Phish has shared a full, pro-shot video of the band’s full Gamehendge production from New Year’s Eve 2023 at Madison Square Garden. The new video cut—as opposed to the live-streamed webcast—places more focus on the added visual elements of the spectacle, giving home viewers a more complete picture of all of the outsized production elements and narrative-oriented nuance included in the long-awaited live rendering of the early-days Phish rock opera.
Gamehendge tells the tale of a man who accidentally steps through a portal to a strange world, befriends a band of rebels fighting against an evil ruler, goes on a quest to enlist the help of an almighty deity, and attempts to help the subjugated race overthrow their evil dictator. While rooted in often-silly, medieval fantasy aesthetics, the rock opera is thematically ambitious, serving as commentary on politics, religion, jealousy, greed, the cyclical nature of civilization, and the ways in which society repeats its own mistakes.
We won’t try to explain all the intricacies of the detailed Gamehendge narrative in this piece. There are pages and pages of explanations and summaries floating around the Internet, from Phish.net’s FAQ page to the complete Gamehendge Wikipedia page—and that’s not even the same Wikipedia page as the one for The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday, the title of the Trey senior study that first introduced the story, the characters, and the fantasy land of Gamehendge.
Prior to 12/31/23, the band had played Gamehendge—referring to the collective group of songs and their complete, accompanying narration—in concert only four times (that we know of): 3/12/88 at Nectar’s, 3/22/93 in Sacramento, CA, 6/26/94 in West Virginia (which also a near-complete performance of Phish’s Hoist album), and 7/8/94 in Mansfield, MA. There was also the 10/13/91 show in Olympia, WA that featured most but not all of the Gamehendge saga/narration, so that one gets an asterisk on most peoples’ list. Phish-nerds gonna Phish-nerd.
Over the nearly three decades since the last Gamehendge show in 1994, Phish seemed content to leave the land of Lizards in the past. The individual songs themselves have never disappeared from the repertoire, but until New Year’s Eve, chasing Gamehendge at a live show amounted to a pipe dream for generations of Phish fans: “What do you want to hear tonight? Gamehendge? Right, cool. Wouldn’t we all. Not gonna happen.”
And yet… it was never entirely off the table, either. Part of the allure of the rock opera, even into the 2020s, has always been that the saga of Gamehendge—not to be be confused with “the Gamehendge saga”—had always remained somewhat incomplete. While the songs and story are deeply embedded in the band’s canon, the band had never given Gamehendge a proper rollout. The original The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday only ever circulated as a bootleg. The two Gamehendge performances in 1994 were supposedly recorded for a CD-ROM project that never saw the light of day. Hell, we still can’t even seem to agree on exactly what songs are part of the core suite.
The project collected dust for years as the band continued to expand its universe with new material, new mythology, new creative threads to follow. Phish finally bringing this musical to life onstage—or in any form—seemed less and less likely to happen as the years went on, but seeing as it had never really happened yet, the band was always holding that card. To chase Gamehendge was to hope that they remember like we do, that they could reach into history—step into yesterday—and realize the most outlandish of possibilities on any given night. It could happen. We didn’t know where or how or when, but it could. On New Year’s Eve 2023, it finally did. Like, really did.
The other scattered Gamehendge shows throughout the band’s history pale in comparison to the scope of 12/31/23: Not just the songs, not just the narration, but a full, theatrical spectacle at the World’s Most Famous Arena. You could even argue that the band couldn’t have pulled it off in the same way until now, as many of the added elements that tied it together—puppets, mascots, aerialists, flying drone props, a choir, inside jokes (but was Tela a spy, though?), a LED “Rhombus” centerpiece—seemed to be inspired by past New Year’s gags, red herrings, and amusement at fans’ ceaseless rants about the story’s meaning.
Related: Trey Anastasio Thanks The Real Heroes Of MSGamehendge
Even the stingiest of minutia sticklers would have to concede that 12/31/23, narrated by Trey and beloved actor Annie Golden and brought to life by scores of performers and crew members, is now the definitive Gamehendge performance. With a full, two-hour video of the sequence now available to all, it finally feels like we have something concrete. The days of long, confusing, haphazard explanations of Gamehendge and its lore to visibly uncomfortable friends and family who thought they were asking a simple question are over. Now, you don’t have to smile, shrug, say, “Read the book,” and accept that they think you’re the weird one at Thanksgiving. Now, you can just say, “Watch the video.”
So, you know… watch the video. We hear it contains the ancient secrets of eternal joy and never-ending splendor, so it’s probably worth checking out. [Disclaimer: In accordance with both the teachings of the great and knowledgeable Icculus and the golden rule of movie adaptations, we must advise that you also read the book.]
Click below to view the full credits for the Phish Gamehendge New Year’s production at Madison Square Garden. Scroll down to see the setlist watch the full, pro-shot video.
Phish – Gamehendge [Pro-Shot] – Full Video – 12/31/23
Setlist [via Phish.net]: Phish | Madison Square Garden | New York, NY | 12/31/23
Set One: Everything’s Right, Tube, Ether Edge > Reba, Taste, Ruby Waves, A Life Beyond The Dream, Character Zero
Set Two: Down with Disease, Harpua > The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday > The Lizards > Punch You in the Eye > AC/DC Bag > Tela > Llama > Wilson > The Sloth > Divided Sky
Set Three: McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters > Colonel Forbin’s Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird > Auld Lang Syne > Split Open and Melt, You Enjoy Myself > Loving Cup > Possum
Encore: Cavern > First Tube > Tweezer Reprise
Tube contained teases of the theme to The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Harpua was unfinished. During the Harpua narration, Trey talked about some of the Harpuas and Phish shows at Madison Square Garden of the past 40 years, and a bed appeared from beneath the front of the stage with an actor playing Jimmy and a puppet version of Poster Nutbag. Trey then interrupted the song before the “I want a dog” lyric and said Jimmy had lacked a strong female influence over the years and introduced actress Annie Golden as Jimmy’s grandmother. While consoling Jimmy, she told him it was time to tell the truth about the owner of Harpua. After telling Jimmy that the old man had given the puppet to Esther and helped Jimmy’s cousin Reba make liquid meat, a vinyl record (with a rhombus on the cover) was brought forth and Jimmy’s grandmother said “it’s time… it’s New Year’s Eve and I can’t let you ring another new year without knowing the real story of Gamehendge!” leading into The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday and a glowing rhombus rising to frame the entire stage. The band then began the first performance of the Gamehendge saga since July 8, 1994 (1,194 shows), with Golden and Trey providing the narration and performers acting out the parts of Colonel Forbin, Rutherford, the AC/DC Bag, Tela, Errand Wolfe (later billed in post show credits as “The Wolf”), and the Sloth. The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday, The Lizards, Tela, Wilson, Divided Sky, Colonel Forbin’s Ascent, Fly Famous Mockingbird, and Split Open and Melt featured an off-stage backing chorus. The multi-beast and McGrupp were also performed by puppets. Tela performed acrobatics on wires during her song, with Jo Lampert (as the Wolf) providing additional vocals during Wilson. The Sloth’s lyrics were changed to “I’m squeezing that Charmin. Thank you Mr. Whipple. I’m still squeezing that Charmin. Thank you Mr. Whipple.” Colonel Forbin ascended the rhombus during Colonel Forbin’s Ascent (which had lyrics changed to “weary body”), and a large Famous Mockingbird puppet (with a top hat) flew over the crowd during Fly Famous Mockingbird, which also featured Annie Golden on additional vocals. Before Melt, Trey asked Jimmy’s grandmother if she knew that the mountain was a volcano, and the Lizards reappeared to dance to the ensuing Melt jam, eventually leaving the stage one by one as the rhombus was lowered again.