Phish capped a wild, five-night run back through its 1990s discography last night (July 29) at New York’s Madison Square Garden, paying off the heady concept with a show featuring a 37-minute “You Enjoy Myself,” a 31-minute jam on Talking Heads’ “Crosseyed and Painless” and a delightfully cornball rendition of Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds” sung by cape clad-drummer Jon Fishman.
Starting last Wednesday, Phish celebrated its 92nd show at the storied venue by playing a set of music limited to what the quartet had in its catalog at that time. That filter was subsequently applied to shows frozen in 1993, 1994, 1995 and, last night, 1996, with frontman vocalist/guitarist Trey Anastasio wearing the correct attire from the period for every occasion.
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Last night, he busted out the same button-down shirt he donned at Phish’s 1996 Clifford Ball extravaganza in Plattsburgh, N.Y., an event that figured prominently in an epic, first-set ending jam on “Harpua.” As part of the song’s usual midsection narration about the titular dog, Anastasio changed the story to chronicle how the “Jimmy” character was about to finally be rescued from the clouds above earth after missing the past three decades of Phish history. For good measure, the pre-show lighting even approximated the New York Knicks’ familiar blue and orange color scheme.
Following an encore take on the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life,” the show ended with the thematically apropos “Backwards Down the Number Line,” which although not debuted until 2009 was the perfect conclusion of the chronological set list concept (at least for now). Throughout the five nights, the group performed 106 distinct songs with no repeats, many of which had not been aired in eons. Among the rarest bust-outs: a novelty cover of Foreigner’s “Cold As Ice” (last played in 1992), “Big Ball Jam” (1994), “Vibration of Life” (1996), Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” (1998) and AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” (2013).
As for two 30-minute-plus jams in a single set, Phish had apparently only ever pulled off such a feat once before during its 1999->2000 Millennium New Year’s run in Big Cypress, Fl, and the 31-minute “Crosseyed and Painless” was just shy of an all-time record 33-minute take from MSG back in 2017.
After a day off today, Phish picks back up at Boston’s Fenway Park tomorrow and Saturday. Following a month-long break, the band will conclude its summer itinerary with its traditional Sept. 4-6 engagement at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Co.
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