Photo credit: seatgeek.com
The most anticipated party of Tahoe’s summer is just a few short days away. The band Phish, along with their hordes of fans, are set to descend on Lake Tahoe for shows at Harvey’s Outdoor Amphitheatre on August 9th and 10th. Beyond the draw Phish brings themselves, with fans that travel all across the country to see their shows, the late night festivities and other concerts being held throughout the Stateline/South Lake Tahoe area over Tuesday and Wednesday are sure to entertain anyone who makes the trip to the south end of the lake.
Phish’s roots can be traced to where many Tahoe transplants originated from, Vermont. While they began playing as a band in the early eighties, they didn’t really start to gain much notoriety until the early nineties. Word started to spread about a kooky four-piece band that played with such a style that no show they played could ever be recreated. Moreover, the eccentricity of the band, with off-the-wall aspects to their shows such as vacuum solos, impromptu acapella numbers, and the ability to play several genres of music with precision, quickly got the word out that there’s no band on the planet like Phish.
Night in and night out Phish left it all out for their fans, and by 1996 they had “made it big”. 70,000+ fans attended the bands festival, known as the Clifford Ball. which was unique in that Phish was the only band playing. It’s now common for multiple festivals to be held each summer, all over the country, where several bands will play over the course of one-to-three days. But prior to the Clifford Ball, only a few festivals like those common today existed (High Sierra and Reggae on the River being two such examples). Phish has clearly made their mark on the music world.
Many people consider Phish to be the heirs to the throne left behind by the Grateful Dead, when leader of the Dead, Jerry Garcia, passed away on August 9th, 1995. While the fan base has always had a crossover, the music does not share many similar strains beyond the core place improvisation holds for both musical acts. However, with both groups, fans know how to have a good time, and throw a very good party. If the scene is anything like their two shows last Friday and Saturday at Washington’s State’s Gorge Amphitheater, arguably the raddest place to see live music in the country, South Shore is literally about to explode (in a good way)!
Even if the musical acts scheduled for August 9th and 10th don’t do it for you, people watching is sure to be a fun activity. Business owners in the area have been looking forward to these two days for months, and are anticipating a full on take-over of the South Shore area. Sounds like fun to me.
If you’ve got tickets for Phish, lucky you! These shows are gonna be hot! If you’re shut out, and don’t feel like trying your luck at finding an “extra ticket” on lot, here’s a list of the other parties happening:
Tuesday 8/9/11:
Melvin Seals and JGB-Mo’s Place, South Lake Tahoe, CA
EOTO-Blu Nightclub, Stateline, NV
Freq Nasty-Opal Ultra Lounge, Stateline, NV
Dead Winter Carpenter’s-Horizon Casino, Stateline, NV
Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe/Mama’s Cookin’-Horizon Casino, Stateline, NV
“The Bluegrass Ball” featuring: The Travelin’ McCourys, Emmitt-Nershi Band, Jeff Austin (Yonder Mountain String Band), Dead Winter Carpenters, Groove Session, Euforquestra, Bison, and DJ Logic-Horizon Casino, Stateline, NV
Wednesday 8/10/11:
Ivan Neville’s Dumpstafunk-Blue Nightclub, Stateline, NV
Love and Light/Zeb Early-Opal Ultra Lounge, Stateline, NV
Something Different, Harrah’s Casino, Stateline, NV
Dead Winter Carpenter’s-Horizon Casino, Stateline, NV
Lotus/Big Gigantic-Mt Bleu, Stateline, NV
Euforquestra-Horizon Casino, Stateline, NV
“The Bluegrass Ball” featuring: The Travelin’ McCourys, Emmitt-Nershi Band, Jeff Austin (Yonder Mountain String Band), Dead Winter Carpenters, Bison, and D.J. Greyboy-Horizon Casino, Stateline, NV