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Were you tripping at the best show you've been to?

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phishtastcivoyage Permalink
Just wondering what percentage of people were tripping on something at the show they consider to be the best they have been to.
I started seeing the band in 04 and of all the shows I've seen, two are tied for best I've ever seen, 6/19/04 at SPAC and 12/30/12 at MSG. At the spac show I was sober except for a couple hits of pot and at the MSG show on the 30th I had taken a hit of acid.

Sometimes I wonder how much of a factor drugs are in people considering a show as the best they have ever been to or whatever.

For some perspective, I was tripping balls at camden 11 and thought it was amazing but the replay value of the show wasn't that great, nor was the general response to that show.
Score: 3

bostonron Permalink
bostonron I'm on drugs (real drugs. Not weed or booze) at probably 85% of the shows I've seen. I could be underestimating that percentage too.
Score: 2

Slothberries Permalink
Slothberries Yes. 12/31/95 I was on two hits of Ecstacy....MDMA...whatever u want to call it. It was the real deal, not the dirty 'E' circulated back then

Yes. 8/17/97. Tripping balls on Mescaline. We took the pills during the break between the day set and the EPIC set II. I got really sick after taking it. But once that passed, the euphoria kicked in and I had what turned out to be one of the best nights of my life.
Score: 1

bostonron Permalink
bostonron I've seen some amazing shows. I can't pick a "best". I can say my favorite attended show was 6.30.00, and I was on mushrooms. But my all time peak musical experience was the Tower Jam. I was on some killer liquid. I'm sure my experience was enhanced by the L. That was without a doubt the strongest feelings I have ever felt witnessing any live music.
Score: 2

BernardShakey Permalink
BernardShakey Yeah it was awesome. No shit, the stage lights kind of made the top of everyone's hair look like halos, which flew up and danced around as iridescent music notes. Mike was glowing green. It was crazy.
Score: 1

lacesoutmike Permalink
lacesoutmike Booms at 11/28/09. YEM vocal jam shattered my existence.
Score: 5

MomaDan Permalink
MomaDan No. I took molly for the first time at my second favorite show and kinda got distracted during the 2nd set. I could hear and feel the music but the experience was very overwhelming. Its easy to see why some people get carried away talking during the music, e makes me really chatty.
Score: 2

dkast85 Permalink
dkast85 nope
Score: 2

AnalogKid Permalink
AnalogKid Yes, but it was usually a modest dosage without the use of anything else.

When I go too far, I don't remember much. Like NYE last year. Speaking of which, I'd like to apologize to everyone else in section 105 for the last half of that night. I can admit now that I did not make Phish play "Iron Man."

I love you all.
Score: 2

johnnyd Phish.net Staff Permalink
johnnyd Almost definitely not.
First, there's no way I could identify the "best" show I went to.
Second, I've probably dosed at maybe 6 - 10 shows out of 80-ish. So the odds are strongly against.
That said, if one of the nights of the Went or Lemonwheel is "the best show I went to," then maybe the answer is yes.
Score: 3

SpiritWolf Permalink
SpiritWolf i dont think L necessarily means a great show- note 12/29/12, i felt very off and weird about that show even while tripping. I do think however i have pretty good luck picking my trip dates. 3/4 out of trip shows land in my top 4. 6/16/12 -4.2 , 7/6/12 -4.6, 12/31/12 -4.5
Score: 0

MiguelSanchez Permalink
MiguelSanchez i would consider the 3 best shows i've seen to be 8/13/96, 12/6/97, and 12/29/98, and I was sober at all 3.
Score: 3

WGphan92 Permalink
WGphan92 Best two shows I've seen were under the influence of drugs. Got dosed, 1 hit of decent L, SPAC n1, 7/6/12 and it was the funniest and most fun show I've ever seen. Best show I've seen was 12/30/12 and I took moon rocks. Had them tested, they were legit. 2nd set was amazing.. I felt feeling I didn't know existed, raged harder than ever.
Score: 0

soslowly Permalink
10/26/10 and 12/30/12 were both enhanced by L. they wouldve been great dead sober as well
Score: 2

Frankster Permalink
Frankster Big Cypress + 1/8 of Toronto fuel = greatest experience ever!
Score: 0

elfinito Permalink
@phishtastcivoyage said:

Sometimes I wonder how much of a factor drugs are in people considering a show as the best they have ever been to or whatever..
I thin they are of course a factor. Hallucinogens certainly affect the way you feel music.

That said -- I make a point to be 100% sober every few shows I attend. And many of my favorites have been at these shows. (6/29/2000, 4/2/1998, 7/31/2009, and 12/28/12 for some examples)

Though 3 gel-tabs at Great Went for the Art-jam set is my most "memorable" Phish experience. (Perhaps slightly too much) pure MDMA at 2/28/03 and 7/30/03 made for my most "intense" Phish experiences.
Score: 0

lefty Permalink
lefty Yes... for the entire 2012 Dicks run. Different concoction each night.
Score: 4

tidemikey Permalink
drugs doesnt make the show good

but if its a great show it will prob add even more excitement

was just irie at lbc and that was one of the best second sets eva for me and show

face was tripped at 6/19/04 tho oh boy
Score: 0

MJZ1974 Permalink
MJZ1974 Let's see...

6-19-94: 2 doses of good, clean LSD.
12-6-97: Mushrooms
6-3-11: High on life.

I enjoyed all 3 equally.
Score: 2

me_no_are_no_nice_guy Permalink
me_no_are_no_nice_guy @Phlat_Brim_Kid said:
@johnnyd @sethadam1 @theemu is thayer a way would could add the substances we were on to our stats?

Or maybe how f***ed up feature, like a 1-10 scale?
This is the worst idea I've ever read on this message board.

My answer however, is yes/probably.
Score: 2

steamstash Permalink
steamstash well i have to agree with @tidemikey on this one.
At MSG this year I was on no drugs besides a hit of super clean L on the 31st.

The whole run was amazing but that last show definitely struck me as something important in own way, much more than the rest.

The 31st was my first show on the rail, and most certainly my favorite experience to come yet. Im not saying that the L made it the best show yet for me (definitally would have still been in my top 3) but god damn did it heighten the excitement. For some reason Character Zero was way more effective on my psyche. That song really got me going.

I really like this thread and am excited to see what others will post. Thanks OP!!!
Score: 1

roybelly Permalink
roybelly this is an interesting thread but dangerous......statute of limitations expired on all the crazy shit I did in my youth, so I will occasionally weigh in.....but for those who are still living la vida loca, my advice is to live a double life and keep your heads down
Score: 3

MiguelSanchez Permalink
MiguelSanchez On the flip side, the best shows I've seen with hallucinogens would be:

7/11/00
11/11/98
7/4/99(fire work'ed)
Score: 0

Chilly Permalink
Chilly 12/29/11 I was tripping and that was definitely one of the most fun shows I've been too. Mainly because I got my first Sloth, YEM and Maze within the first 5 songs. Was not even very f***ed up when those songs took place either, but that put me in the best mood possible, so when the doses really kicked in, I was already losing my shit.

Definitely not the best show I've been at, but one of my favorites.

Honestly the best in terms of song selection and quality of the music, I probably was sober for, but I don't even notice being sober/fucked up once the music takes me. Sometime when set break hits, those lights turn on and I realize, I am super super spun, but during the music, I'm just there, dancing my ass off and grinning from cheek to cheek.
Score: 1

Pweso81 Permalink
Pweso81 I like acid.
Score: 4

Ramble_On Permalink
not at the best shows I've seen but always ends up being the most fun/craziest dance party shows.
Score: 0

phishhheads Permalink
Yes. Def. & mdma
Score: 0

Jimmymac03 Permalink
Jimmymac03 I think every show is the best when I am there in the moment, regardless of drugs or no drugs. That being said my favorite Phish experience was Long Beach this past year and I was on good MDMA. 12/30 this year was just beer and weed and I was exhausted by the end of the show. Mushrooms on 12/31 made for a very enjoyable evening.

Mushrooms @ Oswego was a life changing event. I thought we were all on a giant conveyor belt heading under the stage to the afterlife. Yet I was overjoyed by that fact. It was our last party on earth.
Score: 2

Cantaloupe Permalink
Yeah. Admittedly, I am able to hear the music more clearly, and find it easier to pick out each player and what they are doing at a given moment. On top of the sound being enhanced, it unlocks a kind of childlike excitement in me where everything takes on a new, grander meaning. I am much more likely to experience something spiritual or life-changing in that circumstance.

Regardless of all that though, I've had loads of fun at every show, and can tell--tripping or not--when they are really getting it. Still, I can't help that the best shows I've seen I also happened to be tripping.
Score: 4

DanceTheJig728 Permalink
DanceTheJig728 @Cantaloupe said:
Yeah. Admittedly, I am able to hear the music more clearly, and find it easier to pick out each player and what they are doing at a given moment. On top of the sound being enhanced, it unlocks a kind of childlike excitement in me where everything takes on a new, grander meaning. I am much more likely to experience something spiritual or life-changing in that circumstance.

Regardless of all that though, I've had loads of fun at every show, and can tell--tripping or not--when they are really getting it. Still, I can't help that the best shows I've seen I also happened to be tripping.

This

And yes I was
July 08, 2012

Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY

Set 1: AC/DC Bag > My Soul, Camel Walk, Sample in a Jar, Wilson > Party Time, Gumbo, Nellie Kane, Driver, Foam, If I Could, Split Open and Melt > La Grange

Set 2: Axilla > Light > Twist[1] > Kill Devil Falls[2] -> My Friend, My Friend[3] > Swept Away > Steep > Piper > Free > Kung > Harry Hood[4] > Cavern > David Bowie

Encore: You Enjoy Myself[5]

[1] Brief In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida tease from Trey.
[2] Theme from Jeopardy! tease.
[3] No "Myfe" ending.
[4] Kung quote.
[5] Flash Light tease from Mike; theme from Sanford and Son teases in vocal jam.

Notes: La Grange was played for the first time since September 22, 1999 (301 shows). Twist contained a brief In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida tease from Trey, Kill Devil Falls included a Jeopardy! theme tease, and Hood contained a Kung quote. My Friend My Friend did not contain the "Myfe" ending. Page thanked the fans and crew for a great tour prior to You Enjoy Myself. YEM subsequently contained a Flash Light tease from Mike and teases of the theme to Sanford and Son in the vocal jam.

Score: 0

ledzepmaster Permalink
ledzepmaster I was but, the year old L didn't do too much for me... but then again that Storage Jam was wild.
Score: 1

Theme85 Permalink
f*** no.
Score: 1

ThatPharGone Permalink
ThatPharGone tripping balls at my 2 favorite shows,
also tripping balls at the only phish show i didnt have a blast at
Score: 1

joyjoy Permalink
Yes, at the best but also at the worst show(s)... doesn't make or break, can enhance but can also get in the way.
Score: 1

atkins450 Permalink
atkins450 It's tough to tell because shows become unbelievably meaningful to me in that state of mind. The show I'd list based on the experience also matches up well with my favorite tape of shows I've seen, so I'd say yes. Bethel II.
Score: 1

spacecoyote Permalink
spacecoyote Nope.

Music exists within the constraints of time and space, psychedelics take you out of time and space.
Score: 1

Herbdacious Permalink
Herbdacious My fav shows are Bethel N2, Albany N2, Manchester, 12/31/10, and Charlotte '10(ICCULUS)

I have only tripped at....
SPAC 09
Bethel N3
and NYE'11
Score: 0

atomx Permalink
atomx ive been spun on mush or L for every one of my shows except technically my 2nd show because my girlfriends sister got me bunk blotter, still got wicked high on the show though. replay value is grate and all but im there to be in the moment and thats why i take entheogens at shows., my first show i ate 11+ grams of shrooms and didnt realize where i was at until about 20 minutes after the show, just staring at the empty stage lol, my last show i had upwards of 1500 mics of some 99.9 and 2-3 grams, danced my ass off hard enough to last me until this summer haha. i just really love phish and tripping balls so they go good together for me ;)

edit: actually 12-28-09 and 12-31-09 i wasnt on psychedelics but not by choice lol!
Score: 0

StStephen Permalink
StStephen Was (fortunate to be) dosed at my top 3:
8/31/12
9/2/12
12/30/12

I don't think I'd feel differently about these three had I not taken a dose, or taken something else, or just had beers. These three shows were unbelievable, and continue to be upon countless sober listens.
Score: 0

Jiggs Permalink
Jiggs No.
Score: 0

RovingReporter Permalink
RovingReporter I gave up all that stuff when they got back together. Had been head-full far too much on many Phil tours. Now, just a few beers and occasional puff. I cannot handle my shit, therefore I just don't do it.
Score: 1

SolarGarlic15 Permalink
SolarGarlic15 Most of the time when I trip at a show, I'm a bit distracted in the first set .. especially if I am on a lawn. My brain thinks at a mile a minute and instead of completely letting go and grooving I find myself wondering things like what kind of candle Trey has burning behind him. hahah but it can also be really fun. I find molly enhances a show for me most. It gets me so in tune with the music and I boogie hard!
Score: 0

JayDubya Permalink
JayDubya Probably
Score: 1

Phishin90 Permalink
Phishin90
12/31/95- Great ectasy (first time)
11/13/97- Shrooms
7/17/98 - Super L
10/31/98- Super L
Score: 1

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