In the fall of 1998, Phish had just released Story of the Ghost, and were just about to start their cross-country Fall Tour, which included not one but two shows covering full albums by The Velvet Underground and Pink Floyd. Before diving into the tour, they’d pay a visit to David Letterman at the Ed Sullivan Theater on October 27, 1998, for the fourth time, performing “Birds of a Feather.”
via just-add-cones.blogspot.com
While Fall Tour started proper on October 29, 1998, Phish had a few performances under their belt already that month. Playing at Farm Aid in Tinley Park, IL and Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit in Mountain View, CA, the band returned back east for a week of respite before a 30 day/22 show tour.
Poster for Louis Arzonico
Following guests Martin Short and Eddie Izzard, Phish served as musical guest that evening, performing the second track off Story of the Ghost, “Birds of a Feather.” Being their fourth time on the show, Letterman introduced the band noting they had their own book (The Phish Book) in addition to their new album.
The less than four minute version of “Birds of a Feather” has a lively audience celebrating not only the introduction of the band, but audibly so when the song breaks into a section where, in a live show environment, the band would venture off into exploring the arena rocker.
Following the performance, Letterman shakes hands with drummer Jon Fishman and says “Its Phish, kids!” The band would not return to the Ed Sullivan Theater until May of 2000, ahead of the release of Farmhouse.
Other individual song performances on Letterman include “Chalkdust Torture” on December 30, 1994, “Julius” on July 13, 1995, “Character Zero” on March 5, 1997, “Heavy Things” on May 15, 2000, “All of These Dreams” on December 19, 2002, a multi-song performance on the Ed Sullivan Theater marquee on June 21, 2004, and “The Line” on June 25, 2014.
October 20, 2010 was Phish’s first performance in Utica, and they made it as memorable as possible. Having never played in “Sin City,” Phish had plenty in store for fans in Utica, amid a Fall 2010 tour that fans flocked to, selling out nearly the entire tour and making tickets for the 5,700 person capacity room the highest in demand of the tour, short of Halloween.
Fan made badge from Fall Tour 2010 – design by Jiggs
Phish had never played Utica before, although Trey Anastasio was no stranger, having performed thrice previously, once with Oysterhead in 2001 and twice with Trey Anastasio Band in 2002 and 2005. Returning to the Utica Auditorium, Anastasio blended Phish’s “Guyute” with Utica for “GuyUtica,” which many fans dubbed the unofficial name for the show, and led to a memorable weaving in and out of “Guyute” over the night.
If you were hanging outside ahead of the show, you saw an ample Lot scene, with a nice breakdown of the evening here from Coventry Phish. Fans celebrated outside, with Utica native Amy Fischer celebrating her 100th Phish show, and what a show it was. A delectable set that reference “Guyute” all night, thanks in part to fan Jesse Feitel, who rode the rail with a homemade ‘Guy-Utica’ sign that hung on the rail facing the band.
The energy was alive and palpable in the tiny auditorium this evening, giving it all the feels of an old school show. The band seems to pick up on this right away and launches into “My Soul,” a blues cover that fits nicely in the opening slot. The tone shifts from blues to rock with the “Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan,” still a fairly new tune at the time, that comes next. A typically rousing Trey Anastasio guitar solo puts the finishing touches on this one. Then comes only the second “Vultures” of the year to date, with the additional “potato to the throat” lyric thrown in for good measure.
While “Vultures” does yield a somewhat brief “Type 1” jam, things don’t seem to really stretch out until the “Wolfman’s Brother” that follows. A brief vocal jam transpires at the end of the composed section before giving way to the first real extended improvisation of the night. Keyboardist Page McConnell makes his presence felt on the clavinet early and often throughout this one. Trey even finds space to fit in a “Streets of Cairo” tease as the jam progresses before immediately shifting to another cover song, this time The Talking Heads’ “Cities.” This produces the first hometown reference of the night as the “dry ice” is changed to a “Genesee” factory. Much of the funk established in the preceding “Wolfman’s” carries right over into this one with another bass and clav-heavy jam. Now that the table has been set, so to speak, what comes next is one of the true highlights of the Phish 3.0 era, a sure sign to many that the band was finally “back” from its near five-year hiatus.
photo by Andy Hill
Anastasio begins strumming the opening melody, soon joined by drummer Jon Fishman, and the band is off and running with the show’s namesake, “Guyute.” The early, lightning quick pace and frenetic lights bouncing around the small auditorium seemed to create a verified frenzy in the room, leading to a raucous cheer at the end of this one. Even before the “David Bowie” that comes next, Anastasio is already teasing the main “Guyute” melody repeatedly and eventually bassist Mike Gordon joins in too. It’s fairly clear early on that this is no standard “Bowie.”
After a flawless run through the composed section, Anastasio drops one more “Guyute” tease before the music comes to a near standstill and the band collectively starts teasing “Wilson.” It only takes the crowd a measure or two before they begin the customary “Wilson” chants with Anastasio then singing lines from “Guyute” in response. They would do this one more time as well, jumping out of the “Bowie” jam to go back and tease “Wilson” briefly before reentering right where they left off.
Naturally, “Wilson” proper is the next selection, giving the amped up crowd one more time to chant. More teases and quotes abound in this one as well, it’s as if “Wilson” is being played in the key of “Guyute.” Finally, a reprieve of sorts comes through in “McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters” that produces a fairly mellow keys-driven jam that’s free of any nonsense. “I Saw It Again” sees even more “Guyute” teases in a feedback heavy outro jam that Anastasio eventually steers into a phenomenal set closing “Run Like An Antelope” with, you guessed it, even more “Guyute” quotes.
photo by Andy Hill
The show could have ended right then and there and there would have likely been little resistance. Instead, Phish follows it up with a set that may not be as memorable as the first one, but certainly does nothing to diminish this Utica show’s legacy. Just like the first one, the second set begins with a cover selection, this time The Who’s “Drowned” in its only performance of the tour. McConnell takes the reigns on this relatively brief jam before Anastasio seamlessly nudges it towards “Sand.” The pulsating, driving rhythm supplied by Gordon on bass fuel this one throughout in what’s really the most extended jam of the second set. In fact, it almost sounds slightly ripcord-ed as instead of exploring further, they shift gears into “Theme From the Bottom.”
“Axilla” and then “Birds of a Feather” follow, each doing their part to raise the second set energy back up. “Birds” especially produces a brief yet fierce jam with more splendid interplay between Anastasio and McConnell. Afterwards, the band lets Page sing “Tela,” only its fourth performance since their return last year.
photo by Andy Hill
“Axilla” and then “Birds of a Feather” follow, each doing their part to raise the second set energy back up. “Birds” especially produces a brief yet fierce jam with more splendid interplay between Anastasio and McConnell. Afterwards, the band lets Page sing “Tela,” only its fourth performance since their return last year.
The closing sequence to this show is quite something too. It begins with “Split Open and Melt,” a song that certainly has the capability of getting dark and deep. After a few early minor hiccups, it appears to be going in that direction. But instead, the music begins to take on a lighter tone with Anastasio singing something else lightly over the top of it. It takes the rest of the band a little while to join in, but before long, they veer into a quick version of “Have Mercy.” This is all but a quick pit stop as after one verse, Phish switches back to improv mode and begins the jam anew, taking it into a blissful new direction. After this peters out, Anastasio begins the (quick) into to “Piper” for one last dive into the unknown. One more relentless jam ensues, replete with a “Birds of a Feather” tease. Slowly but surely, the closing drum beat to “Split Open and Melt” soon arises from the end of this, finishing up the sequence in grand style.
Poster by Ryan Kerrigan
They waste no time before jumping into a grandiose and beautifully patient “Slave to the Traffic Light” that then closes the set in fitting fashion. As for an encore selection, Phish went back to cover well for another longtime favorite in Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times, Bad Times” and a version that near blows the roof off the Utica Memorial Auditorium. And with that, a show for the ages was born.
Phish Utica Memorial Auditorium – Utica, NY 10/20/10
Set 1: My Soul, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, Vultures, Wolfman’s Brother[1] -> Cities[2] > Guyute, David Bowie, Wilson[3] > McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters > Saw It Again -> Run Like an Antelope[4]
Set 2: Drowned -> Sand > Theme From the Bottom, Axilla > Birds of a Feather, Tela > Split Open and Melt -> Have Mercy > Piper -> Split Open and Melt > Slave to the Traffic Light
Encore: Good Times Bad Times
[1] Vocal jam. [2] Alternate “Genesee Factory” lyric. [3] Lyric changed to “I must inquire Guyute.” [4] Trey teased Guyute instead of saying “Marco Esquandolas.”
Phish has a storied history at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, one highlighted by Island Tour performances in April 2 and 3, 1998, and one of their most notable performances of the ‘2.0’ era, February 28, 2003. The Uniondale venue has played host to Phish seven times, most recently on December 1, 2019. 1999
Phish would return to Uniondale on October 7 and 8, 1999, nearing the end of their Fall Tour, with two shows to follow in Albany that would close the tour. Newsday reviewed the first of the two nights, saying, “The Britney Spears of the world come and go, but Phish, the shaggy Vermont jam-band that has never had a hit on the radio or video, is proof that quality music can survive in a mass marketed world.”
The first set on October 7 was highlighted by three songs – an 18 minute “David Bowie,” a “Gotta Jibboo” with an ever-rare “Dave’s Energy Guide” tease, and to follow, a set closing “Fluffhead.” The second set would feature an inventive ‘Mike’s Groove,’ with a nearly an hour of music packed in between “Mike’s Song,” (featuring Trey on keys) “McGrupp,” “Prince Caspian,” “Golgi Apparatus” and “Weekapaug Groove.”
Also notable was the encore, which featured three songs – “Rocky Top,” “I Am Hydrogen” and “Julius” – the stand alone “I Am Hydrogen” being played outside of the typical “Mike’s Song” > ” Weekapaug Groove” for the first time since Halloween 1987, and almost as rare, being played in an encore slot.
Set 1: NICU > My Soul, Dirt, David Bowie, Frankie Says > Possum, When the Circus Comes, Gotta Jibboo, Fluffhead
Set 2: Boogie On Reggae Woman, Heavy Things, Tube, Back on the Train > Mike’s Song[1] > McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters, Prince Caspian > Golgi Apparatus > Weekapaug Groove
Encore: Rocky Top > I Am Hydrogen > Julius
[1] Trey on keys.
Fall 1999 tour map via Todd Puckett
After the barn burner of the night before, October 8 would still have some tricks up its sleeve, particularly in Set 2. The first set was somewhat standard, beyond a “Meatstick” that brought Sofi Dillof to the stage for the dancing portion of the millennium tune.
Set 2 opened with “Halley’s Comet” and then ventured into a 20-minute “Tweezer” which featured a jam that was reminiscent of the Siket Disc tune “My Left Toe.”
After a fantastic mid-set “Harry Hood,” Phish began to play the opening notes of The Who’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” and appropriately brought to the stage Phish lyricist Tom Marshall, singing “My name is Tommy” to a rapt audience. The track from Tommy was played to perfection, as Phish is well versed in The Who‘s catalog, particularly Quadropheniafrom their Halloween 1995 show at Rosemont Horizon in Illinois. Turning into the “Listening to You” portion of the song, the energy in the room can still be felt as Marshall belts out the remainder of Townshend’s lyrics and Phish tears through the rock n roll overture.
Even though Nassau Coliseum is shuttered for the time being, and may not reopen, the performances Phish and others have made there have secured the venue’s legacy for generations of music lovers.
