This remnant will be replaced soon. The FAQ is back, with a new design! What does one raised finger mean? As Jack R. Lebowitz put it (1/16/97 on rmp), "the 'finger in the air' indicates the person is without a ticket for that day's show and is looking for someone to sell or give him/her one. "The derivation is from years of similar behavior at sold-out Grateful Dead shows, originally based upon and referring to that Bob Weir song the Dead did named "I need a miracle [every day!]". The upthrust finger essentially means "I need a miracle" (e.g., that someone show up and sell or give me an "extra" ticket for a sold-out show, preferably free or for less than face value). ... "Among most long-term Phish fans, the groveling for free tickets by hordes of "miraclers" (as they are also known) is something which is frowned upon and which doesn't amuse fans or the band's management. The reason is that most miraclers will not get tickets, and having mobs of ticketless clogging the streets around the venue creates problems which are attributed to the band or ticketed fans and can lead to the gates being rushed by mobs, which began happening frequently to the Dead by the end of their career and has sometimes happened at Phish shows as well (Halloween '94, Sugarbush '95, etc.). I would venture to say that most long-term Phish fans HATE the "miracling" behavior of tour rats who do this, and subscribe to the thought of "don't come to shows without tickets" based on the view that, over the long haul, if this mob thing keeps happening, more cities and venues will refuse to let Phish come back...which happened to the Dead and has already started happening to Phish (Lake Placid, Red Rocks, Plattsburgh AFB, New Orleans JazzFest) for reasons largely traceable to "miraclers" in the streets, IMHO." "Half the failures in life arise from pulling in one's horse as he is leaping." -- August Hare This page last updated January 24, 2007. All contents © 1992-2007 Ellis Godard. All rights reserved.