On August 1st, 2015 I woke up in my plush kingsized bed and scuttled down to a Starbucks kiosk in the hotel lobby where I bought three large cups of some strong daystarter; one for m’lady and two for me.

When we finally got outside it was hot, as it tends to be in Atlanta, Georgia in the middle of the summer. We got to the Lakewood Amphitheatre good and early and spent the bulk of the day meandering the myriad of mini-lots that surrounded the well-forested (and yet, surprisingly urban) venue.

The lot has always been a bit of a mystery to me. It seems that some vendors always get the best spots while others appear to get shut down at the random whim of some member of event security. It was at this show that I noticed one of the biggest food vendors in the lot (and a vendor that I had seen many times before) was heavily emblazoned with Phish logos, a big no-no if you are unaffiliated with the band. And whattya know, they had a prime location in the lot too. If anyone should be getting shut down…

It made me wonder if Phish Inc. had infiltrated the lot scene? Don’t get me wrong, good on ‘em if they did, but you’d think they’d be a bit more forewith about it, non?

No matter, it was a great day spent with good friends and when showtime came the band delivered yet again.

We were near the back of the pavilion this time – dead centre – and it was hot. Both literally and figuratively (young ‘uns might want to look those two words up on the google-machine); the band seemed to kick up a notch with every degree.

And we’re talking Fahrenheit here.

High energy, raging, sick…call it what you will but one thing it was was hot. From the Runaway Jim opener to the show-closing Tweeprise the band made sure the crowd was sweating as much as they were.

After the Rock & Roll encore we poured out of the venue – each of us equally drenched and satisfied – like we had just crawled out of big rockin’ hot tub together. M’lady and I hopped a ride with one friend and drove to the home of another for a nice relaxing wind-down of an afterparty. I remember all of us sitting around in deckchairs, so utterly spent from two back-to-back sweltering shows that we almost didn’t have the energy to lift the many big cans of hoppy beers that were being liberally offered around.

Almost.

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