Can 60,000 people keep it down to a dull roar? July 27, 2003 - Portland Press Herald By Ray Routhier The announcment sounded like a joke, but it wasn't. Promoters of the upcoming "It" festival - two days of concerts by the Vermont rock band Phish in remote Limestone - announced last week they would limit ticket sales to 60,000. Limit sales to 60,000? For a concert by a band that's never had even one hit song? On a former Air Force base in the hinterlands of northern Maine? "We wanted people to have a little more room, we didn't want anyone to have to walk two and a half miles to the stage, like last time," said Dave Werlin, whose Great Northeast Productions is organizing the festival. "We just thought 60,000 would be a good number." There is little doubt Phish will reach the 60,000-ticket limit for its two days of shows, this Saturday and Sunday, at the former Loring Air Force base in Limestone. Werlin based the 60,000 limit on historic fact. When Phish played a festival in Limestone in 1997, about 70,000 fans showed up. Some of the people who camped at that festival had to walk more than two miles to get to where the band was playing. More than 60,000 people showed up the next year, 1998, for another Phish fest in Limestone. When Phish played an outdoor Millennium bash in the Florida Everglades on New Year's Eve, 1999, the paid attendance was more than 80,000. So it's no stretch to think 60,000 people will drive to Limestone for Phish, even though it's more than five hours north of Portland. The festival will include crafters, food vendors and roaming performers. But Phish will be the main attraction. The quickest way to explain Phish is to liken the band to the Grateful Dead. Not because the music is that similar, but because Phish is known for strong live shows with monster improvisation sessions and jazzy undertones. Phish is considered the biggest of the so-called jam bands. And Phish, like the Grateful Dead, attracts a huge a following of people who will travel hundreds of miles to see the band live. Todd Jones, a 26-year-old veterinarian technician from Orlando, Fla., plans to drive to Limestone for the festival with his girlfriend. The pair were scheduled to leave yesterday, and were planning to see Phish shows in Atlanta, Pittsburgh and New Jersey along the way. By the end of this summer, Jones said he will have seen Phish live 37 times. "To me, they're the best band around, musically. They improvise and play different songs every night," said Jones. "It's that, plus it's the whole feel of the show, the crowd. When you're at a Phish show, that's the only thing in the world that's on your mind." Anthony Fappiano, 24, will be driving up to Limestone from Philadelphia with 20 other folks, in five cars. He also saw Phish in Limestone in 1998, and can't wait to make the 12- or 13-hour drive to see them again. "It was amazing, to see them play that long, six sets in two days," said Fappiano. "And it's great to be in a place that's so out of the way, with 60,000 other people who feel the same way about (Phish) as you do." Phish began in the mid-1980s when three of the members began jamming together at the University of Vermont. Guitarist Trey Anastasio, drummer Jon Fishman and guitarist Jeff Holdsworth began playing at UVM and other colleges. By 1989, the band was touring the country, building a huge following. By the early 1990s the band's following was secure. Phish began playing large festivals in 1995, proving to the music world you don't need hit records to attract huge audiences. For the Loring Development Authority, charged with redeveloping the former Air Force base for business uses, the Phish concerts in 1997 and 1998 were brief shots in the arm for the local economy. The State Planning Office estimated that for each of the previous Phish festivals in Limestone, $25 million was pumped into the state's economy. That includes direct spending, as well as the spending done by businesses who benefitted from the festivals. When Loring closed in 1994, some 1,100 civilian employees were left without jobs and 4,500 military personnel were transferred. The town's population went from 10,000 to 2,000, and a 9,000-acre property with a 2 1/2-mile runway was left vacant. Today, the base is called the Loring Commerce Centre, and hosts 20 businesses. Carl Flora, the vice president of the Loring Development Authority, says the goal is to have aircraft-related businesses open at the site. One, Telford Aviation, is already there. But for now, Flora says hosting Phish makes sense. The commerce center will make money by renting the space to Phish (though Flora won't say how much) and get lots of publicity. The problems of the last two festivals were relatively few, according to Flora. Traffic on Route 1 was at a near standstill on the day before the shows and the day after. At least seven people headed to or from the previous Phish shows were killed in traffic accidents. Several people were arrested on drug charges, including a California couple who were in possession of LSD, marijuana and more than $8,000 in cash. "Generally, most of the people who follow Phish were very well-behaved," said Flora. "When you think that there were 70,000 people there for the first one, it's amazing how well-behaved the crowd was," said Fappiano. "There were accidents and arrests, but when you get 70,000 people together, that's bound to happen." Article Copyright © 2003 Portland Press Herald