As Phish fans woke up yesterday and got themselves up and out of bed, they were greeted with a nice little email surprise to kick off their morning. One part of the band’s New Year’s Eve gag, it seemed, needed to be spoiled by the source themselves…
You have been selected to ring in the new year as the first travelers to explore the universe by cosmic wristband. You’ll find this wristband when you arrive at your seat (or when you enter the venue for GA ticket holders). Please be considerate of other fans and take only the one wristband given to you.
The countdown has begun, and your vessel is about to embark on its voyage of discovery. Because of the incredible power of your wristband, your trip is short. Your wristband will not activate till close to midnight, so don’t worry if it’s not functioning yet when you first put it on… The closer you are standing to your actual seat at midnight, the better your wristband will work.
📷 Rene Huemer #phish #PhishMSG #phishnye #NewYearsEve2017 pic.twitter.com/Urk0ZzkeWL
— Phish: From The Road (@Phish_FTR) January 1, 2018
Fans received this email if they had purchased ticket to the New Year’s Eve show. And when those same fans arrived, they saw the bracelets waiting for them in their seats.
Preshow wristbands for the NYE gag #phish pic.twitter.com/U8BzPdLTJr
— Scott Marks (@bizarchive) January 1, 2018
Up close #phish pic.twitter.com/VwGW210PD3
— Scott Marks (@bizarchive) January 1, 2018
The fans anxiously awaited for the gag to be revealed and got to marvel at the two amazing sets that kicked off the evening. It was top notch Phish and no one would expect anything less on this holiday.
For the third set, the band came out and launched into “Soul Planet”, a song that had never been played by Phish but got debuted during the last Trey Anastasio Band tour. As the song began, everyone’s bracelet lit up and we were now in on the gag — the fans were an “ocean” of love that the band was sailing through. Thus go the lyrics of “Soul Planet”, then we see some henchmen in red jumpsuits descend onto the stage lighting rig and uncover big sails, and they start to drape them down from the ceiling above the band. The stage is transformed to look like a big boat. Wind was then piped in and the sail was pushed to the side showing a huge Phish pirate flag.
“The ocean is love. Wind is the music.”
As midnight quickly approached, the lighted bracelets started picking up in their intensity and the band jammed their way through the new song. Then a guy carrying a disco ball cannonball stepped to a cannon positioned at the front of stage. GAH, the band was on a pirate ship!!!!
Once the disco ball was “shot” into the crowd, the bracelets were lit up to act like an ocean was getting shelled. Big boom noises were happening, then the countdown happened in the form of huge set of cannon booms. A huge confetti drop then occurred and a huge sea of blue balloons was dropped on the crowd. As customary for the band, they played “Auld Lang Syne” while friends embraced and welcomed the new year. The rest of the set took on the life of a band on a pirate ship, with “Free”‘s “splashing in the sea” line or “A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing”. “Prince Caspian” and “Wading In the Velvet Sea” make an appearance where “Waves” does not, but alas, that’s where Phish will always keep us guessing.
Read about the rest of the show here. This is what it looked like when it was getting tuned-in with the music…
