Little known fact about Matthew: he's a pretty mighty fan of Phish (with the "f" too, but especially with a "ph"). Though he's yet to walk around the office doting a fant-shirt (he tends to stick to the short-sleeve button downs), the self-proclaimed momentary exaggerator claims to have attended over twenty shows. It seems the stars were more-than aligned last week when he was reminded of the Phish-i-ness he used to swim in. Didn't someone say mercury was in retrograde? Who knew Clif Bars would ever make it into the lyrics of song?

First, an old friend from Virginia who is now living in LA left a message about a Halloween Phish Festival #8 in Indio CA: “BRO, we’re going, buy your ticket NOW!”

It’s been years since I caught a show and have moved on from a musical interest in jam-bands, but the invitation offered nostalgic appeal. I attended lots of shows while in college on East Coast including Phish’s “super-festivals” of the past like the Clifford Ball, the Great Went, and Big Cypress. Each year the end of summer tour crowds swelled past 100,000 and the band’s fairytale fusion of blues, jazz, folk, country, reggae, and rock fueled an absolutely electrified party that also seemed to be spinning out of control. On January 1st 2000 as the sun came up over the Everglades, in a grumpy, sleep-deprived millennium resolution, I decided it was time to turn a chapter and haven’t thought much about the band since.

Second, this week while putting together a presentation for an upcoming biz review here at the home office in Berkeley, “PHISH” popped up in my inbox. Turns out there’s a CLIF reference on the latest Phish album...talk about coincidence.Trey sings, “Got a blank space where my mind should be, got a CLIF Bar and some cold green tea.”

I can relate although the blank spaces have filled in over the years. It’d be great to see Phish again.

And what will fuel my Indio reprise? Peanut Butter Pretzel Mojo bars and yerba mate sun tea.