Phish returned to the stage last night with their first show in 2016 that wasn’t played on a beach in Mexico, rocking Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN, with two sets of bustouts and covers that kicked off their summer tour in career-spanning style. The show marked the band’s first appearance in the Twin Cities since they played Minneapolis’ Target Center in 2000.

After a soundcheck that saw the group try out a few new tunes (none would make it into the setlist proper), the Vermont Quartet wasted no time at all in jumping into the first bustout of the night, as the tour-opening tune ended up being “Pigtail,” which the band debuted on December 28, 2010 and have not returned to since, although Trey Anastasio has featured it many times with his solo band, and the song appeared on his 2012 album, Traveler. After a funky “Wolfman’s Brother,” Phish kept the callbacks coming with the first “Daniel Saw the Stone” since June 30, 2012. “Dogs” got the crowed howling at the intro, and two songs later, the band revealed what would be the biggest bustout of the night, a cover of The Beatles’ “Dear Prudence” that made its first appearance on the Phish stage since it first debuted 796 shows ago at their Halloween performance in 1994 as part of their covering of the White Album. Even before the first set was over, Phish would dust off two more songs, the first “Round Room” since January 1, 2011, and a cover of Bill Monroe’s “Uncle Pen” that they hadn’t performed since August 31, 2012.

The band opened up the second frame with a flourish, as they ran through “Mike’s Song” > “I Am Hydrogen” > “Weekapaug Groove” before the the ubiquitous “Bouncing Around the Room.” The set began to jam with a “Ghost” that saw Anastasio tease “Little Drummer Boy” and led into “The Line” before “Simple” segued into a cover of The Velvet Underground’s “I Found a Reason,” its first appearance since Halloween 1998 (a span of 493 shows) when Phish played Loaded in full. The cover would prove to be the last throwback in a night full of them, while the quartet rounded out the second set with “No Men In No Man’s Land,” “Billy Breathes,” which wasn’t played all of last year, and “Bathtub Gin.” The night was closed out with an encore of “Water in the Sky” and “Character Zero.”

Watch highlights from the night here. Phish continue their summer tour tomorrow with their first of two nights at Chicago’s Wrigley Field. Both shows will be available as webcasts via LivePhish.com.

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

Phish
Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN

Set I: Pigtail*, Wolfman’s Brother, Daniel Saw the Stone^, The Dogs, Undermind, Dear Prudence^^, Stash, Round Room%, Horn, Uncle Pen%%, Halfway to the Moon, Walls of the Cave

Set II: Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Bouncing Around the Room, Ghost > The Line, Simple > I Found a Reason$, No Men In No Man’s Land, Billy Breathes, Bathtub Gin

Enc: Water in the Sky, Character Zero

Notes:

*Last time played 12/28/10
^Last time played 6/30/12
^^Last time played 10/31/94
%Last time played 1/1/11
%%Last time played 8/31/12
$Last time played 10/31/98

Source: www.phish.net