Heat city through n through. That was fun and we’re clearly being treated to an outstanding MSG run.

It’s almost hard to pinpoint certain moments of glory, it was all beautiful. But that may have been the Lucy.

Felt the energy all night long. Great transition into its ice. Then a very solid blaze on taboot.

Setlist porn ensued.

Sick jam —> cavern to start second set. Just highlight after highlight really. Felt like either evil phish or funky phish with some bliss mixed in. Take your pick. Howling during howling, very here for it.

About to run and chalkdust brought the heat, obvi. Then the encore tour continues to deliver. Trey being his pro troll self. Takes his guitar off after Frankenstein then looks at Mike, “one more”. Slaaaaaave….

I’m a little spun on the train right now so I’ll keep it short and sweet. I loved everything about the show tonight. Great jams, great song choice, great vibes. The entire second set was a blast. The Carini jam went deep for 16 mins and went to interesting musical places. CK5 shined extra bright tonight. I was paralyzed by its beauty during Carini. I loved all the howling occurring during The Howling. Loved that the Frankenstein teases during It’s Ice actually led to a Frankenstein encore. You just love to see it.

I’ve listened to 4/5/98 more times than is healthy and I’ve always loved the funky Cavern so much. What a perfect cap to the Island Tour: a traditional closer that you can’t imagine being funky, so very Phish-y.

Never imagined they’d do it again after a one-off from 25 years ago on what’s arguably their best 4-day run of all time. What an absolute gift this band is. You truly never know what they might do.

Your highlights here are gonna be Energy, Blaze On, Cavern, and Carini

PSA: The Well is not a piss break song. Get yourselves together.

But let’s talk.

We’re over here picking nits. Just press play on the damn thing and find happiness.

Ok if we’re looking deep, the shows in the pantheon come screaming paralells. If you take 12/7/97 first set with 12/6/97 we have the best Phish show ever likely, and here if you take Sunday’s first set with tonight’s second set, no one would be talking about “best of” eras. We’d be talking about the best show of the run/year/4.0/3.0/maybe ever

But, what we get here is absolutely no slouch either. This is a setlist that punches from top to bottom and sounds as good as it looks. Tuesday night checks a lot of boxes as far as what we would hope for in songs in a show. Wednesday night is for us folks that have been around and knew they had tricks left up their sleeves. I mean, come on, did you think you’d ever hear a funk Cavern ever again? The relentlessness starts at Possum and doesn’t let up at any point. Guyute and Axilla Part II are your resting points for standard songs/jams in the first set, and About to Run in the late second set. And in a show like that, what more do you want?

Anyways, we have two more nights at MSG left. As I said last night, find your way here and join in the fun. Because this thing we’re experiencing is an organic blast and who really knows when it will happen ever again.

You know how they say "you can't judge a show by it's setlist"? Well, last night's setlist was fire on paper, and you still can't get a grasp of the energy in the building just by looking at the setlist. To say Phish is playing out of their minds right now is an understatement. They came out guns blazing with Possum and the energy didn't come back down until the lights came on at the end of the show. Guyute was a treat, and played phenomenally. Axilla was sheer electricity vibrating off of Trey's guitar right into our ears. That went right into the aptly named Energy, which rode the waves of the highs of the first set, and perfectly served as a moment to reflect on the history which is being made in Madison Square Garden this summer.

Which brings us to one of the absolute highlights of last night and this entire historic run, what other than the Meatstick? Meatstick was a simply put a party with 20,000 friends who were laughing and having a good time, as their favorite band was loving every minute, having fun and playing music for some goofballs. This was one of my all time favorite moments as a Phish fan.

The notes of evil Phish from earlier in the set in Guyute and Axilla were brought to life in It's Ice, and later Carini and The Well, and let me tell you, this is about as good as it gets. He may laugh in full light of my frown, but Phish did not bring me down, as Blaze On brought back the party vibes from Meatstick earlier, and capped off what was one of my favorite sets of all time. I should also note, Blaze On is a song which has only gotten better with time and the band's willingness to embrace its jam, this was maybe the best Blaze On that I've seen yet.

Phish came out with a slowed down, funked up version of Cavern which something I didn't yet know I needed. To those who haven't heard funky Cavern yet, it's something which in my opinion works way better than it's Llama and Maze counterparts, very fun, I highly recommend giving it a listen. Carini> Piper> The Well, as previously mentioned, was the reemergence of evil Phish from the first set, which brought alongside it melt your face rock and electric jams. The Howling brought the energy back to party time, with 20,000 goofballs howling at night in Manhattan, and Taste encapsulated the moment in an uplifting jam where Trey was really just showing off that he's still the best guitar player in the world. About to Run rocked the house, and Chalkdust Torture really didn't ever have to end, it was that good...

There were rumblings of Frankenstein being teased in the first set during It's Ice, as the crowd had a moment to rest during intermission. Well, as this band never ceases to amaze, they came back out and Page bolstered his pearl white keytar, meaning only that the band was about to play the legendary Frankenstein by The Edgar Winter Group. If Meatstick shocked my brain, then Frankenstein ripped it out of my head and made it explode all over the arena; and I'm sure I'm not the only one judging from the faces leaving MSG and the fact that no one's heard Frankenstein in 120 shows, or since the pre-covid era. Nothing short of a masterpiece. They could have left it right there if they wanted and everyone in the building would have been more than elated. Trey even motioned to remove his guitar and bow before walking off, but then they turned to each other and said fuck it, lets do one more, and gave us a Slave just for the hell of it, something I doubt anyone could ever complain about.

This is about as good as it'll ever get people. This is how to Phish. 5/5

Ate some enigmas tonight so some things may not exactly match up as I haven't relistened yet as im still on the 164 back to Jersey, just going off of sheer memory

So far this run, in terms of what I look for in a show, tonight was it. I know everybody is different, it's the great thing qbout improvisational music. There's no "best", only personal favorites.

With that said, I like my phish to be either dark or funky. Tonight was that perfect blend. Set 1 was full of funky shit that would let the darkness pop in here and there while keeping it to a dance party your parents (or grandparents) could find a groove to.

Set 2 was space funk hell that sent my brain to the darkest pits with a groove to dance the whole way down. All types of scents were filling the air of the garden tonight, and as long as you get down safely, I'm about it (just dont be nodding or tweaking into others peoples spaces lmfao). That's a sign the music's in the right direction in my preference lmfao. Blistering dark metal jams, jazzy space grooves that seemed on par with 2001 to the point I really thought we were going to get the reprise from the unfinished 2001 from Saturday, a carini that didn't go too hard on a bliss jam!

My first Frankenstein on top of that? Fucking A. I picked a hell of a night to eat my enigmas???? can't wait to see all of you again on Friday, rest up everybody!

On August 2nd, 2023 I was still in New York City.

I had been in the Big Apple for nigh on a week, seeing Phish and homeless people and Broadway and friends and the High Line and lines to get high* and so much more that by this last full day in the city I had pretty much seen it all.

Or so I thought.

Now, was this the day that m’lady and I walked the length of the wonderfully restored, revamped, and repurposed elevated train track called the High Line? No matter, the High Line is awesome and makes me almost want to live in New York City. The raised walkway rife with gardens is exactly what I dream will be the future of concrete jungles worldwide, and it made for a spectacular hour-long stroll. I was insanely jealous of the new and obviously wonderful condos that backed onto the High Line at every turn. Oh, how I swooned.

However, it was only after we had descended back down to terra-very-firma and walked our way through Greenwich Village that I had finally seen all there was to see in NYC, when I stopped to tie my shoe and found myself unknowingly leaning against Electric Ladyland Studios.

Gasp.

I was inadvertently tying my shoe on the threshold of the studio that Jimi had built. Hendrix had no doubt leaned against the very same doorjamb to tie his lizard skin cowboy boots. Gasp. The rest of the day is a smear of insignificance.

Well okay, I guess I can still pick out a few details of the Phish concert that is the ostensive target of this paragraph-dump. This was my fifth and final show of Phish’s seven-night no-repeat residency at Madison Square Garden, and if that sounds unlikely it ‘tweren’t nothin’ compared to their 2017 Bakers Dozen MSG run (when they played thirteen full shows without repeating a song) of which I also attended five. Anywho, we had been seated in wholly different sections every night for this run, and for this one we were in a suite of sorts called the Madison Club.

I had been in the Madison Club once before (during that Baker’s Dozen run) and I really, really dig it. First of all it’s behind the stage, which is generally quite awesome (okay, not if you’re only going to see Phish once or twice in your lifetime, but if you go see them, oh I don’t know, maybe 137 times or more then occasionally sitting behind the stage is quite awesome). Not only do you get a birds-eye view of Fishman (which sometimes makes me feel like a hungry eagle), you also get to see the band’s view of Kuroda’s light show, which is always stellar. CK5 is the only light guy in the business who puts as much effort into lighting up the crowd as he does lighting up the stage and sitting behind the band is the best way to appreciate that effort.

Secondly (and thirdly, fourthly, fifthly, etceterally), the Madison Club is a large, private viewing area with it’s own bar and bathrooms (complete with bathroom attendants turning on the tap for you and handing you towels) and several rows of large, comfortable seats, all of them with spacious desk space (yes, I said “desk space”), which is perfect for drinks and more. Especially more. It’s very, very social up there, and like I say, I dig it.

The Madison Club is clearly the press box when Madison Square Garden is hosting one of the many sporting events that regularly go on in the iconic building (like the Knicks and the Rangers, and then there was the Ali/Frazier Fight of the Century in 1971). I am confident that many lines have been produced on those tables.

In short, it felt like we were watching Phish from a business class airport lounge, and both the seats and the show were fantastic. Possum opener, Chalkdust closer, and nothing but stand-up-and-rage-this-is-Phish-at-MSG in between. And all of it in comfy quarters with great company besides. What could be finer**?

Amazingly, in this world of no tickets, I inadvertently ended up with a wristband from each night of the five-night run. Two were from the Chase Lounge bar, which we visited before a few of the shows, one was from when we were sitting way up in the SkyBridge, there’s one from the GA floor tickets and one from this night in the Madison Club. They ain’t no ticket stubs but they are ever-so-slightly better than nuthin’.

The following day we flew home to our rocky island in the north Atlantic Ocean, which isn’t quite as far from New York City as you can get but it sure feels like it sometimes.

*Marijuana had recently been legalized in New York City and while only two establishments in the entire city (I believe it was) were legally allowed to sell the stuff every single shop, store, restaurant, and lollipop stand (I believe it was) I saw was, in fact, selling the stuff, and most of them utilized totally random, haggling olde-school back-alley sketchball dealer pricing models too (or so I was informed, again and again.)

**Okay, sticking around for the last two nights would have been finer, but do you have any idea what it costs to stay in a New York City hotel for a week? And wow, the weed prices!

https://toddmanout.com/

I attended my first Phish show on August 2nd, 1998 at Deer Creek. So, 25 years later to the day, I set foot in MSG to celebrate a special anniversary. I just didn't know how special it would be. To be honest, I was hoping to hear Roggae because that song opened my first concert 25 years ago. That didn't happen, but what took its place was so much better than I would have ever guessed. To open the 2nd set, they busted out the first funky Cavern since the Island Tour 25 years prior. This was my anniversary surprise, and it couldn't have been more perfect.

This show was special in another way because I wore my YEMSG t-shirt to last night's show in the hope of getting a YEM, and they played it. Then, my show buddy decided to wear his Guyute t-shirt to this show to see if the luck would carry over, and they played it too. I wish that we could keep that talent forever, but it will just be one of those things where he and I say, "Remember that time at MSG when..."

As for the show highlights- sick, rocking trifecta to open the show. Amazing segue from Meatstick into It's Ice.

Set 2- Funky Cavern and the slightly carried-over funk in the ensuing Carini. Super loud MSG crowd Howling, and the pleasant surprise of a second set Taste.

Encore- An always welcomed cover in Frankenstein, and then Mike took off his bass thinking they were done, only to look over at Trey to hear, "Let's do one more." Classic.

Gnarly anniversary show for me. Stay rad, Phish.

MEATSTICK— ICE’d! What a great night. This was one of my favorite of the run, just a grooving show. The band was so loose and free coming out of the Energy jam, they took the Garden by storm once again..I haven’t grooved and had so much fun with a Meatstick jam since the new millennium rang in, and Page ruled the icy keys bringing everybody to the funk zone. Carini is just a song this band loves and I love it too; they can play it all they want when it’s this level of HEAT! Caught my first Well and loved finding Howling at the bottom of it deep in the murky depths. A crisp Taste was all I wanted for free…what a lovely evening to remember. Traffic lights set us free!

I attended my first Phish show on August 2nd, 1998 at Deer Creek. So, 25 years later to the day, I set foot in MSG to celebrate a special anniversary. I just didn't know how special it would be. To be honest, I was hoping to hear Roggae because that song opened my first concert 25 years ago. That didn't happen, but what took its place was so much better than I would have ever guessed. To open the 2nd set, they busted out the first funky Cavern since the Island Tour 25 years prior. This was my anniversary surprise, and it couldn't have been more perfect.

This show was special in another way because I wore my YEMSG t-shirt to last night's show in the hope of getting a YEM, and they played it. Then, my show buddy decided to wear his Guyute t-shirt to this show to see if the luck would carry over, and they played it. I wish that we could keep that talent forever, but it will just be one of those things where he and I say, "Remember that time at MSG when..."

As for the show highlights- sick, rocking trifecta to open the show. Amazing segue from Meatstick into It's Ice.

Set 2- Funky Cavern and the slightly carried-over funk in the ensuing Carini. Super loud MSG Howling, and the pleasant surprise of a second set Taste.

Encore- An always welcomed cover in Frankenstein, and then Mike took off his bass thinking they were done, only to look over at Trey to hear, "Let's do one more." Classic.

Gnarly anniversary show for me. Stay rad, Phish.

MEATSTICK— ICE’d! What a great night. This was one of my favorite of the run, just a grooving show. The band was so loose and free coming out of the Energy jam, they took the Garden by storm once again..I haven’t grooved and had so much fun with a Meatstick jam since the new millennium rang in, and Page ruled the icy keys bringing everybody to the funk zone. Carini is just a song this band loves and I love it too; they can play it all they want when it’s this level of HEAT! Caught my first Well and loved finding Howling at the bottom of it deep in the murky depths. A crisp Taste was all I wanted for free…what a lovely evening to remember. Traffic lights set us free!

Possum: Nice, energetic Possum to open up this show. I particularly enjoyed Page’s solo. This is one song that they just can’t turn into a bliss jam and that is appreciated.

Guyute: Overall a clean version. Only two different slight flubs from Trey. Trey also sings the “I hope this happens once again” in that high pitched, annoying vocal register. All that said, this set is off to a good start.

Axilla (Part II) - The actual composed part of the song goes along as you would expect. Since the bust out at Shoreline in 2021, *most versions* are in the 5 and 6 minute range. This one has like 4 minutes of space that gets slightly dark and kind of evil. This segues nicely into… >

Energy: Trey really struggles with the first solo starting at 1:38. The struggles continue up until about 3:15 or so. There are spots where he kind of just stops playing and the rest of the band doesn’t sound that great either. However, around 4:45 this jam has a nice, dark undertones to it. By 5:30, this actually sounds kind of like an Undermind jam. This doesn’t’ last too long though, probably 30 seconds. From the 7 to 8 minute range Trey is going for that call and response type jamming with Page. By 10:40 Trey is crushing this and trilling like crazy and into a really cool peak. For the last 90 seconds or so they turn it into a fun funk jam and then that segues beautifully into… ->

Meatstick: Really cool jam the in the last two minutes and then the last 15-20 seconds or so you can hear Trey working distinctly towards a segue into… ->

It's Ice: Nice segue out of Meatstick! Sloppy mid-section from Trey and Page. Oof! At about 7:15 there is a Frankenstein tease. >

Blaze On: Has a few Meatstick teases here and there. Early in this jam it is effects driven and then fairly quickly transitions into an upbeat, cookie cutter bliss jam with many peaks. Solid way to end the set.

SET 2:

Cavern: To my ears, you really can’t hear what this is until about 1:45 when you hear a snippet of Cavern. From here is should be fairly obvious what is about to happen. Look, I really do appreciate that they are trying something different and trying something new. I am sure I would have been getting down to this hard at the show. But let’s be fair and let’s be honest about this – don’t compare this to the Island tour Cavern – it’s not anywhere near as awesome. They slam the ending of this hard into Carini – it’s a bit jarring. >

Carini: At around 9:10 or 9:15 or so once again I am hearing that Gloria in excelsis Deo tease. I heard it in Light and then a few other tunes so far this tour. This seems to get repeated a number of times and sort of is a theme that Trey latches on to and by 12:45 he is incorporating this into a peak. In the late 13’s there are some really pretty descending lines and then lo and behold about 20 or 30 seconds later this is getting pretty dark! It basically melts into Piper from there >

Piper: Like Philly, absolutely no intro – just right into the lyrics and this is the shortest since 2.24.22. Trey soliciting woos at about 5:35 – bogus. >

The Well: Doesn’t do much. >

The Howling: Such a lazy tune. >

Taste: Really bland. Trey doesn’t attempt to solo at all. Kind of like the framework of a summer 96 Taste almost. The ending is mangled by Trey. They need to practice this or shelve it. >

About to Run: Oof, needed much more in this slot.

Chalk Dust Torture: Pretty good jam but too little, too late. Bad set.

ENCORE:

Frankenstein: Keytar.

Slave to the Traffic Light: No patience, rushed through it. Stop disrespecting this song. Play it right or just play something like Loving Cup here.

Summary: Fun first set with two great segues and that Energy I would definitely recommend. That second set is – not good. Carini was though. But that is about it for me. I would rate this as a 3.7/5

Replay Value: Energy, Cavern, Carini