Phish pulled out XTC's 'Melt the Guns' at Fenway Park in Boston on Friday, July 31, 2026, the first time the band had played the song in 39 years. The gap covered 2,051 shows, setting a new record for what Phish fans call a "bust out" — the span between one live performance of a song and its next appearance. According to Phish.net, the fan-maintained setlist database, no other gap in the band's history comes close. (Rolling Stone)

Trey Anastasio played the opening notes midway through Phish's second set, after 'What's Going Through Your Mind' segued into 'Fuego'. From there, the band expanded 'Melt the Guns' into a 15-minute jam. LivePhish's show notes record that Anastasio also took to the mini drum kit during both 'What's Going Through Your Mind' and 'Melt the Guns'. (Rolling Stone; Phish.net; LivePhish)

The song itself is an anti-gun track from XTC's 1982 album English Settlement. Phish last played it on April 29, 1987, when the Vermont quartet were still a club act years away from their first major-label deal. (Rolling Stone)

The first set at Fenway opened with an 18-minute 'Carini', a band composition debuted in early 1997, followed by 'Everything's Right', 'Back on the Train', 'Free', 'Kill Devil Falls', and 'Harry Hood'. The second set's 'Melt the Guns' was followed by 'A Wave of Hope'. (Jambands.com; Phish.net)

The previous bust-out record had stood for less than a month. In early July 2026, Phish played Foreigner's 'Cold as Ice' for the first time since May 1992 — a gap of 1,468 shows during their five-night residency at Madison Square Garden, their 92nd through 96th appearances at that venue. That run, dedicated to the years 1992 to 1996, featured its own string of long-dormant covers: AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell', Prince's 'Purple Rain', Chuck Berry's 'Johnny B. Goode', and Elvis Presley's 'Suspicious Minds', alongside 'Big Ball Jam', all returning after absences exceeding 1,000 shows. (Rolling Stone)

Before 'Cold as Ice', the longest-standing bust-out record belonged to 'Fuck Your Face', a Phish original that went unplayed for 1,426 shows between 1987 and its reappearance in 2010. In other words, 'Melt the Guns' shattered a record that had already been broken once this summer, extending the bar by 583 shows. (Rolling Stone)

For fans who track such things, a 2,051-show gap means the last person to hear 'Melt the Guns' live from Phish was watching a very different band in a very different era. The 2026 summer tour continued with a second Fenway Park show on August 1 before heading to Denver's Dick's Sporting Goods Park for a tour-closing trio of shows over Labor Day weekend. LivePhish offered an official audio download package, 'Boston 2026 x2', priced at $17.99 covering both Fenway concerts. (Rolling Stone; LivePhish)