At an arena show, where one sits has a lot to do with how good of a time one has. It was as much of a negative on Jan. 1 as it was a positive on the two prior days. But Jan. 2 was different altogether and, for my buddy Marshall, a total game changer.
Marshall managed to snag tickets in section 308 of Madison Square Garden - a "lounge" section. The lounges are semi-closed-off areas with about 30 seats, a little nook on which to keep ones drinks (with accompanying bar stools) additional comfortable chairs, a table, a coat rack...and lots and lots of dancing room.
Too good to be true, right?
Wrong. It was awesome. Not only was it comfortable, but the sound was fantastic. Marshall said he would never sit anywhere else at MSG.
The only problem was that it was almost too comfortable. It was so convenient to pop over to the very nearby concession stand for drinks or hit the clean, uncrowded bathroom, or simply socialize with the other folks in our little area, that it was all too easy to neglect my 120th Phish show.
That's not to say I did, at least not the whole time, because when "Your Pet Cat" opens the show (only the fourth time played since its debut on Halloween 2014) it is probably going to be a special night. Even though "AC/DC Bag", "It's Ice", and "Horn" were mostly standard, it was a treat to hear "NICU" and "Train Song", and executed nicely for that matter. Long pause aside, "Divided Sky" was a pleasurable experience and "Axilla > Maze" and "Julius" were fist-pumping rockers.
Set II began with the "Tweezer" for which we had all been hoping since the four-day run began. The excellent jam led into the funky favorite "Sand", during which I was reminded of how my friend John, just the night before, told me how much he loved the funk. I have no doubt that John was happy with this one, though I am sure he felt (as I did) that it could have gone on a bit longer instead of segueing into "Limb by Limb". This was weird placement and, admittedly, I found myself more interested in chatting with a pretty young lady named Chantal and her friends. But "Suzy Greenberg" put my focus back on the show and I took great delight in pointing out the last line of the first verse to a gentleman in our section (for whom it was his first show) that just happened to be a neurologist.
In addition to the "Tweezer", the general consensus was that we needed a "Harry Hood" and "You Enjoy Myself", both of which climaxed gloriously after some solid jamming.
I was calling a "Mexican Cousin" encore, as a nod to the forthcoming shows in Mexico, and I would bet that everyone else had their own ideas of what Phish would play, but I would also bet that no one called "The Lizards" which has been played as an encore only 10 times out of its 306 performances (thanks, phish.net for those stats!). I can not say I like it in that slot or that I did not return to my conversations with Chantal and crew, but hey, a Phish show is a lot of things and a social engagement is definitely one of them.
Of course, the "Tweezer Reprise" had me jumping in my usual pogo fashion one last time for the huge, rocking ending. After four nights at Madison Square Garden, it is best to go out on a high note, and it does not get higher than that.
The next day, two people asked me, "Are you all Phished out now?"
My reply - "Are you kidding? I can't wait until summer."
Full set list:
Set I: Your Pet Cat, AC/DC Bag > NICU, It's Ice > Horn > Divided Sky, Axilla I > Maze, Train Song > Julius
Set II: Tweezer > Sand > Limb by Limb > Suzy Greenberg > Harry Hood > You Enjoy Myself
Encore: The Lizards, Tweezer Reprise
No comments:
Post a Comment