As my friend and I entered the stairwell after the show last night, there was a man’s voice echoing down the flights. His words grabbed a hold of our ears and we turned to one another and giggled like fools. What he said was something I hope to never feel the need to say, but truly don’t believe I ever will if Phish continues down the road they have spent 40 years paving. “It was a safe show.” He said this in a way that confused me. Were we at the same show? Have we ever been at the same show? Will I ever feel the same way about a show? After 51 shows I can safely say….I’ve never seen a safe show and I don’t believe anything I’ve ever seen them do could be considered safe. I mention this encounter only because I know there are people out there who love every minute of every show they attend. Even if the Farmhouse doesn’t land the right way or landed in an odd place in the set, they never disappoint and last night was no different.
Starting off the night with what is one of my favorite tunes was a nice little No Men coming in to get my body moving. Followed by a synth filled Halley’s Comet that felt longer than it was. Perhaps it was my seating right on the side of the key master himself, but I could tell Page was going to have a little night for himself. Sample followed up and made me smile the way only Phish can make me smile.
This is where the set started to take off for me. Runaway Jim started and as it began I turned to my friend who was entranced by the tune and I thought “Here we are.” With twisting solos and a solid Page, the song hit the spot. An unexpected Bouncing began and it felt simply spot on. Fun. Always. Axilla crushed and once again the synths made the highlight of the song. Funky Bitch followed it up in epic fashion and every bone in my body was dancing.
Bathtub brought us into outer space as my personal song of the set. Plenty of eye closing moments and plenty of stare out at the crowd moments. Just when I thought “Let this jam go on forever”…..they hit me with Ghost and I easily accepted the change of tune and it continued the incredible vibes Gin left behind.
Set break upon us and the house lights on, the first thought is usually “woah”, followed by “yeah, this is the place to be.” Phish at the garden is always the place to be. Walking amongst the folks I’ve spent so many endless hours with over the years I felt more at home than usual. We were all ready for the second set.
The Howling funked us up right off the rip and everyone was having a blast. A hot take, but Wave of Hope has been my song of the year. Each time I hear it I love it more and more. 23 minutes of glory and evolution. It’s a jam that is easy to get lost in and this time was no different. Rift hit the spot to follow up Wave of Hope.
Perhaps it’s the fact that my friend’s name is Mike, perhaps it’s because the song is awesome, or perhaps it’s all of the above, but this song never feels anything short of spectacular. At the start of the tune I almost turned to him to tell him I hoped they would play Simple next. The two songs to me go hand in hand. I can probably blame Chicago ‘94 for my strange hunger for Mike’s Song/Simple. At long last I got the combination I had been waiting for and Simple may just take song of the night for taking me to places reminiscent of the days when I wasn’t sober many moons ago. Blaze on was a great way to end the set and the dancing continued until the very end.
Time for the encore. I had never heard them play mercy and although it didn’t become a fast favorite, I appreciate them going for it. Now Page got his well deserved moment with Squirming Coil which I honestly thought would be the Groove we all expected, but instead we got the unexpected Page bonus followed by Weekapaug instead. I was quite pleased. To top it all off, S.A.N.T.O.S. showed up just to let us know that the show wasn’t over.
There’s something about the first night of the New Year’s run that I find so exciting. It never fails to kick the run off right. This one hit just right. One down and three to go. We are off to a great start. If you’re out there and you’ve made it to this point, thanks for reading. Unlike Phish, stay safe out there.