Phish at Madison Square Garden [photos + review]

Photos + Review by Bryan Lasky

Phish began their annual four night run to the close the year out on Sunday night with a lot of patient jams and beloved favorites and one bust out for those who chase songs to add to their seen list.

The night began with “Buried Alive”, which is always a good sign for the show to come and was followed right by “AC/DC Bag”. “Roggae” brought the first big jam of the night with all four members insynch immediatley. Sometimes on the first night of a run it takes a bit for the band to get going, but that was not the case for this run. After a play through of “Rift” the “Wolfman’s Brother” that followed saw the first real jam with band going full Type II and leaving the confines of the song behind. Mike Gordon took charge at first as Chris Kuroda turned the Garden into a sea of purple. The jam took a sharp right when Page McConnell took over the lead right before Trey Anastasio let loose. Around the ten minute mark the band found a landing pad together and stayed there for a bit before slowly launching into “Punch You in the Eye”, which had a wild extended intro that the crowd ate up.

“Sigma Oasis” and “Taste” followed before Trey picked up his acoustic guitar, which rarely happens, and the band went into the first “Sleep” since 2019 and first with the acoustic guitar since 1998. The set closed with “Run Like an Antelope” that had Kuroda using the entire venue’s lighting system and a fantastic build to the peak by the full band that felt like they were going 200mph to the finish.

“Oblivion” kicked off set two and while Trey’s voice was a little rough, he powered through. The jam that came was patient and bright. Just as it felt like it might go elsewhere, the band launched into “Down with Disease” that had a few different sections that the full band clicked in on, but just like “Oblivion” it didn’t stick around for long before launching into “Simple”. Jon Fishman really felt like he was in control of the jam on this one, pushing the band multiple times into new directions. Around the 12 minute mark Page began steering with the Hammond B3 and then the band slowly faded the jam out and went right into “Gotta Jibboo”, which had been teased earlier in the night. The begining of the jam saw the band basically whispering on stage with the volume coming almost to a halt, before the band brought it back up. Easily one of the cooler moments of the evening.

Next came a 24 minute epic run through of “Theme From the Bottom”, which is the longest the band has ever taken the song out for. They first left the confines of the song around the seven minute mark with some teases of both “Manteca” and “I Walk on Guilded Splinters”. Multiple times throughout the jam there was no clear leader as the band was truly listening to one another. Around the 12 minute mark Page took the lead with his synths as the band steered towards the dark energy they had passed on all night. Kuroda followed suit with some wild lighting moves and shapes above the band. Trey took hold of the jam about 18 minutes. As the band built towards another peak, they once again found a new section to vamp on as Trey and Fishman were completely locked in. As the clock passed the 24 minute, the band went right back into the unfinished “Simple” from earlier and brought the whole jam to a close. A by the books “Everything’s Right” closed out the set and a wonderful “Slave to the Traffic Light” was the lone encore song.

Find a full gallery of photos posted below.

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