The start of Phish’s New Year’s run came on the holiday itself at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, FL, the band’s first in the Magic City since the shows that marked the close of their reunion year in 2009. While the three-set show lacked a true centerpiece, it did feature several callbacks to the band’s now iconic Halloween set from Las Vegas.

To start, the band dug into a song-heavy first set that was low on improv and heavy on variety as the group delivered an opening “Sample in a Jar” which paired with “The Wedge” and the newer “555” and “Heavy Things.” The following “Wolfman’s Brother” allowed the group to dig into some brief funk-oriented improv, which would serve as their only moment of adventure throughout as they offered up standard takes on the likes of “Bouncing Around the Moon,” “Kill Devil Falls,” “Train Song” and others.

Set two offered more in the improv department as a standard “Birds of a Feather” kicked off the set before the band dug into one of their most expansive performances of the night in the form of a 16-minute “Ghost.” After a notable “Theme From the Bottom,” which featured teases of the Halloween cut “The Birds,” the band broke out a favorite cover in “Cities,” which led to 10-minute jam. While the “Chalk Dust Torture” was short, the closing “Martian Monster” offered up the second callback to the band’s Halloween set in Las Vegas.

As midnight approached, the band took the stage to debut an acapella version of “Dem Bones,” a well-known spiritual song inspired by Ezekiel 37:1-14 where the Prophet visits the “Valley of Dry Bones.” Fishman took to the vacuum which led to the New Year’s gag. Trey commented that the vacuum had become stuck to Fish’s face, prompting a staged emergency on stage. Mike Gordon suggested they switch from “suck to blow,” which led to a giant inflatable Fishman flown throughout the venue, similar to what they did in 2009 in Miami with Fishman being shot out of a cannon. The band then rang in the new year shortly after the gag and then delivered another Halloween cut in “The Dogs.”

“Tweezer” proved notable on the evening before the rest of the set played out in a standard fashion as the band delivered “Simple,” “Limb By Limb,” “Bug,” “Backwards Down the Number Line” and “The Horse” > “Silent in the Morning,” among others. An encore of “Golgi Apparatus” and “Tweezer Reprise” brought the evening to a close.

Phish returns to the American Airlines Arena tonight.

Here’s a look at the setlist as it appears in our Box Scores section:

Phish
American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL

Set I: Sample in a Jar, The Wedge, 555, Heavy Things, Wolfman’s Brother, Halfway to the Moon, Bouncing Around the Room, Kill Devil Falls, Train Song, Waiting All Night, Axilla, A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing

Set II: Birds of a Feather, Ghost > Theme from the Bottom->Cities > Chalk Dust Torture, Martian Monster

Set III: Dem Bones > Auld Lang Syne > The Dogs > Tweezer > Simple > Limb By Limb, Bug > Backwards Down the Number Line, The Horse > Silent in the Morning > Julius

Enc: Golgi Apparatus > Tweezer Reprise

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