The energy in the crowd was intense as the lights went down and Phish came to the stage for the first of 13 nights at Madison Square Garden, opening the show to thunderous applause with "Shake Your Coconuts," a song by Junior Senior. Even though I am pretty sure that almost nobody watching (at home or in the arena) had ever heard the song before, it got us sufficiently excited because it is a ridiculously silly and fun song in which Trey altered the lyrics to say "It's Baker's Dozen time!"
Plus, it solidified the doughnut theme of the series. Prior to the show, Phish tweeted that they were giving away free doughnuts to early comers at each show and the featured flavor on the first night was coconut. Would they play a flavor-themed song each night? Who knew?
There would be time for speculation later because after the insane fun of "Shake Your Coconuts", it was time to rock with "Martian Monster", a song they had played a few nights before. That answered my previous question about the "no repeat summer" theory, and though it was slightly disappointing, it also did mean that I got to rock out to a heavy duty "Martian Monster" and that everything else was on the table, too.
Throughout the first set, the continued electrified energy between band and audience made songs like "Timber (Ho!)", "555" and "Pigtail" that much more of an exciting experience. Were the coda to "Halfway to the Moon" (best version I've seen since Hartford 2013) and the jam in "Reba" (a song that mentions coconuts in the lyrics) really that huge, or did the enormity of MSG and its very forgiving acoustics just make it seem that way?
Maybe, but with the second-ever performance of "Moonage Daydream", it would be hard to argue that it was one of those by-the-numbers nothing-really-happening first sets. And to close it with "Walls of the Cave", nailing that burst from F# to B before the final chorus (not to mention a jam that rocked so incredibly hard), this had to be the best first set of the tour, right?
My friends up in the far reaches of section 209 begged to differ, texting me that the set was "ho-hum".
So not only do you have to be there, it matters where you sit, too. That is why I am very picky with my ticket selection at a Phish show. (Pro tip - side/rear stage tickets are awesome - you are close to the stage and the sound is excellent)
Set two came on strong with back-to-back jam vehicles in "Tweezer" and "Seven Below", both of which showed off what these guys do best these days. "Billy Breathes" and "Sparkle" were nice to hear, but I would bet those did not come off so well on the recordings. No matter, because the set aimed, shot and hit the mark in the back half with the second Phish performance of Trey's new "Everything's Right", one of the happiest songs you will ever hear (and included an MVP jam), followed by a gorgeous "Slave to the Traffic Light" and a rocking "Suzy Greenberg".
The set-ending a capella rendition of "Coconut" (as in, "You put the lime in the...") topped off the set with a bookend on the theme. The only thing I love as much as musical themes are musical bookends, so yes, you could say I was pretty happy with this turn of events.
The encore of "The Mango Song" put to rest any speculation that there would be a mango flavored doughnut in our future (as well as any notion that they can actually play the song well - sheesh) and the old reliable "Good Times Bad Times" put the show to bed with a heavy dose of Zeppelin rawk.
Did you have to be there to feel it? Maybe. Or maybe just enough of that palpable energy in the room translated on the webcasts.
Or maybe we were all just totally sugared up from doughnuts.
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