Chasing The Moonlight: Watch Phish Bust Out Neil Young Cover In Nashville

Phish‘s Fall Tour 2023 three-night opening run in Nashville wrapped on Sunday night with their third show at Bridgestone Arena. There were a few setlist surprises in both sets including the band’s first performance of Neil Young‘s “Cinnamon Girl” in six years.

Sunday’s first set began with “Buried Alive” and the frenetic instrumental delivering an energetic burst to the start of night three. The two-slot was filled by “AC/DC Bag.” Those (like me) who hoped this would lead to an early-show jam seen somewhat frequently of late would have to wait as guitarist Trey Anastasio kept Sunday’s “AC/DC Bag” concise, choosing instead to segue into “Free.”

Mike Gordon cycled through chunky basslines as the band eased into the “Free” jam with drummer Jon Fishman building a pocket and keyboardist Page McConnell adding color while Anastasio steadily asserted himself.

An unexpected setlist entry, “Sightless Escape,” followed. Played by Phish once before on September 1, 2019 (a 138-show gap), the song was part of Anastasio’s Ghosts Of The Forest performances in April 2019.

The unexpected bust out was followed by the playful “Undermind.” Gordon then helmed “Ya Mar,” which featured Anastasio setting up McConnell’s solo by toying with the lyrics and exclaiming “Ladies and gentlemen my grandpa on the organ: Leo!”

McConnell took another turn in the spotlight by leading the band through his original “Beauty of a Broken Heart” for the first time since 2021. The set continued with “hey stranger,” the contemplative rocker Anastasio recorded for his solo album, Mercy. “Taste” came barrelling in after and was delivered with a laser-sharp focus.

A song that grew in stature and prevalence over the summer, “Evolve” served as the penultimate song of set one. A 2021 debut, it made its sixth setlist appearance of the year and once again saw Anastasio producing a guiding path through an inspired guitar solo.

“Ghost” then served as Sunday’s first set closer. The “Ghost” jam maintained some of the groove and feel of the song as the band progressed away from its familiar elements and found a repeated melodic sequence that had the “composing in real time” component the band is known to lock into.

Read on after The Skinny for the rest of the recap and more.

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The sixth and final set of Phish’s tour-opening run in Music City started with “Birds Of A Feather” getting the second half of the show going. A brilliant Type I jam clinic ensued with a true musical conversation happening between Anastasio and McConnell. Weaving in and out of familiar “Birds” themes, the foursome cohesively built upon one idea after another until reaching a satisfying resolution that steered directly back into the completion of “Birds.”

Trailing the delightful opener was “A Wave Of Hope.” Sunday’s effort further established the newer song as a path to potent improvisation. Powerful and pretty, the band worked through an array of melodic passages, patching them together with urgency and focus, with gratifying results.

A few days after the 25th anniversary of the first time Phish shared the stage with Neil Young, the band decided to bust out a cover of the legendary musician’s classic rocker “Cinnamon Girl.” First covered by Phish way back in 1989, “Cinnamon Girl” was played twice in 1997 but had not made a Phish setlist since July 29, 2017 (a 219 show gap), which was the “cinnamon” flavor night of the Baker’s Dozen run at Madison Square Garden.

The bust out cover was paired with a cover of TV On The Radio’s “Golden Age,” which was last played by Phish at SPAC with Derek Trucks sitting in. While Sunday’s version did not have the same dynamics, the jam it ushered in was dynamic in many ways. Patient and persistent, the four musicians engaged in cohesive groupthink, expanding well beyond the realm of anything resembling the song. The most exploratory moment of the show came deep into the “Golden Age” jam as the mood became dark and shadowy and Fish repeated a complex fill several times while his three bandmates built a bitingly angular soundscape.

The final act of the “Golden Age” jam was a skittering and intense passage that could soundtrack a ride on Willy Wonka’s wonderous steamboat. A standout of the many new songs that debuted this summer, “The Well” emerged out of the prevailing improvisation. The song’s joyous, uplifting first half crashed into its menacing, cacophonous conclusion.

An apt choice for the Sunday night, second-set closer of a three-night run, “You Enjoy Myself” arrived like an old friend at the end of a party. A solid “YEM” with some start-stop aspects to the funky enterprise, it dutifully filled its role of punctuating the second set.

This year’s trend of multi-song encores continued with the Music City finale. Up first was “The Howling,” which prompted a supportive smile and fist pumps from Trey in response to the audience’s participatory howling. The night drew to an end with a final highly charged romp through old standby “Suzy Greenberg.”

Like they did on Fall Tour 1995, Phish heads from Nashville to Dayton, Ohio to play the Wright State University Nutter Center. Both the Dayton shows and this weekend’s three-night run in Chicago are available to livestream via LivePhish.com.

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