Above: Stepping out at Hampton, 3/7/09 – photo by Jeff Kravitz, Inside Celeb Pics

Phish brought its weekend to a close in drummer Jon Fishman’s hometown last night with a performance at Syracuse, NY’s War Memorial. The band had not played the small arena since 1994 and, after opening with “David Bowie,” used its first set to focus on short, tight songs like “Julius,” “Sparkle,” “Kill Devil Falls,” “Lawn Boy,” “Heavy Things,” “Funky Bitch” and “Sample in a Jar.” The set ended with “Boogie On Reggae Woman,” “Let Me Lie,” Page McConnell’s solo tune “Beauty of a Broken Heart” and “Stash.”

Like all their shows this weekend, the members of Phish let loose in the second set, moving from an opening cover of The Who’s “Drowned” into “Twist,” “Piper” and finally Mike Gordon’s “Big Black Furry Creature from Mars.” The latter song had not been played since the summer of 2003. Favorites like the Fishman/Trey Anastasio original “Tube,” “Theme From the Bottom,” “Maze” and “The Horse > Silent in the Morning” took up most of the set, which came to a close with rockers “Character Zero,”
”First Tube” and the lone encore of “Good Times Bad Times.”

Earlier this weekend the band played two shows at Cincinnati, OH’s U.S. Bank Arena. Friday’s first set opened with favorites like “Chalk Dust Torture,” “The Moma Dance” and “The Divided Sky” and came to a close with a run from “Gotta Jibboo” into “Fluffhead.” The band’s second set kicked off with “Punch You In the Eye” and boasted an interesting segue from “Tweezer” into “Light,” then “Back on the Train” and “Possum.”

Saturday’s performance was most notable for the inclusion of the Rolling Stones’ “Torn and Frayed.” Phish first performed the Exile on Main Street song in Indio, CA on Halloween and many attendees—including the Relix and Jambands.com staff—speculated the song would find its way into Phish’s regular rotation (much like previous Halloween covers like the Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” The Who’s “Drowned,” Talking Heads’ “Crosseyed & Painless” and the Velvet Underground’s “Rock & Roll”). This Saturday’s setlist also saw the return of covers like Neil Young’s “Albuquerque” and the bluegrass standard “Ginseng Sullivan” and after being absent since 2000 and 2004, respectively. The night also featured “Spilt Open & Melt,” “Ghost” and only the second “If I Could” since Phish’s reunion. The band will perform in Philadelphia this Tuesday.

For a complete rundown of Phish’s weekend setlists, check out our Box Scores section.