Traffic tie-up turns into Phish fans' jam August 2, 2003 - Bangor Daily News By Anthony Saucier Getting stuck in traffic is one of life's unpleasant experiences for most people. _ Not necessarily for Phish fans, though, who have learned through experience how to turn a traffic jam en route to a concert venue into a happenin' jam. By 1 p.m. Friday, the long waits in the midday heat as cars crawled toward the former Loring Air Force Base in Limestone for the weekend's Phish performances finally became unbearable for some concertgoers who fastened their backpacks, left a driver with the vehicle and opted to hike the final few miles. For most on Route 89 east, the lack of progress signaled a good time to turn off the car, grab a patch of grass and crack open a cold beverage. Others brought out bongos and acoustic guitars and broke into impromptu jam sessions while perching on guardrails. Nearing the end of a 36-hour trek, Sean Deady, 23, of Chicago used the two-hour break in the action to eat a lobster dinner on the hood of his car with his three travel mates and take a swim in Hardwood Brook. A veteran of nine Phish concerts on the way to his first festival, Deady said the wait was par for the course. "We weren't surprised," said Deady, who purchased the lobster meal at a nearby restaurant. "I had friends that came to the other two festivals and they all said the traffic could be really terrible if you're not in the right place at the right time." Deady's wait was a little more bearable knowing the community of die-hard fans - "the tribe" as they're often called - could be there to help out if he or his friends were in need. "We may sit out here for half a day, but we're not worried, because we know in the two cars back and the two cars forward, we have everything we could need," Deady said. A few hundred feet up the road, the festival's traffic congestion did what neither rain nor snow could do: stop the U.S. Postal Service, if only for a while. Sitting behind a pickup truck for 15 minutes, mail carrier Nancy Theriault said her supervisor wasn't expecting the traffic to be a problem, but the road in front of her told a different story. "I have to attempt to make deliveries no matter what the situation," Theriault said. "But on a day like this, I think it's kind of foolish." Theriault was encouraged by fans who moved out of her way when possible. "I'll get it done," she said. "They can't hold me up forever." The traffic congestion capped an otherwise smooth day of northward driving on I-95. Crowded rest stops near Medway and Houlton buzzed with people in the early morning hours where equally crowded restrooms led some to duck into the woods to answer the call of nature. Weaving in and out of cars, concertgoers kicked Hacky Sacks while waiting in line for vending machine coffee. While signs just off I-95 in Houlton advertised roadside stands with free munchies and flavored condoms, travelers descended on convenience stores from Houlton to Mars Hill for cigarettes, ice and beer - lots of it. Eric Sievers, a 26-year-old resident of Forest Park, Ill., stopped at the Houlton Irving station around 10 a.m. for more brewed beverages, in addition to gas. "We have three cases of beer, but we figured one more couldn't hurt," Sievers said. "We don't want to pay the extravagant prices at the festival." An attendee of 1998's Lemonwheel, Sievers was modest about having seen 45 concerts by the Vermont jam band. "I'm just average nuts," Sievers said. "There's a lot more people that are way more nuts than me." Copyright © 2003 Bangor Daily News