Show Review - Phish 12/29/24 New York, NY

That's More Like It

Phish returned to MSG last night for their second of four shows and was pretty much a completely different band than we saw on Saturday. All of the elements missing on night one – flow, tight playing, big jams – were present in spades across two memorable sets highlighted by the longest jam the band has ever played at the World’s Most Famous Arena.

The night began with a classic pick of “Sample in a Jar,” the band immediately sounding well-practiced and ready to go. “AC/DC Bag” went out for a bit of a walk next, the 10-minute version featuring some buttery Wurlitzer work from keyboardist Page McConnell underneath guitarist Trey Anastasio’s leads.

Hitting a breezy and rocking peak, the band continued to get comfortable with “The Moma Dance,” spending some extra time in the funky grooves – foreshadowing the unique “YEM” to come later. “Rift” kept the energy high before our first real dose of extended jamming arrived in the form of “Prince Caspian.”

Infusing some reverse delay into his solo, Anastasio pivoted from his upbeat work into a darker mode, McConnell acting as a counterpoint on sparkling piano work. Retaining a sense of “Caspian” proper for a while, Phish hit a pseudo-peak before cooling off into more exploratory territory. With Anastasio’s synth effect and drummer Jon Fishman’s exceptional playing (no signs of Saturday’s rust), things bobbed along through the moody zone as keyboards and guitar threw riffs back and forth.

Sitting in the same realm for a while, Gordon activated a deep synth effect as McConnell hit some Moog tones and then chunky Hammond B3 organ. One of the coolest aspects of this “Caspian” jam is the floaty quality it retains – Fish’s ability to push the jam forward while keeping things calm and laid-back is second to none and blew me away last night.

A cooldown call for “Monsters” was followed with “Runaway Jim,” the concise rocker getting an infusion of tension and weird tones from ahead of its peak.

Making a big call for “You Enjoy Myself,” MSG exploded at the opening notes to the iconic song. The band opted for a different path in the jam that normal, eschewing the typical guitar-forward build jam in favour of once again laying out and hanging out in a groove like it was the late 90s again. Fish tapped out a pattern on his china cymbal as things progressed, each member leaving tons of room and no single musician taking more of a lead role.

This is a must-hear “YEM” just because of its completely unique qualities, and the band skipped a proper charging B&D segment and opted to just melt into the vocal jam, many expecting the set to end there. Instead, after one of the shortest VJs ever, the band perfectly slid into the opening of “Ghost” to raucous cheers from the crowd.

With some exemplary Rhodes work from McConnell, Anastasio led the rest of the band through a series of fiery peaks to close out the phenomenal first set – and anticipation was HIGH for what was to come.

“Bathtub Gin” was a huge call to open the second frame and showed promise of the massive jams we all hoped for, but was ripcorded for “Ruby Waves” after a scant eight minutes. Worries that the band would opt for a jukeboxy set instead of going for big jams quickly faded as we were treated to a whopping 36 minutes – marking the seventh song of 2024 to cross the half-hour mark and quickly cementing itself as one of the year’s best jams.

Things got underway with McConnell and Anastasio linking up on some repeated chordal vamps, the guitarist adding some delay before switching to lead work, building atop the soft bed of Wurlitzer with some confident soloing.

It wasn’t long before the guitarist signalled to head for open waters with a minor-key modulation, transitioning to a hypnotic pattern as Fish pushed the pace forward.

Cooling off, McConnell pivoted to Rhodes as Anastasio continued to develop his motif, the rhythm section charging underneath them to keep every bit of momentum intact. With a warm major-key modulation coming in next, McConnell infused psychedelic Yamaha CS60 synth tones into the mix as Gordon poked in with heavy effects of his own.

Reaching for a sunny peak next, the band continued their confident drive forward as Anastasio hit a few riffs close to “When The Saints Go Marching In” along the way. The energy of the crowd rose along with the band as it was clear Phish was ready to get serious in the second set, cheers and blasts of light from Chris Kuroda accompanying the close to the first part of “Ruby Waves.” Anastasio looped a single sustained note as he blew through the peak, weaving together melody after melody with ease.

Coming down, the band smoothly switched into a quiet zone atop another modulation, rotary tones from Anastasio swirling atop McConnell’s Wurlitzer and Gordon’s effects-heavy bass as the latter suggested a new progression. Almost threatening to let the jam fade away, Fish’s sparse ride cymbal hits buoyed us through the calm space as Anastasio inserted some “Frankie Says” teases.

Phish sometimes struggles to push through an ambient zone like this, usually opting to segue into the next song rather than continuing to explore – but they were on a mission last night and just kept things going, Gordon uncorking a hazy layer of bass texture to add a new element to the jam as McConnell laid into subtle Moog One synth tones.

Anastasio’s playing began to grow more insistent, a move quickly matched by Fish, who soon kicked into a more propulsive beat to bring the jam back together from the spacier mood.

Growly guitar tones informed the next section as it was clearly time to get serious, Gordon’s soup of effects combining with McConnell’s synth for a wild blend.

Once again at Fish’s urging, the speed and intensity picked up as Anastasio and McConnell linked up on a new repeating riff that got wilder and wilder along with the rising energy.

Just as the cacophony reached a fever pitch, Anastasio pulled things out into a new major key zone, an on-a-dime pivot that no other band can really pull off as well. Gordon led the way at first and was joined by soaring synth pads from McConnell, Anastasio hanging back for a while to let the other musicians lead the jam.

Keeping one hand in synth world, McConnell brought in some subtle piano work before returning fully to Moog, its stereo panning effect spreading space-age tones across the arena, holding the audience in rapt attention. At this point, Phish had reached the point in the jam where there’s no longer a worry about a premature segue – ideas developed to the point where all four members are perfectly locked in and ready to let the music decide how long the remainder of the improv would be.

Anastasio began a beautiful melodic section with synths still swirling around him, but that was not to last as McConnell suggested a darker turn with a switch to clav.

Hitting into a choppy funk zone reminiscent of “Meat,” Anastasio’s rhythmic vamping was accentuated by sharp cowbell from Fish and driving bass from Gordon. McConnell’s muted clav stabs were a cool way to keep things grounded after the synth-heavy sections immediately before.

Getting into a zone akin to “Foam” due to Fish’s wild beat, the intensity began to pick up again with stuttered hi-hat work. Beginning to morph into the band-favourite industrial space, McConnell stuck to clav as Anastasio poured delay on his scratchy work. In no hurry, Phish took their time adding layer after layer to the music – the contrast between McConnell’s playing and Anastasio and Gordon’s wild and soupy tones giving the improv a really unique feel.

Crossing the 30-minute mark with no end in sight, the soup got thicker as Fish threw in a few stop/start sections as Gordon added in some riffs that sounded like they could have come from the keyboards rather than a bass.

Emerging from the murk at last, Anastasio went for some heavy rocking riffs that almost sounded like a segue into “Set Your Soul Free” for a bit but stayed in open territory with zome Zeppelin-like work. McConnell switched back to piano as it was clear we were en route to a peak, Fish matching the rise in intensity as Anastasio hit an ascending progression.

McConnell’s work came very close to an “I’m A Man” tease as the rocking peak hit its finish ahead of an abrupt return to “Ruby Waves” as the jam crossed the 35-minute mark – but I was more than willing to forgive the transition after the absolutely monstrous music produced over the previous half hour.

Eclipsing the 12/30/19 “Tweezer” as the longest song played in Phish’s 85 shows at MSG, last night’s “Ruby Waves” will also stand as one of the best jams of 2024 in a year already so saturated with incredible improv. We are INCREDIBLY lucky to get to see a band play like this in year 41 of their existence!

Taking a minute to bask in the accomplishment of a 36-minute jam, the band opted for a beautiful “Waste” as the set’s cooldown before the roof of the Garden was absolutely blown off with a fiery duo of “Fuego” and a blistering “Crosseyed and Painless” to bring the five-song second set to a close.

The second (maybe) nod of the night to deceased former President Jimmy Carter – after “Runaway Jim” – came in the form of the 149-show bustout of Hendrix’s “Bold As Love,” a rare cover that the band destroyed to end off the night.

Walking out of the venue last night, every person was abuzz with sheer joy for what we had just seen – and, true to Phish fans, speculation was already beginning on what the band has in store for tonight’s 12/30 show. Typically a legendary date, the band is poised to burn it down for the last “normal” show of the year and give us another healthy dose of incredible jamming.

36 minutes. Hell yeah.

Webcasts of the remaining two MSG shows are available via LivePhish.com.