While I was in the shower this morning I decided to make positive use of my day off and go to Burlington. You see, the thing is, I have this love of the band called Phish, they really knock my socks off, in fact, most thoughts I have about photography can be explained with the aid of a strong Phish jam- reacting on the fly to unpredicted elements, separate parts working and cooperating with each other, contact sheets, parallel lines separated across a frame, sporadic moments of complete harmony, etc... I thought going to Burlington, the birthplace of this band, would have an intense emotional impact on me... no. It was a cool city for sure and I will go back for other reasons, but I don't know what I was expecting on this visit, maybe a David Bowie or Antelope jam being blared from public speakers for all in the town to hear???- I'm not sure, I was just expecting more attention and respect to a band that put this town on the map... there was none... I shouldn't be surprised though... I've just had idealistic image of this town in my head for the past 4 years or so and reality is always different from those daydreams. Even Nectars, the bar that served as a platform for the band's growth felt like nothing more than any other bar aside from the single poster on the wall that applauded the band for an album that was a tribute to the bar. I'm excited that Phish plans to tour in 2009, I will get to see a band that is famous for their live shows that I have never seen live. I will get to see if I am love with the idea of their randomness or if I just prefer the comfort of a few jams that really strike me. I wondered around Burlington looking for some sort of familiarity to my feelings and was left with nothing, the most exciting thing I saw in the town was a pink gorilla that I could have seen anywhere; instead I saw it next door to Nectars.
