Phish put its long-suffering fans out of their misery in style.
Returning from a two-year hiatus, the Vermont jam band with the obsessive fan base played a long, high-energy show at Madison Square Garden on New Year’s Eve before a raucous crowd, with some fans paying more than $1,000 to get into the sold-out concert.
A band known for its New Year’s Eve showmanship didn’t disappoint: Tom Hanks made a surprise stage appearance, and as the clock struck midnight, costumed dancers on stilts spread through the audience and fake snow and white balloons tumbled from the rafters.
But the crowd hardly needed encouragement.
Beginning hours before the concert, thousands of fans milling around the damp, dirty streets outside Madison Square Garden began roaring at regular intervals.
Hundreds more wandered about with a hand in the air, index finger up, in the universal Phish symbol for ticket-hunting.
In one nearby bar, two men were offering $3,000 for a ticket–and showing off the cash to prove they were serious. Others flooded Internet message boards, hoping for a last-minute miracle.
Wrote one fan, hopefully tongue-in-cheek: “My sister for a ticket.”
Phish was to follow up the New Year’s Eve show with a three-night stand in Hampton, Va., starting Thursday.
A national tour is scheduled to begin in February.
