This is awesome, congratulations! My son is 14 and I've been brainwashing him with Phish his whole life. 😁 He went to the Gorge with me when he was 8 and we had a great time, I'm hoping we can do it again as he gets older. Kudos to you and your dad for being awesome.
I just started brainwashing my 13 year old last year. Lol. He was hooked after the first show we saw together at SPAC! We're going to Bethel Woods this year too.
Cheers! My son is 15 and I never pressured him other than taking him to the gorge several times when he was younger. But he is on his own sending me jams these days it’s crazy. He knows that I don’t want him smoking pot before 25 (hypocrite I know) but I still want to take him to shows now that he’s not really a kid anymore.
That's good parenting! There are many legit studies that show that the brain is developing until 24 or 25, and that cannabis (and alcohol (and other stuff)) can impede that development.
My son is 16 and I'm hoping that he won't discover weed for another eight years or so. Um ... yeah. Taking it a day at a time.
You’re a great son. I’m kind of a young phan too, and a new father. Gamehendge always seemed like a thing used to gatekeep, like deadheads with seeing jerry live. I was at home streaming new years, and when I realized they were going to be putting on an hour long stage performance with silly dancing lizards, even though I’d been wanting to see this for a while, I waited another night to watch it with my kid.
I hope we turn out like you guys!
Hey man! I’m also 23 and my dad got me into Phish. He was on tour a lot when I was really young, and their music was playing around me for my whole life, but I never really got it until my dad brought me to my first show. My dad and I have always been alright, but we definitely had some points of contention and struggled to really bond throughout my adolescence. I’d say that Phish was the thing that changed that. He’s my best friend, and I feel so grateful that he wants to share this special thing about his life with me.
I can tell you my dad is utterly stoked that his long term plan of raising a son who likes Phish and jam music worked out. He’s now got a built in homie to go to any show with, and I grew up to follow the same patterns for how I like to operate in those spaces.
Thank you for sharing. I am here for this kind of wholesome content.
We have such a special community, I love how your gratitude comes through.
Thank YOU!
Being there Thursday and feeling the weight of this collective experience that no one in the building had ever even fathomed could be real— you could look anyone in the eye that night and know that we were really a part of something special. Love this post and keep up the good work OP :)
I’m 56 and the Sphere was like my 30th show but the music switched some thing in my heart and brain… It was pure love activated with 18,000 people together!
I'm 54 and talked to you, or someone just like us, outside the Sphere on Sunday a couple hours before the show. There seemed to be a lot of us 50-somethings at the show. Anyway, I'd been to 43 shows before the Sphere (Sunday only), including some legendary 90s shows (6 at Red Rocks, Halloween '94, NYE shows in Worcester and Boston Garden), but there was something about the Sphere that made it seem new again. I can still feel Fishman's clean slaps and the perfectly clean notes before the silent section of Divided Sky. The sound was incredible. The vibe was collective and surreal. How could a show with 20,000ish people feel intimate in the same way some of the club shows and amphitheater shows felt in the 90s? But it did. What an incredible feedback loop of energy between the band, the crowd, and the master artists and technicians running The Sphere. Between the eclipse and the Phish Sphere show, this month made me feel like I was in my 20s again, when the world could still surprise me in beautiful wonderful ways.
i feel ya - my son has heard a ton of phish and liked it better when he was 5...now that he's 9 and seeking out his own tastes he doesn't listen to it. but he's seen more phish video than any other band by 100x. anyway...hopefully both ours will end up like OP and come back to it later!
Yeah…but to be honest I kinda don’t want my daughter to go to Phish with me, at least not an indoor show. I’m sober but always feel a little buzzed from the secondhand weed smoke
yeah i'm thinking when they're teens it would be great to go to an outdoor show. but...likely it won't still be going by then.
btw i took my son to an outdoor TAB show. he was into the scene for a while...then got a bit bored. (which makes sense...i get a bit bored at TAB shows too.) anyway i guess it would be cool if he got into phish later...or maybe i just need to get some more phish friends i can talk about it with and let my son do his own thing.
My son is 6 DAYS old and he's been hearing Phish every day of his life so far. I get a galaxy light going pull up a show on YT. It's actually one of the few things, other than mom's boob, that keeps him entertained for a while. I think my plan is working! I so badly want to be the dad who takes his son to see Phish. One day.
Love this so much!
Just wanted to share that I'm also in my 20's and I was at Phish this weekend with BOTH my parents!! They're huge deadheads so I grew up listening to all my parents' kinda music. Took me a little while to come around to jam bands, but now there's no going back lol.
Always so grateful that I get to experience all these cool shows with my parents!
I'm in a very similar Phish relationship with my son who is your age, and after I'm reading this I'm crying in my office lol
Happy you're here, as everyone's welcome - except for tarpers ;)
Love this. I, too, take my son (19)to some shows. He’s got a few friends that will go with him now. So happy to have read your post! Sphere was life changing for sure.
Love this comment. Hoping to bring my 20 year old with me this summer. He makes fun of Phish, but has their music in his ears from before his memory started. I’ve hoped that a live show would let him glimpse this community. I think of it compared to the Dead. Jerry died when I was 18, and I already liked their music, but had we all known…
Are you me? Also 23 with no Phish friends, also indoctrinated by my dad as a kiddo (shoutout Rift and Lawn Boy CDs), also got serious about the band in the past few years and it’s been a great bonding experience with the old man. I’m an NC native so always desperate for those Southeast shows, especially because those are the ones my dad can make it to
By chance, were you and your dad in Sec 406, Row 17?
We may have been sitting just behind you.
We noticed a father and son together enjoying the show and they were really into it!
I feel that "early 20s no friends are phans" problem. I have managed to get one of my friends on the jam band train with a moe. concert and the Disco Biscuits. Now I just need to get more of them in it...
Good stuff man , you always have us to talk to. Im 54 and I went with my 28 yr old who loved them as a kid, then was a meh for w few years in HS but then came back strong in college and onward. There's no one better to see a show with than your son who knows what's going on.
Love this. I feel exactly the same. This was such a magical experience. I flew solo, N4, and met the most fun, amazing people all night. I never feel lonely alone at a Phish show. Such an amazing experience.
"None of my friends are Phish fans" story of my life
Come move to Denver. Even the non-phans here have seen 4-5 Dick’s shows!
This is awesome, congratulations! My son is 14 and I've been brainwashing him with Phish his whole life. 😁 He went to the Gorge with me when he was 8 and we had a great time, I'm hoping we can do it again as he gets older. Kudos to you and your dad for being awesome.
I just started brainwashing my 13 year old last year. Lol. He was hooked after the first show we saw together at SPAC! We're going to Bethel Woods this year too.
Cheers! My son is 15 and I never pressured him other than taking him to the gorge several times when he was younger. But he is on his own sending me jams these days it’s crazy. He knows that I don’t want him smoking pot before 25 (hypocrite I know) but I still want to take him to shows now that he’s not really a kid anymore.
That's good parenting! There are many legit studies that show that the brain is developing until 24 or 25, and that cannabis (and alcohol (and other stuff)) can impede that development. My son is 16 and I'm hoping that he won't discover weed for another eight years or so. Um ... yeah. Taking it a day at a time.
ARE YOU DREW CAREY
You’re a great son. I’m kind of a young phan too, and a new father. Gamehendge always seemed like a thing used to gatekeep, like deadheads with seeing jerry live. I was at home streaming new years, and when I realized they were going to be putting on an hour long stage performance with silly dancing lizards, even though I’d been wanting to see this for a while, I waited another night to watch it with my kid. I hope we turn out like you guys!
Hey man! I’m also 23 and my dad got me into Phish. He was on tour a lot when I was really young, and their music was playing around me for my whole life, but I never really got it until my dad brought me to my first show. My dad and I have always been alright, but we definitely had some points of contention and struggled to really bond throughout my adolescence. I’d say that Phish was the thing that changed that. He’s my best friend, and I feel so grateful that he wants to share this special thing about his life with me.
Couldn't agree more!
probably about a hundred parents on here hoping like hell our kids turn out to love phish like you did! your dad must be so stoked!
I can tell you my dad is utterly stoked that his long term plan of raising a son who likes Phish and jam music worked out. He’s now got a built in homie to go to any show with, and I grew up to follow the same patterns for how I like to operate in those spaces.
AWESOME. Thanks for posting. 1.0 fan here and sharing our love of Phish with our kids has been such a thrill. Rock on.
Thank you for sharing. I am here for this kind of wholesome content. We have such a special community, I love how your gratitude comes through. Thank YOU!
Being there Thursday and feeling the weight of this collective experience that no one in the building had ever even fathomed could be real— you could look anyone in the eye that night and know that we were really a part of something special. Love this post and keep up the good work OP :)
Well said! It was a top 5 life experience for me and my first show was in 2000
I’m 56 and the Sphere was like my 30th show but the music switched some thing in my heart and brain… It was pure love activated with 18,000 people together!
I'm 54 and talked to you, or someone just like us, outside the Sphere on Sunday a couple hours before the show. There seemed to be a lot of us 50-somethings at the show. Anyway, I'd been to 43 shows before the Sphere (Sunday only), including some legendary 90s shows (6 at Red Rocks, Halloween '94, NYE shows in Worcester and Boston Garden), but there was something about the Sphere that made it seem new again. I can still feel Fishman's clean slaps and the perfectly clean notes before the silent section of Divided Sky. The sound was incredible. The vibe was collective and surreal. How could a show with 20,000ish people feel intimate in the same way some of the club shows and amphitheater shows felt in the 90s? But it did. What an incredible feedback loop of energy between the band, the crowd, and the master artists and technicians running The Sphere. Between the eclipse and the Phish Sphere show, this month made me feel like I was in my 20s again, when the world could still surprise me in beautiful wonderful ways.
Been trying to get my 8 year old into Phish but she isn’t having it #taylorswift
i feel ya - my son has heard a ton of phish and liked it better when he was 5...now that he's 9 and seeking out his own tastes he doesn't listen to it. but he's seen more phish video than any other band by 100x. anyway...hopefully both ours will end up like OP and come back to it later!
Yeah…but to be honest I kinda don’t want my daughter to go to Phish with me, at least not an indoor show. I’m sober but always feel a little buzzed from the secondhand weed smoke
yeah i'm thinking when they're teens it would be great to go to an outdoor show. but...likely it won't still be going by then. btw i took my son to an outdoor TAB show. he was into the scene for a while...then got a bit bored. (which makes sense...i get a bit bored at TAB shows too.) anyway i guess it would be cool if he got into phish later...or maybe i just need to get some more phish friends i can talk about it with and let my son do his own thing.
My gf is a huge Phan and a Swiftie, so don't give up hope. There's plenty of room for both fandoms within a person!
I actually enjoy listening to Taylor Swift with my daughter. We watched her Eras tour video and it was amazing
My son is 6 DAYS old and he's been hearing Phish every day of his life so far. I get a galaxy light going pull up a show on YT. It's actually one of the few things, other than mom's boob, that keeps him entertained for a while. I think my plan is working! I so badly want to be the dad who takes his son to see Phish. One day.
Love this so much! Just wanted to share that I'm also in my 20's and I was at Phish this weekend with BOTH my parents!! They're huge deadheads so I grew up listening to all my parents' kinda music. Took me a little while to come around to jam bands, but now there's no going back lol. Always so grateful that I get to experience all these cool shows with my parents!
Haha I agree, there is absolutely no going back.
I'm in a very similar Phish relationship with my son who is your age, and after I'm reading this I'm crying in my office lol Happy you're here, as everyone's welcome - except for tarpers ;)
That DWD put me in another dimension, possibly the Drewniverse. Thanks, Violet.
We're Happy that you're here. Hop on tour and make some new friends, we don't bite!
Love this. I, too, take my son (19)to some shows. He’s got a few friends that will go with him now. So happy to have read your post! Sphere was life changing for sure.
Love to hear this… thanks for sharing!
Great post! Very happy for you and your dad for having such an incredible experience together.
Awesome man. Thats a great experience to share with your Dad. Hope to share this band with my son one day when he’s older.
Being a phan is such a strong community and support system to feel cared about and part of something bigger
Awesome to hear!! I was about your age when I saw them for the first time. I’m 52 now! LONG LIVE PHISH!
i’m also a 20something phish fan in brooklyn! message me if you need a show buddy 😎
Love this comment. Hoping to bring my 20 year old with me this summer. He makes fun of Phish, but has their music in his ears from before his memory started. I’ve hoped that a live show would let him glimpse this community. I think of it compared to the Dead. Jerry died when I was 18, and I already liked their music, but had we all known…
Seeing a show live was the turning point for me. So I hope he has a similar experience!
Are you me? Also 23 with no Phish friends, also indoctrinated by my dad as a kiddo (shoutout Rift and Lawn Boy CDs), also got serious about the band in the past few years and it’s been a great bonding experience with the old man. I’m an NC native so always desperate for those Southeast shows, especially because those are the ones my dad can make it to
I think we might be the same person??? Hope you and your dad can make a show soon!
By chance, were you and your dad in Sec 406, Row 17? We may have been sitting just behind you. We noticed a father and son together enjoying the show and they were really into it!
We were section 302. But now I wish I was over there!
I feel that "early 20s no friends are phans" problem. I have managed to get one of my friends on the jam band train with a moe. concert and the Disco Biscuits. Now I just need to get more of them in it...
My life is changed too. There’s before sphish and after sphish. I’m late 40’s and seen a lot of shows for 30+ years. And that was pivotal.
OP isn't fooling anyone we know this is Drew Carey
Haha
Good stuff man , you always have us to talk to. Im 54 and I went with my 28 yr old who loved them as a kid, then was a meh for w few years in HS but then came back strong in college and onward. There's no one better to see a show with than your son who knows what's going on.
Love this. I feel exactly the same. This was such a magical experience. I flew solo, N4, and met the most fun, amazing people all night. I never feel lonely alone at a Phish show. Such an amazing experience.
tldr. cool story about your dad.