After weeks of anticipation, Phish has announced plans for the NYE edition of their ‘Dinner and a Movie’ stream series. They’ll revisit their famed 12/31/95 performance at Madison Square Garden on New Year’s Eve starting at 8:30pm, with a twist – they’ll be bringing back the Band v Audience chess match for the stream.
Taking place over two tours in the mid-90s, Band v Audience chess matches are a testament to the high level of nerdiness both shared. The band would start the show with a chess move, and fans would then have the duration of the first set to contemplate their move, meeting at the Greenpeace table (prior to The Waterwheel Foundation‘s founding), debate the move at setbreak and make their move collectively. A fan (usually a local) would be invited to go on stage before Set 2 began to make the move on the chess board.
Phish’s New Year’s Eve performances are legendary to say the least, and for the first time since 2008, the band will not perform live due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether they’ve created an aquarium on stage, flown in on a hot dog, created their own time factory, put on Broadway scale productions, turned MSG into an ocean or moved the stage to the other end of the venue, Phish’s New Year’s performances continue to raise the bar. This year, phans will be celebrating from home but still have a way to engage with their favorite band.
From the Fall 95 Doniac Schvice
On 12/31/95, the audience tied the band, and fans have always speculated if the matches would return. The band has teamed up with Chess.com to host the Band vs. Audience online chess game which will start right at the top of the show and move ‘at a decent clip.’ Fans will have 5 minutes to move their piece (the band will have no more than that as well), and at the end of 5 minutes, whichever move has the most votes is the ‘audience’ move.
During set breaks, the band will join fans from their various homes, playing a few moves and providing scintillating commentary on the game. To join the audience in voting for moves against the band, register for free at Chess.com. After verifying your account, join the official club for the . Phish will post and send out the actual game link on December 31.
The dinner part of Dinner and a Movie will feature two chess cheese board recipes for extended grazing. Marissa Mullen has put together two options for fans – “Olive Cheese Dreams” and “Billy Bries” – with an easy ‘cheese by numbers’ guide. And for dessert, chessboard cookies! Recipes are available here.
While the streams for Dinner and a Movie have been free all year, charities have been the focus with each edition. The beneficiary for the Phish NYE stream will the band’s charitable wing, The WaterWheel Foundation. Since 1997, the band and their fans have collaborated on a nationwide charitable endeavor by raising funds and donating the proceeds across the country. This year alone, collectively we have raised and donated nearly $750,000 to 27 different nonprofits during the Dinner And A Movie series. Join the band in continuing to support those in need. Donate at phish.com/waterwheel.
Christmas came early for Phish fans on December 24, with a 2pm premiere of December, an album from guitarist Trey Anastasio and Chairman of the Boards™, Page McConnell.
The sessions from the band’s recording studio, The Barn, in Vermont, were recorded over the summer, of which two songs were shared during The Beacon Jams series this fall.
The album features six tracks, all arranged for Page and Trey, offering a more melodic treatment of a few Phish ballads. The album leads off with Hoist track “If I Could” followed by “Mountains in the Mist,” and “Wingsuit,” “Joy” and “Miss You.” A 16-minute version of “The Squirming Coil” rounds out December, making it one of the longest versions of the song to date.
December was produced and mixed by Bryce Goggin, engineered by Ben Collette and mastered by Pete Lyman at Infrasonic Mastering, Nashville, TN.
It’s somewhat surprising that during the storied touring career of Phish, they’ve only played five shows in the City of Binghamton. The last one of these took place 26 years ago today, on December 14, during a time that’s now looked back upon in deep reverence. December of 1995 was one of the band’s most formative and successful eras. In fact, tonight’s show at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena was deemed worthy enough of being the first official live release from Phish’s extensive live catalog. With a couple of classic song selections and some jams that are truly definitive of the band’s ascent, it’s not hard to see why.
“Suzy Greenberg” starts off the show before a lively Binghamton crowd in grand fashion. Baby grand, that is, as Page McConnell takes a couple of spirited piano solos to the delight of all during this old school Phish favorite. The “Llama” that immediately follows sees him deftly shift over to the organ early on for a few more harrowing runs. Trey then quickly assumes command on guitar and leads throughout the rest of the way on the APicture of Nectar classic that’s executed to perfection.
This opening pairing is followed with another in the “Horn” > “Foam” sequence that comes next. “Horn” is played with no frills. But the “Foam” provides the first real chance for the band to stretch out a little, thanks to some exploratory solos from McConnell and Anastasio that do just that. These lead to a short but ever so powerful jam that culminates in a beautifully sustained guitar note atop the classic relentless rhythm of Mike Gordon on bass.
“Makisupa Policeman” then produces one of the all-time most bizarre “keywords” from Trey, a reference about smoking a joint with Khaddafi in bed.
While the “Policeman” doesn’t really do much, the “Split Open and Melt” that proceeds it certainly does. Jon Fishman pops right away on this one, delivering the signature opening drum beat, and doesn’t let go. He nails the song’s odd time signature and lays the groundwork for a pulsating, driving jam that eventually shifts into Type II territory before re-entry. It’s the first real extended jam between all four musicians and a sign of things to come.
“Tela” then takes everyone on a quick excursion to Gamehendge, with McConnell handling the lead vocals and Anastasio providing the fiery guitar finish as usual. “Taste That Surrounds” provides a glimpse into the evolution of a Phish song. Now simply known as “Taste,” this is a primitive version that would be one of the last ones ever played before being further modified. Its song history provides full details.
After a move by “Dan from Binghamton” in the ongoing “Band vs. Audience” chess match featured that tour, Phish’s second set begins. “The Curtain” is a more than apt opener that displays the technical wizardry and seamless cohesion that are staples of December ’95. Without even pausing for a moment, “Tweezer” starts up as soon “The Curtain” goes down. This serves as the meat of the second set, and the show really, with a jam that patiently builds and includes a distinct “Slipknot!” tease.
Before it can fully bloom, though, Trey suddenly begins strumming an entirely different melody altogether and redirects the rest of the band through “Timber.” This is cast aside fairly quickly. Not long after the final “Timber” lyric, the “Tweezer” jam reemerges and Phish jumps back on it in a seamless merge through musical traffic.
Fishman drives the tempo to a near-insane pace at one point which, when combined with Trey’s wailing guitar sound effects, give this one a true feeling of a train about the run off the tracks. As “Tweezer” comes to a surprisingly gentle landing, “Keyboard Army” emerges. This 1995-era special features all four band members on a different instrument at McConnell’s keyboard rig. Until it was recently dusted off at Dick’s in 2015, tonight’s performance in Binghamton was the final one played.
“Halley’s Comet” begins the landing sequence for tonight’s show and features a sneakily impressive jam that revolves around an infectious Anastasio-created melody. Phish collectively toys with the tempo, once again ramping it up to extreme levels and stretching the first ever jammed out “Comet” to almost twelve minutes. A rare, late-show “NICU” then emerges from the ska-like outro jam and, with it, another mesmerizing improv-heavy jam on the tail end that takes it from a standard to a stellar version.
“Slave To The Traffic Light” serves as a proper close to a set full of both patient improvisation and hard rock. And, after noticing a request for it displayed on a fan’s sign, Trey notes it’s “one they want to play” and leads the band through a show-closing take of Jimi Hendrix’s “Bold As Love.” Phish left it all out on the table this evening in, remarkably, their final Binghamton show to date.
Phish Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena – Binghamton, NY 12/14/95
Set 1: Suzy Greenberg > Llama, Horn > Foam, Makisupa Policeman > Split Open And Melt, Tela, Taste That Surrounds, My Sweet One, Frankenstein
Set 2: The Curtain > Tweezer -> Timber (Jerry the Mule) -> Tweezer -> Keyboard Army, Halley’s Comet -> NICU -> Slave To The Traffic Light
Phish’s now monthly installment of Dinner and a Movie will revisit a classic Fall ’97 show from Hampton Coliseum. On Saturday, November 28 at 8:30 pm, Phish will offer a free stream of November 22, 1997.
Part of the Phish Destroys America tour, the show ranks as the 11th highest rated show according to Phish.net, and for good reason. The show begins with a 17-minute “Mike’s Song,” and 18-minute “Harry Hood” and closes with Hendrix’s “Izabella” – and that’s just the first set. Set two opens with 26 minutes of “Halley’s Comet” and blasts off from there.
Released as part of the Hampton/Winston-Salem ’97 box set, just before Set 2 started, the audience made a group effort to sing “Destiny Unbound,” a song that had been shelved for six years at that time, in an effort to have the band bring the song back into rotation. The banter from Trey in response is hilarious and well worth hearing, and now seeing, on this week’s Dinner and a Movie.
For the dinner portion of the evening, lighter fare is offered, courtesy of Nashville-based chef Ryan Poli, formerly of the famed Catbird Seat restaurant. Butternut squash soup with chipotle chiles and popcorn, a brussel sprouts salad, and a sticky toffee pudding with a spiced caramel sauce are on the menu. Recipes can be found here, and fans are encouraged to tag photos of their creations with #phishdinnerandamovie.
The beneficiary for this weekend’s Dinner and a Movie is The Food Empowerment Project (F.E.P.), a non-profit organization that seeks to create a more just and sustainable world by recognizing the power of one’s food choices. F.E.P encourages healthy food choices that reflect a more compassionate society by spotlighting the abuse of animals on farms, the depletion of natural resources, unfair working conditions for produce workers, and the unavailability of healthy foods in low-income areas. Donate at phish.com/waterwheel.
Setlist via Phish.net
Set 1: Mike’s Song -> I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Harry Hood > Train Song, Billy Breathes, Frankenstein > Izabella Set 2: Halley’s Comet > Tweezer > Black-Eyed Katy > Piper > Run Like an Antelope[1] Encore: Bouncing Around the Room > Tweezer Reprise [1] Lyric changed to “Michael Esquandolas.”
On Nov. 14, PhanArt launched the Virtual PhanArt show, an experience that will feature its largest gathering of artists yet from Phish and jam communities.
Lineup for The Virtual PhanArt Show.
The show is set to run through mid-January so that fans could connect with artists, while browsing and shopping at small businesses, just in time for the holidays.
The show starts at Noon ET on Saturday, starting off with a live-stream kickoff party via Launchglobal.tv that will go until 5 p.m. Sweeping Views and DJ Raphael25 will perform live, plus interviews with PhanArt Pete and the Launch Global Team. Where there’s “Phans,” there’s trivia. The show will hold a Phish trivia game that includes a VIP package of prizes and more.
At a normal in-person PhanArt show, Phish enthusiasts could acquire one-on-one personal interactions with vendors and artists. Each vendor showcases their one of a kind items, while music plays through the venue. Virtually, that doesn’t change. Instead of entering the show room, fans will enter the ‘event space’ on the PhanArt website. Everyone will have the same perks as a regular show and even receive exclusive items through drops handled by artists and vendors directly.
With over 30 artists, the virtual show possesses an array of activities that will be sure to host your inner Phish obsession.
PhanArt Show 2019
The Virtual PhanArt Show Lineup features Maria D. Designs, Wookles & Co., The Art of Ryan Kerrigan, Girl Tour, MYFE. Designs, The Goddess Revival, GratefuLegos, Tripp, BB Denim Co., Super Rad Cape Company, Hang Loose Creations, Shop Cadillac Rainbows, Party Time Design, The Overhead View, New Springfield Boogie, Lizzy Layne Art & Design, Fred Sutter, California Ave Artworks, Jamie Lee Meyer, Rude Judy Designs, Fat Karr Studios, Groovesafe, Jeremiah Merrill, Appalachian Alchemy, Wook Chic, La Placa Pottery, Mittyart, Josean Rivera, Babacool LLC, AZN Media, Phan Gear, Phrames, All in this Together, Trixy Starr and many more to come
Phish had not yet started their Fall 1997 tour, one that would be dubbed “Phish Destroys America,” yet they were already debuting new tunes for fans. On November 7, 1997, Phish performed on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, giving fans a first taste of “Farmhouse,” despite being there to promote the just-released live compilation Slip Stitch and Pass, before heading west a week later to kick off their Fall Tour in Las Vegas, NV.
As Glide Magazine points out, Phish was not prone giving names to their tours, but Fall 1997 quickly earned the “Phish Destroys America” moniker by fans, thanks to a controversial Ames Design tour poster used to advertise the tour opener at Thomas and Mack Center, althought the title fits the tour perfectly.
The performance on Late Night featured a stand alone version of “Farmhouse,” a song that lent its name to their May 2000 studio album. The mild reggae vibe brings to mind Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry” and could be found in Phish’s regular rotation beginning in the summer of 1999. Guitarist Trey Anastasio can be seen enjoying the guitar solo thoroughly during the more than four and a half minute version of the song.
Following the performance of “Farmhouse” and Conan coming over to introduce and thank the band, O’Brien said “Take it away guys,” and Phish quickly moved into the intro to “Mike’s Song,” as they might do in live performances, much to the glee of lucky fans in the audience.
Phish would return to Late Night with Conan O’Brien once more on June 27, 2000 to perform “Get Back on the Train,” which would also be featured on the band’s ninth studio album, Farmhouse.
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.
On October 23, 2013, for the first time in 19 years, Phish returned to Glens Falls Civic Center for a fall tour stop. The legendary White Album marathon show on October 31, 1994 stands out as a pinnacle moment in the band’s history, and can be seen as the moment when ‘musical costumes’ became more common for bands on Halloween, and not just for Phish.
To highlight the day, fans did what they did best – took over the town parking lots, vended their wares, supported local eating and drinking establishments, and even held a Dinner & a Movie art show.
Mayor John A. “Jack” Diamond took notice of the musical history of the band, and proceeded to issue a Mayoral Proclamation (with souvenir copies available for fans) that the town of Glens Falls had ‘Gone Phishing.’ There could not have been a warmer reception on a warmer than average October night.
The night after playing Rochester, Phish fans flocked to what was a highly competitive ticket the moment the show was announced, and speculated as to whether or not they’d bring the same heat they did two decades prior. Would they bring back any of the 30 songs featured on the White Album? That question was answered just as the lights went down and Phish played their third ever version of “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” after a gap of nearly 700 shows. From there, the night was off and running, with a set full of first set standards, with a strong “Split Open and Melt” capping things off.
Set 2 was highlighted by two separate sequences. The first, The Velvet Underground’s “Rock and Roll” > “Seven Below” > “Alaska” > “Twist,” the latter of which Holly Bowling would transcribe for piano and perform on her rise to stardom. With a breather in “Wading in the Velvet Sea,” a fantastic “Harry Hood” > “Chalk Dust Torture” combo followed to wrap up the set. The full second set is a must listen, available here via Phishtracks.com.
Poster by Michael Boyer
To close the night out, another Beatles selection, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” was the call, another debut from Halloween 1994, and the perfect bookend to a fantastic night in Glens Falls. From there, phans flocked into the town, heading over to Hotshots to check out Twiddle with Mister F opening, or Sandy’s Clam Bar for the rarest of post-shows, Touchpants. Whether satiated by the two sets at the Civic Center or needing a little something extra, Phish had left its mark on Glens Falls once again.
Set 1: Back in the U.S.S.R., Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, Water in the Sky, Undermind, David Bowie, Golgi Apparatus, Gumbo, Yarmouth Road, Camel Walk, Horn > Limb By Limb > I Didn’t Know, Split Open and Melt
Set 2: Rock and Roll > Seven Below > Alaska > Twist, Wading in the Velvet Sea > Harry Hood > Chalk Dust Torture
Just in time for Halloween, Phish’s Dinner And A Movie series returns, and with a vengeance. Instead of a full vintage Phish show, phans will get three sets, choice selections from their infamous Halloween performances of 1996, 2014 and 2018 on October 31, the anniversary of each of the sets.
The first installment from 2014 will feature the Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House set from the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The band utilized a Disney sound effects album to create 10 songs, among them “Martian Monster” and “Your Pet Cat,” debuted that night and found their way into the Phish rotation quickly.
Poster by Miguel Carvallo
The second set on Halloween features the second set of Halloween 1996 at The Omni in Atlanta, when Phish covered the entire Talking Heads epic, Remain in Light.
The third and final set of this Halloween Dinner and a Movie takes us back to 2018 in Las Vegas, when Phish performed under the alter ego Kasvot Växt, performing the debut of í rokk.
With a three-part ‘movie,’ you’ll need dinner. Phish has teamed up with Burlington chef and Phish fan Justin Wright has set up a corresponding three-course fall meal: Delicata Squash Tempura, Primal Soup, and some spooky Ghost Brownies. Justin recently returned to Burlington this summer to open casual French eatery C’est Ca. Recipes can be found here.
The beneficiary for the weekend is the Fair Elections Center, and donations can be made through phish.com/waterwheel. Fair Elections Center is a national, nonpartisan voting rights and election reform organization which works to remove barriers to registration and voting for traditionally underrepresented constituencies.
The Center works to improve election administration through legislative, legal and administrative reform, to protect access to the ballot through litigation, and to provide election law expertise, voter information and technical assistance to voter mobilization organizations. Learn more about them at https://www.fairelectionscenter.org.
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.”
