12/31/92 - Matthews Arena, Northeastern University, Boston, MA
The "Buried Alive" opener is much more suited to Phish '92 than its '22 counterpart. They throw down the gauntlet and start knocking you out with hard and fast jams in "Maze", "Foam", "The Divided Sky" and a set-closing "Run Like an Antelope" that makes the 12/30/22 version sound sad. Make no mistake, though - these are guitar jams, and all the momentum lies in the capable hands of young Trey. Stay for Fish's last vaccuum solo of 1992 in "I Didn't Know" because the audience is clearly being goaded into cheering at random spots, to the puzzlement of those of us who were not there to see what was going on.
The second set picks up right where the first left off with a "Runaway Jim" that not only has Trey soloing hard, but has Page providing some excellent counterpoint on piano. "Stash" is another winner, with the jam getting briefly dark while Trey fires off machine gun 16th notes. For some fun, how about Trey's narration in "Fly Famous Mockingbird" that features two of what seem to be Trey's favorite subjects for such occasions - flying and transmogriphication (the audience congealing into rock) - and the controlled chaos the "Big Ball Jam" that comes out of "My Sweet One".
New Year's Eve is all about the third set, of course, and this was the second-ever three-set NYE show. The countdown commenced during a hot "Mike's Song" jam, which tumbles into "Auld Lang Syne" which then neatly segues into a "Weekapaug Groove" that kept the party going. For more fun, there is "Harpua", with another storytime segment that covers the usual dog/cat fight in great detail and incorporates Fish's "Kung" chant, and a special appearance by the Dude of Life singing "Diamond Girl".
The a capella "Carolina" in the encore is an impressive feat - getting the 6,000+ crowd to quiet down to let the band sing barbershop without microphones - and "Fire" puts the exclamation point on the evening.
12/31/02 - Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
A very different Phish came onstage at Madison Square Garden 10 years later. This Phish had upped the ante every year through the 1990s, culminating in the almost unbelievable Big Cypress NYE show in 1999. Now, after a two-year hiatus, they return to play their first show of Phish 2.0 on the most special night of year, inverting the four-show concept so there would be three shows after NYE. The opening "Piper" speaks volumes about this new era - they get right down to the jamming and it is darker, deeper and thicker than before...and it clocks in at 16 minutes. And yet, for a band that is finally announcing itself to the new millennium, with a new album in tow as well, the rest of the set stays firmly rooted to the '80s and '90s and for a while, it feels like the old Phish again.
The second set opens up with the new "Waves" and Trey's new guitar tone (crunchier, dirtier, more bitey) serves the jam section well (as it does for "Carini"). But not so much for "Divided Sky" and "Rift", songs that need a lighter tone. Also, some rust seems to show in the composed sections of these tunes, as well as "Harry Hood". Had Trey forgotten how to play them? Did they not practice enough? Does Trey <gasp> just kinda not care? He had spent the better part of the past two years with a 10-piece band that was fully capable of picking up his slack (and he seemed to have spent a lot more time conducting them than playing guitar solos) and now he is revisiting these old songs like a stranger.
The cracks continue to show in the third set with the underwhelming "Sample in a Jar" opener (as well as an offputting "Taste" which revealed some listening issues among the band as Trey tried for a solid minute to steer into "What's the Use" to no avail), but all is forgiven when the debut of "Seven Below" ushers in the new year. The "Runaway Jim" jam that follows quickly abandons all sense of the song and wanders through different ideas until Fish locks into the drumbeat for Little Feat's "Time Loves a Hero", played only four times before (thrice in 1988 and in 1998) and not to be played again until 2010.
Phish ends the set with the excellent new "Walls of the Cave", which could have brought some awesome power to the finish, but the jam got oddly mellow. This would be another harbinger of what would come in 2.0 - the long jams that spiral outward, losing all sense of the song, trying things for the sake of it and letting them stew until you realize 15 minutes have gone by and not much has really happened even though it feels like you had been on a strange journey.
12/31/12 - Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
With a golf theme already evident, Phish opened the night with Rick Nelson's "Garden Party", appropriate for the venue and for the stage which was dressed for such an occasion (but hopefully not its sentiment). After that one-time performance, this solid set touched on a little of each of the band's three previous decades, with other fun covers like "Roses Are Free" and "Walk Away"; as well as some big energy in '80s classic "Mike's Song" (which, along with "Weekapaug", had been played at 10 previous NYEs!) and '90s rockers "Sample in a Jar" and "Character Zero".
Apart from the "Ghost" that stays in mellow territory, riding a groove that is largely static even as Trey occasionally drops some pretty cascading notes, the second set is filled with upbeat jams like "Birds of a Feather", a "Piper" that remains more grounded than its counterpart from a decade earlier before bursting into a big climax, and a "Light" that stays fully danceable (and includes the "Auld Lang" tease usually reserved for the previous night). And if you still have your dancing shoes on, stay for the "2001", too. After all that, there is still room for "You Enjoy Myself". None of these jams are extraordinary, but they all play out quite well for a great listen.
Then, of course, there was the third set. After teeing off with a fun "Party Time", they do the "Kung" chant, which mentions "a runaway golf cart marathon" and that seems to be what we get as golf carts start crisscrossing the stage, which now has two levels. Dancers hop off the carts in full cheesy golf regalia, and swinging clubs with their choreography as the band rocks "Chalk Dust Torture" into midnight for "Auld Lang Syne" and a wild "Tweezer Reprise" with big choir vocals and insane flashing lights.
After that, they leaned so hard into the golf theme that the rest of the set list consisted of song titles that could be construed as golf references. "Sand" and "The Wedge" were both played excellently, with focused jams (nothing lasting more than nine minutes); Steve Miller's "Fly Like an Eagle" (another first and last for the band) was a nice surprise; and "Lawn Boy" as a barbershop quartet brought a new, fun spin on the tune.
Even the encore continued the theme with "Driver" (with a false start due to Trey seeming to confuse it with "Summer of '89") and the first- and last-ever true performance of "Iron Man" (the one previous rendition was performed by a marching band on NYE 2003).
At the end of 2012, Phish was at its most rock solid since the '90s in its ability to execute the technical stuff, jam with purpose and direction while also branching out in interesting musical and sonic directions, and bring silly and engaging ideas to the party. This four-show run is a prime example of all those things.
12/31/2022 - Madison Square Garden - New York, NY
The band's 14th NYE at MSG (and a whopping 76th total at the venue) starts with "Tweezer", setting the stage for what was to be a much better night that the previous. The jam stays melodic and focused throughout, settling into a groove and decidedly pushing no envelopes. The segue from "Halley's Comet" into "Set Your Soul Free" is as absolutely seamless as can be; and though the latter song ends up in pretty much the same Everyjam (thanks, Ali) territory that "Tweezer" did (and then does again when it returns later in the set), it is still a pleasant listen. "Mike's" returns for yet another NYE appearance, with Fish playing extra authoritatively, especially into the closing section; and a well-executed "I Am Hydrogen" gives way to a dragging tempo in "Weekapaug", the best part of which comes when Trey holds a single guitar note for a solid 45 seconds while Page hammers away on his piano.
In retrospect, we might have been getting teases of the third-set time machine gag throughout the first two sets. In the first set, there was "Tweezer", "Mike's" and "Weekapaug"; and in the second set, we got "Say It to Me S.A.N.T.O.S.", "2001", "Mercury" and "Drift While You're Sleeping". All of those songs were played at or around midnight at previous NYEs, and they all brought a special energy to the show. The only extended jams of the set were "Kill Devil Falls" and "Light", and though neither will make any best-of lists, both were interesting and entertaining musical excursions.
The Time Machine gag in the third set was an impressive presentation, using "Ghost" as a through-line as they zig-zagged through the wacky gags of Phish's past. Some were only visual, so watch the video on YouTube to see Kasvot Vaxt, Sci-Fi Soldier, the Famous Mockingbird, golfers, clones and more. Musically, the medley mash-up that referenced NYEs of 1996, 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2010 almost sounds like the band is gearing up for a Phish Revue residency in Vegas, but there is a certain charm to it now that the band has been around nearly 40 years. In 2004, Trey insisted on breaking up the band to avoid becoming a nostalgia act. To hear him being so comfortable with it now is actually quite endearing.
That is not to say there were not some fresh jams in the set. After re-introducing "Tweezer" yet again, the band used a surprisingly engaging "Prince Caspian" to launch a segment of fine jamming through "Crosseyed and Painless" (among the many welcome covers in the set!) and "Piper", which were so energetic that the come-down of "A Life Beyond the Dream" felt truly earned.
In fact, the whole thing felt earned. A band that has been around for 40 years (minus five in the middle) has a right to acknowledge its past; even a band that has always been as forward-looking as Phish. How many other long-standing artists not only continue to make new music, but also believe in that music enough to play all the songs on their new albums live in concert, many of which delight their fans every bit as much as the classics? Neither Springsteen nor McCartney nor Metallica can do that.
So why not indulge in a little bit of nostalgia? Looking back at 40 years of Phish turned out to be a great way to look forward to the future that lies ahead.
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