Set 1: BagAC/DC Bag[1] > 46 Days, Water in the Sky, GinBathtub Gin, PYITEPunch You In the Eye > MomaThe Moma Dance, Guyute, Swept Away > Steep, Demand > Seven Below, Lawn Boy, Julius
Set 2: R&RRock and Roll > Piper > Simple > ThemeTheme From the Bottom, Shine a Light, Ghost[1] -> NO2, SuzySuzy Greenberg
Set 3: Party Time > Auld Lang Syne > DwDDown with Disease, Fluffhead, Joy, CoilThe Squirming Coil, YEMYou Enjoy Myself
Encore: Blue Moon[2], Loving Cup
Performers: Trey Anastasio, Page McConnell, Jon Fishman, Mike Gordon
Notes: AC/DC Bag and Ghost contained Auld Lang Syne teases. Swept Away and Steep were played for the first time since July 1, 2000 (145 shows). Demand was played for the first time since November 14, 1996 (392 shows). NO2 was played for the first time since July 13, 1999 (219 shows). Prior to the third set, a pedestal stating 2010 was placed on the front of the stage and a covered structure was placed behind Fishman's drumset. During DWD, as the clock turned midnight, hundreds of balloons were released upon the crowd, fireworks went off on each side of the stage, and a disco ball was lowered onto the pedestal. After DWD, Trey opened the ball and Fishman climbed inside. Trey and Mike, with some help from stagehands, proceeded to put the ball in a giant cannon aimed towards a giant net hanging from the rafters with an illuminated “X” on it. Page hit the trigger and purportedly "blasted" the ball through, not only the net, but also the roof of the arena. A searchlight appeared to come through the roof and was accompanied by helicopter sounds. With Fishman apparently shot out of the venue, Trey asked if anybody knew how to play the drums and ended up finding Sarah, a girl from Pittsburgh. Trey asked how long she had played the drums and what her favorite song was and she responded with six months and Fluffhead respectively. Sarah was surreptitiously replaced by Fishman, now wearing a dress identical to Sarah's and a black wig, who played the entire third set and encore, but Sarah came out at the end of the third set and bowed with the band instead of him. Blue Moon was a Phish debut and was performed as an instrumental while Trey thanked the entire crew. After the show, the disco ball was revealed to have "crashed" into a white car that had been parked in front of the American Airlines Arena with a sign on the windshield stating "This car was driven down from Vermont" and "fueled by maple syrup." After being “struck” by the “human cannonball,” the car was emitting smoke and leaking maple syrup and the entire area was cordoned off with police tape.
This show was part of the "2009 NYE Run."
Fitting valedictory celebration to cap off a marvelous year of Phish. We get a few more bustouts, several rich jams in Set Two (what a spectacular Ghost!), a great ol' fashioned NYE prank, and a tearjerking encore to hold 'em over 'til summer. The 'best jams' of the NYE Run came on 12/29 and 12/30, but the phrase 'best jams' seems too narrow to capture the passionate intensity of the Miami run, which represents a big step beyond the rest of 2009. Don't hesitate to seek out the whole NYE quartet; it's the first run of 2009 shows that can be seriously considered not just a 2009 highlight or a 'strong step forward' but a *career* highlight. Wonderful.
