I am backstage at a Phish concert, which has the stage set up at the top of a ski resort mountain. A large, Atlas-like statue stands about 30 feet above the main stage, with the figure’s arms holding a smaller stage above its head. Trey, Mike, and Page, along with a frightened Stephen Colbert, ascend the platform above Atlas’ head. Four other people are on the stage, and the band and Colbert climb on top of one of them and, in a row, begin to do choreographed movements. As they move, Colbert does not lean over the edges like the others do. He’s too scared. Of the Phish members, Trey has the most courage, looking precarious at times as he reaches over the person he’s on top of and over the edge of the small stage.
They end their movements and then grab notched rope that let’s them descend beyond the stage-level and all the way down to the bottom of the mountain where the ski lodge sits. As they make their Batman-like exit, the audience roars in hilarious approval.
The scene shifts and I am back in time just before the show starts. Still backstage, but at the lodge-level of the mountain, I see an old hippie looking a bit lost. He holds a piece of paper and shuffles up to a door that opens to a stairwell leading up to the stage-level. He mumbles something about the audition being fake, and then opens the door and climbs the stairs.