Phish Shares Official Footage Of ‘1999’ From MSG 1998
By Andy Kahn Apr 24, 2016 • 12:04 am PDT
On New Year’s Eve in 1998, Phish opened their concert at Madison Square Garden with a fitting debut cover of Prince’s hit “1999.” In remembrance of The Purple One, Phish shared official video footage of their lone rendition of the well-known song.
Prior to playing “1999,” Phish had covered Prince a number of times dating back to their making “Purple Rain” a staple of their setlists in the mid-1990s as a vehicle for Jon Fishman to play his vacuum. The foursome from Vermont made their extended sole take on “1999” count, enlisting the help of costumed dancers onstage while Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon executed a synchronized dance. They also teased the song during subsequent parts of the three set show. Official video of the nine-minute show opener was posted by the band with a message that read:
THANK YOU PRINCE
Page, Trey, Mike, and Fish
Watch pro-shot video of Phish covering Prince’s “1999” from Madison Square Garden on December 31, 1998 below:
Set 1: 1999 [1] > Mike's Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Ghost -> Ha Ha Ha > Cavern
Set 2: NICU > Character Zero > Tweezer -> Cities > Wading in the Velvet Sea, Run Like an Antelope > Frankenstein
Set 3: Runaway Jim -> Auld Lang Syne -> Simple, Harry Hood > Tweezer Reprise, Llama
Encore: While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Princeâs 1999 made its Phish debut (appropriately) at this show and included dancers on stage and synchronized steps from Trey and Mike, who wound up lying on the stage with the dancers surrounding them. Weekapaug and Runaway Jim subsequently featured 1999 teases; Jim also included Auld Lang Syne teases. Hydrogen contained Albert teases from Trey. For this show, the Holiday Run dancersâ costumes included a devil, a prostitute, and a pimp. The band jammed Runaway Jim until just before the New Year. The dancers reappeared throughout the crowd and handed out thousands of glowrings to the fans just before a grand balloon drop and pyrotechnics display at midnight. The band counted the crowd into the New Year before busting into Auld Lang Syne. While some fans used the glowrings to start a Glowstick War during Hood, others used them to create long chain links of rings spanning the venue from end to end.
Phish starts their Summer Tour near Prince’s hometown of Minneapolis with a performance at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 22.
Loading tour dates
