For the trip, we rented an RV with a couple friends of ours that we first met through Twitter (sounds like my Festival 8 trip, huh? well, it sort of was, except we had already met the vast majority of these people in person). We took our RV, picked them up in Albany, and met up with the rest of our crew, another RV and 2 carloads of people, in Elmira, just south of the venue. We then formed a caravan to drive into the site. Getting in was simple. Security was lax. The search was minimal.

The venue was huge. The only NASCAR track I have ever seen was Loudon, NH. It’s tiny compared to Watkins Glen. A lot of walking was involved to get to the venue, which was in the infield, from our campsite, and the venue was uphill from the campsite, which made it loads of fun doing the walk a couple times a day.

The venue was quite different from Festival 8, my only other Phish festival experience. It was open 24 hours a day during the fest. Ball Square was a neat little area of art installations and demonstrations. The concert field was an odd shape. Instead of spreading from the stage, one side was kind of cut off by a line of trees, where they added vendors. The shape of the field didn’t really matter since the festival only had 30,000 attendees. Had they sold out at 60,000, it would have been a lot tighter in there. In fact, I’n not sure it would have worked all that well. Other than that, however, I thought it was a great venue. The staff all seemed nice and helpful. The place had a nice relaxed vibe. And the views of the rolling hills were incredible. It’s a very beautiful area of New York State.

The crowd differed from Fest 8 in that it was a bit more rowdy, though I have a feeling that’s due to the fact that a lot of younger people were able to attend, being on a holiday weekend in the summer. But while the crowd may have been a bit more rowdy, it was still pretty mellow and everyone had a good vibe. As I said, the area was very relaxed. It has an effect on people. However, I also didn’t go to the general tent camping area, which was probably more of a party scene than the RV lot.

On Saturday, I “ran” the Runaway Jim Memorial 5k. I actually walked it. It was so hot and the race took place on the track. It started around 11:30. With the sun high in the sky on an asphalt track with no shade, it was brutal. I did finish with a time of 50:54 (give or take a minute, as I heard the clock was a minute off). It was really neat to be on the track. I had no idea auto tracks had hills in them. This one was uphill for much of the length with a short steep downhill section. The banking of the turns was killer on my legs. And, of course, there was the heat. My feet were burning by the time I finished.

Now… the music. Overall, the music was awesome. There was a set (second set, second day) that started out great, but quickly died as it turned quite song based. Luckily, there was still a third set to destroy it. My personal highlights were all the covers… Peaches, Life on Mars, Torn and Frayed, Monkey Man, Big Balls, etc… and the great jams… day one second set opener, Storage Jam, Golden Age, Crosseyed and Painless, Simple, Waves->What’s the Use. Then there was the final night. They finished the last set with Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan, but before leaving the stage, they sang the national anthem. When they came back for the encore of First Tube, fireworks started going off. The fireworks lasted longer than the song and the house music played Simon and Garfunkel’s America. It was really a beautiful moment.

It was a great festival and a great way to spend the 4th of July weekend. Our crew had 18 people, 3 cars, and 2 RV’s all in our 2 RV spaces. We had 5 tents, 4 EZ-Ups, 2 sun shades, and more chairs than we knew what to do with. Everyone knew each other from Twitter. It easily falls within my top 3 weekends and is easily the best time I’ve had at a Phish, or any concert, event. It marked my 29th, 30th, and 31st shows, and they were all excellent shows. The glowstick wars were incredible, but I think the beach ball war that took place during the afternoon set on the second day beats out all the glowsticks. I had never seen so many beach balls bouncing around in the audience, and I’ve seen Jimmy Buffett perform to a crowd of about 50,000 (Gillette Stadium). I am looking forward to the next Phish festival. I really hope they do one next year, and I hope they return to Watkins Glen.

Pictures

Anyway… next weekend, I’ll be headed to Watkins Glen, NY for Super Ball IX (that’s nine, not super ballix). It’s Phish’s 9th festival. I will definitely be reporting back from there… but probably not until after I return. And I hope (no promises here) that it won’t take me a month to post about it like it did my trip to Bethel.

This past Memorial Day weekend, I traveled to Bethel, NY to see Phish play three nights at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. Bethel Woods is located on the property that was once part of Max Yasgur’s farm, the piece of property where the Woodstock Music and Art Fair was held in 1969. Visiting Bethel was like a pilgrimage for me, having been quite interested in Woodstock and the 60′s hippie culture since I was about 10 or 11. This post is mainly about my visit to the area, along with some pictures, and what it was like being there, and my thoughts on the venue. I will cover the three Phish shows in another post that will follow.

The Venue

I’ll start with the venue because it’s the easiest part of this. Bethel Woods is sits on a huge piece of property where the Woodstock festival was held. The property includes the amphitheatre, where Phish played, the museum, and the huge piece of land that was the main location for Woodstock. There is a flat dirt spot where the Woodstock stage stood in 1969. There’s also a monument commemorating the event at the corner of the property.

Once you enter the gates, the place is pretty expansive. The amphitheatre is nothing like the standard outdoor music venue. There is no fence in the back of the lawn like most venues. You can just walk around up and down the lawn all you want. In fact, you don’t even have to go into the venue to hear the music. You can just hang out inside the gates. It’s extremely relaxed. The inside is open air with no sides. The sound from everywhere is pristine. I sat in the lawn, in the back of the pavilion, and in the lower section of the pavilion. While the sound obviously got louder as I got closer, it was still crystal clear out on the lawn. The views of the stage are also great from everywhere inside, including the lawn. There are no big screens on the outside of the pavilion, just one on either side of the stage. There are trees on the property that line the back of the venue, but they are also spread around the rest of the property. The vending areas are clean and neat and there was even a stream and pond with a fountain in one area. The bathrooms are clean, and, apparently, the women’s room is staffed.

The parking lots are grass, gravel, and pavement. The lots were nice and had both trash and recycling barrels spread throughout. They were setup perfect for the style that the Phish followers use with vending and tailgating.

The staff at the venue, including venue security, was super pleasant. You felt like a customer, not an annoying concertgoer. They were all friendly and helpful, unlike anything I have ever seen.

Needless to say, I will be returning to Bethel Woods. It was the perfect concert experience from the arrival to the exit and everything in between.

The Museum

The museum at Bethel Woods is a great interactive gallery of 60′s memorabilia, quotes, information, and videos that explain the world and local events leading up to the Woodstock festival. It gives a great history of the times and the culture. Most of the museum is dedicated to, obviously, the Woodstock festival, but there was a good amount leading up to it that explained where the world was headed and why Woodstock was so important. The information about the festival itself was so in depth from the original schedule (that they didn’t stick to) to the interactive aerial map of the site detailing where everything was and what happened in various places. It was definitely worth our while to visit the museum. I thought the $15 was a bit pricey, but felt it was worth it afterward.

The Area

Finally… the area, including the town of Bethel. We stayed in Lackawaxen, PA. It was about 20-30 minutes from Bethel Woods. This area of New York and Pennsylvania is very rural and hilly. It sits in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains (or, more specifically, the Catskills and the Poconos). It’s mostly farmland with some great rivers and lakes. We were right on the Delaware River where there are a lot of tourist activities. The town was extremely conservative, and very gun friendly. It was almost amusing. We had fun, though. The people that worked at our hotel, which also was one of the only restaurants and bars in town, were very friendly and helpful. I’d probably stay there again.

Overall Thoughts

All in all, this was one of the best concert experiences I’ve ever had. The venue was great. The area was beautiful. The people were fantastic. As for the shows? They were pretty awesome, too, especially for tour openers. If Phish ever plays Bethel again, I’ll be there. Heck, I might even consider that part of New York for a vacation someday. It’s just beautiful peaceful country out there… and so close.

I brewed this one to donate some to a silent auction. I chose the style because the auction coordinator, a friend of mine, tried Woodstock Inn’s Kanc Country Maple Porter and loved it. I have not yet brewed a porter. This gave me a chance to do that and use one of my most favorite foods in the world… maple syrup.

I had a taste of it now that it’s fermented and it’s excellent. It’s oaky, roasty, earthy, and a bit boozy. Because I used the syrup in the boil, it ferments out all the sugars and leaves that earthy woodsy maple flavor. I also used a yeast that tends to give off an oaky flavor. It tastes exactly as I imagined it would. I think I did everything right this time. I had tended to have a high fermentation temp in the mid-70′s. This one I fermented at 66-68° to avoid the esters that get released at the higher temps.

So now it’s got 2 weeks in the secondary and then I’ll bottle (actually just under 2 weeks because I’m bottling before Memorial Day weekend when I’ll be away). I’d rather it had more time in the bottles than the secondary before I bring it to the auction. I then have 2 more weeks to wait before it’ll be ready to drink. I’m hoping in those 4 weeks the booziness mellows out a bit.

Recipe

Apparently The Science Guy brought up a quote from the bible about the creation of the heavens and earth and two lights, a greater one for the day and a lesser one for night. He had the nerve to explain that the lesser light, the moon, was not actually a light, but a reflection of the greater light, the sun. He managed to anger people who stormed out of his presentation because he had the gall to say that the bible wasn’t 100% accurate.

So, while I don’t generally care about what you believe, if you take your beliefs too far and ignore science, I will consider you to be a wacko and cannot take you seriously. After all, the biggest reason religion has existed was to explain the unexplainable. Science has come in and proven many things, such as the age of the earth, which many still believe to be only 6,000 years old. So if you have no problem ignoring valid science, much of which has been accepted by various Churches (especially the Vatican, they can be stubborn), I have no problem ignoring just about all you say because it’s probably irrational.

Disclaimer: I mean absolutely no offense to anyone who is religious. Again, that’s your thing. Don’t throw it in my face and don’t argue accepted science, especially science that has been accepted for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

First, the venue… It’s in the old Black Rep a few doors down from Tazza. While I had never been to the Black Rep, it was sad to see it close. I know people who really enjoyed that place. I was happy to learn that something new opened up there. It’s a small little space with a tiny stage and a balcony with some tables. It has an L shaped bar with a lot of jazz/Harlem-influenced decor. It’s a nice room, perfect for the location. I don’t know if they have food or not, but they did have a decent, though small, beer selection. They had two taps. One was Peak Organic’s IPA, and the other was a Wachusett seasonal. They also had a small bottle selection. I can definitely see myself hanging out there. It’s got a cool vibe to it. It seems to fill a void in the Providence music scene. What I like about it is that it’s owned/run by the Providence Inner-City Arts, a non-profit organization that holds community arts events.

Now, the music… The band was made up of a bunch of musician friends who had never played together as a group – Scott Murawski on guitar, George Garzone on sax, Lionel Cordew on drums, Gregorio Vento on percussion, Tony Betancourt on guitar, and Baron Brown on bass. They were billed as “Jazz Jam” and that’s pretty much what they did. It wasn’t entirely free-form as they played songs, though I don’t have a setlist. While the music wasn’t mind-blowing, it was solid. For a group of people who had never all played together, they were pretty tight. You could tell they were all great at listening to one another as they jammed. It was a free show, and totally worth it. Heck, I would’ve paid $5-10 for this. I hope they continue to play as I’d love to see it again. Apparently, they’ve played as “Jazz Jam” before, but not all the same musicians. Scott is obviously an amazing guitarist, but I think the MVP of the night goes to Gregorio. That dude can beat those congas!

All in all, it was a great night of music at a great new venue in the city. I got to finally meet someone I had known on the Internet for about 6-7 years now, and I got to see some great music. If you’re in Providence, I highly recommend you check out Roots Cafe, and if you ever see Jazz Jam billed nearby, check them out.

UPDATE: Noticed some people came to this post via searching “jamjazz roots”. I figured I’d update with a link to a recording of the show as well. The links call it “Jam Jazz”, but they billed themselves as “Jazz Jam”.

24-bit FLAC

16-bit FLAC

I’ll start with Breckenridge. It’s a brewery that’s relatively new to RI. I have to say I really like all their stuff. It’s a solid brewery. Colorado and the Pacific Northwest are probably my favorite areas for breweries outside of New England. Everyone hypes up the California breweries, but I think the mountains and northwest are where it’s at. Anyway, Breckenridge has a nice lineup of great beers. I got to try their Oatmeal Stout, Lucky U IPA, Vanilla Porter, Agave Wheat, their summer wheat beer (don’t remember the name), and their Batch 471 Double IPA. They were all very solid. My favorites were the Lucky U and the Double IPA. The regular IPA is an American IPA with an English twist. It’s easy drinking and hoppy enough to please hopheads, but balanced for people who aren’t looking for a hop bomb. The Double IPA is a hop bomb. It’s one of the better Double IPA’s I’ve had – balanced, but hop forward. The Vanilla Porter was also a standout. It had a huge vanilla flavor, but wasn’t overly sweet or overpowering. I look forward to drinking more of their beers.

Another beer I had recently was the Dogfish Head and Three Floyds collaboration called Poppaskull. I don’t know what it was supposed to be, but whatever it was, it didn’t do much for me. It was light in flavor, color, and body. I just couldn’t put my finger on it, but something about it wasn’t that great.

Cigar City’s Warmer Winter Winter Warmer was awesome. I think it’s a Barleywine. It hit me in all the right places. I really enjoyed it. Very drinkable, but very flavorful.

Mikkeller made a Coffee IPA. I saw it on the shelf in the store and actually got to try it last night. I thought it would be terrible. Coffee and IPA just don’t sound like they’d go together very well. What I forgot to keep in mind is that Mikkeller makes awesome beers, some quite creative. This was actually incredibly tasty. The coffee hit you in the aftertaste, but it was subtle. You had to look for it.

Finally, Firestone Walker’s Double Jack is easily the best Double IPA I’ve had, beating out Pliny the Elder (I’ve never had Pliny the Younger, and didn’t have enough Heady Topper, from the Alchemist, to compare it). It’s smooth, crisp, hoppy, refreshing, balanced, fruity, everything I look for in a Double IPA and then some. They’re another new brewery to RI. I look forward to drinking more of their beers. I have their 14th anniversary in my cellar.

I’ll start off with the first brewery to pull out of Rhode Island that really sent some shock waves through the state – Allagash. They pulled out of Rhode Island a little over a year ago. It was shocking to see that a brewery from New England would pull out of a fellow New England state, a state that gave them good business and loved their product. Allagash was going through some growing pains at the brewery. They were expanding distribution while also expanding brewing capacity. The problem was, however, that they expanded their distribution prior to having the additional capacity to keep up with demand. People were upset, though the rumor was it would only be for about a year. Luckily, they were right. Because many of their beers are high alcohol, beer stores and bars stocked up and their beers remained on the shelves throughout the year, not going bad. The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. You see, they were expanding distribution to places like Chicago and Seattle. I understand the business aspects. You gotta send the beer where you can make money. It’s simple economics. However, rather than holding off on distributing to city 3,000 miles away until their production could be ramped up when the brewery expansion was complete, they pulled out of states that had seen their beers for years. Not only that, but they pulled out of local states. New England is a small region. It’s made up of six states that, together, are smaller than most other states. Beer from New England is local beer to me. I get annoyed when breweries ignore the local market to distribute to places farther away, as I prefer to support local breweries and local businesses (the places where I buy beer).

The Allagash story ended well. After all, Allagash kind of has a niche that few breweries fit. They make mostly Belgian-style beers, but they get creative about them. They don’t have the standard American brewery offerings as their year-round or flagship beers. That brings me to a brewery that does have those standard styles as their flagship – Dogfish Head. Dogfish Head recently announced they were pulling out of four states – Wisconsin, Tennessee, Indiana, and, of course, Rhode Island. They also pulled out of the Canadian and United Kingdom markets entirely. Rhode Island has been good to Dogfish Head. There have been yearly Dogfish Head beer dinners at Julian’s and other restaurants. They received a ton of attention at the beer festivals held in the state, especially Beervana. They saw huge crowds at beer tastings at Nikki’s Liquors. They’re also the favorite brewery of many in the area (they are actually one of my favorite breweries). You see, they aren’t making enough product to keep up with the demand (a problem many breweries would love to have). But they expanded distribution to get their product out there. They obviously pulled out of their smallest markets, but I have a feeling Rhode Island is only a small market simply because of the size of the state. The problem here, however, is the regular offerings from Dogfish Head. If they ever choose to come back to these states, they may have lost some customers. Their flagship 60 Minute IPA is a standard American IPA. The style is one of the most common styles that pretty much every American brewery has one. This is a great time for another brewery to step in and gain some ground in those four states. Their second most popular beer, 90 Minute IPA, is also a common style these days. Rhode Island is unique in that it’s a tiny state. We’re only a short drive from Massachusetts or Connecticut where we can go and buy some Dogfish Head. The only people who will do that, though, are the serious beer geeks who will seek it out. The people who tend to buy their regular beers from their regular liquor store won’t do that. I also prefer to support my local liquor store rather than cross the border. So should they come back, they may have a hard time selling their beer and getting tap lines at local bars, especially if the regulars start drinking another IPA that they happen to prefer.

Great Divide is another brewery that is pulling out of Rhode Island. I can honestly say that I won’t miss it. They had been one of my favorite breweries, but the distributor here did not give them any real attention. I can’t remember the last time I saw fresh bottles of Titan IPA. So, for them, it will almost be like it always has.

So with this news of breweries pulling back distribution also comes news that breweries are exporting more beer outside the country. This doesn’t make one bit of sense to me. While I can understand why some breweries choose to skip over certain states because of crazy labeling laws or to enter certain markets because they’re huge beer markets, I cannot understand why a brewery would send their beer across the country, or even outside the country, when they won’t distribute to their local market. I don’t have as big a problem with breweries who are just starting out (see Hill Farmstead or Pretty Things, who both distributed to Philadelphia before nearby areas). I mostly have problems with breweries pulling out of nearby states. I would much rather support Dogfish Head than breweries from California, but they don’t seem to want or need my support.