There are countless ways to ring in the New Year, a night of running from bar to bar and spending a week’s worth of pay on cover charges alone, ignoring the popular idea that New Year’s Eve is a drinking holiday and spending it eating take-out on your couch, or the lovely middle ground of going to see your favorite band or any band for that matter perform live.
Regardless of how you brought in 2023, the New Year’s eve tradition of attending live music was never stronger following a couple of years of pandemic-fueled New Years’ holidays. Venues across the country welcomed artists of all genres to provide a safe haven for those wishing to avoid the unpredictable bar/club scene while still making the most of their New Year’s Eve. No one can be everywhere at once, so Glide did the research to find some of the best moments from the final moments of 2022 along with footage from each show and the full setlist.
Phish
Madison Square Garden – New York City, NY
Phish continues to own New York City’s Madison Square Garden with yet another three-song extravaganza that opened up with a blistering “Tweezer” that appeared again in the first set. But NYE Phish is all about their gag” and they paid homage to past NYE cover tunes by revisiting Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1996) Kool & The Gang’s “Jungle Boogie” (2003) and “New York New York” (1997) along with dancers from past New Years Eve shows. Also of note – Phish tied Elton John at 72 for second place with most Madison Square Garden shows, only still trailing Billy Joel.
Widespread Panic
Bridgestone Arena –Nashville, TN
Widespread Panic ran through their own lengthy setlist down south of Phish as JB, Schools, Jimmy, JoJo, Sonny & Duane took over Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Their NYE performance was the second of two shows Widespread Panic performed at the Music City arena.. The band’s 30-song setlist consisted of soulful choices by finding a healthy balance of covers and originals. Widespread Panic dug deep into their repertoire to cover songs they haven’t touched in decades. The band covered the Stephen Stills track “Love The One You’re With” for the first time since 1987. Widespread Panic even plucked the Mike Houser song “Sandbox” out of obscurity, a song the band hasn’t performed since 2001.
Brandi Carlile
Moda Center – Portland, OR
The ever-impressive Brandi Carlile brought her expansive catalog of covers and originals for her 28-song set at Portland’s Moda Center. Carlile switched between acoustic performances of her songs “The Eye” and “Josephine” to a cover of The Arrows’ “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” with help from Sleater-Kinney who also backed a cover of “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”, just to name a few highlights.
Billy Strings
Kiefer UNO Lakefront Arena – New Orleans, LA
Despite the release of his acclaimed 2022 album, Me / And / Dad, singer/songwriter Billy Strings used the majority of his NYE showdown in New Orleans performing other tunes. 20 of the 35 songs Strings performed at the Kiefer UNO Lakefront Arena were covers, but that is far from a reason to complain. Strings covered songs from Pearl Jam (“Elderly Woman Behind the Counter In A Small Town”), Jerry Reed (“The Likes of Me”), and Willie Nelson’s “Hands On The Wheel”, a song Strings has never covered live. The rest of the setlist dug through Strings’ discography, pulling songs from projects like his self-titled EP from 2016 and his 2021 album Renewal.
The Avett Brothers
Bojangles’ Coliseum –Charlotte, NC
Falling out of line with the previous shows mentioned on this list, Avett Brothers primarily leaned on their own material for their year-closing performance. The band took over the Bojangles’ Coliseum with a massive 33-song setlist that included tracks from throughout their discography. While the band didn’t cover others like the aforementioned bands, they didn’t shy away from the idea. The Avett Brothers covered songs from Robert Burns, Jim Croce, and Ben E. King, just to name a few.
They Might Be Giants
College Street Music Hall – New Haven, CT
The fearless approach They Might Be Giants use on their recordings proved fruitful once again as the band navigated their expansive discography to put together a 29-song setlist for their NYE show. Rightfully so, the album that got the most love during their show was their seminal 1990 album, Flood, which had six songs pulled from its tracklist for the concert. They Might Be Giants split the rest of the tracklist pretty evenly between the rest of their discography, performing at least one song from some of their more celebrated releases like 2021’s Book and 2011’s Join Us.
moe.
The Fillmore – Philadelphia, PA
A very much anticipated show for moe. finally arrived at The Fillmore in the City of Brotherly Love. moe. weaved in and out of covers and originals and performed 19 songs at their NYE show, six of them being covers. The band performed Chicago’s (“25 or 6 to 4”) and The Rolling Stones (“Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo [Heartbreaker]”), and the theme from Rocky along with a slew of originals. The night was especially special for the band as they welcomed back guitarist Chuck Garvey for the first time since he suffered a stroke back in November of 2021.
Opening the show with “Spaz Medicine,” the band welcomed Garvey onto the stage for “meat.” during the first set. Garvey treated the crowd to a standout performance on the voice box during “Nebraska,” and performed with the band for the entire second set, which included covers of “Ophelia” by The Band and Spanish Moon” by Little Feat.
Durand Jones & The Indications
Brooklyn Bowl –Las Vegas, NV
A soulful departure from the others bands that seem to consume NYE shows, Durand Jones & The Indications rang in the new year with an 18-song performance in the city of sin. A majority of the songs performed are from the group’s acclaimed 2019 album, American Love Call, which took up seven spots on the set list with hits like “Circles” and “Don’t You Know”. The soul group didn’t shy away from covers either by adding their spin on songs like “(Don’t Worry) If There’s A Hell Below, We’re All Going To Go” by Curtis Mayfield and “Should I Take You Home” by Sunny & The Sunliners.
Goose
The Andrew J. Brady Music Center
Goose
Andrew J. Brady Center – Cincinnati, OH
Goose in their first big NYE show since their unprecedented breakthrough brought their creative sound to Cincinnati with a 16-song setlist that, much like their music, was unpredictable. While the band didn’t shy away from performing cuts from their latest studio album, Dripfield, the band leaned on live versions of the songs they recorded at past shows to build their setlist around. The band also covered songs from Robert Burns (“Auld Lang Syne”) and David Gray (“This Year’s Love”).
Lake Street Drive
Roadrunner
Boston, MA
The indie-pop band, Lake Street Drive, went back to their roots with a homecoming show to ring in the New Year. The band put together a terrific setlist for this show, covering classics like “Dirty Work” by Steely Dan and “I Want You Back” by The Jacksons while still running through their own compositions. Lake Street Drive primarily performed originals from their 2021 album, Obviously but did not leave out the rest of their short yet dense discography.
Railroad Earth
Vic Theatre –Chicago, IL
The melting pot of influences that make up the sonic DNA of Railroad Earth was on full display at their NYE show in the windy city. Railroad Earth also brought along the legendary Peter Rowan for the two-night stay at the Vic Theatre. The band shuffled through their expansive discography with the band splitting the duties up equally by performing at least three tracks from a majority of the albums they touched. The band also covered songs like “Any Road” by George Harrison and even kicked off their show with a cover of “Walk Beside Me” by Tim O’Brien & Darrell Scott.
Social Distortion –The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA
The punk rock pioneers brought their unforgettable and storied albums to life at their west coast NYE show. Their 18-song setlist saw the band explore much of their short yet highly influential discography along with a few covers thrown in there for good measure. Social Distortion performed two songs from the Johnny Cash songbook, “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Ring of Fire” along with providing their take on “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak.
Reverend Horton Heat
Amplified –Dallas, TX
For how long Reverend Horton Heat has been performing, he is still able to put together concise set lists that touch on all aspects of his legendary career. His set list to ring in the new year brought it all the way back to his 1991 debut, Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em and as recent as 2014’s Rev. The night also saw Reverend Horton Heat cover songs like “Ace of Spades” by Motörhead and “Jezebel” by Frankie Laine.
The String Cheese Incident
Mission Ballroom –Denver, CO
For a band whose career included the sale of self-bootlegged live albums, The String Cheese Incident was made for New Year’s Eve performances. Their 24-song setlist was built in classic spontaneous fashion with a few covers thrown into their wide collection of originals. The band covered songs like “Homeward Bound” by Simon & Garfunkel and “Can’t Find A Way Home” by Blind Faith”.
The Disco Biscuits
Riviera Theatre – Chicago, IL
The Disco Biscuits have always separated themselves from their jam band peers, the setlist they put together for the Chicago NYE show was no different. The band only covered one song during their 19-song performance, The Alan Parsons Project’s “Sirius”. The rest of their setlist consisted of originals and refreshing takes on studio recordings.
Dark Star Orchestra
Capitol Theatre – Port Chester, NY
Now the OG of active Dead tribute acts, Dark Star Orchestra did what they do best to ring in 2023. The band ran through 27-songs of “elective” material that fit the mold of a classic ‘70s dead show that went: “Dupree’s Diamond Blue* ; Mountains Of The Moon* > Dark Star > Saint Stephen > William Tell bridge > The Eleven > drums** > space > New Years countdown > Viola Lee Blues > Going Down The Road Feeling Bad > Turn On Your Lovelight.” Dark Star Orchestra also reached out to the works of The Beatles (“Oh! Darling”) and Stephen Stills (“Love The One You’re With”).
The Killers
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas – Las Vegas, NV
The forever-acclaimed indie-rock stylings of The Killers made its way back home for the band’s New Year’s Eve show. The band performed in their hometown for the holiday and brought with them a career-spanning setlist that featured a total of 22 songs, their seminal debut Hot Fuss rightfully took up the largest part of the set list with 5 songs being performed from the album. Along with their list of hits, The Killers also covered songs from Elvis Presley (“Can’t Help Falling In Love”), Robert Burns (“Auld lang syne”), and J.J. Cale (“After Midnight”).
Umphrey’s McGee
Coca-Cola Roxy – Atlanta, GA
Another jam band that brought their own take on the genre on the new year, Umphrey’s McGee tackled a three-set performance in Atlanta to celebrate the start of 2023. The band started off the new year with two new covers they have never performed before, “Baby Come Back” by Player and “‘B’ Movie Box Car Blues” by The Blues Brothers. The rest of the night was filled with select tracks from the band’s discography, proving they still make NYE shine,
