By Joshua Rosen

Hey there boys and girls. Do you know what time it is?   No, it's not 4:20. ( Don't you ever think about anything else?)  Yes, that's right, it's time  for the annual "I Want" list for the upcoming Phish summer tour.  For  those of you who may be new to this, and most of you probably are, allow me to briefly explain the tradition.

I believe  it all started back in Summer 1995, when me and a couple of my friends would  send out lists to each other via email describing the different events  that we wanted to occur over the course of the tour. These events could  be anything, ranging from certain songs we wanted to hear (or didn't want  to hear), certain people we wanted to see, or even the kind of burritos  we wanted to purchase in the lots. Over the next few years, the  people  receiving the lists as well as the lists themselves kept growing and  growing, mainly due to the advance of the internet and to all the incredible  people we kept meeting on tour. It seemed that everyone had their own  opinions about things they were looking forward to as each summer tour  approached.  The lists only appear once a year, usually about a week  before Phish hit the road to begin their annual summer trek around  these United States.  I was getting ready to pass around my list for  this year's tour when suddenly an idea dawned on me. I realized that since  we now are lucky enough to have an online outlet devoted solely to spreading  various opinions about good music, what could be a better way to keep the  tradition going strong than to offer this year's list to jambands.com.

First off, let me just say  this.  I'm as excited about this upcoming tour as I have been in quite some  time.  Those of you who read the article I wrote back in January for  Jambands.com entitled "Time for a Phish Lockout" are well aware of  the fact that personally I was disappointed at the way Phish sounded during  1999, particularly during Summer Tour.  I received a lot of positive  feedback about that article, and a lot of negative criticism as well.   One thing I will say now though, that I probably should have made clear  a while back, is that every time Phish appear to have an off-year, they  always come back stronger than ever the next time around.  I'm sure most  of you will remember the last time that the general consensus was that Phish's  sound was getting a bit stale. The year was 1996 and the band was in  the middle of an evolution of their music.  The psychedelic grooves of 1995  began fading into a more pop-oriented sound, thanks in no small  part to the release of Phish's new album at the time, Billy Breathes. The  band appeared to be at a crossroads in their approach to the jams,  and couldn't quite decide which direction they intended to go in. There were  very few new songs being debuted,  and a lot of repetition in the  setlists was becoming more

apparent from night to night.  Now before  anyone gets ready to launch a verbal attack that would make Dennis Leary  proud, let me just say that of course 1996 had its amazing moments. There  were the now-legendary Red Rocks shows, the Clifford Ball, the best  Halloween show ever, and who will ever forget that warm night in November  when the band belted out one of the most awe-inspiring, hose-inducing  jams  of all time with that Crosseyed and Painless> Antelope.  But with that  being said, several of the shows that year were lacking that extra "oomph"  that most people familiar with the band had grown accustomed to.

Now, for $32,000, can anyone tell me what happened  during the next year, 1997? Here are your four choices: A. Trey quit the  band and opted to join Jeff Holdsworth on his search for G-d. and truth in  the world  B.  Fish decided to play the vacuum at all times onstage and  traded in his drum set for a new muumuu  C.  The band determined that  because they had so much fun at NYE 1996, the choir that performed with  them on Julius and Bohemian Rhapsody would now be touring with them  consistently  D. The FUNK was born. 

And no, there are no lifelines left.

So, you think the answer is D, huh?  Is that your  final answer? (Insert patented sarcasm here) Yes, of course it's D, you're  right for $32,000! (Although answer C would also have been pretty cool  for a while, don't you think?)  1997 was indeed the year of the licentious  funk.  Following directly on the heels of 1996's standstill in musical  transformation, 1997 offered a complete musical revolution, and brought  the band's sound to a level most of us would never have imagined possible.   The new resonance was fresh, exciting, and something that Phish  themselves were only beginning to experiment with. To this day, when  discussing the band's history with a fellow Phish-fan, the year of  the funk is usually the first to get brought up:  "97 dude, it's all about 97.   Psycho Killer?!  Are you f---ing kidding me?  Mike's opener at  Hampton along with that monumental Halley's jam?!?!. And what about that  Dayton Tube bro!  Don't even get me started on that. And so on and so forth...

Now I'm not about to list all the year's highlights, for there are  way too many to register and I'm already taking far too long with this  "introduction", but suffice it to say that 1997 is the main reason  I am so excited for this upcoming summer tour.  Much like 1996, 1999 will  prove to be a year of transition, a year of pause, if you will.    And if what comes out of that year of transition is anything like 1997 was,  then we're all going to be in for a really big treat this summer.  And so,  with that prologue complete, I hereby give you the "I Want " list for  Phish Summer Tour 2000:

1. I want to see less wookies and more hippies.
2. I want to be in the middle of a mind-melting Down With Disease jam, turn around, and be greeted by a thousand smiling faces all sharing in my jubilation.
3. I want my 16-year old brother to experience the hose at his very first show this summer, and I want to be the first person to watch the expression on his face when "it" hits him.
4. I want to experience that same feeling again for the very first time.
5. I want to lose total control of my body during Bathtub Gin.
6. I want to try "the cup" that my friends Greg and Sarah keep telling me about.
7. I want to miracle someone who truly deserves it.
8. I want to hear a slow song that I can actually look forward to.  Two choices that immediately come to mind are If I could and Fast Enough For You.
9. I want to hear Page sing more.
10. I want the old stage-setup to come back again.
11. I want to experience a Hood without any glowsticks.
12. I want to hear at least one jam so incredible that you can't decipher one instrument from another.
13. I want to take a tour inside Adam Foley's camera.
14. I want to go backstage for the very first time.
15. I want to leave every show at Deer Creek with a smile so large that people think I'm psychotic.
16. I want summer tour to hurry up and get here already.
17. I want to buy Andy Gadiel a beer.
18. I want to hug a total stranger for no specific reason.
19. I want my Col. Forbin's.  And I want it now.
20. I want to sing along to "Can't I live while I'm young?" and truly mean it.
21. I want to hear Strange Design.  I don't care what you say.
22. I want to make a new friend.
23. I want to meet an old friend.
24. I want to dance like I do when nobody's watching.
25. I want to hear at least one amazing encore.  (Remember the Island Tour?)
26. I want to see Trey laugh.
27. I want to see Trey start to tear.
28. I want to see Mike make any type of facial expression.
29. I want to see more people in the lots that actually came to hear some music.
30. I want to listen to CD's of the previous night's show on my way to the next.
31. I want to finally say to someone: "If your brother really is in jail, why the hell are you doing the entire Phish tour?"
32. I want to do the entire Phish tour.
33. I want a Drowned in the rain and a Divided Sky during the sunset.
34. I want to see a veteran phan help out a new phan without being condescending.
35. I want to discover a shortcut to Alpine Valley.
36. I want to personally thank Chris Kuroda.
37. I want to speak my mind to Antelope Greg.
38. I want the crowd to be respectful when the boys decide to treat us to something a capella.
39. I want to be able to give someone a subtle look during a raging Ghost jam that says everything we're both thinking.
40. I want Fishman to remember the words to Purple Rain.
41. I want to meet Marco Esquandoles.
42. I want to see fewer dogs running around without leashes in the lots.
43. I want to lose myself in the moment.
44. I want to remember all the words to that middle section in Fluffhead.
45. I want to discover something about the band that I never knew before.
46. I want people to realize that the members of Phish are all human and sometimes make mistakes.
47. I want people to discount that last statement.
48. I want to jibboo and keep on drinking too.
49. I want everyone to realize how lucky we all are.
50. I want to thank all of you for taking the time to read this.

Josh Rosen hopes everyone has a great time this summer but remembers  to please be safe about it.  He hopes to meet many readers on tour and  is always willing to engage in interesting conversation. To find him  this summer just look for the guy who's dancing like he does when nobody's  watching.