After a day off on Monday, Phish returned to Madison Square Garden for their fourth of seven nights and one of two midweek shows. Unlike the packed arena over the weekend, last night was relatively undersold and had a curtain covering the upper levels behind the stage.
As is tradition with the band, undersold midweek shows tend to be barnburners as they reward those who don’t skip them. Last night was an above-average affair that continues the consistently amazing streak of the MSG run.
We have seen a number of “Ghost” openers in recent years, many of which have fallen into the always-fun 10–12-minute major-key category. Last night’s was no such version and stretched to 17 minutes. While it still stuck mostly to upbeat and bliss themes, it was a more patient one than normal and featured several incredible peaks led by guitarist Trey Anastasio’s clean melodies.
Anastasio was the star of the ensuing “Reba” as well, executing the composed section with practiced ease and really taking his time during the jam. Keyboardist Page McConnell really worked his Wurlitzer electric piano in the early part as the crescendo felt like one of the best renditions of the song in a while.
A romp through “Funky Bitch” (my first!) lit up the crowd with impassioned solos from McConnell on B3 and Anastasio before Phish lit into “Timber (Jerry).” The closest thing to a reference to the birthday of the late Jerry Garcia last night, we were treated to our second Type II excursion of the night – this one played in a very efficient fashion. It always blows my mind how much ground “Timber” covers in its usual 7-10 minute runtime, and last night ventured into a gorgeous major-key progression that saw Anastasio finally tease “Mountain Jam” after hinting at it frequently throughout summer tour.
The set’s breather was “Broken Into Pieces,” a new Anastasio ballad debuted in June during the TAB Trio run in Denver. While it may have been the low point of an otherwise relentless set, I enjoyed the debut and look forward to seeing how it develops as a part of Phish’s catalogue.
“Wolfman’s Brother,” my personal highlight of the night, wound up being one of the best versions of the modern era – coming second only to 2/26/22. The band quickly laid into the song’s classic funk groove with some serious clavinet from McConnell before Anastasio initiated the expected major-key modulation. Exploring that motif to its fullest ahead of a foray into synth-drenched darkness for a few minutes, the rhythm section of drummer Jon Fishman and bassist Mike Gordon were in perfect lockstep throughout the jam as they flew through some final peaks.
Phish easily could have ended the first set there, but instead threw a curveball with the first “I Am The Walrus” since 10/30/21. The Beatles classic had the crowd going nuts as the quartet nailed the song – but the best part was the distinctly “Phishy” twist on the outro. Anastasio looped layers of screeching guitar in the build as McConnell seemed to hammer every Chilling, Thrilling sample in his arsenal, creating a crazy, buzzing cloud of dissonance to close the first half of the show – and marking the halfway point of the whole run.
When people think of “Sample in a Jar,” it is not often as a big Type II second set-opening vehicle – but it has fallen into that place in recent years along with other songs as Phish jams out different parts of the catalogue. Departing from the last. Note of the song into a bright major-key space, McConnell led the motif on Wurlitzer as lighting designer Chris Kuroda dropped the expansive rig low over the band, painting the arena in cool purple and green colours. A laid-back peak melted away into a brief minute of dissonant ring modulator funk before Anastasio called for “Kill Devil Falls.”
Returning to big jam vehicle status last week in Syracuse, last night continued the trend with an efficient 11-minute version. Led by the drums as with last weekend’s, “KDF” headed straight for bliss territory with strong intent and blew up the energy with a phenomenal peak, melting smoothly into the opening of “Golden Age.” While yet another (relatively) short jam, this one began venturing away from the now-expected and wildly common bliss motif, offering a jaunty funk groove at first that dove into space thanks to Anastasio’s bass synth filter. Interestingly enough, it was McConnell who pulled the band back from deep space and into a major-key finish to the song.
A tender “Shade” offered a breather from the energy before the opening chords to “Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley” had the entire arena going NUTS for the funk. The energy stayed high throughout “Twist” and a well-played “You Enjoy Myself” to close the second set.
Phish defied curfew with a four-song encore, moving from “Wilson” into the first “Sanity” since 8/6/21. “David Bowie” added some improvisational flavour to the final segment of the show, dipping into bliss territory before a somewhat messy and premature return to the ending. The band was clearly having a blast on stage, however, as they uncorked a blazing “Character Zero” to end the show. Luckily, the many fans who hate on this song weren’t in attendance last night – it felt like the entire area was screaming the lyrics and going crazy for the music.
While last night’s show felt a bit inconsistent at times, the energy that has been brought to every second of this MSG run by both the band and the audience is absolutely mind-blowing – with three shows left and STILL so many heavy-hitting songs on the table, I continue to be incredibly grateful to be seeing this band so many times.
My current show rankings of this run (because why not):
7/28
7/30
7/29
8/1