Zepp Theatre, Osaka, Japan
Phish 6.16.00, Zepp, Suminoe-ku, Osaka, Japan
Set I: Limb By Limb, Sample in a Jar, First Tube, Golgi Apparatus, Heavy Things, Dirt, My Sweet One, Reba, Character Zero
Set II: Runaway Jim, Theme from the Bottom, Dog Faced Boy, Driver, Slave to the Traffic Light, Julius, Bug
Encore: Bouncin, Harry Hood
I spent the day wandering around Osaka. It's the city of water, with plenty of rivers and canals conencting the city. The shopping area was dense, but not as hectic as Tokyo. Beano found glow sticks. We saw Page crossing the street and I took a quick photo. Senor and I went bowling and you buy your rental shoes at vending machines. Went over to Cosmo Square, where the venue was located. Zepp had a theatre in Tokyo (I think it's a chain?) as well. I saw a couple of posters and flyers around town.
Flyer for the Osaka shows
This one was spacious and there was a carpet! If you spilled a drink, guys in white shirts and towels sprinted into action and cleaned up the mess in seconds. They reminded me of ball boys in tennis at the US Open. They both hunched down, in the middle of the action, ready to pounced when duty called. You'd never get that sort of service in America.
The last Phish show was nearly perfect, borderline flawless. When I burned Phish shows for friends and newbies, I always include the last show in Japan... 6.16.00 Osaka. It's a clean crisp show, one of my favorites to listen to one rainy days when I need a morale boost. I had several hilarious moments at the show. I got separated from Senor and Beano and hung out with Zobo about fifth or sixth row for most of the first set. We had so much fun and enjoying life in the moment. During the lyrics in Golgi Apapratus, the band utters, "I saw you with a ticket stub in your hand!" Zobo dug into his wallet, whipped out his ticket and held it up over his head. With a belly full of mushrooms, and a head cloudy from hashish and Kirin, I busted out laughing, nearly falling to my knees in a hysterical seizure.
I heard all Japanese girls love Zobo!
During First Tube I truned around and say Senor jumping up as high as he could throughout the song. He had a wide smile and everyone around him knew he was having a balls out time. I've known the guy since 1990 and that was one of the happiest moments I had seen him encounter. With each note he tried to jump higher and higher... one of those rare moments when the music and Phish took over your entire body.
At some point during the end of a smoking first set, I was very inebriated and closed my eyes during Reba. I floated or wandered into the middle of a group of locals, about eight or so friends, who left me alone. They kept dancing and encircled me. When I came too, I was competely lost. I had that feeling like I woke up from a dream, but couldn't tell if I was still in a dream. It seemed like a Japan was one long dream. Did all of that happen? I came very close to freaking out. It happens on pyschedelics when you forget where you are. I turned to my left and saw a smiling Japanese girl wearing a tie-dyed shirt. I remembered! I'm in Japan. There was music playing and I looked up at the stage. I was forty feet in front of Trey. I whirled around and say Beano and Senor jamming out to the music. I'm among friends! Then I forgot what song they were playing. Was it still Reba, or did they segue into another song during the short period of time I was trying to get my space together? That's why I write down the setlists. A week straight of very little sleep, too many party favors, and very little food... made me very loopy. I hit a personal high in Japan. I can count on my right hand how many times I've been that far gone since then. I'm a head taller than everyone in Japan. I turned back around and saw the floor of the venue flooded with the dancing and grooving crowd. It was one of those memory burns.
The second set was just as intense. I had not yet heard my favorte song, Slave to the Traffic Light, and knew the second set was my last chance. An hour into the set, I was blessed with an Osaka Slave... shit, a Japan Slave! I stood in awe, near tears, and goosebumps three inches thick bubbled up on my entire body. I was so close to the band I could almost touch them. When I saw Beano soon after, he was pumping his fist. He knew I was waiting all week to hear my favorite song. Nothings more satisfying than flying half way around the world, and hearing one of your favorite bands, play your favorite song. Here comes the cliche... it was as though they did Slave to the Traffic Light just for me.
I can never write enough about Japan. Next year, I hope to go back and live for a short period of time, where I hope I'll pen my novel about my Phishy travels in 2000. There's not a day that goes by where I don't think about Japan. I made some amazing friends. We taught each other an unquantified amount of small things that blended culture, music, and life. I was moved by the Japanese's spiritual approach to music. Despite the communication problems, music and more specifically, Phish, was the middle gorund, where we found a place where we could share the finer moments in life. The friendships and bonds that were created are to this day, some the the strongest and most meaningful on my journey.
I haven't met any of the guys from Phish since their last show in Japan. If I did, I was going to tell them, "Thanks, for going to Japan. It's been an integral source of friendship, inspiration, and sincerity in my often stormy life. Thanks for sharing those intimate moments with me."
I'll be back...
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