At the turn of the millennium, Phish hosted their own festival near the Big Cypress National Reserve in Southern Florida. The New Years Eve concert is the stuff of legends, as the band played a seven-and-a-half hour-long set from midnight on New Years Eve, up until sunrise on New Years Day. The band was so dedicated to this performance, that they placed port-o-potties on the side of the stage, and a team of security guards were hired to ensure that Phish continued to play.
And play they did. The concert had the largest attendance of any concert held on that particular New Years Eve, edging out a list of incredibly-popular musicians like Sting, Barbara Streisand, Aerosmith, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, The Eagles, Eminem, Jimmy Buffett, KISS, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Elton John. (Thanks for that tidbit, Wikipedia).
Thanks to YouTube user Roberto767, we now have video footage for the epic 7+ hour second set from that concert. Split into three parts, check out the videos below:
You can stream the ending of the concert via Phish Tracks.
Friday, 12/31/1999
Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation, Big Cypress, FL
Set 1: Runaway Jim, Funky Bitch, Tube, I Didn’t Know[1], Punch You In the Eye, Bouncing Around the Room, Poor Heart, Roggae, Split Open and Melt[2] -> Catapult, Back on the Train, Horn, Guyute, After Midnight[3]
Set 2: Meatstick -> Auld Lang Syne > Down with Disease[2] -> Llama, Bathtub Gin, Heavy Things, Twist -> Prince Caspian > Rock and Roll, You Enjoy Myself[4], Crosseyed and Painless, The Inlaw Josie Wales[5], Sand -> Quadrophonic Toppling[6], Slave to the Traffic Light, Albuquerque[7], Reba, Axilla[7], Uncle Pen, David Bowie, My Soul, Drowned -> After Midnight Reprise, The Horse > Silent in the Morning > Bittersweet Motel, Piper -> Free, Lawn Boy, Hold Your Head Up > Love You > Hold Your Head Up, Roses Are Free, Bug, Also Sprach Zarathustra[8] > Wading in the Velvet Sea > Meatstick
[1] Fishman on vacuum.
[2] Unfinished.
[3] Phish debut.
[4] Vocal jam based around the word “cheesecake.”
[5] Trey on acoustic guitar.
[6] Debut.
[7] Trey altered lyrics to reference cheesecake.
[8] Began with the signature Hood drum roll.
Teases:
· After Midnight tease in Rock and Roll
· Dave’s Energy Guide tease in Crosseyed and Painless
· My Soul tease in Sand
· Bug tease in Piper
· Harry Hood tease in Also Sprach Zarathustra
Noteworthy Jams: Tube, Split Open and Melt (highly recommended), Catapult (highly recommended), Down with Disease, Bathtub Gin, Twist, Rock and Roll, You Enjoy Myself, Crosseyed and Painless (highly recommended), Sand (highly recommended), Quadrophonic Toppling, Slave to the Traffic Light, Drowned, After Midnight, Piper, Roses Are Free, Also Sprach Zarathustra
Average Song Gap: 17.52
Performers: Trey Anastasio, Page McConnell, Jon Fishman, Mike Gordon
Notes: This was the second show of the Big Cypress festival. I Didn’t Know featured Fishman (introduced as ‘Soda Jerk’) on vacuum. SOAM and Disease were unfinished. After the ensuing Catapult, Trey remarked: “Only at the largest concert in the world could we get away with playing a song like that.” After Midnight made its Phish debut. The late set, also known as “The Show,” began at around 11:35. “Father Time” was on stage, pedaling on an exercise bike that powered a large clock. The sounds of the clock’s gears could be heard through the sound system. About ten minutes before midnight, “Father Time” collapsed from exhaustion and the clock stopped. Then, a large fan boat entered the concert field and approached the stage. Early in its journey, the fan boat exploded away and revealed the hot dog used in the 1994 New Year’s stunt. While the band rode the hot dog to the stage, an instrumental version of Meatstick began to play over the P.A.. The band reached the stage and fed several meatsticks to Father Time, reviving him so that the clock could continue moving toward midnight. The band then took the stage and played Meatstick to begin The Show. Dancers were on stage prior to Phish reaching it. Heavy Things was recorded live and rebroadcast as part of ABC television’s New Year’s Eve coverage. In a humorous effort to confuse the home audience, Trey instructed the crowd to yell the word “cheesecake” in lieu of cheering at the end of the song. After twice giving the example of yelling the word once, Trey changed his mind and instructed the crowd to chant it, adding for them to say it like they were pissed. Trey then introduced the band for the rebroadcast and offered a message of peace and harmony for the world where he reminded people to drive in the right lane unless passing another vehicle. Meatstick was subsequently teased as the New Year approached in the central time zone. Sand included a My Soul tease from Mike and Crosseyed included a DEG tease. YEM included a vocal jam based around the word “cheesecake” and Trey altered the lyrics to Axilla and Albuquerque to reference the word. Inlaw Josie Wales featured Trey on acoustic guitar. Quadrophonic Toppling debuted, albeit with different music than on The Siket Disc. Rock and Roll included an After Midnight tease. Love You included band introductions; Fishman introduced Page before the song and Mike and Trey afterwards, and the band as “Phish 2000” (see November 2, 1990). Piper contained Bug teases from Page. 2001 began with the signature Hood drum roll. After the show closed with yet another version of Meatstick, the Beatles song Here Comes the Sun was piped through the crowd at sunrise. Two breakouts were played: Crosseyed and Painless (first since August 13, 1997, or 159 shows), and Love You (first since July 5, 1997, or 179 shows).
[via Phish.net]