Josh Frances/Marc Millman

Tomorrow night, on October 19, the banks of the Cumberland River will be invaded by a massive confluence of jamband fans, as Phish’s fall tour collides with Bob Weir’s Campfire Tour in Nashville, TN. And I’m not sure Music City is ready for what’s about to come to town. 

If you’ve ever been to a Phish show or any performance from a  Grateful Dead-related  act (and if you haven’t, I honestly have many questions for you), you know that the event doesn’t begin and end with the gates of the host venue. Shakedown Streets in the parking lot and beyond can and will pop up, providing the sights, sounds and smells that really drive the concert experience home. And considering that the two concerts tomorrow night will be just a few blocks away from each other (Phish will be situated right by the river at Ascend Amphitheatre, while Weir and company will take over the nearby Ryman Auditorium), the tailgates for the two events could possibly combine to form a Perfect Storm the likes of which not even Mark Wahlberg and George Clooney have yet witnessed. 

To all those attending either show, I urge you to please make this happen. Make friends, have fun and stay out of trouble. And someone report back with which camp provides the cheapest grilled cheeses. 

To all those unaware and uninitiated in the Nashville area, I urge caution. I’ll let Howard Stern give you an entry-level course in what might be coming to your fair city: