Show Review - Phish 12/30/24 New York, NY
It's About The Groove
December 30th Phish is BACK. After an off-night on this date last year, the band returned the date to its legendary status with the best full show of the run so far, playing nearly three and a half hours of music packed with energy, jamming, and an overall incredible vibe.
Also of note, last night was the 30th anniversary of the band’s first performance at MSG on 12/30/94, making it an extra-special occasion as they played their 86th Garden show.
The show kicked off with “Possum,” an always-reliable opener to get things into gear early. Phish followed it up with a deeply funky “Wolfman’s Brother,” bassist Mike Gordon sticking out early in drummer Jon Fishman’s strutting beat.
The first “Lengthwise” since July 9, 2019 acted as its usual intro to “Maze,” keyboardist Page McConnell and guitarist Trey Anastasio each uncorking blazing solos ahead of a typically-soaring “Theme From the Bottom.” It seemed as though we might be in store for a jammed-out version as Anastasio toyed with some staccato riffing on the outro, but things were reined in in favour of a rare mid-set “More.”
A pretty much perfect “Divided Sky” continued the trend of the set – high energy and tight playing without much in the way of adventurous improv. Normally something I wouldn’t necessarily be thrilled about, it didn’t feel as though the show was lacking any elements up to that point, a testament to how well the band was playing.
Blazing through concise takes on “No Men in No Man’s Land” and “Most Events Aren’t Planned,” the first set seemed to be coming to an end – Anastasio even thanked the crowd and said “we’ll be right back” – but quickly changed his mind and called for “Fluffhead,” much to the absolute joy of the crowd.
With an excellent opening frame like that, the band was poised for greatness heading into the second half of the show and delivered on the jams as part of a standout 45-minute segment at the heart of the set.
Beginning with a slinky “Hey Stranger,” the song’s jam potential remained untapped as “Down with Disease” was picked next. Beginning with a couple minutes of strong Type I play led by Anastasio, things downshifted into a minor mode as bassist Mike Gordon activated a cool hollow-sounding synth effect. Anastasio kept up a leadership role atop drummer Jon Fishman’s flowing beat, augmenting his tone with rotary vibrato as the more rocking tones gave way to contemplative ones.
McConnell switched to bouncy Moog One synth work and began to toss ideas back and forth with Anastasio, Gordon meanwhile switching to a new, heavier synth effect. Looping sounds and layers atop the rock-steady drums, the band toyed with a major-key modulation but opted to stick in a minor space, McConnell laying down a thick bed of Fender Rhodes and then chunky Hammond B3 organ chords.
Continuing to get darker, Anastasio dirtied his tone and took to the wah pedal, fading into the background more as McConnell pushed forward with aggressive piano work. Gordon continued his foray into synth world with yet another effect as Anastasio’s riffs came close to the opening of “Rift” ahead of a shift into mellow and upbeat zones.
Anastasio softly strummed chords as McConnell sparkled around him on piano, hitting into a similar laid-back groove mode that we saw in “The Moma Dance” and “You Enjoy Myself” on Saturday night.
Pushing forward back into lead tones, Anastasio and McConnell passed an arpeggiated riff back and forth, possibly telegraphing an incoming peak – but instead Phish stuck to the same tempo and vibe for the final few minutes before fading beautifully into a “Winterqueen” cooldown.
While “Disease” didn’t necessarily hit the improvisational heights of Sunday’s “Ruby Waves,” there were a lot of really unique ideas on display throughout as it followed a path unlike many of the other jams this year.
A huge call for “Tweezer” was met with raucous cheers from the crowd as Phish lit into a soupy funk jam to start, complete with some stop/start bass breaks. Gordon leaned back into synth effects as Anastasio stuck to rhythmic work, patiently waiting for the music to flow in a new direction out of the Type I space.
Picking up energy atop a smooth modulation, Anastasio leaned into heavy rock riffs that came close to “Chalk Dust Torture” as the band quickly moved back to sparse funk, this time with Fish’s stuttering beat and McConnell’s B3 work at the forefront.
Sticking in that zone for a while, the band eventually wound their way back to the “Tweezer” riff for a few minutes of high-energy peaking.
The first “Seven Below” since April 2023 led into a raging “Piper,” giving us a solid fourth-quarter jukebox section with the addition of “2001” and “Everything’s Right” to close the second set.
With two 90-minute sets under their belt, it would have been understandable to give us a quick encore like on Sunday, but the band followed up a nice “A Life Beyond the Dream” with an absolutely flawless “Harry Hood,” complete with “I Have A Little Dreidel” teases from Gordon in honour of the Hanukkah balloon that had landed on stage.
There’s truly nothing like an emphatic “Hood” peak to close out an incredible Phish concert, and Anastasio’s long sustain during the jam had the arena going nuts.
New Year’s Eve has finally arrived and the anticipation for how Phish will close out this banner year is at an all-time high. With three sets in store, we’re finally going to find out what the mysterious extra light panels and face suspended above the stage are for.
Thank you, Phish, for an incredible 2024 – let’s kick off the new year in style! Webcasts are available for tonight via LivePhish.com.