Phish’s 2.0 era is often overlooked in the annals of the band. Albeit short-lived, the band’s 2.0 period, which spans December 31, 2002, through August 15, 2004 (63 shows total), does feature some memorable moments, including two New Year’s Eve shows, the first of which kicked off the new era and heralded the band’s triumphant return from their 26-month hiatus.
Phish announced their return with a one-off New Year’s Eve show on a Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, followed by a three-night run at The Mothership, Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia. While this reunion of shows wasn’t exactly the kind you run home to tell Mom about, everyone can agree it was great to have The Phish from Vermont back onstage.
The band was clearly fired up, taking the stage and kicking off with a “Piper” that built into a fiery, staccato jam. After a few songs, the band paused as a clip played from the 2000 film Castaway starring Tom Hanks, whose character bonded with a volleyball he called “Wilson.” Of course, Phish then played “Wilson,” during which Trey Anastasio called Tom Hanks to the stage. Sure enough, there he was! Indeed, more than a few news outlets reported Tom Hanks’ appearing onstage with Phish, but in truth it was Page McConnell’s brother, who happens to look a bit like the Academy Award–winning actor.
Clearly, the band hadn’t lost their sense of humor during the hiatus. Anastasio would beat this faux-intro joke to death in the following Hampton shows, “introducing” Tom Hanks again and then Al Gore the next night, though no one posed as the celebrities for those occasions.
After “Wilson,” Phish busted out “Mound” for the first time since 1996. They also debuted a few songs, first “Waves” to open the second set and then “Seven Below” in the lead-up to the New Year’s countdown. During the performance, a large disco ball descended from the center of the arena and fake snow gently fell from the arena ceiling. White-clad “snow monster” dancers in masks joined the band onstage and made circles around them before descending into the crowd, where some donned stilts and continued to dance. At midnight, fireworks and explosions rang in the New Year and thousands of white balloons fell onto the crowd as the band played “Auld Lang Syne” > “Runaway Jim.”
With bit of comic relief, a few new songs, some fiery jams (see also the debut, second-set closer “Walls of the Cave”), and a gentle, wintry gag, Phish was back, baby.
In 2003, Phish hit the road for a 12-show winter tour of the Northeast, followed by a 19-show summer tour with the IT festival (see chapter 82) and a four-night run to celebrate the band’s 20th anniversary over Thanksgiving weekend.
Then, they hit Miami for a four-night New Year’s Eve run at American Airlines Arena. The first night was pure fire: Opening with “David Bowie,” the first set included “Tweezer” and “Tweezer Reprise” and an epically jammed “Frankie Says” and “Hold Your Head Up.” And the second set’s “Suzy Greenberg” -> “Jam” is must-hear 2.0 Phish.
A car descends upon the stage on NYE 2003 in Miami. (Marnie Morris)
And the rest of the run was no different. The second night’s second set is solid and the band performed two encores that night, “Waste” then “The Squirming Coil.” The third night, Phish opened with “Wilson” to honor the actor Earl Hindman, aka “Wilson” from Home Improvement, who had passed away earlier that day. The second set that night is an incredible, strange mix of music and jams, first summoning the spirit of the Lizard King, Jim Morrison (who was once famously arrested in Dade County, Miami), with an incredible, fun, and funky “Tube” -> “L.A. Woman” > “Birds of a Feather” > “L.A. Woman” -> which continued into “Makisupa Policeman” as Phish welcomed George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic onstage for a shared medley of such classics as “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker),” and “P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up).” Ladies and gentlemen, it was quite a show!
The following night, New Year’s Eve, Wednesday, December 31, 2003, Phish once again opened with “Wilson” to complete the uncompleted song from the previous night. And Phish closed the first set with a killer “First Tube” > “Tube” to complete the previous night’s abandoned > “L.A. Woman” version. Phish opened the second set with a well-jammed “Stash,” then “Seven Below,” perhaps nodding to NYE 2002.
With midnight approaching, Phish took the stage for the third set and debuted “Jungle Boogie,” during which Jon Fishman’s drum kit was moved to side stage to make room for a Mini Cooper car, lowered from the rafters. As Phish continued to play, the car doors opened and, one by one, the entire Miami Palmetto Senior High Band and Cheerleading Squad climbed out from the car to join in the jam and dance onstage. A countdown to midnight rang in the New Year as thousands of balloons dropped from the ceiling and Phish, with the marching band, played “Auld Lang Syne” > “Iron Man,” a debut. The set continued with incredible nonstop music, most notably “Runaway Jim” > “Simple” then “Hold Your Head Up” with typical Fishman antics followed by a “Frankenstein” encore.
Needless to say, 2003’s NYE run had some incredible, magical moments, coming in just a month after the band’s celebrated 20th anniversary run. Of course, at the time, none of us had any clue that this would be Phish’s last New Year’s Eve show for six years.