See Phish Bust Out XTC’s ‘Melt the Guns’ for First Time Since 1987

Fresh off a Madison Square Garden run that saw Phish performed a handful of songs live for the first time since the mid-Nineties, the jam band unleashed the biggest “bust out” in their long history Friday in Boston, playing their cover of XTC’s “Melt the Guns” live for the first time since 1987.

Midway through the band’s second set at Fenway Park, Trey Anastasio plucked out the opening notes of XTC’s English Settlement anti-gun classic, which Phish transformed into a 15-minute jam odyssey:

According to Phish.net, the “Melt the Guns” performance was the band’s first since April 29, 1987, a span of 2,051 shows. The record for the band’s biggest “bust out” — or time span between a song’s performance — was set in early July when Phish whipped out Foreigner’s “Cold as Ice” for the first time since May 1992, a span of 1,468 shows. Prior to the that, the longtime record holder was the band’s own “Fuck Your Face,” which was unplayed for 1,426 gigs since 1987 until it reappeared in 2010.

Over 40 years since the band’s formation, Phish has spent this summer digging deep into their repertoire, which was on display when the group dedicated its five Madison Square Garden shows last week — their 92nd to 96th concerts at that venue — to the years 1992 to 1996. The MSG run featured 1,000+ show bust-outs like “Big Ball Jam” and their cover of Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds,” plus long-unplayed tracks like AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” Prince’s “Purple Rain,” and Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.”

Phish’s summer tour continues Saturday night at Fenway again before the band heads off to Denver’s Dick’s Sporting Goods Park for a tour-ending Labor Day weekend trio of shows.