So this girl, Lauren Ober wrote a blog about all of the Phish fans coming to the benefit show tomorrow. Seems like she could have gone a different route with trying to get people to donate their time and help the victims of the flooding. Here is the article found on the 7 days website.
Last Tuesday, Vermont's phavorite jam band, Phish, announced that they would play a special benefit concert
for victims of Tropical Storm Irene. Unsurprisingly, the quartet's
announcement created tremors of excitement around Vermont and across the
whole of Phish phandom. No sooner had word gotten out about the
phoursome's show then dedicated Phish phollowers the country over
grabbed some hula hoops, a couple djembe drums, a few pallets of Cheetos
and their best water bongs, hopped in their vanagons and hightailed it
to Vermont.
They came phrom all over — New Jersey, Connecticut, New Jersey,
Colorado, New Jersey — in the hope of nabbing one of the hottest tickets
in town. The devoted called in sick to work
so they could camp out on the sidewalk, despite the fact that the
FlynnCenter box office asked them not to queue until Saturday when the
tickets went on sale. When the box office opened at 10 a.m., the weary
waiters rubbed the weed smoke phrom their eyes, threw off their drug
rugs and stepped up to take their place in history — the show, after
all, will be Phish's phirst in its home state since 2004's epic concert
in Coventry, a big, sloppy mess if ever there was one.
By late Saturday, the show's 10,000 tickets were sold out. All the
die-hards walked away from the box office with a $75 ticket in hand (all
the proceeds go to the band's Waterwheel Foundation and the Vermont Community Foundation,
which will dole out the money to appropriate phlood relief efforts).
But here's what I want to know — what are all the out-of-state phans
doing until Wednesday's show at the Champlain Valley Exposition, besides
making daisy chains, crafting hemp dog leashes, swapping bootlegs and
hosting sing-alongs in City Hall Park? Here's what they should be doing —
volunteering.
I submit that if you're coming to Vermont just phor the show, you
need to phind yourself some gloves and a mask and pitch in. More than
700 residences were destroyed or significantly damaged when Irene rolled
through. Sorry to harsh your mellow, but hundreds of people are
homeless and without work and could really use a helping hand.
Phans might say that they're already helping out by purchasing a
ticket and dropping some cash on limited edition merch. I dig that,
Moonbeam Sunflower. But before the money starts rolling in, there's work
that needs doing. And if you could phigure out a way to get your
patchworked, Birkenstocked self all the way here, you can sure as hell
phigure out a way to provide some assistance.
Not sure what you can do? Phair enough. Here are some ideas:
— You could phill your camper van with personal hygiene products,
phirst aid items, cleaning and school supplies and food and take it to
South Royalton. For a full list of this community's needs, click here.
— How about taking down some walls and pulling up some flooring for the Kadrik family in Waterbury?
— Perhaps you could help muck out the Hancock Town Hall basement.
— Maybe you could help phix the phence at Turner Farm on Route 100 in the Mad River Valley.
There are many more projects that you could help with. Your best bet to phind volunteer opportunities is VTResponse.
If you are willing and able, they will gladly set you up with something
to do. Not able to swing a hammer, carry a bucket or throw things in a
dumpster? Consider writing a check the American Red Cross of Vermont and the New Hampshire Valley, the United Way of Chittenden County, the Vermont Foodbank or any number of towns accepting financial donations. Remember to earmark your contribution for flood relief.
Vermont has been good to you, no? We gave you Phish and Ben &
Jerry's and phlannel and weed. That's right — we invented phlannel. And
weed. We might have even invented patchouli, white-people dreadlocks and
barefoot dancing. So consider giving back. Then when you go back to New
Jersey, you can tell all your phriends how you helped save Vermont. So
heady, brah.
Last Tuesday, Vermont's phavorite jam band, Phish, announced that they would play a special benefit concert
for victims of Tropical Storm Irene. Unsurprisingly, the quartet's
announcement created tremors of excitement around Vermont and across the
whole of Phish phandom. No sooner had word gotten out about the
phoursome's show then dedicated Phish phollowers the country over
grabbed some hula hoops, a couple djembe drums, a few pallets of Cheetos
and their best water bongs, hopped in their vanagons and hightailed it
to Vermont.
They came phrom all over — New Jersey, Connecticut, New Jersey,
Colorado, New Jersey — in the hope of nabbing one of the hottest tickets
in town. The devoted called in sick to work
so they could camp out on the sidewalk, despite the fact that the
FlynnCenter box office asked them not to queue until Saturday when the
tickets went on sale. When the box office opened at 10 a.m., the weary
waiters rubbed the weed smoke phrom their eyes, threw off their drug
rugs and stepped up to take their place in history — the show, after
all, will be Phish's phirst in its home state since 2004's epic concert
in Coventry, a big, sloppy mess if ever there was one.
By late Saturday, the show's 10,000 tickets were sold out. All the
die-hards walked away from the box office with a $75 ticket in hand (all
the proceeds go to the band's Waterwheel Foundation and the Vermont Community Foundation,
which will dole out the money to appropriate phlood relief efforts).
But here's what I want to know — what are all the out-of-state phans
doing until Wednesday's show at the Champlain Valley Exposition, besides
making daisy chains, crafting hemp dog leashes, swapping bootlegs and
hosting sing-alongs in City Hall Park? Here's what they should be doing —
volunteering.
I submit that if you're coming to Vermont just phor the show, you
need to phind yourself some gloves and a mask and pitch in. More than
700 residences were destroyed or significantly damaged when Irene rolled
through. Sorry to harsh your mellow, but hundreds of people are
homeless and without work and could really use a helping hand.
Phans might say that they're already helping out by purchasing a
ticket and dropping some cash on limited edition merch. I dig that,
Moonbeam Sunflower. But before the money starts rolling in, there's work
that needs doing. And if you could phigure out a way to get your
patchworked, Birkenstocked self all the way here, you can sure as hell
phigure out a way to provide some assistance.
Not sure what you can do? Phair enough. Here are some ideas:
— You could phill your camper van with personal hygiene products,
phirst aid items, cleaning and school supplies and food and take it to
South Royalton. For a full list of this community's needs, click here.
— How about taking down some walls and pulling up some flooring for the Kadrik family in Waterbury?
— Perhaps you could help muck out the Hancock Town Hall basement.
— Maybe you could help phix the phence at Turner Farm on Route 100 in the Mad River Valley.
There are many more projects that you could help with. Your best bet to phind volunteer opportunities is VTResponse.
If you are willing and able, they will gladly set you up with something
to do. Not able to swing a hammer, carry a bucket or throw things in a
dumpster? Consider writing a check the American Red Cross of Vermont and the New Hampshire Valley, the United Way of Chittenden County, the Vermont Foodbank or any number of towns accepting financial donations. Remember to earmark your contribution for flood relief.
Vermont has been good to you, no? We gave you Phish and Ben &
Jerry's and phlannel and weed. That's right — we invented phlannel. And
weed. We might have even invented patchouli, white-people dreadlocks and
barefoot dancing. So consider giving back. Then when you go back to New
Jersey, you can tell all your phriends how you helped save Vermont. So
heady, brah.
