oh kee pah

One Set: Sittin' On Top Of The World (JK), It Must Have Been The Roses (JK), Corrina (BW), No More Do I (JK) > Loser (JK), Liberty (BW), Senor (BW), Foolish Heart (JK), Hell In a Bucket (BW) E: Touch of Grey (JK)

By Matt Beck

Phish's triumphant return after a five-year hiatus culminated this past week with a four-night run at American Airlines Arena, ending on New Year's Eve. This set of gigs also marked the ten-year anniversary of Phish's Y2K Big Cypress party that brought roughly 80,000 fans to the local Seminole reservation, an event Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio has called the peak of the band's career. The arena proved once again to be a great venue, allowing many from around the country to celebrate the end of another decade in shorts and flip-flops.

The energy and attendance grew for each show, with the first two nights consisting of classic-heavy sets played to a smaller but enthusiastic fan contingent. But the real spectacle, of course, came during the New Year's Eve show. It started at the venue's entrance, where a car was parked on the sidewalk with a sign reading, "This car was driven down from Vermont fueled by maple syrup."

And sticking to tradition, this show was a three-set, 30-song throwdown. "Auld Lang Syne" was the night's recurring musical motif, being teased during "AC/DC Bag" and again in "Ghost" during the second set. But for the first set, Phish delivered strong versions of "Punch You in the Eye" and "Guyute" and the ultra-rare "Demand," the band's first performance of the song since 1996. The second set opened with the Velvet Underground's "Rock and Roll," and those in attendance were totally feeling that their "lives were saved by rock and roll!"

The third set hit with the mood-setting "Party Time" at 11:45 p.m., which led into the countdown to midnight, with the band finally playing "Auld Lang Syne" in full as a sea of balloons fell from the rafters. They immediately went right into the powerful "Down With Disease," and this is where things got confusing. Read more

Trey hits the road in February for a month-long tour with Classic TAB, featuring the same lineup from last fall, with the addition of horns back into the mix. Russell Remington (tenor saxophone and flute) and Jen Hartswick (trumpet and vocals) once again join Russ Lawton (drums), Tony Markellis (bass) and Ray Paczkowski (keyboards). New to the group is Natalie Cressman on trombone and vocals.

A limited number of tickets for all shows will be available through a real-time ticket presale directly through Trey's online ticketing system at http://treytickets.rlc.net The presale begins tomorrow, January 6th at 10am ET and will end Thursday, January 14th at 5:00pm ET. Tickets will go on sale to the public beginning Thursday, January 14th at 10:00am ET. For complete ticketing information, please visit the Tour page.

Feb 8 – Jefferson Theater – Charlottesville, VA
Feb 9 – 9:30 Club – Washington, DC
Feb 11 – Electric Factory – Philadelphia, PA
Feb 12 – House of Blues – Boston, MA
Feb 13 – Oakdale/Chevrolet Theatre – Wallingford, CT
Feb 16 – Terminal 5 – NYC
Feb 14 – Count Basie Theater – Red Bank, NJ
Feb 18 – Pabst Theater – Milwaukee, WI
Feb 19 – Riviera Theatre – Chicago, IL
Feb 20 – State Theatre – Minneapolis, MN
Feb 21 – Uptown Theater – Kansas City, MO
Feb 23 – Pageant Theater – St. Louis, MO
Feb 25 – Ryman Auditorium – Nashville, TN
Feb 26 – Fillmore – Charlotte, NC
Feb 27 – Tabernacle – Atlanta, GA
Feb 28 – Tennessee Theater – Knoxville, TN

2009 was an incredible year for Phish. It all started in March with a return to the stage after nearly five years away in Hampton. Summer saw two legs of tour touching upon both coasts, Halloween returned for the first time since 1998 and fall tour saw the band really stretch out and return to form of years past. All of the energy, anticipation and antics came to a head and fitting conclusion with a four-night celebration to end 2009 — and ring in 2010 — this past week in Miami at American Airlines Arena, the band's first trip here since their last New Year's run six years earlier. Read more