Its All Greek to Me

I've been a deadhead for quite a long time now, but just recently got into the world of magic mushrooms. My first trip was this August at the Phil Lesh & Friends show, at the Greek Theatre, in Berkeley, CA.

I was extremeley emotionally ready to trip at this show. I had come back from a week of backpacking on the coast with my best friend, Greg, and we were totally stoked about the show. It was a two night series, Friday and Saturday, and we managed to kill a lot of weed on Friday night. We decided that it was the best show we had ever seen, and couldn't wait to trip on Saturday night.

Those of you who have ever seen a show at the Greek know why it's so special. The extreme slope angle of the seats allow you to see everyone, and everyone to see you. By the end of the night, the audience is exteremely intimate, and if the vibe's good there is a strong connection formed by everyone. You become a family as the show goes on. Friday night we had been in the pit, up front, and unfortunately the vibe was kind of killed by some annoying frat boys/sorority girls next to us who were just here to 'get fucked up, man'. 'Who is this Phil Lesh guy, anyways?'

Knowing that we were going to be tripping on Saturday night, we staked out some seats about halfway up the stands. It was acoustically perfect, and we could see everything. Not only was Phil playing, but moe. and String Cheese Incident as well. String Cheese came on and we chewed our shrooms about halfway through their set.

After about 30 minutes I announced to Greg, and our new friend from Berkeley who was sitting next to me, that if I didn't go to the bathroom now, I wasn't going to make it. Am I glad I went. I realized I was tripping when I was standing at the urinal and watching the morae array pattern appearing in the bathroom tile. I believe I was there for a good 10 minutes or so. I saw rivers in the tile that were coming out towards me. I realized that I had to make it back to my seat, and just barely did.

That's when the trip started to hit me. moe.'s music took on a new meaning, yet I found myself glued to my seat. The funniest thing happened - Greg wear's contacts, and he looked at me with a figure literally in his eye, and said "Man, my contact's behind my eyeball. I don't know what's going on!" I ignored him for a while and drifted back into the music. I was able to touch into the vibe of the Greek, and could feel everyone's energy - they liked moe., but everyone wanted a jubulant Phil to come out and play. I glanced over at Greg about 20 minutes later, and he was still digging in his eye. I grabbed his arm, and was like "dude, you're cool. Don't panic, remember? (We had read that this was the most important thing to remember)" this calmed him down and he finally stopped messing with his eye. :)

There was a short set break and the sun began to set. Then Phil and Friends came on. The Greek erupted - I could feel everyone's happiness fill the venue. I could see the hapiness - it was a yellowish, greenish being that was floating around in the air. Phil saw it and immediately smiled. I glanced up at the trees above the stage, which were being caught with the last rays of sun, and watched them morph back and forth for a while. They morphed into green rivers in the sky, then back to trees. It was beautiful.

So far it had just been visuals - my mind hadn't really been working too hard. Then Phil started to play. The music took me away. I realized that I could think 10 times as fast as normal (I had calculated this) and this really intrigued me. I thought about everything that had happened that summer, and I was so happy that I could think so quickly. Greg would interject now and then, and we both decided that we were in a movie, and that Phil was merely playing a soundtrack.

Then I began to concentrate on the music. Phil was in control of us, and I felt very safe. I told Greg "Don't worry, Phil won't take us anywhere bad". They jammed out versions of cosmic charlie and Terrapin that left us spellbound. I would oscillate into rolling down the Greek, into the pit of hapiness, and going back to my hyperspace thought processes. I was thinking of my girlfriend, who I hadn't seen for a week, and how much I really did miss her.

The music kept coming. There was an instant, about 3 hours into it, that I realized the magic of the Grateful Dead. Every bass line Phil was playing was EXACTLY what I wanted to hear. I was amazed at how Phil could know what I wanted to her and play it right away. I could hear every band member pushing the song a different way, Phil despartly trying to storm into an Other One but not quite doing it (hell, he's only a bass player), and the happiness level of the Greek going down (we wanted a phat Other One). It soon rose again though and Phil took me on another trip around the Greek.

This finally culminated with a set closer of Terrapin station. The Greek came together. Every sole in the venue was united with each other, and I could see the voices on the chorus "Terr-apin!" It was the best feeling I have ever have. I was in extreme euphoria, and I remember telling Greg that "I could never be anymore happier".

After the show, everyone began talking. We literally didn't leave the Greek for an hour and a half, until the cops made us go. People were so comfortable with the friends they had made during the show that they didn't want to leave. We exchanged brownies and apples with some high school teachers in front of us (who had downed their share of pot - I always knew my teachers were pot-heads!). Finally, we left, only to stumble by King Pin donuts and cure our killer munchies.

It, to this day, was the best experience I have ever had, and I left out a lot. Words cannot do it justice. I don't plan on shrooming again until Phish, this NYE, down in Florida. Now that should be a killer vibe.

Peace.

-Dark Star