Kid Rock and Phish

When I was attending college, I had many friends that loved the band Phish. I had never heard of the band before, but grew to love them after hearing a few songs. My college friends would travel to various cities during the summer to see Phish concerts. I always wanted to go, but did not have the money and could not afford to miss school or work. They came to my hometown for a concert one summer. I went with my college friends and finally saw the unique experience that is a Phish show.

 

A few years after I graduated from college, Phish announced that they were going to stop touring and making records together for an unknown amount of time…possibly for good. Phish fans were devastated! A few friends and I decided to go to Las Vegas to see a two night show near the end of their last tour.

 

The Las Vegas trip with my college friends was a lot of fun, and the concerts were amazing. The concerts were general admission, so we waited in line all day in the Las Vegas heat to get seats on the floor in the front, right by the stage. They made a video of the second night and released it on DVD. We were so close to the stage that you could see us on the concert DVD when they panned down to the crowd.

 

The first night, Phish had a special guest – Kid Rock. This was a really strange collaboration. Phish is a laid-back “hippie” kind of group, and Kid Rock is a loud, flamboyant performer. Half the crowd cheered when Kid Rock came out, but the other half was upset and offended because Kid Rock’s style was so different. Kid Rock sang a few songs with Phish – I remember "American Band" most fondly because I thought the grassroots southern rock style reflected both artists the most.