Phish MSG Night 3: Classic Compositions, Fake-Out Finishes, & More [Photos/Videos]

With two shows down and a three-set New Year’s Eve spectacle looming on Tuesday, Phish returned to Madison Square Garden on Monday night for the band’s final “regular” show of the year. While somewhat overshadowed by Sunday’s gem of a show (never miss those, I hear), this rare Monday Phish concert still delivered its fair share of memorable moments, satisfying surprises, and classic compositions (“Divided Sky”, “Maze”, “Fluffhead”, “Harry Hood”, etc.) to go along with a number of brooding, adrenaline-spiking jams.

The night got underway with a pair of time-tested first-set tunes, “Possum” and “Wolfman’s Brother”, the latter of which settled quickly into a particularly sticky funk groove powered by Mike Gordon on bass and Page McConnell on keys. Jon Fishman assumed the spotlight next for his brief Rift lullaby, “Lengthwise,” but the sweet dreams soon went diagonal as ominous echoes and the anxious intro drums of “Maze” oozed in underneath his singing. The rest of the band faithfully followed him into the labyrinth for a customarily explosive rendition.

A strong but mostly straightforward “Theme From The Bottom” and a quick dose of love and light via “More” gave way to one of the first set’s most moving numbers, an immaculately rendered “Divided Sky”. This song has wielded breathtaking regality on Phish stages for decades, and this version was certainly no exception—from its emotive dynamics to the glowing catharsis of Trey Anastasio‘s angelic sustain. On this night, however, the most memorable moment of the song was a moment featuring no notes at all: during the customary “pause,” when Anastasio typically stands silently in the spotlight and soaks in the crowd’s palpable adoration, the guitarist took a subtle but meaningful step to his left, obscuring himself in the shadows and leaving only his empty post illuminated as the cheers grew increasingly deafening. I don’t know if that gesture was Trey’s way of redirecting an arena’s worth of praise to the audience for the energy it brings to the Phish experience night after night, but it sure sounded like the Garden took it that way. Powerful stuff.

“No Men In No Man’s Land” barreled in next, building to another dense, punchy, “holy moly” peak thanks to an incredible-to-watch Fishman (the night’s MVP, without a doubt). Perhaps the most surprising song selection of the frame came next via Vida Blue crossover “Most Events Aren’t Planned”—a song that was first introduced to the Phish repertoire in this very room back on the final night of 2017’s 13-show Baker’s Dozen residency. Not unlike night one‘s “I Always Wanted It This Way”, a track that has always carried hints of Page’s Vida Blue sound, this “Most Events Aren’t Planned” wove in a string of effects, tonal intricacies, and technical rock riffing as it exploded to an enormous finish adorned by technicolor strings of squirming color from above. The intro also featured a telling “Tweezer” tease from Trey (more on that later).

The cacophonous, strobing ending of the song had all the hallmarks of a set-closer—a notion corroborated by Anastasio himself as he gave the crowd a “thank you, we’ll be right back” over its final notes. But rather than sticking to his word and taking a bow, the grinning guitarist instead launched into an emphatic take on complex early-days staple “Fluffhead” to (actually) bring the show to its intermission.

Gloomy Evolve vamp “Hey Stranger” set the tone for set two, leading the band into a blue-lit back alley where it diagnosed a deadly “Down With Disease”. This 20-minute take spent much of its runtime lurking in those same shadowy spaces as bulbous, droning bass and ever-active drums called the plays. After briefly pooling into some amorphous serenity, the band queued up Fuego‘s “Winterqueen” for its first outing of 2024.

The “Tweezer” Trey had planned during set one’s “Most Events” came next, kicking off the most compelling segment of the set. The time in the freezer itself was thrilling—after an athletic stretch of improvisation under whisps of spinning LEDs, the band slid from the driving rock that defined night three back into the slinky, sexy sound of Sunday’s session. When Trey reintroduced the “Tweezer” riff, it seemed the band was headed for an exit. Instead, the guitarist seemed to change his mind, hit the gas, and lead the charge into yet another round of distorted tension and glorious release (i.e. “f— it, we’re already here, lets go in”).

An increasingly rare “Seven Below” provided a brief breather, some light-footed variation, and more of the greens, blues, and purples that defined the show’s visual mood before another staple jam vehicle, “Piper”, picked up where “Tweezer” left with more smoldering interplay and a quintessential white-light peak, then oozed into a “2001” dance party. With time running down, “Everything’s Right” finally brought the set to its conclusion.

For the encore, band returned with a heartfelt reading of “A Life Beyond The Dream” before queueing up one last song, and we all knew which one it would be: ~~“Tweezer Reprise”~~ …”Harry Hood”? Deciding to forego the customary “Tweeprise” conclusion to a “Tweezer”-highlighted show, Phish opted for different classic—though one just as consistently satisfying as a show-closer. Gordon got into the holiday spirit here, hanging a dreidel toy from his mic stand and teasing “I Have a Little Dreidel” breifly during the tune, but it was Trey who seemed particularly lost in the moment as this “Hood” rose to its patented glorious conclusion, whipping his hair back and forth with abandon as he held that one magical note like only he can.

Phish – “Harry Hood” [Pro-Shot] – 12/30/24

New Year’s Eve at Madison Square Garden awaits, Phish fans. See you there for three sets and some scheduled shenanigans.

Below, view the full Phish MSG 12/30/24 setlist and a selection of crowd-shot videos from the show via YouTube user Blanks&Postage.

Fans can watch tonight’s 2024 Phish New Year’s Eve show from home via LivePhish. Order your Phish MSG webcast here. [Editor’s Note: Live For Live Music is a LivePhish affiliate. Ordering your webcast or purchasing an audio download via the links on this page helps support our coverage of Phish and the world of live music as a whole. Thank you for reading!]

Setlist [phish.net]: Phish | Madison Square Garden | New York, NY | 12/31/24
Set One: Possum, Wolfman’s Brother, Lengthwise -> Maze, Theme From the Bottom, More, Divided Sky, No Men In No Man’s Land, Most Events Aren’t Planned > Fluffhead
Set Two: Hey Stranger > Down with Disease > Winterqueen, Tweezer -> Seven Below > Piper > Also Sprach Zarathustra, Everything’s Right
Encore: A Life Beyond The Dream, Harry Hood
Notes: Lengthwise was performed for the first time since July 9, 2019 (194 shows). At the end of Most Events Aren’t Planned, Trey said “Thanks everybody, we’ll be right back,” then started Fluffhead instead of ending the set. Down with Disease was unfinished. During Harry Hood, Mike had an inflatable dreidel from the crowd on stage next to him and teased I Have a Little Dreidel.