Phish Show Review - 4/23/22 New York, NY
The Perfect Ending
Never miss a Sunday show…even when it’s on a Saturday.
Phish closed their 2022 Earth Day run at Madison Square Garden with yet another incredible show, reaching to all corners of their repertoire and improvisational toolkit.
There are few songs with more of an impact as a show opener than Fluffhead, and the capacity New York crowd ate up every note of this quintessential Phish song as we were treated to our first of many white-light peaks of the night. Moving quickly into a laid-back Mike’s Song, the jam gradually moved out of the song structure into a blissy jam. Mike’s has really returned as a jam vehicle in a unique way since the beginning of 2021, and while we have yet to see a second jam since 8/2/17, these 12-minute versions that have been popping up in first sets over the past year have been a real treat.
Moving through standard versions of I Am Hydrogen and Weekapaug Groove, Trey lazily started up the riff to Simple. While the song had a bit of a laggy feel due to the slow tempo, the jam quickly began to build up steam largely thanks to Fish’s insistent drumming. Page and Trey exhibited more of the incredible interplay we’ve seen all over this weekend as the jam took its time to melt into a funky groove. Dissolving around 13 and a half minutes in, Mike introduced his deep synth-y effect and the band followed in kind, diving directly into a dark and evil groove. As the jam grew darker, Page added synths and a theme not unlike the 8/6/21 Simple developed. Fish threw in some Simple quotes ahead of the first Egg In A Hole since its debut on Halloween.
After a brief return to Simple, a hot Divided Sky lit up MSG with an extended pause; the band took a couple of minutes to bask in the incredible energy of the room. The roof was blown off yet again (but not for the last time) with an incendiary First Tube to close the set.
The second set began with the longest No Men in No Man’s Land played to date, just eclipsing the 10/27/18 version (whether the jam was better still remains to be seen). Moving effortlessly through bliss and darker sections, the band demonstrated that in their 39th year, they are in no way experiencing any sort of fatigue or burnout on the fourth consecutive show of the run.
After an incredible 26 minutes, a great reading of Prince Caspian led to a compact and world-shattering Piper. Playing with the signature Dave’s Energy Guide riff extensively, this 11-minute song seemed much longer before melting into a perfectly-placed Gotta Jibboo. A high energy blast of I Always Wanted It This Way led to the lone cool-down of the show in one of my favourite ballads, Lonely Trip.
Trey then went full flamethrower on the set-closing Walls of the Cave, reaching white-light peak after white-light peak as the crowd roared and MSG bounced around us.
Encoring with an energetic Wilson, a uniquely placed David Bowie, and a high-energy More, Phish put the cap on what will no doubt be remembered as a legendary MSG run.
These four shows were my first time experiencing the magic that is Phish at Madison Square Garden, and they could not have been more perfect. Between the incredible people I got to spend time with every day, the mind-blowing shows we saw, and the perfect collective energy in the room, I had an absolutely perfect four days and I hope each and every person in attendance or watching at home did the same.
Phish is truly a one-of-a-kind band and we are so lucky to have them playing for us.