Really enjoying the N1 re-listen. Also, pretty sure this is my first ever review! Let's go!!

Set 1 has energy, flow, and momentum - almost 12/29 scorcher vibes.

As folks have said: when Trey opens a set with Buried Alive, he’s feeling it. Straight into AC/DC Bag - fun and dialed-in without letting up. Not “transcendent,” but that’s not the job description in this slot. High energy groovy openers.

Then comes the real question: where are they taking us, and what kind of night is this? Roggae answers. Gorgeous and basically perfectly played. Tight and leisurely; confident and sublime. Also: one of my favorite Phish lyrics, which I’d quoted to friends earlier that day: “If life were easy and not so fast, I wouldn’t think about the past.” Every so often, Phish is profound. This Roggae is mellow and peaky, a true both/and. Right out of the gate, it felt above-average N1 with that delicious sense that it could go anywhere just 3 great songs in.

Rift was perfectly placed. And in this whole set I’m not clocking one band member more than another - it’s just Phish as a cohesive unit. My buddy had joked earlier about hating Rift (maybe exaggerated), but my other friend and I - 226 Row 8, aisle seats baby - are big bluegrass heads, so we start skipping like a rodeo. Anti-Rift bud in the aisle seat bails to find a different zone. I chuckled: we scared him away with that cowbell. He'll return soon enough.

Okay, so the energy continues: Wolfman’s!! I feel like there’s a history of great N1/N2 Set 1 YEMSG Wolfman’s, and this one is phat and full. The last several minutes are perfect. More energy and more bliss than we have any right to expect.

Then: PYITE. Hot hot heat. Extended, punchy intro-jam. The building is moving. They simply haven’t let up - this Wolfman’s → Punch stretch is the highlight of the set, and it’s just ridiculously fun. Dialed in!

Sigma keeps the current running, into Taste, which felt above average too. A friend at his first show actually named Taste as a highlight, which I love, mmm.

And then: Trey grabs the acoustic. Interesting… a little cool-down in a set where we didn't get many, for a short, sweet rarity (Sleep).

The closing Antelope felt like they were reaching for something slightly new-old - like a door they haven’t fully figured out how to open yet. It had some extra mustard, even if they fully missed the landing after the high-driving chaos peak. Still: listening back, I swear I can hear them trying to push Antelope somewhere beyond the “shell of its former self” it has basically become.

Taken together: N1 S1 is a magnificent set of music, pretty much a perfect start to the run. The Garden energy felt a touch sleepier than I’m used to, it was a little hotter than usual in the room, and security snatched some joints from my buddy’s shoes - but none of that mattered by setbreak. This is my fucking holiday.

Set 2 (briefer)
Set 2 had a different vibe: mellower, sludgier, under-the-water — someone here called it “moodier” - that tracks. Whatever the merits of the first four tunes, they’re all ~10 minutes and it felt like they were searching for the sound.

With the 24-minute Theme, they find it. That’s the jam of the night by far- it emerges and submerges, you get lost and found, and that’s what this whole thing is about. The return to Simple is a delight - almost like a statement to seal the deal, cream the theme. Everything’s Right is always fun, sweet, anthemic; I like it as a closer, even if this one didn’t drive as hard or fully as it can.

Slave encore is beautiful and soaring, as always, if perfunctory as it has become. I didn’t get the sense - like with Antelope - that they were reaching for “more.” I got the sense Trey was totally present and grateful: this is exactly how I’m supposed to play this song right now. Not Machine Gun Trey - current day Trey. And if (WHEN!) they tear a hole in the ozone layer later this run, it’ll be current Trey doing it. Phish will still be the best living psychedelic rock band, and Phish at MSG will always be magic as long as we’re lucky enough to have this, have them.

All told: above-average N1 with a nonstop, rip-roaring Set 1 and a Wolfman’s > PYITE peak. Set 2 is solid throughout, but the Theme is a triumphant revelation of improvisatory music.

Three shows / seven sets left --- Anything can happen --- I'm feeling lucky, and excited for tonight.