Phish returned to Madison Square Garden for night two of their four-night New Year’s run at the venue, and they had a few tricks up their sleeve on what turned out to be a fantastic evening in New York City. The band continued to avoid playing material from their new album Big Boat, instead focusing on bust-outs, rarities, and high-octane jamming.
Night one kicked off with an a capella song, and night two got the a capella treatment as well with a rare “Sweet Adeline” opener. “Sweet Adeline” was a staple from 1990 – 1997 before being shelved, besides a handful of performances. This was the second “Sweet Adeline” of the 3.0 era, showing up after a 200 show gap since the song’s last appearance at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in 2011. The band quickly worked through the classic a capella tune before heading back to their instruments for another major surprise in Frank Zappa‘s “Peaches En Regalia”, their first performance of the song in 174 shows. The beloved cover was welcomed with a huge roar from the crowd, and the band absolutely nailed the song. Jon Fishman was on fire during this “Peaches”, really bringing it to life with his vibrant and dynamic drumming.
Watch “Sweet Adeline” and “Peaches En Regalia”, courtesy of LivePhish
Trey Anastasio wasted no time coming out of “Peaches En Regalia”, as he quickly transitioned to “Mike’s Song”. “Mike’s” was dark and dirty, as Anastasio used his exploratory playing to push the band. Page McConnell‘s piano playing stands out, as he created chaos with his keyboards. The band transitioned into “Secret Smile”, only the ninth ever performance of the song, and the song’s first appearance in 141 shows, before heading into “Weekapaug Groove” to complete the “Mike’s Groove”. “Weekapaug” was smokin’, as the band linked up for some impressive improvisation. Anastasio landed on a rhythmic concept that he kept flowing in and out of, building the tension greatly before releasing into a gorgeous peak and finishing the song.
Ween‘s “Roses Are Free” was then trotted out for the first time this year, after a 49 show gap. This version was short and sweet, as the band quickly moved into the familiar shuffle of “Poor Heart”. “46 Days” was one of the highlights of the set, with the band linking up for a sludgy blues jam that provided Anastasio with the perfect platform to showcase his impressive guitar playing. “Brian And Robert” appeared next, seeing its first appearance of 2016 after a 58 show gap. The band kept the bust-outs coming with McConnell’s “Beauty Of A Broken Heart”, which hadn’t been played in 98 shows. Phish then brought the set to a close with an excellent pair of songs in “Theme From The Bottom” and “Split Open And Melt”. While “Theme” featured a gorgeous, soaring jam from the band, “Split Open And Melt” was all about tension-and-release. This back-to-back pairing showcased the diversity of Phish’s playing, as the band went in many different directions over the final twenty-two minutes of the set.
Phish took their typical set break, and returned with one of their most classic set openers, the beloved “Down With Disease”. “DWD” was perhaps the improvisational standout of the night, as the song was stretched to just over fifteen minutes long and featured three unique sections. Phish riffed on the form of the song for a few minutes before moving into a section that featured a few teases of Queen‘s “Under Pressure”. Finally, the band moved into a more ambient section that featured minimalist playing from Fishman, before Anastasio hit the powerful opening riff of “What’s The Use”, leaving “Disease” unfinished. “What’s The Use” used to be a rarity, but has been added to the rotation in in the past few years, getting played five times in 2015 and now eight times in 2016. The song wasn’t stretched out on this occasion, however, the five-minute song was as delicate and as beautiful as could be.
Watch “Down With Disease”, courtesy of LivePhish
As “What’s The Use” ended, the band launched right into “Fuego”, which featured a few minutes of standard jamming. As things started to get interesting, Phish transitioned into the beloved “Meatstick”, which really got the crowd moving. You could feel The Garden’s famous bounce prominently during “Meatstick”, and the band returned the favor with a funk that could shake your soul. “Twenty Years Later” followed, and this was easily the most interesting version of the song to-date. After blasting through the song’s form, “Anastasio” started the extremely rare “Kung” chant. The band never stopped playing “Twenty Years Later”, mashing up the two songs on the spot and with perfection. Anastasio could barely contain his laughter as the band turned “Kung” into a classic rock romp. “Kung” hadn’t been played in 156 shows, since their 2012 New Year’s Eve gag that centered around the song.
The band finished the “Twenty Years Later”/”Kung” mash-up, and the room exploded with excited energy at the intro to “Makisupa Policeman”. After trying to get McConnell and Gordon involved in the song’s hijinx, it was Fishman who finally added “I vaped!”, after which you could hear the rest of the band audibly laugh, with Trey changed the lyrics of the song to “Policeman came to Fish’s house (house, house, house)”. The room filled with smoke, and Anastasio called out for a quick trip to “Mike’s house”, leading to a nasty bass solo, which served as an opportunity for Trey to move to the Marimba Lumina. When it became clear that Anastasio wasn’t moving anytime soon, McConnell and Gordon dropped their instruments and went over to the drum kit for a lengthy full band percussion jam. As the song was brought to a close, Fishman started up “Harry Hood”. After working through the song’s main form, a patient and beautiful jam quickly emerged, and the band delivered a master class in improvisation, building to a sublime peak that put an incredible cap on an incredible evening. “Hood” closed the set, and the band used the bluesy fireworks of “Julius” in the encore slot.
Phish has turned in back-to-back classics with their first two nights at Madison Square Garden. Featuring ten songs that haven’t been played yet this year alongside some of their best playing of the year, it’s clear that Phish intends to send 2016 out with a bang. With a lack of songs from Big Boat, the shows have had a “classic Phish” vibe that simply can’t be topped. Phish returns to Madison Square Garden tonight for night three of their four-night New Year’s run, and if the first two nights were any indication, we’re in for another special show tonight.
You can see the Phish.net setlist below.
Phish | Madison Square Garden | New York, NY | 12/29/2016
Set 1: Sweet Adeline, Peaches en Regalia > Mike’s Song > Secret Smile > Weekapaug Groove, Roses Are Free, Poor Heart,46 Days, Brian and Robert, Beauty of a Broken Heart, Theme From the Bottom > Split Open and Melt
Set 2: Down with Disease -> What’s the Use? > Fuego > Meatstick, Twenty Years Later -> Kung -> Twenty Years Later >Makisupa Policeman, Harry Hood
Encore: Julius