Phish at Madison Square Garden, Dec. 28

There is something special about Phish's New Year's Run, and though 2011's was a bit lackluster, I was especially excited for 2012 for two reasons. First, the band had an incredible summer run with some of their best performances of 3.0, if not of all time. Take a listen to Atlantic City, Jones Beach and Dick's if you doubt me. Second, I had floor tickets for Dec. 28 - my first time on the floor for a Phish arena show since Dec. 11, 1999, at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, and my first time on the floor of MSG since New Years Eve 1997.

My god, could it really have been so long? And could they deliver the goods based on THOSE memories?

By golly, did they ever deliver!

If Set One looks ho-hum on paper, then you need to start at the end and work backward - the set-closing "Wolfman's Brother" was everything you could want in a Phish jam. Funked out and rocking, it peaked and peaked like nobody's business. The rest of the songs were played perfectly - not a bad not, composed or improvised, to be found. This worked out especially well for the solid "Kill Devil Falls", the groover "Tube", and the set-opening "Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan" (which I have grown accustomed to as a set-closer, so it was quite the surprise). Throw in the relatively rare Page nugget "Army of One" and who is not to be satisfied?

But it was Set Two that took the show into "best of the year" territory. Start off with a "Tweezer" that does all the right things, laying down a groove that does not quit until suddenly you find yourself somewhere else entirely. This "Tweezer" is a journey that keeps going forward, into strange, murky territory and never looks back. When it finally lands on the rim-clicking introduction to "Maze" you just know things are going to get crazy.

And you are right. Trey's off-beat clangings during Page's solo are wild and unpredictable in every possible good way and when it is time for him to blast off, he picks you up and hurls you around like a beast that has you in his jaws, making you flail about helplessly. I am not kidding - it is that intense.

A moment of levity ensues with Trey playing "Little Drummer Boy" as Fish starts the "Twist" beat. We all scream "Wooo" with the song and more "Little Drummer Boy" teases crop up. "Theme from the Bottom" was never one of my favorites until 2011's Bethel shows. As its softness gives way to its big ending (a double climax, really), it sticks with you.

Who would have expected "Fluffhead" at that moment? Not me. And I am not complaining. As the defining song of the 3.0 era, they have truly learned to nail it. Its complexities forced it off the map in 2.0 and its return in 2009 was shaky at best. But lordy how Trey has perfected (again) the mind-boggling note-fest contained therein. How he came up with that finger workout in the first place is a mystery to me. How he manages to pull it off flawlessly all these years later is most impressive.

But, you know, at some point everyone really just wants to get their rocks off to the four-chord finale bellowing "Fluffheeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!" Perfect way to end the set.

Only it was not the end. "David Bowie"???  My first thought was, "What the hell are they saving for the next few nights?" Again, the journey through the jam was killer but what was memorable was the interesting stops and starts shortly before the climax. Huge.

So you can imagine the groans around me when "Bouncing Around the Room" starts the encore, but I was more than happy to hear it. What I was unhappy about was the insane, smelly guy that somehow wound up next to me, hugging everyone, and being way too friendly for someone with that amount of body odor. And vocal. "YEEEAAAAAAAHHHH" over and over. Calm down, dude!

But who could be calm as the band launched into "Good Times Bad Times"? I was reminded of the first time I saw Phish play it - at Waterloo Village in 1995 while my friend Gavin sat on my shoulders.

Who knows if I will ever get floor tickets again. Will it be another 13 years? If it never happens again, I can at least hold this show in the same regard as those other four special nights of being on the floor at a Phish arena show in December.