After kicking off the band’s fall tour with the first two shows at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN, Phish returned for night three ready to prove why you “never miss a Sunday show” with big jams and rare bust-outs including a cover of “Cinnamon Girl” by Neil Young.
Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, Jon Fishman, and Page McConnell opened the show with the high-energy instrumental “Buried Alive”, followed by straightforward tellings of “AC/DC Bag” and “Free”, which saw the quartet stretch out a bit. “Sightless Escape”, a song from Trey’s project Ghosts of the Forest, was the first surprising selection of the evening, played for the first time since its debut at Dick’s in 2019, a gap of 138 shows.
The first set continued with “Undermind” and “Ya Mar” before another bust-out arrived, “Beauty of a Broken Heart”, written by Page for his 2007 eponymous solo album after the band’s temporary break-up. Trey’s songs “Hey Stranger” and “Evolve” continued the theme of solo/side project songs, and a substantial 13-minute “Ghost” jam brought the first frame to a close.
Set two was more heavy on the jams, beginning with a 15-minute “Birds of a Feather” that saw the band freely explore a number of musical moods and modes accompanied by complementary lightwork by Chris Kuroda. The proceeding “Wave of Hope” washed over the crowd for a full 14 minutes, but it was the “Cinnamon Girl” surprise that had fans in a state of contented disbelief. The song from Neil Young’s 1969 album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, his first to feature backing band Crazy Horse, was last played by Phish in 2017 on “Cinnamon” night of the Baker’s Dozen run at Madison Square Garden, a gap of 218 shows, and not since 1997 before that.
TV on the Radio‘s “Golden Age” served as a trusty vehicle for a 17-minute exploration, followed by “The Well”, a Trey song that has been getting its legs since its debut this summer. After drawing from “The Well”, Phish had plenty of juice left to cap off the set with the longest song of the night, an epic, 19-minute “You Enjoy Myself”.
Still not finished, the band returned to bark at the moon with “The Howling” and closed the Nashville run with an explosive “Suzy Greenberg”.
Check out footage of “Cinnamon Girl” and other fan-shot videos below and scroll down to view a gallery of photos from the show via Keith Griner. Phish’s fall tour continues with two nights in Dayton, OH and a three-night run in Chicago. For a complete list of upcoming Phish tour dates, head here.
Fans at home can follow along with live video webcasts and audio replays of the 2023 Phish fall tour via the band’s streaming service LivePhish. Audio will be added to the LivePhish app promptly after each show, with audio available to stream exclusively using LivePhish+. LivePhish+ subscribers can save on the tour webcast pass, or any single night show. For information on how to order your Phish 2023 fall tour webcasts, head here.
Phish – “Cinnamon Girl” (Neil Young) – 10/8/23
[Video: Michael Wilker]
Setlist [via Phish.net]: Phish | Bridgestone Arena | Nashville, TN | 10/8/23
Set 1: Buried Alive > AC/DC Bag > Free, Sightless Escape, Undermind > Ya Mar, Beauty of a Broken Heart, Hey Stranger, Taste, Evolve, Ghost
Set 2: Birds of a Feather, A Wave of Hope, Cinnamon Girl > Golden Age -> The Well, You Enjoy Myself
Encore: The Howling > Suzy Greenberg
Sightless Escape was performed for the first time since September 1, 2019 (138 shows). Cinnamon Girl was last played July 29, 2017 (219 shows). Trey sang part of Seven Below’s melody in the YEM vocal jam.
