Phish Drop Pro-Shot ‘Gamehendge’ Video, Announce 1996 Archival Concert Release

Photo Credit: Rene Huemer

Phish have shared a pro-shot clip from their New Year’s Eve performance. The video, shared on YouTube, captures the band’s delivery of the Trey Anastasio scribed rock opera, Gamehendge , performed for the first time since 1994 during the ensemble’s latest New York City stand on Dec. 31. The group also shared that they will drop an archival concert, on Friday, Jan. 12, featuring their Nov. 30, 1996 stand.

The narrative epic arrived during the second frame of Phish’s NYE concert when the Vermont foursome invited their sold-out audience to enter the fantasy world of Anastasio’s creation. The historic and sought-after production ended a nearly 30-year gap in live performance, stemming back to their previous delivery on July 8, 1994. 

Prior to Phish’s July 1994 run-through, they had only performed the Gamehendge suite a handful of times, including the earlier known delivery: March 12, 1988, at the Burlington, Vt. venue, Nectar’s. The group followed up on March 22, 1993, in Sacramento, Calif., and June 26, 1994, in West Virginia, which notably included a nearly complete performance of Hoist. 

Besides the newly shared video, which can be viewed in full below, Phish also shared their plans to drop a live concert from their archive, landing on their Nov. 30, 1996, stand at Acro Arena in Sacramento, Calif., a night that included James Brown antics from John Fishman, John McEuen on banjo, Peter Apfelbaum on tenor saxophone and more memories from the Central Valley. View more show notes on phish.net. 

Read the full concert recap from Phish’s latest New Year’s Eve stand featuring Gamehendge . Watch a pro-shot video of the suite below. 

Pre-order the band’s 1996 Acro Arena stand.