Phish will cement the legacy of its formative 1993 New Year’s Eve show in Worcester, MA, with an expansive box set. Out February 20th via JEMP Records, New Year’s Eve 1993, Live At Worcester Centrum captures what was then the biggest headlining concert of the band’s career, and the first in a long line of elaborate NYE shows to come.
Phish had played four New Year’s Eve shows before, but none like this. As the band wrapped the second of three sets with “You Enjoy Myself”, Trey Anastasio, Jon Fishman, Page McConnell, and Mike Gordon put on wetsuits during the vocal jam. This complemented the aquarium stage set the band used for its four-night New Year’s run through D.C., New Haven, Portland, and Worcester.
To start set three, underwater sound effects accompanied the band as the members “dived” into the aquarium setup and climbed into the giant clam, which snapped shut on them. A description of the New Year’s Gag from the album liner notes, “As midnight approached, the clam rose off the stage and began to shake during the countdown to 1994 before erupting into a sea of confetti, light and sound at midnight. The band reappeared playing Auld Lang Syne, leading to the first Down With Disease Jam during which Fish’s old friend Peter Becker (who resembled Frank Zappa) paraded across the stage to usher in the New Year before a fiery Split Open And Melt.”
This marked Phish’s first elaborate New Year’s Eve ball drop gag, a tradition that continued to grow in size and scope for the next 30+ years. From this aquarium show came the flying hot dog in 1994 and ’99, the 1995 Gamehendge Time Factory, a midnight-to-sunrise set to usher in the new millennium, a pirate ship flying through Madison Square Garden in 2017, dancing clones in 2019, all the way to last week’s It’s Ice Cream spectacle of dancing dairy products.
Beyond the New Year’s Gag, the Worcester show has two additional sets of high-energy 1993 Phish. Standout versions of “Reba”, “Tweezer”, “It’s Ice”, and an all-time “Harry Hood” dot the setlist, as well as an emotional “Peaches en Regalia” for Frank Zappa, who died three weeks earlier. This marked the band’s first performance at the 14,800-capacity Worcester Centrum, more than double the size of Boston’s Matthews Arena, where Phish rang in the previous New Year.
New Year’s Eve 1993, Live At Worcester Centrum will arrive on vinyl and CD/digital, the band’s first release on both formats. Physical copies will come in a lavish Lift-Off Box Set with a cut-out replica of the aquarium stage set and 5 Seaweed + Water colored vinyl. Vinyl copies are expected to ship on or around February 17th. Three-CD copies also include a cut-out set of Trey, Fish, Mike, and Page with a clam, seaweed, and fish.
Pre-order the Phish archival release, New Year’s Eve 1993, Live At Worcester Centrum, here in a variety of formats. Stream the full show below on Internet Archive or check out some highlights from YouTube.
[Update 2/6/26]: Phish has shared pro audio of “Stash” and “Harry Hood” from Worcester ’93. Check it out below along with fans-sourced audio of the entire show and other highlights.
Phish — “Stash” — 12/31/93
Phish — “Harry Hood” — 12/31/93
Phish — Worcester Centrum Centre — Worcester, MA — 12/31/93 — Full Audio
[Audio: morst]
Phish — “Reba” — 12/31/93
[Video: astavely56]
Phish — “Possum” — 12/31/93
[Video: dgmaffi]
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Setlist [via phish.net]: Phish | Worcester Centrum Centre | Worcester, MA | 12/31/99
Set One: Llama, Guelah Papyrus, Stash, Ginseng Sullivan (Norman Blake) [1], Reba, Peaches en Regalia (Frank Zappa), I Didn’t Know, Run Like an Antelope [2]
Set Two: Tweezer > Halley’s Comet > Poor Heart > It’s Ice [3] > Fee [4] > Possum, Lawn Boy, You Enjoy Myself
Set Three: Auld Lang Syne (Robert Burns) > Down with Disease Jam > Split Open and Melt, The Lizards, Sparkle > Suzy Greenberg > Hold Your Head Up (Argent) > Cracklin’ Rosie (Neil Diamond) > Hold Your Head Up, Harry Hood, Tweezer Reprise
Encore: Golgi Apparatus, Amazing Grace (John Newton)
[1] Trey on acoustic guitar, Mike on upright bass, Page on piano and Fish on Madonna washboard.
[2] Tom Marshall on vocals.
[3] Random Note signal.
[4] Trey sang verses through megaphone.
Trey teased Fire (Ohio Players) in Stash and Tweezer. Ginseng Sullivan featured Trey on acoustic guitar, Mike on upright bass, Page on piano, and Fish on Madonna washboard and was preceded by a Roundabout tease. Antelope featured Tom Marshall on vocals. Tweezer contained an I Feel the Earth Move tease from Page and The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana) and Jean Pierre teases from Trey. It’s Ice contained a Random Note signal. Peaches en Regalia was teased in It’s Ice, Possum, Suzy Greenberg, at the end of the second HYHU (by Trey on drums), and Golgi Apparatus. Trey sang the verses of Fee through a megaphone. Possum contained an Earache My Eye tease. The band put on wet suits during the end of the YEM vocal jam, which contained a HYHU tease. The third set was preceded by bubble noises through the PA and the band “diving” into the aquarium on stage. Auld Lang Syne was teased in the DWD Jam and Hood. Suzy also contained a Smoke on the Water tease and Hood also contained a brief Odd Couple theme tease from Page. The entire show was broadcast live (and rebroadcast the following day) on Boston’s WBCN 104.1 FM.