Ghost Light was back in New York City over the weekend for their second-to-last performance of the jam band’s debut year in 2018. The five-piece improvisational rock band comprised of Holly Bowling, Tom Hamilton, Steve Lyons, Raina Mullen, and Scotty Zwang were in town to headline one of the premiere Phish afterparties following the Vermont band’s third night at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
The late-night show was a blowout success, with fans arriving at one of midtown Manhattan’s newest venues in Sony Hall almost minutes after Phish ended in hopes of keeping the party going well into the early hours of Monday morning. Having only started the band earlier in the year, this show marked Ghost Light’s most hard tickets sold to date. We can’t wait to see what they have in store for 2019!
The rock band took the stage in front of a sold-out crowd around 1 a.m. and wasted no time in getting the place moving with a mix of new originals and jam-friendly covers.
The night began with the high energy of “Keep Your Hands to Yourself”, one of the band’s few originals which has been a setlist staple throughout their 2018 fall tour. They continued into a cover of Tears For Fears‘ “Head Over Heels” before transitioning back to “Keep Your Hands”. The band then charged right into “Old Fashioned”, a tune from Tom Hamilton’s other band, American Babies. The show kept rolling and continued with another original in “I Dare You”, followed by American Babies’ “Synth Driver”, with the latter including a brief tease of “Old Fashioned”.
The second half of the show saw and heard the band steadily playing without a break as they rolled on with another new original titled, “Best Kept Secret“, before returning to “Head Over Heels”. They then took the audience on a ride with a cover of “Boy” by Brothers Past, which went into “Don’t Come Apart Just Yet, My Dear” and back into “Best Kept Secret” to close out the set. The band returned for a one-song encore of American Babies’ “Bullseye Blues”, before ending the show with a brief return to “Don’t Come Apart Just Yet, My Dear”.
The sold-out performance right down the block from busy Times Square definitely cemented the band’s reputation in their introductory year. They would go on to celebrate the arrival of 2019 with a hometown performance in Philadelphia on Monday night at The Fillmore with The Disco Biscuits, later appearing as part of the headlining ensemble for the Hot Air Balloon portion of the evening.
Ghost Light doesn’t have any shows planned for the first few months of 2019, aside from their appearance at the 10 Mile Ride Deadhead Ski Trip event in Frisco, Colorado in late March. They’re also scheduled to appear at both Electric Forest and Peach Music Festival this summer.
[Audio: McRoberts]
Setlist: Ghost Light | Sony Hall | New York, NY | 12/30/2018
Keep Your Hands to Yourself > Head Over Heels (Tears For Fears cover) > Keep your Hands to Yourself reprise > Old Fashioned (American Babies cover) > I Dare You > Synth Driver* (American Babies cover) > Best Kept Secret > Head Over Heels reprise > Boy (Brothers Past cover) > Don’t Come Apart Just Yet, My Dear, Best Kept Secret reprise
Encore: Bullseyes Blues (American Babies cover) > Don’t Come Apart reprise
* w/ Old Fashioned tease
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