Photo by Dave Vann © Phish 2012 via Phish’s Facebook page

Phish kicked off a three-day destination event at Atlantic City, NJ’s Bader Field last night. While not a proper Phish festival, the event’s airport landing site featured a number of festival signatures, including a Ferris wheel, a merch. stand stocked with archival Phish items, a special Phish Foam beer and an expanded vending village (including a Relix booth, of course). The opening night’s show also had a festival-like feel, stacked with the type of loose, exploratory numbers that often characterize Phish’s longer, comfortable festival events.

The Vermont Quartet’s first set featured a number less obvious song selections and segues. After opening with “The Sloth,” Phish moved into the first “My Sweet One” since 2010, which then segued into “46 Days” and “Camel Walk.” Soon after, the group used “Tube” to setup another segment that flowed into “Cities” and “It’s Ice.” Likewise, the second half of their first set was peppered with interesting choices, ranging from the bluegrass favorite “Ginseng Sullivan” to the Rift classic “The Wedge,” the latter of which emerged from an extended “Simple.”
The set’s final selection, “Squirming Coil,” which contains the lyrics “Tried yesterday to get away/And hitchhiked to the beach” felt like an appropriate welcome to the show’s boardwalk setting.

For their second set, Phish returned to the patient jamming-style that made their recent Worcester, MA shows immediate fan favorites. Phish stretched “Birds of a Feather” into a “Type II”-style jam space and moved without stopping through “Back on the Train,” “Heavy Things,” “Twist,” “Pipe” and “Billy Breathes” (“Birds” was left unfinished). At the end of the night, the band recapped their evening by teasing “It’s Ice,” “Birds of a Feather,” “Simple” and “Ginseng Sullivan” during “David Bowie.” Adding to the Farmhouse-heavy setlist, they closed with “First Tube.” As an appropriate double nod to the show’s surroundings and Levon Helm’s recent passing, the evening’s post show music was The Band’s cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City.”

Phish’s Atlantic City event continues this evening.

Here’s a look at last night’s setlist via Phish.net

Friday, June 15, Bader Field, Atlantic City, NJ

Set 1: The Sloth, My Sweet One > 46 Days > Camel Walk, Tube > Cities > It’s Ice, Ginseng Sullivan, Stash, Simple > The Wedge, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, The Squirming Coil

Set 2: My Soul, Birds of a Feather [1] -> Back on the Train > Heavy Things > Twist > Piper > Billy Breathes, Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley > David Bowie [2]

E: First Tube

[1] Unfinished.
[2] Stash, It’s Ice, Birds of a Feather, Simple, and Ginseng Sullivan teases.