Road To Nowhere: Rothbury Day 4

The festival also featured several ‘Think Tanks’ which were keynote speakers and panels on climate change and finding alternative energy sources. Several musicians participated in various discussions including: John Bell, Michael Kang, Drew Emmitt, STS9, and others. I truly hope they continue these educational sessions and discussions in the future. They also offered a greening tour of the site on Sunday to the media, but I had other plans that superseded anything this weekend — Trey & Mike.

I was almost late to Trey’s set on Sunday. I was trying to get my blog published yesterday afternoon when they came to escort us down to the photo pit. I had to grab my laptop and took it down with me because there was no way I was going to miss the chance to photograph Trey. I really wasn’t sure what to expect and as soon as he hit the first few chords of Get Back on the Train I knew he was back. Brian and Robert was a surprise. I think playing the two back-to-back was Trey’s way of saying — I’m back, I’m healthy, and it’s because of you (the fans). And I’ll admit it — I shed a tear or two in the photo pit, and I think one of the photographers took a picture of my emotional outburst so we’ll have to see if that surfaces anywhere. But nevertheless, I am happy to officially report: BIG RED has returned! It was really great to see Mike, Fish and Trey get together again on the same stage and makes me hopeful for the future of Phish. Mike’s set was not to be frowned upon either. I was just happy to see the boys back together and in good spirits, I hope it continues.

Trey had some witty banter during his set and spoke of his ride to the site. He had fallen asleep during the ride to wake up and find himself in a town called White Hall; to which he said something to the effect of ‘I’ve been asleep for the past 18 months in White Hall and it’s great to be awake.’ Well, I had a similar experience last night on my way home. Awaking from my nap in the car somewhere north of Indianapolis the first sign I saw was: FISHBACK Creek. Am I reading too much into this? Maybe so, maybe not.

Moving on, I’d like to finish with a few pros and cons of the festival. Overall, it came together nicely. It’s great to see a company like Madison House grow into something so big over the last 10+ years that it was able to put together a festival of this size.

Rothbury Pros:

• Best festival site I’ve been to besides the Telluride Bluegrass Festival
• Great weather — is it always that nice in July in The Mitten?
• Waste diversion
• Best festival installations and decorations — they spared no expense.
• Secret stage in the forest
• Cleanest festival I’ve attended
• Port-o-lets (all 1200) were well maintained during the entire festival.

Rothbury Cons:

• Lack of signage for drinking water on site (nor marked on map)
• No potable water or showers to be found anywhere near the volunteer, vendor and sponsor camping area (nor marked on map)
• Way too much effort on behalf of the security to search bags and people. It took forever to get in. They took everything out of my bag. What were they looking for exactly?
• The Epic Center Fair and Farmer’s Market need to be in a better location for greater traffic flow — these non-profits and greening partners are part of the mission of Rothbury, to help raise awareness of alternative energy sources — I just wish more people would have ventured that way.
• Ice needs to be sold in more than one location.

In conclusion, I think my Rothbury (and 3/4th’s Phish) experience can be summed up with some lyrics written about an ugly pig:

I hope this happens once again.

[All photos by Jennifer Kirk]

[Steel Pulse]

[Taj Mahal]

[Trey Anastasio]

[Mike Gordon]

• CLICK HERE FOR OVER 300 PHOTOS FROM ROTHBURY
• Previously on HT: Rothbury Day 1, Rothbury Day 2, Rothbury Day 3