Phish Phest Phiasco - or was it???
Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2004 1:42 pm
Perhaps some of you have heard of them. They are a jam band called Phish, they are from Vermont and this weekend was their final concert.
Preparations have been going on in Coventry, VT for months. Truckload after truckload of dirt and stone going through the small rural community to the concert site at the rate of one every five minutes; all day, every day for nearly three months. New roads, parking and a concert audience area needed to be built to accomodate the sold out crowd of 70,000 fans.
The locals had meetings with the promoters and law enforcement officials. They expressed concerns over everything from traffic control to a potential increase in crime and influx of drug addicted rock-n-rollers.
They were afraid of the unknown. The police were prepared for anything. Well, almost anything.
In the week before the concert, wave after wave of rain inundated the area. Then tropical storm Bonnie moved up the coast bringing even more rain and hurricane Charlie was expected to follow. The freshly built roads and parking areas and concert site were reduced to a mud bog.
And then the fans came. 36,000 trying to get into the site by Friday evening. Torrential rain, cars up to their axels in mud, people attempting to pitch tents and set up camp sites in six inches of muck. And more arriving by the minute. By 11:00 PM Friday night traffic was backed up for miles on Interstate 91 and US Route 5. Cars were literally having to be towed into the parking site.
Under these conditions one would expect short tempers and a lot of yelling and screaming and general unhappiness.
That never happened.
On I-91 the concert traffic formed a single file line. Nobody tried to cut off anyone and through traffic was allowed to pass unhindered. On the local roads the Phish fans did their best to maintain order and not tie things up any more than necessary.
The locals who had been concerned about drugs and crime found themselves offering food and water. Restaurants and stores were doing a booming business and the whole scene resembeled one gigantic party.
The rain ended early on Saturday but the grounds were still a muddy mire. With over 40,000 fans already on site, the police and concert promoters knew that there was simply no way they could get any more vehicles into the site. They made the announcement that no more cars would be allowed in and the the rest should turn around and go home.
Again, one would expect disorder and grief. Instead, locals opened up their property and yards as makeshift parking lots. The people stuck up in the interstate highway simply pulled their cars off the road, got out and walked the rest of the way in; as much as fifteen miles and more. But they were orderly about it and left the lanes of travel open and unblocked. Local people with vans and trucks started picking people up and created a instant makeshift shuttle service. By the time the concert started at 5:00 PM over 50,000 fans had made it into the concert venue. For those that didn't make it, the county fairgrounds were opened up for campers to spend the night and other accomodations were offered in other areas.
Reports are that the two day concert was a smashing success and everyone had a wonderful time.
What could have been a total disaster for everyone was turned around by people comming together. Total strangers helping strangers for the benefit of all.
Perhaps there is hope after all.
Preparations have been going on in Coventry, VT for months. Truckload after truckload of dirt and stone going through the small rural community to the concert site at the rate of one every five minutes; all day, every day for nearly three months. New roads, parking and a concert audience area needed to be built to accomodate the sold out crowd of 70,000 fans.
The locals had meetings with the promoters and law enforcement officials. They expressed concerns over everything from traffic control to a potential increase in crime and influx of drug addicted rock-n-rollers.
They were afraid of the unknown. The police were prepared for anything. Well, almost anything.
In the week before the concert, wave after wave of rain inundated the area. Then tropical storm Bonnie moved up the coast bringing even more rain and hurricane Charlie was expected to follow. The freshly built roads and parking areas and concert site were reduced to a mud bog.
And then the fans came. 36,000 trying to get into the site by Friday evening. Torrential rain, cars up to their axels in mud, people attempting to pitch tents and set up camp sites in six inches of muck. And more arriving by the minute. By 11:00 PM Friday night traffic was backed up for miles on Interstate 91 and US Route 5. Cars were literally having to be towed into the parking site.
Under these conditions one would expect short tempers and a lot of yelling and screaming and general unhappiness.
That never happened.
On I-91 the concert traffic formed a single file line. Nobody tried to cut off anyone and through traffic was allowed to pass unhindered. On the local roads the Phish fans did their best to maintain order and not tie things up any more than necessary.
The locals who had been concerned about drugs and crime found themselves offering food and water. Restaurants and stores were doing a booming business and the whole scene resembeled one gigantic party.
The rain ended early on Saturday but the grounds were still a muddy mire. With over 40,000 fans already on site, the police and concert promoters knew that there was simply no way they could get any more vehicles into the site. They made the announcement that no more cars would be allowed in and the the rest should turn around and go home.
Again, one would expect disorder and grief. Instead, locals opened up their property and yards as makeshift parking lots. The people stuck up in the interstate highway simply pulled their cars off the road, got out and walked the rest of the way in; as much as fifteen miles and more. But they were orderly about it and left the lanes of travel open and unblocked. Local people with vans and trucks started picking people up and created a instant makeshift shuttle service. By the time the concert started at 5:00 PM over 50,000 fans had made it into the concert venue. For those that didn't make it, the county fairgrounds were opened up for campers to spend the night and other accomodations were offered in other areas.
Reports are that the two day concert was a smashing success and everyone had a wonderful time.
What could have been a total disaster for everyone was turned around by people comming together. Total strangers helping strangers for the benefit of all.
Perhaps there is hope after all.
