Phish Covers ‘Tubthumping’ In Hampton On Fall Tour 1998

This year marks 25 years since Phish’s historic Fall Tour 1995. In recognition of that noteworthy tour and to make up for the lack of shows this fall, JamBase presents a daily retrospective highlighting a noteworthy moment from a Phish fall tour concert that took place on that date over the past 25 years (read a note on Fall 1997 here). The 25 Years Of Phish Fall Tour series runs each day between the start of Phish Fall Tour 1995 on September 27 through that tour’s finale on December 17.

Phish’s Fall Tour 1998 visit to Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia was a two-night stand at the venue that helped supplant the “Mothership” as one of the storied venues in the band’s long history. The 1998 run came one year (to the day in the case of the 21st) after Phish’s outstanding Fall ‘97 performances in Hampton where they also played on Fall Tour 1995 and again in 1996.

As mentioned yesterday, the 1998 Hampton shows were later released as the Hampton Comes Alive live album. The historic pair of concerts were punctuated with Phish’s only cover of Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping” as the encore on November 21, 1998. Joining the band were lyricist Tom Marshall on vocals and Carl “Gears” Gerhard (of Giant Country Horns fame) on trumpet.

Leading up to “Tubthumping,” each of the two sets that night contained rarities and special moments. The first set’s “Big Black Furry Creature From Mars” saw drummer Jon Fishman injecting shouts of Will Smith’s “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit’ It,” carrying over antics from the night before. Set one also had a bust out of The Beatles’ “Cry Baby Cry,” which to that point had not been played in 278 shows and has only been performed by Phish one time since. “Nellie Cane” came back into a Phish setlist for the first time in 293 shows, having been shelved since 1994. And set one also featured what was at the time just the fourth “Boogie On Reggae Woman” played by Phish since its Fall 97 bust out in Dayton, Ohio.

The second set opened with the third of three performances of the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” played by Phish in 1998 (they’ve only played it twice since), which made for a dream pairing when “Mike’s Song” followed. They segued into “Simple” and delivered a gorgeous jam before moving into “The Wedge.” The seamless set continued with “The Mango Song” and “Free” the latter wrapped around the rarity “Ha Ha Ha.” The set ended with the typically high-energy closer, “Weekapaug Groove.”

Phish returned for the encore joined by Marshall and Gerhard as the intro to Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping” played over the P.A. The band then kicked into the hit song from the 1997 album, Tubthumper, with Marshall handling lead vocals and Gerhard coming in on trumpet. Fish threw a few shouts of “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit’ It” into the end of “Tubthumping,” which remains the only time Phish played the ubiquitous late-1990s hit.