After two nights of debauchery in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center during which they covered the Velvet Underground‘s Loaded in its entirety for on Halloween night, Phish rolled into West Valley, UT to The “E” Center for a November 2nd gig on the band’s 1998 Fall Tour.
As the story goes, due to poor ticket sales for the show, Phish decided to treat the fans who made the trip from Vegas to West Valley by donning a second “musical costume,” Pink Floyd‘s Dark Side Of The Moon. After requesting a copy of the album and hitting the practice room all afternoon, the band dropped the landmark album in the middle of the second set with a “Harpua” preface in which “Jimmy,” one of the story’s main protagonists, hitchhikes a ride from Vegas to Salt Lake City with a driver playing Dark Side along the way. Oh, and to cap it off, Phish covered Nirvana‘s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in the encore. No big deal.
Needless to say, this show sent shock waves around the community, leaving those in attendance in absolute awe and sending a message to everyone that on any given night, something like that could happen. No shows are to be overlooked.
Take a look at the complete setlist and stream full audio from the show below:
Phish – The “E” Centre – West Valley, UT – 11/2/1998
[Video:Â nognuisagoodgnu]
Setlist: Phish | The “E” Center | West Valley, UT | 11/2/98
Set One: Â Tube -> Drowned -> Jesus Just Left Chicago, Driver[1], Bittersweet Motel[1], Limb By Limb, Wading in the Velvet Sea > Sample in a Jar
Set Two: Down with Disease, The Mango Song > The Moma Dance, You Enjoy Myself, Harpua[2] > Speak to Me[3] -> Breathe[3] > On The Run[3], Time[3] > The Great Gig in the Sky > Money[3] > Us and Them[3] -> Any Colour You Like[3] -> Brain Damage[3] -> Eclipse[3] > Harpua
Encore: Smells Like Teen Spirit[3]
[1] Trey on acoustic guitar.
[2] Narration picked up where December 6, 1996 Harpua ended; Jimmy hitched a ride from Vegas to Salt Lake City and the driver was playing Dark Side of the Moon.
[3] Phish debut.
[Originally published 11/2/17]