Phish warmed up for Bonnaroo last night with an appearance at Knoxville, TNs Thompson-Boling Arena. The gig was promoted by Bonnaroo producers AC Entertainment and, as expected, served as something of an unofficial pre-party for the festival, which is slated to begin this evening in Manchester, TN.

Throughout the night, the band relied heavily on material from its post-hiatus albums Round Room and Undermind, including two jam-vehicles Phish has not played since its reunion this past March: Waves and A Song I Heard I Ocean Sing. In addition, the group ran through the infectious Ocelotthe most universally well-received of Phishs new songsand offered the a cappela ditty Hello My Baby for the first time since December 5, 1999. The quartet also toyed around with some unique instrumentation on the lone encore of Frankenstein, with Page McConnell strapping on James Brown’s keytar and Mike Gordon picking up a new red bass with flames carved out of its body. McConnell recently gave Gordon the colorful instrument for his birthday, and the bassist tried it out last week at a surprise birthday gig held last week at New Yorks City Winery.
Other highlights included Reba, The Squirming Coil, Undermind, David Bowie, Harry Hood and a full Mikes Groove. Phish will play Bonnaroo this Friday and Sunday.