Phish on Dec. 31 - 1992, 2002, 2012, & 2022

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.

Phish at Madison Square Garden, Dec. 31, 2017

At some point, in the middle of the third set of last night's New Year's Eve Phish show in New York, I turned to my wife, Gloria, and declared, "No other band in the world does this. No. Other. Band."  Anyone who experienced the sea of twinkling lights in the audience and the pirate flag and sail on stage last night (or, really, any NYE Phish show) would say the same.

My 15th Phish show of 2017, my sixth New Year's Phish show and my 144th Phish show overall. After 24 years, this band continues to astound, amaze and, most of all, entertain.

New Year's Eve shows are also tough tickets to get, but thanks to John and Meredith, our good friends in both Phish and running, we obtained tickets.  Both the sound and the view from section 224 were excellent, though we did feel a bit crowded and cramped.  And hot.  Boy, did we sweat on this cold, single-digit temperature night.

How could we not? With the rock coming fast and hard, "Carini", "Suzy Greenberg", "My Friend, My Friend", "Fluffhead", a particularly raging "46 Days", a rip-roaring "Maze", and a huge climax in the set-ending "Character Zero", the party got off to a fantastic start.  A well-executed "Reba" and a less-well executed "Poor Heart" kept things fun, if not a bit retro - that set list could have easily been from 12/31/2002.

The second set started with a relatively-brief "Possum" which gave way to a mostly standard, but still rousing "Fuego" before "Gotta Jibboo" brought the first epic jam of the night. After several minutes of funk for our dancing pleasure, Trey modulated the key and sent the jam into a full-on 3.0 standard bliss jam before managing to bring it back to the original key and groove for the ending. "Golgi Apparatus" got off to a shaky start, but recovered; and "What's the Use" brought its usual beauty in those ascending notes while Chris Kuroda continued to outdo himself with the lights.  The set ended with a classic "You Enjoy Myself" - complete with trampolines, bass-and-drums segment, and vocal jam - which saw Phish doing everything Phish does at its best.

Kind of looks like a doughnut

Everyone in the arena was given wristbands at the beginning of the show.  We figured the wristbands would light up and make things look neat for the webcast, and the brief test during set break, during which everyone's wristbands flashed in multiple colors for mere seconds caused a roar from the crowd. Clues from the band's email and t-shirt and poster images seemed to point to some kind of spaceship theme.

The wristbands

But when the music started (Trey's song, "Soul Planet") and a giant sail was set up on the stage, complete with a jolly roger pirate flag (which, of course, included the Phish logo), we all realized we had the wrong kind of ship in mind.  The stage had been transformed into a giant pirate ship, complete with cannons blasting confetti, and we, the fans, were the sea, as Kuroda controlled the wristband lights in waves of blue and green.  And as crew hands on deck (some suspended from the sail's rigging) turned the giant sail, the waves of light followed.  It was a masterpiece of lighting and stage design, a thing of beauty.

Throughout the song, and the set, the entire audience became part of the light show, and after the countdown to the New Year, the band played "Auld Lang Syne" as the myriad blue and white balloons dropped from the ceiling, along with confetti and streamers. "Free" continued the set and, with its reference to how "the ship goes sliding by", it was clear this would be a nautically themed set.  Sure enough "A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing", "The Moma Dance", "Prince Caspian" and "Wading in the Velvet Sea" followed, and though the set list was predictable, it was by no means any less exciting.  "ASIHTOS" was especially powerful; dare I say, the third best version I have heard (next to 6/19/2004 and 7/30/2017).

Finishing the set with "First Tube", Trey threw everything he had into it - the energy was thick in the room as he crashed into those E-minor and A-minor breaks before bursting into the A-major jam as Chris let loose and went completely bananaballs with the lights on the stage, on the ceiling and on our wrists.  It not only looked and sounded phenomenal, but it felt amazing, too.  Only music, and the communal sharing of it, can bring that kind of elation.

The "Loving Cup" encore put a button on the night and we all left Madison Square Garden as happy campers, knowing that we rang in the new year in a way that no one else could have understood; and that we sailed our ship into 2018 with our souls filled with joy and wristbands that continued to flash right through to when we walked in the door of our apartment at around 2:30 a.m.

Phish New Year 1995

This past year, I was fortunate enough to attend all four shows of Phish's New Year's Run at Madison Square Garden in New York. Twenty years ago, I missed the first three, but attended the ultimate one (at that very venue) regarded for quite some time as the greatest show ever. It was my first New Year's Eve show.

Little had I known on Dec. 31, 1995, Phish had already been tearing it up for three nights. On Dec. 28, they rocked the Centrum in Worcester, Mass., playing with nonstop energy as they ripped through the classics of their early days ("The Curtain", "Possum") and kicked out the big jams in "Tweezer" and "Slave to the Traffic Light". A 1995 show that starts with "Split Open and Melt"? I am all ears.

Newer fare like the still-evolving "Taste That Surrounds" and the still-stretching "Down With Disease", not to mention "Stash" and "Fluffhead", gave the first set of Dec. 29 a lot of meat, but the star of that show was the surprise epic "Bathtub Gin -> The Real Me -> Bathtub Gin" in Set II.

When they brought the party to Madison Square Garden on Dec. 30, the mondo jams and fiery playing kept coming. Even with "David Bowie", "It's Ice -> Kung -> It's Ice", an excellent "Mule Duel" and a raucous "Run Like an Antelope", there was still plenty of gas left in the tank for the amazing night to come.

My brother and I had amazing seats on the floor of MSG on 12/31/95, and danced up a storm to our first encounter with "Punch You in the Eye" and got a big kick out of our first "Colonel Forbin" story (with Tom Marshall singing "Shine"). It was only our fourth show and we were up close on the biggest night of Phish's year.

You have probably heard the official release (and if you have not, then do so!)
, so I do not need to tell you how much Set II rocked out like gangbusters right from the huge "Drowned" opener that segued beautifully into "The Lizards". "Runaway Jim" was pretty hot, too, but even that was no match for the way-out "Mike's Song" that led into the strangest set ending yet - a digital delay loop from Trey that grew out of the jam and faded away without the usual "Weekapaug Groove" sandwich. I remember wondering just what the heck to make of it.

During set break, I witnessed what most of the audience probably never noticed - Jon Fishman came onstage and had someone shave his beard. Could this night get any more odd, I wondered?

Yes.

Giant Van de Graff generators sparked to life, sending bolts of light all around the stage, three mad scientists (Trey, Page and Mike) turned knobs as crazy sounds emanated, and a platform containing Fish as Old Man 1995 was raised above.

Lights flashed! The countdown commenced!! And at the stroke of midnight, the platform broke apart revealing Fish reborn as Baby 1996!!!

Huge balloons descended from the rafters while the rest of the band played a beautiful "Auld Lang Syne". With Fish back at the drums, we finally got our "Weekapaug" and the first jam of the new year had everyone dancing, dancing, dancing. The gorgeous segue into one more 'Quadrophenia' song, "Sea and Sand" provided only a few minutes of quietude before the ridiculous knockout punches of "You Enjoy Myself", "Sanity" and "Frankenstein", not to mention the rip-roaring encore of "Johnny B. Goode".

It was 1 a.m. and we had been through a wild ride. We left Madison Square Garden sweaty and spent as we headed downstairs to catch the next train to Ronkonkoma, but not before I picked up a piece of one of those balloons which I still have to this day.

It would be almost 10 months until I saw Phish again, but having the memory of that show made the wait a little better.

Phish at Madison Square Garden, New York, Dec 31, 2015

There is nothing in this world like a Phish show on New Year's Eve. And I can think of no better way to spend the last night of the year.

In the past, I had seen Jon Fishman become Baby New Year; I viewed a strange animation depicting an odd evolution of creatures; I watched an air boat bust open to reveal the band on their famous hot dog cruising to the stage to feed meat sticks to Father Time; and I saw the band play on top of a truck in the middle of the arena floor.

And lots and lots of balloons. What more might I witness?

The first set already showed a fiery Phish cranking it up early. "Moma Dance" got right down to funky business. The set also contained a fully danceable "Birds of a Feather", a nicely placed "Possum" for a change (second!), the kick-ass crunch of "Martian Monster", and the crowd singing the final refrain of "I Didn't Know" after Fish did some vacuum cleaner sucking (we also sang "Happy Birthday" to Fish's daughter). The precision in the middle section of "Reba" is still amazingly impressive when they nail it (and they did), but the jam's peaks were nothing compared to the huge climaxes in "Wolfman's Brother" and the set closing "Walls of the Cave", though the latter's composed section was not as well executed.

Opening a second set with "The Wedge" may seem weird, but it worked well and sure got me dancing. I've grown to thoroughly enjoy "A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing", but I'm still not on board with "Yarmouth Road". It has a weak hook and a mediocre melody.  "Wilson" and "Twist" always sound great in an arena with their audience participation bits, and the jam in the latter soared to crazy heights. But that was already after the ridiculously huge jams in "Piper" and a standout "Kill Devil Falls". If this was a standard two-set show, it would have been completely satisfying.

But this was New Year's Eve and things were about to get nuts. During setbreak, we were looking at all the balloons tied up to the ceiling and also noticed a spot in the back of the floor section with what seemed like a small stage up underneath an giant upside down cone-shaped structure hanging from the ceiling.

Sure enough, Phish appeared there and charged headlong into the funktastic new tune "No Men in No Man's Land". The jam ebbed and flowed and became something else altogether as a scrim lowered from the cone to make it an hourglass as smoke swirled inside the enclosure onto which psychedelic images and colors were being projected. At some point, the band disappeared even though the jam was still going. A few minutes later, the band re-emerged on the main stage, picked up playing from the pre-recorded sounds, and led the audience in the strains of "Auld Lang Syne" at midnight.

The multitude of balloons and confetti were still falling when the band launched into the most exploratory version of "Blaze On" to date, and even "Carini" (so-so song that usually leads to an incredible jam) was no match for the monstrous "David Bowie" that followed.

The third set wound down with the usual NYE rendition of "The Horse" and "Silent in the Morning" as well as a lyrically poignant "Backwards Down the Number Line".

A righteously funky "Tube" encore led into the big rocking closer of "Cavern". It was 1 a.m. and the crowd at Madison Square Garden would have easily stayed for more.

No one does New Year's Eve like Phish, and for the eighth time they brought the party to Madison Square Garden for yet another night to remember.

Set list:

Set I: The Moma Dance > Possum, Wolfman's Brother, Birds of a Feather, I Didn't Know, Happy Birthday to You, Martian Monster, Reba, Walls of the Cave

Set II: The Wedge, Wilson > A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing, Yarmouth Road, Kill Devil Falls > Piper > Twist

Set III: No Men in No Man's Land > Auld Lang Syne > Blaze On > Carini > David Bowie, The Horse > Silent in the Morning > Backwards Down the Number Line

Encore: Tube > Cavern