New To YouTube: Phish Appears On ‘Hard Rock Live’ In 2000

In May of 2000 Phish shook off the dust from a near five-month hiatus following the biggest shows of their career at Big Cypress by playing a string of three shows in New York City. Despite having sold out Madison Square Garden – the Big Apple’s biggest indoor venue – 12 times prior, the band wanted to celebrate the release of Farmhouse by making their debut at the city’s most prestigious theater: Radio City Music Hall. Just three days prior to the start of the Radio City run, Phish announced a third NYC performance at Roseland Ballroom which would be taped for an episode of VH-1’s Hard Rock Live series.

The announcement of the Roseland show came with word tickets could only be obtained at the venue’s box office with a strict one-ticket-per-person rule at 8:30 a.m. on the morning of the second Radio City concert. Phish fans were thrown for a loop as we aren’t the kind of fanbase to take such news by thinking, “I’m already seeing two shows at an incredible venue, I don’t need to see a third show.” Most of us needed to be at that third show by hook or crook, especially since it had been so long since the band last played and Phish hadn’t performed at Roseland in over seven years. Those purchasing Roseland tickets at the box office received non-transferable wristbands which did a good job of keeping scalpers at bay.

For Phish fans who lived in New York City getting to the show wasn’t a problem, but many fans flew in from around the country to see the group at such a famous venue. Plenty of itineraries were changed so that fans could catch the Roseland show, though some who should’ve been on top of the world as they were in New York City for two nights at Radio City were upset because they had a conflict preventing them from making it to a show they never saw coming at Roseland. Travel logistics aside, Phish followers still needed to obtain tickets for the Roseland show which would not be easy to put it lightly. The early morning on-sale led many to head straight to Roseland after the final notes of “Loving Cup” closed out the first night of Radio City. Within an hour of Phish leaving the stage on May 21, the line at Roseland stretched multiple blocks. It was nice that those who couldn’t score tickets to the Radio City debut had a leg up on those who did have tickets, as they were able to line up a few hours earlier which wound up guaranteeing them entry to the Roseland show.

The Roseland show itself was highlighted by a rare extended “Ya Mar,” an interesting take on “Taste,” the return of “It’s Ice” after 84 shows and a dream “You Enjoy Myself”/”Run Like An Antelope” sequence. While VH-1’s footage of the entire Roseland show has circulated for years, YouTube’s TylerPenn has shared the Phish installment of Hard Rock Live which premiered on July 1, 2000:

Tracklist: First Tube, Punch You In The Eye, You Enjoy Myself, Back On The Train, Piper, Cavern

Here’s the complete footage of Phish’s Roseland ’00 performance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOkBP9usfo4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dumf0UsGglE