After a nearly four-year festival hiatus, Phish returned in 2003 with It, a two-day festival at Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, Maine. This would be the band’s third festival at this location, and PBS was on-site filming a documentary of the weekend.
The film It, directed by Mary Wharton, was released in October 2004 as a two-disc DVD. The first disc contains the full-length PBS documentary and the second disc contains a selection of complete live songs from the festival, totaling more than four hours of footage.
In an October 2004 review of the It DVD on JamBands.com, Benjy Eisen writes, “In addition to a stunning documentary with revealing interviews and beautiful production, the It DVD contains exciting and crystal-clear performance footage 150 minutes of classic Phish. Yes, I did just say ‘classic Phish’ to describe live versions from 2003.”
According to Reuters/Billboard, It grossed about $8.25 million with 60,000 attendees. During that weekend, Limestone, Maine, was the largest city in the state.
And while It grossed double the amount previous Phish festivals did, including Clifford Ball in 1996 ($3.3 million), the Great Went in 1997 ($4.2 million), and Lemonwheel in 1998 ($4 million), it cost much more to produce. “We spent nearly twice as much as the last one we did in Maine five years ago,” longtime Phish manager John Paluska told Reuters/Billboard.
To add more context, that summer’s tour of 19 dates grossed nearly $14 million, averaging almost $740,000 per show. Phish’s 2000 tour grossed $36 million from 54 shows, averaging $666,666 per show, according to Billboard Boxscore.
But what sets It apart from other Phish shows or festivals, for that matter, is not the money spent or money earned. As always, it’s the music, the jams.
Airplane ground crew welcome festivalgoers at the gates to It in Limestone, Maine in 2003. (Brianna Leech)
Phish.net recounts It quite succinctly, highlighting the “Ya Mar” and “Birds of a Feather” from the first set. “Disease” and “Waves” are highlights of the second set, the latter a personal favorite jam moment. “Next, play the perfectly flowing fireball set three,” reads Phish.net, referring to “Rock and Roll” > “Seven Below” > “Scents and Subtle Sounds” > “Seven Below” > “Spread It ’Round” > “Bug.” Phish.net continues: “When you’re ready, move on to the greatest ‘Chalk Dust Torture’ ever played,” which was performed at nearly double tempo. “And the mesmerizing 30-minute “Ghost” from day two.”
But the real gem of It was the first night’s fourth set, performed at 2:30 am. The “Tower Jam,” as it’s known, is an hour of heavy, ambient jamming from the band performing on top of the Air Force base’s air traffic control tower. Lighting director Chris Kuroda controlled a spectrum of lights during the performance: lights atop the tower with the band and inside the control room of the tower, as well as exterior lights. Toward the end of the jam, aerialists suspended from ropes, performed synchronized dances against the vertical tower.
Of course, not everyone at It saw the Tower Jam. Traffic leading into the festival that morning was absolutely horrendous, and after a three-set show that night, many attendees had retired to their tents or simply passed out from exhaustion. Even still, some regret hearing what they thought was someone playing Phish from a car stereo and not venturing from their campsite.
Others could see a glowing purple tower in the distance and made their way closer for what would become one of Phish’s most original moments.
And still others, perhaps some under the influence, thought it was a UFO, as Loring Air Force base had a history of encounters with unidentified flying objects over the years. And who knows? Maybe it was a UFO.
Mike Says No
During the first set of the second day of It (August 3, 2003) Trey Anastasio mistakenly omitted a verse in the song “Wilson,” which afterward prompted him to declare that performance the “shortest version ever,” and dedicate it to Phish archivist Kevin Shapiro. Anastasio continued to banter and the audience began to chant a request for “Fluffhead! Fluffhead! Fluffhead!” Phish hadn’t performed the song in nearly three years (September 29, 2000) since their return from hiatus. But Phish would yet again leave “Fluffhead” on the table as Anastasio responded, “Mike says no” as the rest of the band and audience laughed.
“Mike says no,” has since come to appear on stickers, T-shirts, and memes throughout the years.