Caspian Waves >>> wasted bold as love.

Night two and as I like to remind anyone who will listen, never miss a Sunday show. Saturday was a nice warm up and very danceable. I had trekked 14 hours from Kentucky the day before, and Saturday pissed rain all day in the Apple so I hid out in Jersey until it was PATH>33rd St. time. I'm not going to review Saturday, but it was fun and the vibe was great at MSG. The staff continues to amaze at this joint as others have noted, very accommodating in every way, right down to the security that literally looks the other way unless safety is in question (see vertigo and chompers on booze).
Sunday frogged and grogged at the hotey briefly but lo and behold, the weather started to crack and NYC was gorgeous and mild. A new years miracle? Chem trails raining down? Likely. Walked up from Times Square at about 7 for the show and made the arduous trek into the reaches of section 420, row 3 seat 1. Honestly if you don't like heights, this seat will invert your genitals. Sample was standard and Bag wasn't super tight but had some nice Trey rips. Moma started to move us but did not reach type 2 status and stayed safely funky into a pretty flubby Rift that was not completely without merit but lacked the punch of recent versions. The sound at MSG is fabulous but the rear seating sound is not. It's adequate and does improve as the show goes on though. The view from 420 is great though rigs block Trey from there and when the light rig fully decends, the whole band is blocked save a bit of Fish. Rift melted into Caspian and the crowd got a bit mellow but not for long, this was a nicely building Caspian and Trey was notably good on vocals. Not a super long jam but really loud and tight interlocking themes of nautical waves and ocean imagery, very nice Page as usual, Fish was very strong the whole night as well. I honestly never cared for Caspian much but it has grown on me as the band truly does love it and does it justice live. It has an emotional power in my opinion. Monsters is a fun ride, I'll take it over Alaska any day and Runaway Jim was classic boogie, and played quite nicely. As Jim crescendoed the crowd for sure expected another song. YEM it was and I very much thought I would be going to get popcorn soon after Boy became Man but luckily he felt he never told me, the story of the Gerst. Story accepted, story appreciated. The nasty feed back and haze that proceeds Ghost was truly thunderous in my ears as I rejoiced in non-chomping always in key singing and jubilation. Standard Gerst, nothing special, but every Ghost is special aint it?
The lights dipped after a very quick set break and Gin wafted up, slowly at first but building nicely, slower tempo but executed well with all the nice Trey delays and classic Phish key bending glory. The proceeding jam was taught and well played but not overly exploratory, nothing compared to what segued into town next. As the first notes of Ruby hit my ears, I knew it was possible. Like when you get a present and it seems like the right size and shape to be the one you really wanted. But not every Sand is a 38 minute eargasm at Deer Creek. This Ruby was an eargasm though. This Ruby Waves was the kind of brave exploration that keeps us all coming back year after year, show after show. Every member of the band shined multiple times both melodically and rhythmically, and the crowd absolutely ate it all up, save the sleeping 16 year old behind me and the puking chomper to my right. I looked to my left and said to a complete stranger, yes, this is still Ruby, and received an ardent high five and wook yip yip scream. It was just as magic as my first show in 1993 and more surprising, it's always surprising when they do this, every time. It's always surprising when a group of professionals risk everything to give us these moments, moments that could have easily ended in failure. Waste is nice and emotional, Crosseyed should have been Cities, and Bold as Love was weak vocally, but even Jimi wasn't a great singer so Hall Pass. But let me emphasize to downloaders: RUBY RUBY RUBY! 5 out of 5 for having balls in the ballsiest town on earth. Cheers Phish! Love you!!