All good things....

A drive to Denver, some decent vegetarian food with Mike Thomas (slowest service ever at The Watercourse), some u-turns, a nap later and we were off to the show. Young Ben, always full of ambition was determined to win us the same seats again, so who were we to talk him out of it; after all we were sleeping and far too busy to argue. So we headed back up the mountain for the final night of Red Rocks. Phish had come back and rocked the joint the three previous nights so who knew what tonight had in store? The show opened with the return of Phish's cover of Ween's "Roses are Free." Always a crowd pleaser but this version was especially poignant to me because of the lines "push it into third if you know you're gonna climb that hill" and "get in your car and cruise the land of the brave and free." I had no idea what that was about.
It wasn't the craziness of the last three nights but still a great show. A stunning Reba (my favorite), Grind and Waste in the first set made it a reflective one. A great time to look back on what this all means to me. What is it that makes me travel all this way? Is it the music? Is it the friends? Is it the party? I think it is a chance to feel that everyone around me is sharing in a common goal; to have the best time they can. So yes it is the music, the friends and the party. It all comes together to make for the best time on the planet at that moment.
We had been alerted by some crafty friends beforehand to look to the left of the stage and see if we could see under the tarp. On my way down to the bathroom before the first set I saw a cymbal sticking out, so I wasn't too surprised when most of the second set featured Bill Kreutzmann on drums (Undermind>Zero). I wasn't surprised but I was certainly pleased.
I had only seen a special guest with Phish once before and it was George Clinton; in my opinion, not the best. The funky Undermind (so glad this is being played now), pornfunkadelic 2001, and a rip roaring Character Zero all featured a dual drum attack making for some real rocking renditions. Now I am not the world's biggest Zero fan, but I will tell you, that was THE best performance I have heard. When the band came out to encore Jon commented on how lonely he now felt out there with no Billy, and I agreed. This special guest added to Phish by really meshing in and intensifying the flow by being another layer .
The farewell song had to be Slave to the Traffic Light, there is no better way to say goodbye to a long weekend than with its tremendous build and peak. A song like Slave will always lead to reflection and introspection. You think of all the new moments that you will be walking away from this experience with. The new town and venue you now know, the new journey you had getting there, the new music that has filled that adventure, and most importantly the new (and old of course) people that you share those moments with. It is what makes a Phish show the magical thing that it is. While the reward is the show, the journey is an incredible reward in and of itself.