Vermont jammers Phish wrapped up a tour through the Northeast tonight, hitting the Lakeview Amphitheater in Syracuse, NY at the end of a long string of performances. After starting the summer in the Midwest, Phish toured from Philadelphia to Saratoga Springs, through Portland, ME, Mansfield, MA, and Hartford, CT. With one more show for Northeast fans this summer, the old ‘Never Miss A Sunday Show’ adage rang true.
The show was filled with highlights, including the opener of “The Landlady.” Separated from “Punch You In The Eye” for the first time last summer, the instrumental has been warmly welcomed ever since, and made its first appearance of summer 2016 to start the show. After a fun “Blaze On,” Trey Anastasio took a moment to acknowledge Jon Fishman’s hometown of Syracuse. They then played two Fishman originals, including the classic “Ha Ha Ha” and the second-ever “Friends.”
The set was ultimately packed with nine tour debuts, including “Landlady” and “Ha Ha Ha” mentioned above. The other six include “Destiny Unbound,” “The Mango Song,” “Timber” (the Halloween instrumental, which delightfully included a version of the classic “Timber (Jerry)” in the middle), Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “The Ballad Of Curtis Loew,” Mike Gordon-led “Mound,” the Fuego track “Winterqueen,” and the finale, a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Bold as Love.” The first set also featured some great work on “Tube,” “My Friend, My Friend” and “Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan,” only adding to the heat of the set.
More tour debuts highlighted the second set, including the opening cover of The Who’s “Drowned.” The set kept the jams flowing with “Twist,” “Waste,” “Piper,” “Simple,” and the band’s new second set favorite “Breath and Burning.” None of the tunes really stretched too far from the box, but the overall flow was strong. The band played a quick and fun “Rocky Top,” their first of the summer and first since 1/2/15 (46 shows), before introducing their second Halloween instrumental of the night, “Martian Monster.” Anastasio again played the Marimba Lumina during “Monster,” as he did at SPAC, while McConnell and Gordon again switched instruments.
“Golgi Apparatus” came next, before the band finished off the set with a cover of Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein.” McConnell had played his keytar towards the end of set one, and finally got to feature it for the rocking set closer, and the 12th tour debut of the night. “Character Zero” came out for a familiar encore,  putting a great finish to an awesome show.
Check out the full gallery below, courtesy of Dave DeCrescente Photography, as well as the Phish.net setlist.
Setlist: Phish at Lakeview Amphitheater, Syracuse, NY – 7/10/16
Set 1: The Landlady, Blaze On, Ha Ha Ha, Friends, Tube, Destiny Unbound > My Friend, My Friend > The Mango Song > Timber > Timber (Jerry) > Timber, The Ballad of Curtis Loew, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan > Mound, Winterqueen, Bold As Love
Set 2: Drowned > Twist > Waste > Piper > Simple > Breath and Burning, Rocky Top > Martian Monster[1] > Golgi Apparatus > Frankenstein
Encore: Character Zero
[1] Trey on Marimba Lumina; Mike on guitar; Page on bass.
Notes: Martian Monster featured Trey on Marimba Lumina, Mike on guitar, and Page on bass.
