Date of the world's best
New Year's Eve celebration: the
Phish concert (though "concert" is too minor a term...
event maybe?) at
Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation in
Florida's
Everglades.
The first set began in the late afternoon and ended after sunset with a raucous, anticipatory After Midnight. Then the wait began; 80,000 people staking out some ground in front of the stage, maybe catching a little sleep. The previous night bore witness to a gargantuan three-set extravaganza followed by all-night partying. Some strength had to be saved for what was to come.
Namely, the Midnight Set. The set. Midnight to sunrise, nonstop. A seven hour ecstatic musical celebration of existence.
You shoulda seen it.
The band's fear that this show could never be topped is partially responsible for their current (as of 7/2/01) hiatus.
Here, then, is the setlist for the entire day:
12-31-99 Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation, FL
Set 1: Runaway Jim+, Funky Bitch, Tube, I Didn't Know*, Punch You in the Eye, Bouncing Around the Room, Poor Heart, Roggae, Split Open and Melt** -> Catapult, Get Back on the Train, Horn, Guyute, After Midnight*** (1:46)
Set 2: #Meatstick^ -> Auld Lang Syne, Down with Disease -> Llama, Bathtub Gin^^, Heavy Things^^^, ^^^^Twist Around > Prince Caspian > Rock and Roll, You Enjoy Myself%, Crosseyed and Painless, The Inlaw Josie Wales%%, Sand -> Quadrophonic Topplings%%%, Slave to the Traffic Light, Albuquerque, Reba, Axilla, 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 > Wading in the Velvet Sea, Meatstick$$ (7:45)
+With marshmallow war, lots of balloons, and aerial tortillas. *With Fish on vacuum. **Unfinished. ***First time played; J.J. Cale cover from the album "Naturally" (best known for the Eric Clapton version).
#Set begins around 11:35 pm with Father Time on stage pedaling away at a stationary bike, powering a large clock, with the sound of the gears on the PA (possibly a Siket Disc track?). At approximately 11:50 pm, Father Time collapses from exhaustion and the clock stops. At this time, with appropriate sound effects, a large fan boat entered the field from halfway back, stage right. Soon the sides and top of the fan boat were blown off to reveal the band riding in the hot dog from 12-31-94. The hot dog approached the stage as the band threw leis and other goodies into the crowd. Once the hot dog reached the stage, the band disembarked carrying several meatsticks. They fed these to Father Time, reviving him to drive to clock to midnight.
^Instrumental version, with the band picking up the song from a pre-recorded version played during the hot dog ride. ^^With vocal jam, as Trey, Mike, and Page sang the notes as they played them. ^^^Recorded live for ABC's Millennium coverage; Trey instructed the crowd to chant the word "Cheesecake" after the song (instead of applauding), in an attempt to confuse TV viewers; Trey introduced the band for the recorded footage and offered a message of peace and harmony for the world ("The right lane is for driving. The left lane is for passing. So stay in the right lane unless you're passing."). ^^^^Preceded by "Meatstick" tease (possibly as Central Time hit midnight). %With "Cheesecake" vocal jam. %%Trey solo acoustic. %%%With Mike holding up a voice box, repeating the phrase "Quadrophonic Toppling." %%%%With Fish on vacuum; Fish introduced Page before the song, and Mike and Trey afterwards, and the band as "Phish 2000." $Preceded by a tease of the "Harry Hood" intro (Note from QXZ: The Harry Hood start was not a tease. Fishman, forgetting that the song had been played the day before, began Harry Hood. Trey had to shake his head at Fish violently to get him to stop playing it). $$No encore; post-show music was the Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun."
Thanks to the Helping Phriendly Book (http://www.phish.net/hpb) and the
Mockingbird Foundation for the notes.