Show Review - Phish 12/29/23 New York, NY

After a successful first night, Phish returned to Madison Square Garden last night for night two of four to close out 2023. While the first set was more song-focused, the band delivered one of the best sets of the year in the latter half of the show, including some truly awe-inspiring improv.

The night began with a classic first-set pairing of “Free” and “The Moma Dance,” neither of which did anything out of the ordinary but were fun nonetheless. “Maze” saw exemplary solos from keyboardist Page McConnell on organ and guitarist Trey Anastasio. 2023 has been a huge resurgence for the band’s Type I playing and that was on full display during this track.

“Evolve,” easily one of the best new Anastasio songs of the last few years, came next with some more upbeat grooves before a relatively contained “Stash” let the band stretch their legs into some more extended jamming. “Back on the Train” led to a soaring “Theme From the Bottom” and a cooldown with a gorgeous “Mountains in the Mist.”

“46 Days” got a short rip before the lengthy first set closed with “Drift While You’re Sleeping.” While definitely not a fan favourite, it’s hard to deny the joy of the ending section, and the packed Garden raged it properly – plus, now we are guaranteed to not see this pop up in a second set later in the run ;)

Coming back from setbreak, Phish took the stage with intention and dove headfirst into “Chalk Dust Torture.” You can always tell when this song is about to go deep because Anastasio rushes some parts of the song in his eagerness to get to the jam, and it was apparent from the jump last night that he couldn’t wait to open the song up.

We had barely reached the five-minute mark when the second jam began in earnest with a driving groove courtesy of drummer Jon Fishman and some “Plasma”-esque rhythm work from Anastasio. McConnell sparkled on Rhodes and the music quickly found intention in a darker tone.

Anastasio toyed with various octave-up effects as McConnell unleashed sinister waves of Yamaha CS60 and Prophet Rev2 synthesizers – but the real star of this initial dark section was bassist Mike Gordon, who utilized a deep space-bomb effect to beef up the low end even more.

Anastasio’s soloing took on a dissonant quality as the band swirled around Fish’s insanely fluid drumming before cooling into a propulsive major-key space with ease. McConnell suggested a descending lick to Anastasio and the guitarist ran with the motif (really cool interplay around 9:10), crafting an airy theme as the keyboardist returned to CS60, this time with less sinister intent. Gordon also jumped on board with Anastasio’s riffs through a section with truly breathtaking full-band jamming.

The intensity continued to grow with rapid-fire guitar riffs as we headed for the first peak section of the jam, Anastasio alternating between longer melodic phrases and staccato stabs as the build continued. Reaching the apex, the band dropped into a tom-heavy groove as Anastasio went into full loop-delay mode, beginning to layer textures back down over the rest of the band’s insistent groove.

McConnell began to creep back in on synthesizer, subtly adding more layers underneath the guitar while Gordon pushed on with melodic riff after melodic riff. Suddenly, we were back in a pseudo-peak mode – dipping into some brief evil tones, Anastasio egged some woos from the crowd as Fish CRASHED through his kit insistently. This riffing was in an upbeat mode and could have ended the jam, but much like 12/28’s “Wave of Hope,” Fish was the one to make a new pivot and continue breathing new life into the jam.

Howling sounds and textures smashed in as McConnell bent waves of Moog One synthesizer downward, getting nasty and spooky as lighting director Chris Kuroda shot beams of light across the arena. The sinister tone continued through another brief stop/start segment before Fish pivoted into a driving rock beat. Coming up from the layers of synth, Anastasio began a confident solo, working a repeated tease of the Grateful Dead’s “Let It Grow” into his phrases. Dipping into some sustain, McConnell led a quick segment with some Wurlitzer chording before the guitarist burst back into the forefront in the minor key.

Anastasio and Fish became so locked in as the energy began to ramp up yet again with ring modulator and a dip back down into the darkness. Weird computer noises abounded as every band member attacked their effects with gusto, compounding sounds upon sounds in a beautiful cacophony of madness. I could do nothing but watch and giggle like an insane person at the amazing segment of jamming.

The music gradually slowed down to a languid pace before Anastasio slid nicely into the opening of “Oblivion,” a perfect call for the second song of the set. Definitely the breakout jamming star of the year (in terms of the new songs), this catchy funk tune was primed for liftoff from moment one, especially after the mad excellence of the “Chalk Dust.”

The jam began in upbeat funk mode with great Moog textures from Page before a shift at the 8-minute mark went full bouncy major-key. Fish’s groove went heavy on cowbell as his octopus-like drumming made it sound like he had an auxiliary percussionist playing with him. Anastasio’s continued loops added great background layers to the upbeat jam as it reached a beautifully strong peak. Fish dropped back into the song proper to end it off in a way that made me think they were going to segue into “Sand” – but that would come later.

A beautifully expressive “What’s The Use?” acted as the set’s cooldown song, including a full pause in the middle ahead of the gorgeous song’s final explosive build.

“My Friend, My Friend” has emerged as a jam vehicle recently and gave us some swampy awesomeness late in the set, 10 minutes of pure sludge and mean jamming, even returning to a “Free”-like funk groove with awesome envelope filter bass from Gordon. It cleanly segued into the “Sand” that had been hinted at earlier in the show. The set was all gravy at this point and we got another amazing bliss jam and peak – Anastasio was on FIRE through this jam and the ensuing “About to Run.”

The second lengthy set of the night concluded with an absolutely incredible “Harry Hood” – the kind of “Hood” that has been largely absent for much of the modern era. Many versions have rushed to the peak or lacked a certain level of patience older versions had, and last night Phish took their time on the gorgeous jam, ending off the show proper in one of the best ways they could.

Continuing the trend from Thursday, the encore began with a ballad – this time, the tender “Lonely Trip.” We swayed to the beautiful lyrics and I was expecting a “Character Zero” or “First Tube” – but Anastasio had other ideas and clubbed us over the head with a baseball bat as he tore into “Carini.”

Probably the biggest crowd reaction and energy boost of the night came within this short, fiery version, which hit at an amazing tempo and got into some nice sludgy jamming as the night wrapped up. Hell of an encore pick!

Tonight is December 30^th – and we all know what that means. It’s the holiest day of the Phish calendar and the show is bound to be a serious heater based on past 12/30 trends. Let’s get back to the Garden for two more nights of the best band in the world!