For Phish and its droves of devotees, the band’s annual stretch of four December nights at Madison Square Garden is akin to coming home for the holidays. Sure, the Burlington-born band may be known as “the Phish from Vermont,” but Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, Jon Fishman, and Page McConnell have spent years making a case for the New York arena as their home court. Even with seven 2023 MSG Phish shows already in the rearview thanks to this summer’s Faker’s Dozen no-rules residency, Thursday’s performance—which marked Phish’s 80th career gig at the “World’s Most Famous Arena” as well as the beginning of the end of the band’s milestone 40th year—carried its customary weight of excitement and anticipation.
The first night of New Year’s run, typically the band’s first show in several months, often winds up drifting to the bottom of the pile when the week’s festivities are over. On Thursday, however, Phish showed no signs of opening-night rust, setting a high bar for the run with an energetic—and, at times, brilliant—entry in the decades-old 12/28 MSG ledger.
[Photo via Trey Anastasio Instagram – Trey backstage at MSG, 12/28/23]
Set one got started with a string of compact but impactful rockers as an insta-hot “No Men In No Man’s Land” led into a probing “Halley’s Comet”, a nimble “Sample In A Jar”, and a piano-propelled “Runaway Jim”. After a momentary “Bouncing Around The Room” detente, Phish hit the gas once again for an unhinged “Axilla Part 2” that toiled over its closing drone while Chris Kuroda and Andrew Giffin shined their colossal rig in thousands of stunned faces—(man)—followed by a “Funky Bitch” that detonated with novel heat thanks to sequential synth sorcery from the Chairman of the Boards.
Expansive delay effects continued to elevate the band’s tension-and-release explorations on the standout “Bathtub Gin” > “Ghost” that closed set one. “Gin” caught its first wave via a jazzy, syncopated Fishman beat and percolated in an undertow of wobbling synths before an anthemic Trey lead towed the 17-minute jam ashore. “Ghost” quickly found enlightenment and ascended to the heavens, the strobes of white from the lights above matching the wide-eyed wonder of its euphoric climax. Top-notch Phish.
Phish – “Bathtub Gin” [Pro-Shot] – 12/28/23
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The ever-expanding nature of the Phish’s repertoire has played no small role in the band’s ability to draw tens of thousands of fans MSG 80 times and counting. The second set’s opening song, apocalyptic vamp “The Howling”, underscored that evolution: “The Howling” is “new Phish” through and through—from its recent vintage (debuted on Halloween 2021) to its role in the dense, time-traveling Sci-Fi Soldier mythology to its increasingly reliable crowd-participation element (screw the haters, howl away). Still, in its first-ever appearance in a prime, set two-opening slot, the song provoked the same kind of crowd hysteria that Trey, Mike, Fish, and Page were inciting in this building decades before they first “got more down.”
The centerpiece of Thursday’s second set came next in the form of “A Wave of Hope”, the clear MVP of Trey’s quarantine-era songwriting binge. This 23-minute swell, the night’s longest entree into the unknown, never lost its narrative purpose as it careened down a dark tunnel of tension-building tones, leveled off into a dream state, and hit the thrusters for a hair-raising finale.
An unusually placed “Rift” quickly gave way to an excellent “Mike’s Song” complete with residual “Howling” howls from the crowd and the stage alike. While “Mike’s” leaned toward pandemonium, the ensuing “Simple” jam hewed pretty and contemplative. This unique “Simple” felt like it had more to say when Trey steered the band into “Blaze On” at its 14-minute mark, but the soaring rocker served as yet another effective outlet for the band’s ample night-one energy to round out the set.
After a six-song second set devoid of a proverbial “breather” (we’ll let you slide, “Rift”), Trey’s “mercy” checked the ballad box to start the encore. “The Squirming Coil” that followed was gorgeous as usual, and the “Weekapaug Groove” that had gone missing in set two seemed a fitting bookend for the show. As was the story all night, however, Phish was in no mood to rest just yet, offering one more blast of rock catharsis via “Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.” to cap a very solid Night 80 (overall)/Night 1 of 4 (this week)/Night 8 of 11 (this year). However you’re counting it, you can count it as a win—and we’re just getting started.
Below, check out the full setlist from the 2023 Phish MSG New Year’s run opener, watch a selection of videos, and view a gallery of photos from the show via Andrew Blackstein.
Fans who can’t make it to the Phish 2023 New Year’s run at MSG can stream audio and video of the full run via LivePhish. Single-show webcasts and discounted four-night packages are available here. LivePhish+ subscribers can save an additional $20 on the four-night run. If you are an existing subscriber, check your email to find your discount code.
Phish – “Axilla (Part II)” (partial) > “Funky Bitch” (Son Seals) – 12/28/23
[Video: Chris Connelly]
Phish – “A Wave of Hope” – 12/28/23
[Video: Alan Gofberg]
Setlist [via phish.net]: Phish | Madison Square Garden | New York, NY | 12/28/23
Set One: No Men In No Man’s Land, Halley’s Comet, Sample in a Jar, Runaway Jim, Bouncing Around the Room, Axilla (Part II) > Funky Bitch, Bathtub Gin > Ghost
Set Two: The Howling > A Wave of Hope -> Rift > Mike’s Song > Simple > Blaze On
Encore: mercy, The Squirming Coil, Weekapaug Groove > Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.
Notes: Trey teased San-Ho Zay in No Men In No Men’s Land. Mike quoted No Men In No Men’s Land during Ghost. Mike’s Song contained sound effects used earlier in the show during The Howling.
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