Attending the 1st three of four, last night left me wanting for more on a number of levels and whatever musical itches I had were definitely taken care of tonight. So many highlights, an embarrassment of riches and we in attendance were the grateful recipients. Section 217 at the world‘s most famous, and greatest, arena was shaking earthquake style at times, a testament to how moved we were by them. I personally love the behind the stage view of the love being reciprocated between the band and audience.

Open with Carini into a on point segued Plasma back into nearly three minutes of balls to the walls Carini (Reprise)? Yes, please, thank you. The next three minutes was basically the exact opposite, to find out through this very website that it was called Quadrophonic Toppling. And that if you made the “Vegas bet” that it would be played at this MSG run that you might have felt like if you had struck gold. The Curtain and Bathtub Gin were exemplary versions, clocking in ‘round 13 minutes give or take. A cool down period of sorts with well played versions of NICU, Evolve and a very tenderly played Mountain in the Mist before allowing New York to welcome Fluffhead “back home”. The hour and twenty five flew by, always a good sign of a good time had.

Mike’s Song to start the second stanza was a pretty ripping eleven minutes followed by an excellent The Third Hoorah into a typically rocking Weekapaug Groove. Then the centerpiece of this show and this run so far imho. A Wave of Hope. I was at its debut, the Earth Day show ‘22 and my oh my has its wings grown allowing it of fights of all sorts and tonight’s was a straight up 20 minutes of Trey shredding, wave after wave. After wave. Definitely three, maybe four, this relisten is going to be fun, with the band totally in lockstep with Trey. Mike was thumping hard, Fishman was being his usual self, imitating what an octopus might look like if they had drum sticks, and Page was ripping up whichever 88 keys he was choosing to play. One of the finest 20 minutes i’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing live.

I totally love Twenty Years Later and Trey took it for an eleve minute psychedelia drenched ride, it was delivered with purpose. As was the Golden Age, it’s purpose ones to get everyone dancing and for the next 15 minutes, it just felt like a celebration of life, the releasing of one’s troubles through music. Character Zero ended the hour twenty five set on a Trey Rock God note, noted by the enthusiastic response to it during and after it. A double dose of The Lizards and Possum as the Encore and the night was done. For another twenty hours or so, bring it on. This was a great night of music, blessed to be surrounded by others that simply wanted to get down to the nitty gritty and focused on the musical conversation happening on stage and not otherwise. Night 3 awaits…

I came away from this show a bit disappointed, in the sense that it seemed destined for greatness but failed to measure up to its amazing start. The Carini through to Gin in the first set was simply amazing, and the energy level in the building was off the charts. I had no problem with NICU for a cooldown, but following it with Evolve and MITM cooled things down considerably, and not even a solid Fluffhead was able to fully bring the energy back up.

The second set followed a similar pattern. Mike's Groove and A Wave of Hope made for an excellent start, but Twenty Years Later disrupted the flow of the set. The evening ended on a high note with Golden Age, Zero, and the double encore of Lizards and Possum.

After a heater the night prior, expectations were definitely sky high as we walked into the garden Monday evening. Luckily for us, Phish absolutely delivered the goods. There is a reason so many people travel and make the pilgrimage to MSG - the sound - the vibe - the crowd - are just the best in the biz. Make that trip soon if you haven't.

Opening up the affair last night was a Carini plasma sandwich. Need I say more. It got us bobbing our heads early. After that was the quadrophonic toppling which speculated some NYE rumors. Another bustout to add to the list, ill take it.

No better place to get my first curtain with. The gin that followed however - has a case for best moment of the night. No type 2 space wandering - just a rocking freaking version. The garden erupted, as it often does this time of year. True bliss.

The set cooled down until a well played fluffhead sent us to intermission. Everyone in my section absolutely adored that first set.

Set two comes around and they lock right back in. Mikes was solid, hurrah isnt my cup of tea but it was also played well. Weekapaug was a real unique version that got us dancing hard again.

The Wave of Hope once again came crashing down on MSG to take the title for jam of the night. Ill have to relisten but it seemed like a clear peak.

20YL got slowed down and trey took it for a decent ride... ive heard better versions but this was welcome and mellow. Golden age picked up the steam and the zeroed. In attendance, however, that song will make anyone smile.

An old school double feature for the encore and we are all stumbling back out into this insane city just trying to pick which moment rocked the most.... great time once again. Time to do it again!!!!

Set One: A-
Set Two: B+

Rating: 4.42

Just to add on my review above since the Edit feature doesn't seem to be working for me that I was referring to the MSG debut of A Wave of Hope '22, I know the actual debut of it was Summer '21 at Deer Creek.

(Just typing in order to get this to the proper length to post as a "review"). (Just typing in order to get this to the proper length to post as a "review").

Im really glad I went to this show because nothing outside the Carini Plasma sandwich really stands out on paper but man oh man, this show rocked.

The aforementioned Carini -> Plasma -> Carini was a great start, bathtub gin was the set 1 highlight and Mikes was slinky while Weekapaug was a thriller.

But dawg, let me speak on this Wave of Hope. This has been said a bunch, but the improvisational highlights of post 2020 Phish have often been these multi-part 30+ minute odysseys - at times in summer 2025 it felt like we were getting a Tahoe Tweezer every night. But for as dazzling impressive as these journeys are, they can sometimes feature so many distinct peaks and valleys as to sacrifice a bit of thematic coherence.

But this Wave of Hope reminded me of the more economical jamming of Bakers Dozen (seriously go back to your favorite BD show, you may be surprised at how little outside of *that* one have jams that stretch much beyond 20 mins) and probably gave MSG its most gloriously Allman-esque peak since the Chocolate Chalkdust. But I honestly would go further back than that to the 10/29/13 Reading DWD for a jam that built with so much tight ferocity around a single theme before exploding in wave after wave (NPI) of pure hose.

And the lead up to that flamethrower of catharsis may be my favorite part, with the band leaning into a metallic thrash groove that's more reminiscent of the 8/8/97 Gumbo than the brief foray into doom metal seen in the Alpine Waves or the preening cock rock of the Prague Ghost. It is a connected whole, barreling towards pay dirt from the jump.
A must listen.

And then...a very solid 4th quarter! Lizards / Possum Encore!? I love this band so much.

Last night was my third time seeing Phish at MSG and again I had a really great time. I won't lead with a lengthy preamble - let's get into the music.

I was very happy to hear a Carini opener but was dismayed when Plasma came next. But, despite my initial feeling, the song rose to beautiful heights; complete with a lot of sonic noise and a Carini reprise to boot. That was an awesome sandwich to start the night.

I am unfamiliar with Quadrophonic Toppling, but it was cool to hear this for the first time since 2022 and only the 2nd time since Big Cypress. Odd song, but cool.

The Curtain With was one I'd been thinking about all week and had fun singing along to this song.

Bathtub Gin is amongst my favorite Phish songs. I was at the 12/29/24 show last year and unfortunately had to leave the show at set break and missed the Bathtub Gin that opened the 2nd set that night. This year, I was determined to take a bath, and the band delivered a high intensity rendition of this great song. This for me was the crown jewel of the first set tonight and perhaps for the entire show. Thanks, boys, for the Gin!

NICU, Evolve, and Mountains in the Mist kind of just fell flat and lagged along. The latter is one of my least favorite Phish songs but one that I have good luck catching at shows. A well placed Fluffhead ended the first set on a high note. Woke a lot of people up after the three-pack lull-fest

Set break was fun - spend a lot of time trying to convince my boyfriend, who is more of a Phish novice than I am, that Phish really is the real deal. He wasn't convinced after that first set. He is a work in progress, but a true sport for accompanying me this year and last.

Mike's Song is fun enough and The Final Hurrah is not very noteworthy.

Weekapaug Groove will always put the biggest smile on my face - if you can't grin ear to ear during that song, I'm not sure what could make you happy!

A Wave of Hope was stretched out for close to 20 minutes which was cool and 20 Years Later just kind of came and went.

Golden Age was the highlight of Set 2 and the perfunctory Character Zero was a nice way to close out the set.

I loved the animal themed double encore of The Lizards and Possum.

Four Highlights: Carini sandwich, Bathtub Gin, Weekapaug Groove, Golden age

Honorable Mention: Curtain With, and both encore songs.

Overall: 6.5/10.

This is my only show for the NYE run this year. I feel like this show was a bit of a letdown. It wasn't a bad show, I just felt there was nothing entirely noteworthy about it. Still, there is nothing quite like a night with Phish at the best arena in the world! See you this summer...

Another great effort with some solid jams.

First set highlights were Carini-Plasma sandwich, quadraphonic toppling bust out, and a very well executed Flufhead. And of course, I’d always opt for the curtain with, rather than without.

Second set really didn’t miss a step and even 20 years later got some experimental work thrown in!

Lizards and Possum imho the best 1-2 encore punch.

Recommended jams:
- Carini > Plasma > Carini
- The Curtain With
- Mike’s Groove with funky Final Hurrah
- Wave of Hope
- 20 years later

Nothing earth shattering but definitely a great show!

Sometimes you need to see it from the band's perspective. Our seats for this show were caddy-corner behind Mike and Fishman. As I explained to my friend, there are two light shows: the light show Kuroda is composing for the audience, and the light show the band sees. Sitting behind you get the latter. And, fortunately, with the band's transition to a more sparse rig, there was very little in the way of watching from the bands perspective. Oh, and they played music.

Much like the previous night, the boys from Vermont launched into it for the first set with a screaming Carini...into a subdued Plasma, but (for the viewers at home's free first song) back into Carini to get the place absolutely bubbling with anticipation. Take a breath during Quadrophonic Toppling, and back into the set, head first with a song I've only seen once before in my 67 shows: The Curtain With. (Note: Rift, played the previous night and TCW, have the same chord structure, so I'm fully expecting Trey and the band to find time for a Squirming Coil which also shares this progression, albeit at a different speed.) Time for a drink with several standards like Bathtub Gin and NICU...both performed punctually. From there the band slowed things down with Evolve into Mountains In The Mist, which was so dreamy and the vocal harmonies were on point. Finally, a solid 1.0 Fluffhead...the crowd goes nuts and the first set is done.

Second set seemed to pick right up where the first left off with a solid Mike's Hurrah Groove? We got a wave of relaxation with a Wave of Hope into Twenty Years Later into Golden Age! They love this song by TV On The Radio and it was the only cover of the night. The clock hit 10:55pm and Trey was like, I'm not really done. Character Zero to finish out the set...Kuroda's lights screaming in the World's Most Famous Arena. The band took their bows and off before the encore. Of course we were wondering if they'd choose to come back with another cover like Loving Cup to quietly end the night...they were having none of it. Another 1.0 standard, Trey started the opening notes of The Lizards and caught the sound engineers off guard. Quickly they corrected and we were back at full blast. For some reason, this is one of their hardest songs, harder than Fluffhead. I've never seen it performed perfectly outside of Gamehenge in recent years. This was no exception. Mike missed a note, Trey missed a note. Fish flubbed a beat. The band rolled on...as if in an apologetic way, they finished the night with a song they couldn't not play perfectly: Possum. Its presence here means that the merch shirts were no indicator of the upcoming NYE stunt. Phish nailed this rock-a-billy standard to close the night and I was sated.

Was this the best show I've seen. No, but it was a solid B. Come for the Carini, stay for everything else. Can't wait to see what they do the rest of the run, and NYE!