On the road to Limestone July 31, 2003 - Portland Press Herald By Bob Keyes About 60,000 people will converge on Limestone this weekend to attend the two-day "It" festival hosted by the jam band Phish. And while many of those attending will drive to Maine from across the country, plenty of Mainers will be there, too. Among them will be Chris Coleman, a 17-year-old senior-to-be at Morse High School in Bath. He's been a Phish fan for a few years, after hearing about the band from a friend. He's driving to Limestone with a group of friends, and this will be his first major rock festival. Q: Tell me about Phish. What do you like about the music? A: There are a lot of things, actually. I like the fact that they play a lot of old stuff, from like the Grateful Dead and the Beatles. But they have a lot of original stuff, too. I just like the music. Q: Are you going because of the chance to hear Phish a half-dozen times over two days or because of the scene? A: We really wanted to go to at least one concert together this summer. It's a combination of the music and camping, and there's a disc golf course right next to door to Limestone, so that will be cool. We're big disc golf players. Q: How many of your friends are you going with? A: Just two, Luke Bessey and Drew Burke. Q: How do you explain this event to your parents? What do you tell them about it? A: They were pretty receptive. They were shaky at first, because it's a really long drive. But they went to a lot of rock concerts like this when they were my age, so they understand. Q: What is your plan? When are you leaving, where are you staying and how long will you be there? A: We'll probably end up leaving Friday night, which is unfortunate. Drew is working, and we are taking his car because it's the most reliable. We will camp at the Air Force base. It will be hard setting up the tent in the dark, but that's OK. The first concert is at 5 on Saturday afternoon, so we'll have the day to lounge around and get a sense of the scene. We will probably come back Monday morning. Q: Have you ever been to Limestone before? A: No, I haven't been. Q: Have you ever been to that part of Maine? A: No. We go not much farther than Rangeley, actually. Q: Do you plan to do anything besides go to Limestone? A: Like I said, we will be doing lots of disc golfing. But Friday night we probably will want to get there. I have some homework to do in the car, for AP English. Me and drew both have books to read for AP English. Q: Have you ever been in a crowd of 60,000 people? A: No, definitely not. I'm excited. I think it will be a lot of fun. Q: How much money are you bringing? A: I figured I would bring $100 and help Drew out with gas and just maybe get a T-shirt. Q: Do you plan to sleep? A: I guess, if I can fit it into my schedule. Q: What about food? A: I think we will bring food up, because I think it will really be expensive to buy up there. We will bring a cooler and some sandwich-making stuff. Stuff like that. Copyright © 2003 Portland Press Herald