Fans who were lucky enough to attend Phish‘s 20th-anniversary run of shows in late 2003 knew they were part of a major milestone for the rock band.
On December 1st, 2003 the foursome in the middle of its 2.0 era rolled into the Pepsi Arena in Albany, NY, and came out with an electric performance with a few surprises to spare. After starting the show with a “Chalk Dust Torture”, the first set charged forward with a standout version of “Wolfman’s Brother”, a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times Bad Times”, and a rare “Thunderhead” from 2002’s Round Room. Until last year’s Dick’s Sporting Goods Park Labor Day weekend run outside Denver, December 1st, 2003 was the last appearance of “Thunderhead”.
The second half of the show that night opened with an inspired, all-star selection of “Tweezer” > “2001” > “You Enjoy Myself” before Phish surprised fans in attendance by welcoming out their former band member, guitarist Jeff Holdsworth, who sat in for a couple of tunes including “Camel Walk”, “Possum”, “Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress”, “Run Like An Antelope”, and a take on Jimi Hendrix‘s “Fire”. Holdsworth left the band in its most primitive stages back in 1986—as legend has it after Trey Anastasio showed the band the charts to “You Enjoy Myself”—and had not performed with them in the 17 years since. He is credited as the writer of “Camel Walk” and “Possum”.
Fans can relisten to the December 2003 performance featuring the return of Jeff Holdsworth below.
Phish – Pepsi Arena – Albany, NY – 12/1/03
[Video: fromtheaquarium]
Setlist: Phish | Pepsi Center | Albany, NY | 12/1/2003
Set One: Chalk Dust Torture, Stash, Guyute, Thunderhead > Sparkle, Wolfman’s Brother > Good Times Bad Times (Led Zeppelin cover)
Set Two: Tweezer -> Also Sprach Zarathustra > You Enjoy Myself, Camel Walk[1], Possum[1], Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress[1] > Run Like an Antelope[2]
Encore: Fire[3] (Jimi Hendrix cover)
[1] Jeff Holdsworth on guitar and vocals.
[2] Jeff Holdsworth on guitar and Tom Marshall on vocals.
[3] Jeff Holdsworth on guitar.