More than 40 years into the band’s illustrious career, Phish has once again returned to the Billboard charts, claiming top ten spots on both the Vinyl Albums chart and the Top Album Sales chart with the release of New Year’s Eve 1993 / Live at Worcester Centrum.
The band’s first release of 2026 debuted at number seven on the Vinyl Albums chart, marking the 26th time that Phish has appeared on that list and the 20th time they’ve reached the top ten. Four of those instances were number ones, while another four climbed to number two.
The release also landed at number ten on the Top Album Sales chart, which ranks bestselling full-lengths and EPs of any genre and any format throughout the U.S. Although Phish has yet to top that list, this is the band’s 11th time in the top ten and its 47th placement overall.
Both charts are led by country artist Megan Moroney, whose latest effort Cloud 9 debuted at number one on the Billboard 200—a chart on which Phish failed to register this time around. Moroney’s 2023 debut Lucky also surged to the Vinyl Albums chart’s top ten, which also includes albums from Tori Amos and George Michael. Over on the Top Album Sales chart, releases from Hilary Duff, Mumford & Sons, and Baby Keem placed under Moroney but above Phish, with Elvis Presley, New Found Glory, and The Neighbourhood trailing the jam giants.
Captured at a pivotal moment in Phish’s ascension to the jam pantheon, New Year’s Eve 1993 / Live at Worcester Centrum chronicles what was then the biggest headlining concert of the band’s career, and the first in a long line of elaborate NYE shows to come. The three-set show saw Trey Anastasio, Jon Fishman, Page McConnell, and Mike Gordon perform amid an aquarium-themed stage set complete with seaweed, rocks, and swimming fish before climbing into a giant clam that snapped shut around them. According to the album’s liner notes, “As midnight approached, the clam rose off the stage and began to shake during the countdown to 1994 before erupting into a sea of confetti, light and sound at midnight. The band reappeared playing Auld Lang Syne, leading to the first Down With Disease Jam during which Fish’s old friend Peter Becker (who resembled Frank Zappa) paraded across the stage to usher in the New Year before a fiery Split Open And Melt.”
In addition to standout versions of “Reba”, “Tweezer”, “It’s Ice”, and an all-time “Harry Hood”, the setlist included an emotional “Peaches en Regalia” for Frank Zappa, who died three weeks earlier. The show marked Phish’s first performance at the 14,800-capacity Worcester Centrum, more than double the size of Boston’s Matthews Arena, where the band rang in the previous New Year.
Listen to New Year’s Eve 1993 / Live at Worcester Centrum below. Click here to order the album in a 3CD or 5LP box set along with commemorative merch. Scroll down to view the full setlist.
Phish — “Harry Hood” — New Year’s Eve 1993 / Live at Worcester Centrum
Setlist [via phish.net]: Phish | Worcester Centrum Centre | Worcester, MA | 12/31/99
Set One: Llama, Guelah Papyrus, Stash, Ginseng Sullivan (Norman Blake) [1], Reba, Peaches en Regalia (Frank Zappa), I Didn’t Know, Run Like an Antelope [2]
Set Two: Tweezer > Halley’s Comet > Poor Heart > It’s Ice [3] > Fee [4] > Possum, Lawn Boy, You Enjoy Myself
Set Three: Auld Lang Syne (Robert Burns) > Down with Disease Jam > Split Open and Melt, The Lizards, Sparkle > Suzy Greenberg > Hold Your Head Up (Argent) > Cracklin’ Rosie (Neil Diamond) > Hold Your Head Up, Harry Hood, Tweezer Reprise
Encore: Golgi Apparatus, Amazing Grace (John Newton)
[1] Trey on acoustic guitar, Mike on upright bass, Page on piano and Fish on Madonna washboard.
[2] Tom Marshall on vocals.
[3] Random Note signal.
[4] Trey sang verses through megaphone.
Trey teased Fire (Ohio Players) in Stash and Tweezer. Ginseng Sullivan featured Trey on acoustic guitar, Mike on upright bass, Page on piano, and Fish on Madonna washboard and was preceded by a Roundabout tease. Antelope featured Tom Marshall on vocals. Tweezer contained an I Feel the Earth Move tease from Page and The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana) and Jean Pierre teases from Trey. It’s Ice contained a Random Note signal. Peaches en Regalia was teased in It’s Ice, Possum, Suzy Greenberg, at the end of the second HYHU (by Trey on drums), and Golgi Apparatus. Trey sang the verses of Fee through a megaphone. Possum contained an Earache My Eye tease. The band put on wet suits during the end of the YEM vocal jam, which contained a HYHU tease. The third set was preceded by bubble noises through the PA and the band “diving” into the aquarium on stage. Auld Lang Syne was teased in the DWD Jam and Hood. Suzy also contained a Smoke on the Water tease and Hood also contained a brief Odd Couple theme tease from Page. The entire show was broadcast live (and rebroadcast the following day) on Boston’s WBCN 104.1 FM.
