Phish New Year's Shows:
December 28-31, 1996, Philadelphia and Boston
by Brad Gregory Serling
A Gazillion balloons covered the crowd at midnight
(click for a bigger, cooler version-361 KB)
Crowe had spent the past three New Year's Eves with Phish and had decided that this year he'd bail and go to a dinner party instead. You see, Crowe has been living in Japan since graduating from an unmentionable New England school where his extra-curricular diet included a whole lotta Phish. Four New Year's in a row seemed like too much for Crowe. Is this all his buddies back in the States did? Was is it non-stop touring for these seemingly updstanding friends? Well, it sure seemed that way. After all, the past four times Crowe had come to visit, we were on tour. Whether it was The Ball, a New Year's show, or Northwest Dead tour, it seemed like a never-ending party. Didn't these guys have a real life? It was all too much for him, so Crowe bailed on New Year's.Listening to the FM broadcast on New Year's Day, Crowe not only realized that his friends have real lives in law school or full time jobs, but he also held his head in sorrow for missing a great phucking time.
From the "Runaway Jim" at The Spectrum right up to the finish line with "Amazing Grace" shortly past 1:00 AM on January 1, 1997 in Boston, Phish laid it on thick and closed out a banner year with four solid shows. Looking back, 1996 was the year that brought Phish to the fabled New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, to Woodstock, NY for a thank you show at a local bar after weeks of recording Billy Breathes (their latest studio effort) in neighboring Bearsville, to Europe for a slew of shows with Santana and solo gigs in London and Amsterdam, to the breathtaking Red Rocks Amphitheatre at the foot of the Rockies in Colorado for four sold out nights (the only band to ever sell out four in a row there), to Plattsburgh, NY for The Clifford Ball (the largest concert in the industry for the year), and finally to the New Year's Shows with two sold-out nights in Philly and two in Boston. All this mixed in with coast-to-coast summer and fall tours. An incredible year for a band that's never even made it onto the charts. To put all this in perspective, Blues Traveler (labeled by critics as a fellow member of the neo-Dead tribe, much like Phish) was unable to sell-out Madison Square Garden for New Year's Eve in their hometown of New York despite all their airplay and top-ten hits. Meanwhile the year-end Phish shows sold out in a matter of minutes.
A Remote Controlled Balloon flew over the crowd
during set break New Year's Eve
Memorable moments from The Spectrum include an incendiary "Frankenstein," an intense "Makisupa Policeman" into "Maze," a jammed out "Johnny B. Goode," "Caravan," a "You Enjoy Myself" complete with the band members swapping instruments twice, and, of course, the "Harpua" with Tom Marshall as the "Uber Demon" belting out "Champagne Supernova."
On to Boston's Fleet Center for the real party. The first night's
PA failure during "Funky Bitch" elicited an incredible
(and hilarious) air-jam by the band. And "Good Times, Bad
Times" is always a treat. The second set deserves a little
discussion. Let's see… "Timber Ho" to open and
"Slave to the Traffic Light" to close with a "Possum"
encore… need I say more? Well, maybe a little. Throw in
Monroe's "Uncle Pen," "Guyute," "Scent
of a Mule" with Steven Wright on desk bell, a knee-wobbling
"Tweezer," and a red-hot "AC/DC Bag" and you've
got a very spicy vichyssoise.
An inch or two of snow on the eve of New Year's Eve made for a very chilly hang outside the Fleet Center this final day of 1996. Luckily there are plenty of pubs serving Guiness around North Station. The crowd rolled in early to get out of the cold and the pre-show scene inside allowed a lot of phriends to catch up on old times, exchange addresses, and offer new year's wishes. The millions of balloons hoisted along the rafters clued us in to the New Year's Prank. Never could we have imagined how completely covered in balloons we would be come midnight.
The last first set of '96 began with "Axilla," and continued with a rare "Peaches en Regalia" (only played twice since New Year's '94). In Philly, folks a few rows ahead of me were holding up signs for "Peaches" as well as for "Cities." Well, one outta two ain't bad, and I'd take Zappa's "Peaches" over the Talking Heads' "Cities" any day. Things really started to gel by the time we got to "Divided Sky." Closing the set with the reprise to the previous night's "Tweezer" was a nice touch, too.
With only a few minutes left in 1996, Phish took the stage with
"2001" (what are they gonna play on December 31, 2000?)
At the stroke of midnight, a gazillion balloons and tons of confetti
inundated the crowd. "Down with Disease," arguably
the song of the year, gave way to a punchy "Suzie,"
followed by a monstrous "Run Like an Antelope." Now
for the phun stuff: an entire red-robed choir filed on to a riser
behind the band to help out with Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody."
You've gotta hear it to believe it. The choir also lent a hand
on a colossal "Julius" to close the show. A sweet "Amazing
Grace" sung by the choir and accompanied by the band mellowed
out the evening and sent us back into the chilly Boston air.
Only Vermont's Phinest could pull off a set like that.
Sorry, Crowe, you definitely missed out!
and Sugarbush 95 (with pix!)
plus interviews with Trey and Fishman