On Monday afternoon, a dull grey hung over New York City. One of those days that felt like the sun never actually rose, serving as a reminder that the frigid streets of Manhattan are not the reason Phish fans make an annual pilgrimage to Madison Square Garden.
Tourists and locals shuffled past the venue in winter wear, oblivious to the fact that over 20,000 fans were gathered inside the glorified boxing arena to see their personal musical heavyweights knock out another MSG New Year’s run.
Shortly after 8 p.m., the band’s followers were greeted with the demonic opening chords of “Carini”, which saw each member put forth ideas in a short but sweet jam. Guitarist Trey Anastasio cued up “Plasma”, with all four musicians now working as a full unit before bringing the “Carini” theme back for proper four-cylinder acceleration to end the opening segment.
The strong start showed no signs of Phish coasting through the first set, next opting for a song played for only the third time in its nearly 30 years of existence: “Quadrophonic Toppling”.
Phish — “Quadrophonic Toppling” — 12/29/25
[Video: Blanks&Postage]
The “song” is a psychedelic studio experiment from the late ’90s, a relic of the band’s all-improv, no-rules Siket Disc, with no real structure other than a vocal sample repeating the song title. The fact the band chose to play it at all, much less the third song in the set, is a prime example of why fans show up to NYC in the dead of winter each year. “Quadrophonic Topplin” was last seen at the 2022 Phish summer tour opener in Alabama (172 shows ago), and before that, hadn’t been played since New Year’s Eve 1999. The “song” follows in the footsteps of Sunday’s “Sleep”, a Rift rarity not played since November 2019.
“The Curtain With” followed, a return to more-traditional first set canon, with Trey’s sweeping guitar lines recasting the “Rift” melody in slow motion.
Phish — “The Curtain With” — 12/29/25
[Video: Blanks&Postage]
Though it arrived only half an hour into the show, Monday’s 12-minute “Bathtub Gin” pushed the crowd and band into a frenzy usually reserved for the finale. At some point, a bubble machine made an appearance on the floor, streaming soap circles across the pit—definitely a debatable move among the rock community, to say the least—as the band built the song to a peak. Confetti canons detonated on the floor as Anastasio brought the jam to a peak, a fun reminder that Phish fans are far more than passive observers of music.
The 45-minute segment felt like a truncated second set rather than a show opening, so you can’t blame the band for coasting a bit with a standard “NICU” and the newer “Evolve”, both of which saw Anastasio trying to find his footing with the lead guitar lines.
“Mountains In The Mist” was an ethereal break, with the lyric “I’m worn and bruised/but I am here at least,” getting a hearty cheer from a crowd who’ve likely had to weather more than the weather this year.
The opening chords of “Fluffhead” were drowned out by the Garden’s audible approval, with a lyric change making it clear the song’s protagonist was, in fact, in New York. Page McConnell crushed his grand piano, which seemed unusually neglected for most of the set. The song’s outro is one of the most triumphant couple of minutes in the band’s repertoire, and you better believe the bubbles were out in full force, with another confetti exclamation mark for good measure.
“Mike’s Song” kicked off the second set, with Page shining early in the jam, trading off clavinet and synth to flesh out the groove. Chris Kuroda’s lighting rig created layers of colors that ebbed and flowed with the band, a perfect synthesis of light and sound.
As the final chords of “Mike’s” crashed for the last time, from the cold abyss of Scandinavia emerged the sound of Kasvot Växt‘s “The Final Hurrah”, offering some robot disco before dropping into “Weekapaug”. Jon Fishman propelled the second section of the song, with the band locking in around the cycling chords for a few frenetic minutes. The Mike’s Sandwich would serve as a nice second entree after the “Carini” -> “Plasma” -> “Carini” appetizer that opened up the first set.
Following Mike’s Groove, Trey sketched out “A Wave of Hope”. The new song was well placed and well played. The band quickly reached a state of musical telekinesis that’s the result of four decades of playing together, Mike Gordon and Anastasio chasing each other up and down the fretboard during one beautiful passage.
Just when the jam seemed to be coasting on its inertia, Trey put his two Tube Screamer distortion pedals to use, ditching bliss for blues as guitar idolatry ensued. Kuroda lit up the stage and venue walls with color combinations that blurred their rigid boundaries, foreshadowing just what kind of production the band is capable of pulling off for the highly anticipated New Year’s Eve show.
At some point in the jam, a second bubble machine emerged, and the double-fisted stream of bubbles remained endless—for better or worse.
“Twenty Years Later” served as the breather of the set, eventually winding into “Golden Age”. The song has become such a staple of the Vermont foursome that it’s easy to forget it’s the product of TV on the Radio, a Brooklyn band of blog-era buzz that must be terribly confused as to why a jam band has co-opted one of their deep cuts. The song finalized what seemed to be the improvisational theme of the night: short but complex jams that allowed the band to showcase what they do best without getting lost in wandering explorations.
“Character Zero” brought the set to an arm-raising finish, with the band’s smiles hiding the fact that this is not the first time they’ve seen the Man from Mulcahy.
“The Lizards” was executed nicely, serving as a testament that the band in fact does possess some solid vocals (at least as much vocal precision to harmonize what sounds like “gohm gohm gohm…”). The opening E chord build signified that “Possum” would be the last dance of the evening, with the band nailing the song’s bluesy swagger for the 586th time in its career (goddamn, that’s a lot of roadkill).
Halfway through what is already a memorable NYE run, the band returns tonight, December 30th, and tomorrow. As with any and all Phish shows, no telling what they’ll entail, but it’s a safe bet that at this rate, there will be bubbles. Lots and lots of f–ing bubbles.
Very limited tickets remain for Phish’s Tuesday night show at MSG here. You can also tune in to tonight’s show and the rest of the run from home with 4K and HD pay-per-view livestreams via nugs and LivePhish. Order your Phish MSG livestreams here. Revisit Live For Live Music‘s coverage of the 2025 Phish MSG run: December 28th | 29th (you’re reading it).
[Note: Live For Live Music is a nugs/LivePhish affiliate. Purchasing your livestream via the links on this page helps support our work covering the world of live music. Thanks for reading, and happy new year!]
Phish — “Carini” > “Plasma” — 12/29/25
[Video: Blanks&Postage]
Phish — “Bathtub Gin” — 12/29/25
[Video: Blanks&Postage]
Phish — “Fluffhead” — 12/29/25
[Video: Blanks&Postage]
Setlist [via phish.net]: Phish | Madison Square Garden | New York, NY | 12/29/25
Set One: Carini -> Plasma > Carini, Quadrophonic Toppling, The Curtain With > Bathtub Gin, NICU, Evolve, Mountains in the Mist, Fluffhead
Set Two: Mike’s Song > The Final Hurrah > Weekapaug Groove, A Wave of Hope, Twenty Years Later > Golden Age (TV On The Radio) > Character Zero
Encore: The Lizards, Possum
Quadrophonic Toppling was performed for the first time since May 27, 2022 (172 shows). Trey teased Sand during The Final Hurrah.