It was the date of their first Madison Square Garden show ever (12/30/94) and subsequently, returned for 10 more shows at that venue on that date. Of those, I was at eight. Plus, there was the New Year's shows at Big Cypress Seminole Reservation in Florida on 12/30 and 12/31/99.
So, yes, Dec. 30 is special to me, and Phish once again lived up to my expectations by opening the show with a classic '90s "Mike's Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove", complete with the super old-school ending in "Mike's". I had not seen a "Mike's" opener since 6/16/2012 in Atlantic City.
OK, so Trey bungled "Hydrogen" a little, but contrary to what '90s purists think, he bungled it a lot back then, too. He also played it a lot more often back then, so if he blew one or two of them, there were several more that were good. In 2017, it was the only one.
Keeping it old-school for a while, not only did the band launch into "Tweezer", but after an incredible jam that had Chris Kuroda doing absolutely stunning visuals with the lights (which were everywhere - on the ceiling, around the sides, in the front, in the back), the song ended with the long-abandoned coda in which the main riff returns (sort of) and the song slows to a halt. Only this time, the last note ended with Fishman singing his 2016 masterpiece "Ass Handed". "Kill Devil Falls" reminded us again that 3.0 is just as good as 1.0, but the "Bathtub Gin" that followed was yet another stand-out (with more CK goodness on the lights).
The set could have ended there and I would have been happy, but instead we saw the return of "Brother" (a big early '90s song that only saw six plays in 3.0) - slow and weird; and oddly funky for its 3/4 meter, allowing Page to lay down some interesting grooves on the clavinet. This was followed by "More", the 2016 set-ender powerhouse that made jelly of us all with its positive vibe, happy chord progression and knockout solo at the end.
Damn, that was just set one! Am I gushing too much?
It is probably as common and cliche for a second set to open with "Down With Disease" as the first set to open with "AC/DC Bag", but the former is always much more welcome because "Disease" jams can be marvelous things. This one had everything - over the course of almost a half-hour, it went from energetic to mellow to textured to dark and noisy, and finally culminated with a happy bliss jam (naturally). The fact that one of my favorite 3.0 songs, "Steam" followed was icing on this already tasty, tasty cake. At the end, the jam got spacey in the best, most literal way possible - the sounds and lights made me feel like we were in a spaceship that was about to blast off.
The sound quality is bad, but you get the idea.
"Light" was probably good, but I was too distracted by the bros in front of me smoking an enormous blunt, with their stinky smoke being blown directly into my face for what seemed to be an eternity, and "Farmhouse" was so mellow that the set seemed to be in danger of falling apart. Good thing "Run Like an Antelope" was there to save it and finish it off with an enormous climax.
The "Sleeping Monkey > Tweezer Reprise" encore topped the show off perfectly and no one could have possibly gone home dissatisfied. The only question now is, what could possibly be in store for New Year's Eve?
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