After a break of over four years, Jam-pioneers Phish reunited this evening in New York City at the wedding of former road manager Brad Sands. The quartet treated the crowd to a three song set that included old standbys Suzy Greenberg, Julius and Waste. As if that wasn’t enough, shortly after Phish left the stage drummer Stewart Copeland of The Police joined the wedding band for Can’t Stand Losing You and The Meters’ Fire on the Bayou. Congratulations go out to Mr. and Mrs. Sands.

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[Video by Jeff Kravitz]

This isn’t the first time Phish reunited after a lengthy layoff at a wedding of a former employee. On December 1, 2001, the band members rocked out Wolfman’s Brother > Boogie On Reggae Woman and Loving Cup at the wedding of Dionysian’s Jason Colton shortly before the fourteen month-mark of their first hiatus. They also played at the wedding of Beth and Steve Drebber on August 12, 1989 as described by Kevin Shapiro for the August 1989 edition of This Month in Phish History:

After a steady spring and early summer of touring, Phish’s first performance in August was on the 12th at The Burlington Community Boathouse playing at friends Beth and Steve Drebber’s wedding reception. As a member of a local band, The Joneses, Steve got to know Phish, meeting Beth at a Phish concert in February of the previous year (see This Month in Phish History, February 1988). The Drebbers’ was one of only a few wedding gigs Phish played over the years. They performed a set of jazz standards followed by a more adventurous set of Phish originals and covers for the newlyweds. One of the covers was a wedding request for the band’s only performance of the Allman Brothers’ Blue Sky.

One clip from the wedding has surfaced on YouTube and we’re sure plenty of pictures from this monumental affair will surface in the upcoming days.

Scott Bernstein

Scott Bernstein co-founded Hidden Track in October 2006 and was managing editor until taking over as EiC in January 2008. Scotty also writes for Relix Magazine and curates YEMblog.com.

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