Rocking it August 3, 2003 - Portland Press Herald By Mark Peters LIMESTONE — A wave of 60,000 people left their tent city late Saturday afternoon to welcome the band they had driven dozens of hours to see. The crowd that turned the former Loring Air Force base temporarily into Maine's second largest city let out whoops and applause as Phish took the stage shortly after 5:30 p.m. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder, the sea of people bobbed, smoked and volleyed beach balls across almost 30 acres. Phish was scheduled to play three sets late into the night. The band is scheduled to play three more sets today starting around the same time. The crowd that began arriving Friday made an instant city out of tents, tarps, cars and some strands of Christmas lights. The city rose along the former base's 2 1/2-mile runway and has its own hospital, post office and general store. The predominant style of the day was sundresses, shorts, bandannas and any apparel with a drug reference printed on it. Everyone also wore a little mud from the soft ground around Loring. The mode of transportation was skateboard. And the shower water came from taps set up on the tarmac. But still, anything went, with people wearing rainbow wigs and angel wings not drawing a second look. Watching over the show, attached to a 100-foot-high water tower, is a Groucho Marx nose, glasses, eyebrows and mustache. "The crowd itself," said Dan Corcoran, 19, explaining why people traveled from California, Florida and Japan to see Phish's It Festival in Aroostook County. People came for the party. The smells of marijuana smoke, stale beer and barbecue mixed at the campsites. Although set in the middle of farm country, the temporary city had anything anyone would want for sale, from hashish to jewelry, $1 grilled cheese sandwiches and shots of tequila. "We are pretty naive," said Carolyn Adams, a Limestone resident who was selling ice cream with her husband, Floyd, to raise money for Caribou's American Legion post. Floyd Adams' 80-year-old mother who lives near the main gate told him to move his van away from her front window before he left Saturday. She wanted to watch the stream of fans, many sitting on their roofs, crawl by in traffic. The festival was also about the music. Fans traded stories from past shows and taped sets, and saw people they hadn't seen since the last big festival in Maine in 1998. Phish also played Loring in 1997. Several thousand fans gathered at 12:30 a.m. Saturday to listen to the band do a sound check even though they were hundreds of yards from a stage they couldn't see. "Everyone who wants to see the band is here. It is not like they are swinging by your hometown," said Andrew DiCostanzo, 20, who lives in New Jersey. The most common way to explain Phish is to liken the band to the Grateful Dead. Not because the music is that similar, but because Phish, like the Dead, is known for strong live shows with monster improvisation sessions and jazzy undertones. Phish is considered the biggest of the so-called jam bands. Leading up to the show, police reported few problems except for the 20-mile back-ups fans had endured to get there. State police patrolled the entrances and perimeter and made some arrests, mostly drug related, Sgt. Hugh Turner said. "They are fine. They just wanted to get here," he said during an early afternoon interview. Promoters reported about 150 people were treated on site for minor injuries such as dehydration and exhaustion. Cary Medical Center in Caribou treated seven or eight people from the show. To get to Saturday's first note, crews worked through the night, dealing with drainage issues and readying the hulking stage. A thousand people, from light technicians to septic truck operators, are working at Loring this weekend. The show will use 1 million pounds of ice and 136,000 bottles of spring water. Rope, used for the stage area, is tough to find right now north of Bangor. The show is expected to pump $25 million into the state economy, and bring attention to an area of Maine looking for an economic boost. "I don't know who all these Phish heads are. One could be the executive of a company who may want to relocate to Maine," said Brian Hamel, president and chief executive officer for the Loring Development Authority. The major glitch has been parking. Producer Dave Werlin said the plan was to have fans park on the grass and set up tents next to their cars, but rain made parking on the grass between some of the old runways nearly impossible. The change in parking made the trip to the festival much longer for many. One carload of fans reported it took 10 hours to go the last 16 miles. "We slept in traffic," said Jacqui Morton, 26, of Boston. Werlin said the extended rain before the show "quadrupled" the budget for site preparation. He didn't release a figure on the cost of the show, but said it was in the millions of dollars. Tickets were $137.50 per person. Although recent rains created parking problems, conditions were improving. The National Weather Service is predicting partly cloudy skies with only a 20 percent chance of rain today. Copyright © 2003 Portland Press Herald