Phish - Headphones Jam
Happy (tour announcement?) Tuesday Sanity.
Today I am going to share some Phish, perhaps you have heard of them. As promised (or perhaps threatened), I am going to get to them but weave in a whole lot of unnecessary stories about myself (#onbrand).
After the Love Day post, I was thinking back to my favorite February 14ths and one immediately came to mind… 2003. It was the Winter Tour Opener of 2.0 at the Forum in Inglewood. I brought my girlfriend at the time to her first (LA), second and third (Vegas) shows. It was the first but unfortunately not the last time I have been overly optimistic about bringing a non-phishy special lady friend on a big Phish run. I also did this for an MSG NYE run (2011?) that was a disaster and led to the dissolution of that relationship. In 2003 with Gianna we had a great time and she was a good sport about it. However I was unsuccessful in turning the hard core Nine Inch Nails fan into a Phish fan and to date her show count remains at three.
While the MSG -> Hampton return shows were incredibly energetic and fun, at least outside the Hampton show where we ate too much of smoking Joe’s (RIP) boomers, they were super sloppy and musically underwhelming. My theory is that Phish was aware of this so they practiced hard for a month straight and came out firing in 2003 for that Winter tour. Those shows are incredible, 2/16 especially (the DWD -> Seven Below and the Viper). There is some single shot video out there on youtube that is fun to put on late night, however this is not the 2.0 I am featuring for the SSOD. This was just a sidebar when thinking about Love Day.
I have been on a “professional hiatus” for almost thirteen years which is bananas. The primary reason for that was the death of my mother. I think about her every day but have been thinking even more about it lately as one of the most important humans in my world is dealing with a similar, but different, situation. Heart breaking barely even begins to describe it. It was the most painful and yet most transformative event of my life. Since I have discussed this many times before, I won’t get into all the details again here but the course of my life changed forever. Professional success wasn’t nearly as important as personal happiness. It seems so clear now but it wasn’t at the time.
On occasion I am asked how I have been able to pull off not working for so long. There are a number of factors that have made it possible. As with almost everything in my life, it starts with my parents. A financial education from a young age, something everyone deserves and I think the American education system has failed most kids terribly. While the financial support ended in college, being able to graduate debt free was critical; compounding capital has been my friend. The finance profession I choose was a bitch but it paid very well. Sold my soul for a number of years and missed a lot of great Phish in the process. I was also taught how to invest. I have always lived below my means. Not having children. As with everything, luck and timing play a huge role. Finally I am very focused on managing my expenses. I live in a 600 square foot apartment. I drive the same car I bought new in 1998. I collect moments (and magnets). I cut the cable chord long before it was cool. I “borrow” all of my families and friends various accounts. And I don’t have a livephish paid account which FINALLY (lol) leads to today’s SSOD...
With no paid account, I always pay attention to the featured music. This month’s included a lot of great stuff. Rift (my favorite poster), 1993 from The Roxy in Atlanta (my first shows where I was working as the box office manager), the wild debut of Carini from Amsterdam and the Sanity Song of the Day… Headphones Jam. Most (if not all) of you will already be very familiar with this jam session however I figured it was worth featuring because I love it so much and will include a download link in the comments.
47 minutes and 32 seconds of pure studio jamming, it is some of my favorite “studio” phish of all time. It was released during the dark days between 2.0 and 3.0 when we thought Phish was done forever. Headphones Jam was recorded in the Barn during the Undermind recording sessions. As part of a Sirius promotion in 2006, the winner was given the option to hold onto and keep the track from themselves or share it with the community. Making me proud to be part of this community, the winner choose to share it - pretty much the exact opposite of what that health care scumbag did with the Wu-Tang album.
Anyway it is an incredible piece of Phish musical history and one that I recommend you put on and listen to again if it has been awhile or on the very small chance have never heard before. It is great background music.
Thanks for listening. Peace, love and music.
Today’s picture is from a recent hike where I was listening to the Headphones Jam.
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