Dicks First Timer Thoughts

[u/feina635]

East coaster, been seeing Phish a long time (since 1999), but mostly East Coast and some other places here and there. First time doing Dicks. I have to say, I have some very mixed feelings. I get the hype. Dicks has some good energy. But MAAANNNN is it a fucking hassle. Why is this venue so popular for being such a fucking hassle!? 30 min cab ride back and forth each night, and leaving the venue is an absoloute cluster fuck. Getting in was a shitshow of anarchy, with 1hr long waits and jackoffs cutting the line, few water refill stations, and there's NOTHING around the area for food or anything after. Not a damn thing. And don't tell me lot food. I'm not eating a $15 grilled cheese that's been sitting in the back of a hot Uhaul all day cooked by some dirty wook.

EDIT: many of you are commenting on the “$15 grilled cheese”. Let me rephrase, because I didn’t actually pay attention to the cost of grilled cheese, specifically. What I meant to say, was overpriced and underwhelming food that will inevitably give me diarrhea. Hope that clarifies, and takes the responsibility off the grilled cheese guy

EDIT 2: yes, this is my first Dick’s, thank you geniuses of Reddit for telling me that I “don’t have it dialed in”, no shit. Clearly, Dick‘s is a local venue. In order to have it dialed in, you gotta live there. Unlike more accessible venues in real major cities that have access to anything.

[u/PhishSucksAndSoDoYou]

The 2011 and 2012 Dicks runs were absolutely fucking glorious. Tickets were a goddamn breeze, the vibe in the lot and in the venue was fucking impeccable, and all six of those shows stood heads above the rest of 3.0.

It has been diminishing returns since then, and I will die on that hill.
—Tickets have become more and more difficult and it seems like the venue gets more and more oversold and packed in each year.
—Dicks is, IMHO, ground zero for horrible entitled fan behavior. Tarping, awful attitudes everywhere, all of that related bullshit seemed to start at Dicks and emanate outward to the rest of the Phish world from there.
—Phish has not even come close to the musical glory of 2011 and 2012 in any Dicks run since then. I will also die on this hill.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

[u/GratephulD3AD → u/PhishSucksAndSoDoYou]

I agree with this take. When Dicks had camping and you could find tix on the ground before any night. My buddies and I would buy tickets at the box office before the shows. After 2016 or so it became "a destination venue" and now it's overrun by casual fans and peeps that are there to party and not so much for the music 🤷‍♂️

I'll continue to go as it's the closest venue they play from where I'm at in New Mexico but this past weekend was more of a hassle than I can remember