Phish will finally play a four-night stand at Madison Square Garden in New York City on April 20 – 23 that was originally scheduled for December 29 – January 1. The concerts were postponed due to a surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the Omicron variant. Livestreams of all four shows are available for purchase through LivePhish.com with audio available for LivePhish+ subscribers shortly after the band leaves the stage.
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Phish has a long history of performing at MSG dating back to their debut at the “World’s Greatest Arena” on December 30, 1994. The show was the first of 46 Phish New Year’s Run concerts held at the venue. Official soundboard audio featuring all past Phish Madison Square Garden performances dating back to December 31, 2002 are available to stream with LivePhish+ as are the band’s legendary New Year’s Eve 1995 concert and otherworldly December 29 and 30, 1997 gigs.
In addition to these shows, LivePhish+ subscribers can stream official soundboard audio of every Phish concert since December 31, 2002, exclusive releases from the Phish archives, and a large collection of pristine audio featuring shows from the Trey Anastasio Band, Mike Gordon, Oysterhead and additional band member projects. Plus, subscribers can also enjoy on-demand and ad-free streaming of select concert videos, can download shows for offline streaming, and can create playlists and share them with friends.
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When Phish announced the unprecedented decision to postpone the run the band revealed the show on April 22 will replace New Year’s Eve and as such will be a three-set concert. On-stage antics, or “gags” in Phish fan parlance, have been a tradition for the quartet dating back to 1992.
To get ready for next week’s run and the likelihood of the Phish gag tradition continuing on April 22, JamBase teamed with LivePhish+ to look back at the last five New Year’s Eve gags with pro-shot video incorporating footage from the livestreams and official soundboard audio. Let’s dig in:
Phish began the third set of their ninth New Year’s Eve concert at Madison Square Garden by taking a stage set up in the middle of the floor underneath a screen shaped like a funnel that hung from the ceiling. The band lit into the recently debuted original “No Men In No Man’s Land.” White sheets began to fall as Phish broke through the normal “NMINML” progression. “Lighting director Chris Kuroda illuminated the second stage with gorgeous visuals as Phish continued jamming deeper into ambient territory,” wrote JamBase’s Andy Kahn in a recap. “The resulting effect was similar to one of the band’s famed ‘secret’ improvised festival sets like the IT Tower Jam or this summer’s Drive-In Set at Magnaball.
“A cacophony of light, sound and haze filled the back of the arena as the final seconds of 2015 were counted down and the familiar notes of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ rang out with the band having made their way undercover back to the main stage,” added Kahn. The resulting “No Men In No Man’s Land” still stands among the best versions of the songs and the best jam-filled start to a year for Phish.
Complex composition “Petrichor” was used as the basis for a Broadway-like production that started Phish’s third set on December 31, 2016. The band was joined by dancers and auxiliary musicians to pull off a memorable end to 2016 and start of 2017. Dancers pulled off impressive choreography as they juggled umbrellas while “rain fell” all around them in the form of pellets simulating a storm in keeping with “Petrichor’s” theme. Eventually, umbrellas lit in different colors rose and fell from the venue’s roof to the stage as the song hit its climax.
Guitarist Trey Anastasio began the countdown as midnight approached and thousands of balloons, including ones shaped like cats and dogs came raining down throughout the venue while Phish played “Auld Lang Syne.” The extra musicians other than keyboardist Jeff Tanski — Hamilton percussionist Andres Forero and the Trey Anastasio Band horn section of James Casey, Natalie Cressman and Jennifer Hartswick — contributed to the rest of the third set and the evening’s “Loving Cup” encore.
Phish offered their debut performance of “Soul Planet” on a stage designed to replicate a huge pirate ship to launch their third set on December 31, 2017. The outrageous pirate ship stage incorporated a Phish “Jolly Roger” flag, confetti cannons and massive sails blown by fans. As if the pirate ship stage wasn’t a wild enough visual, the band distributed bracelets to audience members which lit up in different colors depending on where the fans were oriented within the venue.
The quartet continued to perform on the pirate ship stage following “Soul Planet” and the traditional “Auld Lang Syne” to start 2018. Each song over the remainder of the set played into the nautical theme, including “Free,” “The Moma Dance” and “Wading In The Velvet Sea.”
Phish went with a space theme for their New Year’s Eve concert at MSG on December 31, 2018. Guitarist Trey Anastasio and bassist Mike Gordon donned metallic space suits for the third set on New Year’s Eve 2018 and utilized wireless gear similar to what they used the previous Halloween for Phish’s Kasvot Växt set. The quartet opened with “Mercury” as acrobatic dancers took the stage and wild moves while lifted up and down in “nets” referencing the song’s “but the net’s unbreakable, don’t worry about falling” lyrics. All the while, confetti flew, smoke poured out of machines and extra lights were added to the production.
JamBase’s Andy Kahn described what followed “Mercury” in his recap. “A computerized voice announced 30 seconds until midnight and then led a countdown to the traditional playing of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ as the calendar turned to 2019 and metallic balloons and streamers blanketed The Garden,” explained Kahn. “Trey and Mike were then attached to harnesses before the band launched into the Kasvot Växt anthem ‘Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.’ When they hit the ‘This is what space smells like (dangling in thin air)’ chorus the pair was lifted into the air, appearing to float over the stage. They landed back on stage for the conclusion of the song, taking advantage of being wireless by roaming around and playing to the crowd positioned behind them.
The most recent Phish New Year’s Eve performance took place at The Garden on December 31, 2019. All four members of the band emerged to an empty stage to start the third set with an a capella rendition of Stephen Sondheim’s “Send In The Clowns” sung as “Send In The Clones.” Trey was dressed in green, Mike was dressed in yellow, drummer Jon Fishman was dressed in red and keyboardist wore blue. Just when Phish finished “Send In The Clones,” a series of four moving platforms were revealed hanging above the stage. The platforms, each with the band members’ rigs, lowered to the stage at which point Trey, Mike, Fish and Page climbed aboard and lit into “First Tube.”
Dozens of dancers dressed as clones of the Phish members emerged to pull off choreographed maneuvers and add backing vocals while Phish performed on the moving platforms. The clones stuck around for the rest of the concert however there an issue presented itself shortly after the traditional “Auld Lang Syne” rang in 2020 when Anastasio’s platform became stuck in a precarious position. Trey decided to play from the perch and was eventually saved by crew members at the end of the evening. Anastasio embraced the situation and played and sung an impromptu tune called “Rescue Squad” in thanks to those who came to his aid.
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