Over The Rainbow: Watch Phish Play Tokyo’s Hibiya Outdoor Theatre On This Date In 2000

Between June 9 and 16, 2000 Phish embarked on their lone tour of Japan. The band stuck their toes into Japanese waters for a 1999 visit to the Fuji Rock Festival and returned less than a year later for seven headlining shows.

One of the more memorable performances took place at the gorgeous Hibiya Outdoor Theatre in Tokyo on this date in 2000. A series of songs from the concert aired as part of a special on Japanese television and can be viewed below.

Phish began the tour with a pair of indoor shows in Tokyo before they played a rare matinee show at Hibiya Outdoor Theatre on June 11, 2000. Japanese jam band Big Frog kicked off the day before the Vermont quartet hit the stage for two sets of their own.

The foursome had just released Farmhouse and the show at Hibiya was heavy on tunes from the LP including “First Tube,” “Farmhouse,” “Bug” and “Back On The Train.” Each of those four songs was featured in the Japanese TV special as well as the “Character Zero” opener. An interview aired ahead of “First Tube” in which guitarist Trey Anastasio talked about playing in Japan.

Check out a collection of videos that aired on Japanese television, followed by Dave “Mr. Miner” Calarco’s recap of the night that was published on JamBase shortly after the show:

First Tube

Farmhouse

Bug

Back On The Train

Character Zero

Recap by Dave “Mr. Miner” Calarco

Sometimes we experience magic. Sometimes we hold witness to events that far surpass the power in any one of us, and elevate our appreciation of life and all its amazement to the next level. Yesterday was one of these days.

The day began quite rainy as fans flocked to the Hibiya Outdoor Theatre, a small amphitheatre in the middle of Hibiya Park in central Tokyo. Merely half a day after the Zepp show ended, many Japanese and Americans alike began to file into the thatre around 1pm, as the Japanese band Big Frog took the stage at 2pm. What struck me as I entered the grounds, was that despite the rain and gloomy weather that is Tokyo in June, everyone seemed to be in the most positive and mellow states of mind. As Big Frog played, Japanese and American fans mingled about the park and theatre talking and meeting each other, many for the first time. Everyone was so excited for Phish to be playing this beautiful location, and that energy emanated through the air, creating an atmosphere of total comfort, friendliness, and camaraderie. Big Frog ended their set at about 3pm, as the rain seemed to be letting up a bit.

Phish took the stage about 3:45 pm to the enthusiastic cheers of the crowd of about 2200 predominantly Japanese fans! As soon as they took the stage, you could see the look in the band’s eyes–they were as excited as everyone else to be playing this special venue. A huge grin broke out over Trey face as he ripped into the opening of “First Tube.” The crowd erupted with energy as they moved through this exalting opener and Trey bounced up and down with joy. The extremely high octane feel of “First Tube” was followed by the equally high paced “Punch You In the Eye.” This beginnning of the show had the crowd absolutely bumping and going bezerk. The energy between the fans, Japanese and American alike, was overwhelming. Everyone I could see was sporting the largest smile ever. After the fiery beginning of the show, they slowed it down with an immaculately played “Horn,” which seemed to be the perfect reflective cool down from the adrenaline rush of the opening jams. After a quick “Ginseng,” the Trey played the opening riff of “Stash” for the first time since 12.12.99, during Hartford’s first set. Sorely missed from Big Cypress through the Radio City weekend, the crowd was psyched to be reacquainted with Phish’s dark classic piece. The Stash improvisation began as Trey came out of the composed section weaving dark melodies around the band’s groove and building the jam slowly at first. The jam remained a Trey-led “Stash,” culminating with a screeching solo and amazing climax that had the audience totally captivated. This “Stash” did not get excessively abstract, but was an amazingly high quality version, pleasing the extremely attentive and silent crowd. “Dirt” served as a cool down from the intense Stash improvisation, and as soon as it came to a close, they started to build the intro to “Possum.” The “Possum” was in a more blue-grassy style of improvisation rather than my preferred psychedelic “Possums” of yesteryear, nonetheless, the crowd erupted with each change and chorus.

I cannot stress enough my amazement at how many Japanese fans know every change, note, melody, and stop to all of Phish’s songs. These folks are not passive observers, but extremely active listeners and dancers. The excitement of the event continued to build as they dropped only the 2nd “It’s Ice” since Cleveland ’98 (also played at Roseland). The intricacies of the song were nailed perfectly as the Ice grooves were so refreshing to the ears after such a continued absence in the rotation. The set ended with the band’s first performance of Farmhouse since the album was released on May 16th. Trey drew out the end of the song with an extended solo before thanking the crowd and taking a bow.

The set break brought the realization that ever since Phish had taken the stage, the rain had stopped entirely! Albeit grey as San Francisco in February, it was dry and cool, making for a nice change of pace from the hotter stuffier clubs. The vibes at setbreak were those of pure positivity and joy as all Americans were clearly at a loss to describe the unbelievable feelings and sheer international Phishiness that was filling the air. Japanese fans and Americans relaxed together as they waited for the second set with huge anticipation. I cannot say enough about the magic in the air today. The feelings and emotion floating around the colorful atmosphere far outweighed the gloominess of the weather, and all seemed completely in tune with what was happening.

After a fairly long break, the band retook the stage, still fully in the daylight, and ripped into a sick “Birds of a Feather.” This “Birds” showcased some smoking grooves by the band and particularly hot improvisation by Trey. The “Birds” definitely stayed within the realms of a “Birds” jam, but was still fully improvised, unlike the shorter “album” versions from fall ’98. The dark feel of “Birds” gave way to the opening build of what was to be an amazing “Free.” The band moved through the composed section methodically and slowly, and launched into the jam with thick bass driven grooves that had the crowd completely freaking out. After Trey offered some settling rhythm licks for the first part of the jam, he began to start playing melodies in the an evil, dissonant and sinister tone, building the creeping jam in small increments with some sublime melodies. This jam featured two seperate soloing sections for Trey before slowly but surely building back to the “floating in a blimp a lot….” ending to the improv. This Free is simply amazing and needs to be heard by all. This is in the upper echelons of all versions of “Free,” a la Sandstone ’99. You’ll freak on this one, it was simply amazing.

“Beauty of my Dreams” was next, and was followed by a powerful “Bug” in the climactic vein of the Roseland second set “Bug” closer. The band hit the top of the jam perfectly, and slid into the intro of “David Bowie!” This “Bowie,” was quite simliar in style to the last one played at Radio City. The improv was very, very fluid and groove-based from start to finish. Featuring some silky smooth bass lines by Gordeaux, and some amazing “Bowie” wah and rhythm grooves by Trey, this “Bowie” grooved to a ridiculous apex and drew a HUGE and emotional reaction from the floored audience. This “Bowie” is a keeper for sure, especially for those who favor groove-based “Bowie’s” to the more intricate or abstract ones. “Circus” came next, placed perfectly as a reflective moment on the slew of dark and intense improvisation that typified the entire set so far.

The set ended with the perfect release of “Harry Hood.” As they moved through the composed section, I looked out over the crowd of Japanese folks who seemed to me the happiest people in the world at that point as many moved along with each progression of the song. As the improvisation settled into the most sublime and melodic quiet grooves, the crowd seemed to raise their arms in unison, opening themselves up to the surreal magic that was flowing so greatly from the band and fans alike. As the jam began to build, the crowd looked to the sky as the clouds began to break and the first rays of yellow sunlight broke through the late afternoon sky. This seemed to be orchestrated by the band and nature alike, and all involved felt the magic of the rays of light coming from both the sky and the stage. This second consecutive glowstickless “Hood” built for what seemed like an eternity as all involved basked in the amazing beauty at hand. This “Hood” was simply a stupendous jam that reached amazing levels of melody, harmony, and band groove. This was the absolute perfect ending to this set, and all involved were united in this moment. Pure magic I tell you, pure Phish magic.

The adoring crowd gave the band an amazingly large ovation following this long and ultimately trimphant jam. The band stayed off stage briefly and returned for an extended rendition of “Character Zero,” featuring some shredding Hendrix like grooves form Trey. This version ripped hard, and midway through it, a large rainbow appeared above the stage to the left. Band and crowd alike were freaking out and feeling this special intensity of the moment as they seemed to not want to leave the stage and the group at hand. This was one of the best versions of this song ever (save for 11.26.97 Hartford), and seared into the sunset and early evening. Upon finishing the show, Trey exclaimed “Arrigato!” and took a traditional bow to the adoring sea of Japanese fans that were in front of him.

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Setlist (via Phish.net)