard but absolutely rocking (as always). 

I love me some gin, tried to do the gin shuffle with my crew but couldn't pull it off. For whatever reason the shuffle only seems to work when Grant and I are together. I like the unusual placement for Gin and hope it moves around the setlist more than it's standard first set placement. And this gin to close out the bend run was smoking. Strong finish. 

DJ Phink Musical recommendation

Bonobo Black Sands

Post show I love me some chill electronic downbeat. Black Sands is one of my favorite chill chill albums. Great album to put on when it's time to take er easy, dude. 

Bend Over

I enjoyed night 2 in bend and thought it was better than night 1. Night 1 had the excitement of the band being back and the fans being ready to go however musically the band just seemed to have IT a bit more together for night 2. That being said these shows definitely felt more like a warm up for the rest of the tour. Expectations, while dangerous, remain very high for this tour as it seems to be picking up steam.