This Has All Been Wonderful: A Travel Monologue from Summer 1994, the Year Phish Became Phish by David Steinberg

Author:David Steinberg [Steinberg, David]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2014-04-18T16:00:00+00:00

Zzyzx Tour Lesson Number Eight: Always give the band members a way out when you’re talking with them. They will always be far more fascinating to you than you will be to them. Remember that and try to make sure that they can always escape if you’re annoying them. I was always careful to try to not overstay my welcome but see above re young math geeks and their ability to interact successfully with others. I didn’t know it, but I was heading for a conflict.

Every city needs something to distinguish itself. Sure it’s the capitol of Iowa and has a very active river pouring through its heart, but Des Moines tends to be forgotten. Most cities have some cool nickname to call it by. What does Des Moines get? Apparently the city mainly goes by “DSM.” When you’re forced to use your airport code, it doesn’t make people rush to buy plane tickets. They do have a secondary nickname based on their insurance industry roots: Hartford of the West. I can see the ad campaign now. “Come to Des Moines! It’s just like Hartford, only in the Central Time Zone!” Des Moines needed a way to create an identity and in the mid 90s they thought they had found it.

They would build skybridges. Lots and lots of skybridges! You can walk for four miles around Des Moines without ever having to cross a street or go outside. They even tried to get the nickname “City of Skywalks.” Maybe it’s time for the Roadside America authors to stage an intervention and get them to build the world’s largest Ear of Corn, lest people ask themselves, “Is this tedium? No, this is Iowa.” Right now the largest ear is in Oliva, Minnesota. Where’s your Iowan pride?

However, Des Moines had not yet gotten out their maize. I tried to spend the hours before the show wandering the skywalks but that was just about as exciting as you think it would be. Besides, it was way too nice of a day to spend in sealed passages. Hanging out by the venue was a better idea for one reason: the tribes were starting to gather.

After traveling solo for weeks, it was a great change of pace to have others along for company. Shorter drives lowered the barrier to stay on tour, leading to more people hitting the road. The lot now featured Amy “Wheelitzo” Caygill. She had a letter published in the brand new Schvice asking for a nickname to replace her “lame excuse of a name.” Wheelitzo was Mike’s helpful suggestion. When that happens you just have to run with it. There also was the woman who had the big crush on Mike who spent her afternoons bantering with the one who preferred Page over which one was more important to the music on a given night. There were a few tapers and vendors and the Greenpeace crew. It might have not been the Grateful Dead lot, but it was large enough to be interesting without attracting the problems that lurked with the bigger group.

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