The last Phish show I attended was in Raleigh, NC during their summer 2003 tour so you can only imagine how stoked I was to see them at Jones Beach. It was a perfect night and it felt like I was floating on the clouds being seated so high up in the stadium. The stage projected out into the water where boats sailed by and the summer sky made the perfect backdrop for the concert.
Phish opened with “Skin it Back,” which hadn’t been performed live since July 29,1988 (1,417 shows). Next came a wild rendition of “Possum” followed by a cover of the Beatles 1968 song “Happiness is a Warm Gun,” another song they pulled from the vault as it was last performed on October 31, 1994 (658 shows). The first set ended with Golgi Apparatus which had the entire stadium chanting “I saw you with a ticket stub in your hand!!”
The second set blasted off with “Chalk Dust Torture” where they threw in a teaser of “Skin it Back.” The lights of the night enhanced the grooviness of the show: the glow-stick wars continued non-stop looking like shooting neon stars, the lights of the boats flickered off the water surrounding the stage, and Chris Kuroda’s light design was spot on truly flowing with the music. The show ended with “Run Like an Antelope” and an encore of “Character Zero.”
My one major complaint was that there was no beer on sale! I had a great time nonetheless, but no beer? What is that all about?
Anyway, enjoy this quick little mash-up of the show!
All facts on songs provided by Phish.net (thanks Scott Marks @bizarchive for keeping a live feed during the show!)