On March 4th, 1989, a young band called Phish played its first show at the famous Wetlands Preserve in New York City. Despite an interesting, high-intensity “Mike’s Groove” and a quality “Run Like An Antelope”, 3/4/89 was a relatively standard 1989 performance, not often discussed as a particularly significant show from a musical standpoint. However, the show marked a significant milestone in the band’s evolution.
Phish was born and raised in Burlington, VT, a city that Trey Anastasio, Jon Fishman, Mike Gordon, and Page McConnell would call home during their formative years as a band. But while Phish is undoubtedly a “Vermont band,” there is arguably no other city as closely tied to Phish’s success than New York City. In 1989, after several years honing its craft in Vermont, the band began to break out of its hometown market in earnest, playing shows across New England and New York state.
While the band had played a handful of shows in small rooms in New York City in 1988, Phish’s Wetlands period helped kickstart its relationship with the coveted market: After Phish’s successful debut at Wetlands, the band would return to the “activist nightclub” four more times in ’89 and three times the following year, bolstering a fervent new fan base in the Big Apple. Over time, the band would outgrow the club, transitioning to bigger rooms in the New York market like The Marquee, Roseland Ballroom, The Capitol Theatre (Port Chester), The Beacon Theatre, and, by the end of 1994, Madison Square Garden.
These days, MSG has become Phish’s de facto home court: The quartet has played there more times than any other venue and frequently ends its years there with a four-night New Year’s run. In 2017, Phish earned a permanent space in the MSG rafters thanks to the unprecedented 13-night Baker’s Dozen residency. The band added to its storied legacy at The World’s Most Famous Arena in 2023 by returning for a seven-show residency, in addition to the traditional four-night YEMSG run.
There’s no denying that the relationship between Phish and New York City has been a fruitful musical partnership, and it can all be traced back to one night—35 years ago today—at 161 Hudson Street in Tribeca.
You can listen to (nearly) full audio of Phish’s premiere at Wetlands Preserve in New York City on 3/4/89 below, courtesy of YouTube user fromtheaquarium:
Phish – Wetlands Preserve – New York, NY – 3/4/89
Setlist: Phish | Wetlands Preserve | New York, NY | 3/4/89 [via phish.net]
Set One: Take the ‘A’ Train, I Didn’t Know[1], Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Fee, Golgi Apparatus, Good Times Bad Times
Set Two: Possum > Fluffhead, The Lizards, Run Like an Antelope, Contact
The post Phish Makes Debut At Famed NYC Venue Wetlands Preserve, On This Day In 1989 [Listen] appeared first on L4LM.
