You know, when this day happened way back on December 30th, 2010 it was all brand new but as I sit here years later trying to remember it, it somehow seems so long ago. Many great writers are quite convinced that time is not linear but rather that all moments co-exist with one another. So (they claim), yesterday is right over there and last week is just around the corner, but it sure doesn’t feel that way to me.

Maybe that’s one of the reasons why I’m not a great writer.

I can, however, use my meagre powers of recall to report with some accuracy that this was the first night of my first ever Phish New Years run, and it was at the ever-historic Madison Square Garden no less. I had gone to see Prince in the same room the night before where I had enjoyed myself to no end, and I’m pretty darn sure that I had a rip-roarin’ time at this show too.

I don’t even remember where we were staying for this run, but if it was the year of the big snowstorms we were staying with m’lady’s friend Greg but really, I don’t think this was that year. Was it the year that we went to a fancy-schmancy burger joint for my birthday and I had Patron Cafe tequila for the first time*? Who knows…not me. Luckily Phish sets are easily searchable online.

I see that the band played Maze in the first set. That would have gotten my attention. Plus Golgi and Character Zero…yep, I woulda been rockin’ the first set for sure. Set two (the internet tells me) started with Tweezer – which is a proper rager – and also included a slew of my goto Phish favourites, like Theme From the Bottom, My Friend, My Friend, Fluffhead, and the lightshow-fiesta 2001, not to mention an Antelope/Tweeprise encore, so all was surely good in my world. Which, again, was somewhere inside Madison Square Garden.

Afterwards (presumably) we went to our temporary home for the night. We must have; otherwise we would still be at MSG.

And if we were still there after all these years, well, I think I would remember the concert that got us into this crazy mess much more vividly.

I told you I wasn’t a very good writer.

*I just found notes** I had made from this run and yes, we were staying at Greg’s place because yes, this was the year of the big snowstorms and yes, this was also the year that we had gone to the upscale burger place on my birthday where we had indeed enjoyed shots of Patron Cafe tequila. Now that I think about it, there’s a fair chance that I’ve only been to NYC once***.

**Which reads (in part): ”We were in basically the exact seats that we had been sitting in the previous night for Prince, except we were on the opposite side of the arena. Regardless, we had a good view from Fishman side. The first set raged and we spent the setbreak at one of the many in-house bars, again surrounded by a plethora of m’lady’s American friends. Another set of raging Phish and 22,000 happy hippies spilled out onto the streets. Another bar was in order, one where the drinks were poured thick and things started getting late, quick. Somehow or another we ended up back in Queens safe and sound where we all wished each other a 5am Happy New Years Eve and collectively went down for the count.”

***Just kidding****.

****(I think).

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