On Dec. 8, Phish concluded their fall tour with the last of three nights at the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, S.C. The final show was highlighted by a rarity-filled first set and a thrilling encore which featured a cover of Jimi Hendrix’ “Izabella” and a bust-out of “Chalk Dust Torture Reprise” to close the show. The band’s eight show fall tour was played without repeating a single song.

The show began with a Phish debut, “Sigma Oasis.” The song first surfaced at a Dec. 15, 2018 Trey Anastasio solo acoustic show. “Buried Alive” came next, followed by “Guelah Papyrus.” After standard versions “My Sweet One” and “Everything is Hollow,” Phish dropped their first rarity of the night, “The Curtain.” While this doesn’t seem like a typical bust-out – the band often plays “The Curtain With,” which is simply “The Curtain” with an added jam segment – “The Curtain” has not been performed without its final section since Aug. 28, 2012 in St. Louis (a gap of 270 shows).

“Mound” came straight out of “The Curtain,” before the band cooled off with “Brian And Robert.” “Crazy Sometimes” showcased bassist Mike Gordon’s vocals, followed by “Frost” and “Breath and Burning.” Next came another relatively rare set of songs: “Alumni Blues” > “Letter to Jimmy Page” > “Alumni Blues.” “It’s Ice” featured to the standout improvised moment of the first frame: a funk-laden jam segment led by pianist Page McConnell. “Walls of the Cave” closed out the set, featuring superb soloing by guitarist Trey Anastasio during the outro segment.

The second set began with a bust-out, “After Midnight,” last played Sept. 6 at Dicks Sporting Goods Park during the famed “THANK YOU” encore. “Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan,” “Energy,” “Soul Planet” and “I Always Wanted It This Way” each featured short but sweet jam segments, with particularly deep type-two improvisation during “Soul Planet.” After a rendition of “Petrichor,” the band dropped into the first performance of “Boogie On Reggae Woman” since October of 2018; the 48-show gap marked the longest since the band revived the Stevie Wonder cover in the fall of 1997. “Rise/Come Together” closed out the set.

Phish began the final encore of their fall tour with “Pebbles and Marbles,” followed by “Beneath a Sea of Stars (Part 1).” After the rather mellow duo of songs, the band opted for two extremely rare choices: “Izabella” and “Chalk Dust Torture Reprise.” The former has only been played 12 times, and only twice during the 3.0 era. The latter is even rarer: “Chalk Dust Torture Reprise” has only been played four times ever, including twice during the same show – Jul. 11, 2000 at Deer Creek – which was also the last time it was played (524 shows). The song – and tour – was concluded with a final tease of “Plasma” a la the tour opening shows in Providence.

Phish will return to the stage on Dec. 28 for their New Year’s Eve run at Madison Square Garden. Check out a full setlist from night three in Charleston below, as well as videos of the first and second set openers via the Phish YouTube channel.

Phish
Dec. 8, 2019
North Charleston Coliseum, North Charleston, S.C.

SET I: Sigma Oasis[1], Buried Alive > Guelah Papyrus, My Sweet One > Everything is Hollow, The Curtain > Mound, Brian and Robert, Crazy Sometimes > Frost, Breath and Burning, Alumni Blues > Letter to Jimmy Page > Alumni Blues > It’s Ice > Walls of the Cave

SET II: After Midnight, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan > Energy > Soul Planet, Wingsuit > I Always Wanted It This Way, Petrichor, Boogie On Reggae Woman > Rise/Come Together

Enc: Pebbles and Marbles, Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1, Izabella, Chalk Dust Torture Reprise

[1] Phish debut.

Setlist via Phish.net.