Wow. Incredible. Mind blown. Unreal. Don’t even know what to say. This show blew my fucking mind. The band and Madison square garden were on fire tonight. Every song was played to perfection. I can’t get over that last set. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Speechless. This is why we live and breathe the band. I just love phish.

My wife and I watched the livestream over at Over Yonder Brewing in Golden, Colorado. She had a breast cancer diagnosis 2 weeks ago. Her surgery is this Wednesday. We needed a diversion tonight and she knows how much I’m into the band.

Truth-told, she’s really not a big fan of Phish’s music. Most of the ‘likes’ on the My Wife Hates Phish Instagram account are from her. But she finds the whole Phish scene to be hysterical, in the most loving way possible.

Our first Dick’s show (SSSSSsssssss) was a few months after we started dating. We’ve spent many nights together at Dick’s since then - during courtship, and in the years after our wedding.

She knows at most 10 Phish songs. But she dresses up to the nines for every show. And she always RULES the floor. PhishChicks crowd around her, chat her up, want to dance with her. Boy, Man, God Shit - do I ever get jealous.

Did I mention that she’s from North Dakota? Whenever they play Nellie Kane, I burst. I’m the luckiest Phuck ever.

Tonight, she drank the Fast Enough for You Lager. Me, the Waiting in the Baltic Sea saison. This is Colorado, we’re pretty good at Phish.

The best first set of the run. Me: mansplaining of the songs to her, like us Phish-men tend to do. She: making me feel like this was the coolest place and the best night, and that I was the smartest Phish guy ever. Everything’s Right so Just Hold Tight.

Every song sounded so good. Highlights -- her recognition of the Gin riff, her laughing at my syrupy slow theatrical dancing during What’s the Use, guffaws at the Trey face, that dude across the room who can’t dance, that new Trey face.

(Aside: man, the tempo of that Gin jam!)

It all hit home on another level during Number Line. I provided (in 30 seconds) the background story of Trey’s drug dependency, his downfall, the band’s break-up, his rehab, Tom’s outreach, the overall significance of the song. While I droned, the band built. The joy on Trey’s face kept expanding. Our faces too, knowing one of our kids is one year drug free. The only rule is it begins…

We dug the nautical nonsense of Set III. It was such a treat to be able to spend a night like this. Those of you there in the room were sure lucky, though not as fortunate as me.

This was the greatest Phish show I've ever seen. In some 240 odd shows and 58 at MSG alone, this one topped them all. They really blew my mind during this concert. I have seen 18 NYE shows and the 4/22 Earth Day NYE show was THE BEST! They played one of the best versions of my favorite song, Split Open and Melt. I'm so looking forward to Summer Tour!

One of my favorite 3.0 “NYE” shows - certainly the best one I’ve seen. Starting with the gag set, they did a phenomenal job at creating a really cool immersive experience. Love the Earth Day themes and effects they had going on. Whale/dolphins are self explanatory; so freakin’ cool! The cherry on top is that the jams were great. It’s probably the first NYE gag set I’ll go back and revisit for music purposes.

Circling back to the first set, ER>Tube, Axilla>Gin>SANTOS was a great closer. Energy was high.

Second set was the highlight for me. Jams galore. Really great tempo and flow throughout the whole set. Nothing but great things throughout.

A seriously great show, continuing the energy from N2.

Whatever Wednesday was about, it wasn’t about last night. Last night was spectacular, every song sounded like it had a purpose and some. Everything’s Right was taken for an excursion right off the bat. Tube brought the funk and I love 555 and it rocked nicely tonight. Back On The Train was both fitting for my return to MSG after missing the 21st and had a number of blissful peaks. Army Of One was cool and led into two set enders, Bathtub Gin which they easily could have walked off but to stamp a great set Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S. followed.

Before the 2nd set I told my friend Jose that I was most psyched to hear Set Your Soul Free, my favorite new song, on this run and I got rewarded immediately at the start of a very well jammed out version after I then leaned over to my friend and opined that it sounded like it could be a four song set and I missed by one, after great jammed out versions of Light and Fuego into a beautifully intense What’s The Use and a blissful Backwards Down The Number Line. The roar of the crowd at the end of this set was even louder than of the 1st Set.

The 3rd Set and its execution was just a sight to behold and sonically as intense. And it made for as complete of a “New Year’s Eve” show. as I’ve ever attended since 2010, either audio or visually. As great as great needed to be. Thank you Phish.

Leave it to Phish to top themselves. I don't even know how it's possible, yet they continue to do it. Last night was fantastic!

I'd like to elaborate on another reviewer's post that mentioned a perhaps confused or rusty start to Fuego. That's not how I perceived it. It was actually a hysterically funny and frankly heart-warming musical moment between four really close friends. After blistering jamming that seemed to go on for an hour with Set Your Soul Free and Light, the breakneck pace finally started to wind down into cool ambient space. Just then the camera happens to cut to behind Fish, who takes the opportunity of this tiny reprieve to play with one hand while turning about a liter of water straight up and chugging the whole thing. Although we viewers at home see this, Trey does not and he begins the notes to Fuego - a beast of a drumming song. They all then realize that poor Fish is gassed (his is the most physically demanding part of the music, after all) but they've begun the song.... So they kinda do a slower, more stretched out intro to let Fish catch his breath. By now Page and Trey are laughing their asses off. Eventually, Fish starts dropping fast little drum fills, as if to say, "Alright you fuckers, I'm ready!!" And then off they go into Fuego. A little moment of empathy for their man behind the kit. I was howling and crying at the same time. What a joy it was to see these guys back on stage with one another, doing the thing that they enjoy most in the world. I shed more than one tear last night and it felt good.

Tip to tail a s stellar show. My take on the set 3 & encore.

If anyone had money on Phish taking their plan for the NYE gag/balloon drop festivities during the rescheduled 4/22/22 show, well, they clearly lost a bet. Not a chance Phish would have dropped a billion balloons on and during a special three set evening on Earth Day.

That Earth Day set & encore was absolutely incredible. From the air-themed "floating in the blimp a lot" and water themed "splashing in the sea" moments of Free, things were elemental from the start. The two wave songs kept things in the water as phish turned MSG (and 20K+ of my best plankton friends) into an ocean with water falling in purely incredible patterns in front and behind the stage. Sea creatures were dancing so close to me that I reached out and kissed that whale with one of my confetti cannons. Waves brought elated tears to my eye. Once we left the sea, it was time to get back to land and test our dancing sea legs on the earth with a meaty and granular Sand. Enter the fog & laser beams from the prizefight-styled octagonal light fx rig that was hanging under the scoreboard. The beams were perfectly placed as they hit the base of the 200s section and the fog mixed with those lasers made for a beautiful effect as all the attendees kicked up a swarm of sandstorms with their dancemoves. Time to head back to the water for a little break to cool off. Lasers you are welcome to stick around, but this time you are no longer red/yellow sand colored. Now, you get to be green and blue. What's that, thousands of bubbles emanating from he prizefighter rig fractal bouncing off those lasers, you say? Bring it on! Seaweed blankets the band as we Melt among the seaweed and the slime. Out of body level Melt here to close the set. As the band takes their bows and the paired down stage lowers we are brought all to a recording of ice eerily cracking and our four troubadors literally fall on the ice and it cracks for their exit. We've got a few minutes of polar ice caps crackling and hissing to remind us that we're not leaving the ice, we're here till the lights come back up and we are left to our own devices with what to do to our planet Earth. Ice is an absolute heater and it doesn't disappoint one bit. Complete with a massive strawberry glazed sprinkled donut emerging behind the band, just to remind us that we all can't take ourselves too seriously. paper Confetti blasts from the cannons. As the band takes its final bow and exits the stage after taking us in and around our little third rock from the sun, we are left not with any walk out music at all. Instead, we are left to enter the real world with ambient noise.

As my crew and I walked into the venue and take our places in Sec 101 Row 13, we noticed there weren't any balloons (Earth Day) to drop. Some in my section and I noticed the fog and confetti cannons, but we obviously had no idea what was in store for the third set. At the end of it all, the waste left from the Earth Day set was minimal. They could have rented those dolphins and the whale. The bubbles were, well, just bubbles, and the paper was being swept up as we were leaving the Garden. I left with a renewed sense of appreciation for our planet and how much my favorite band can remind me of that appreciation.

Best band in all the land.

It’s really great when you can say of a show “come for the jams, stay for the jams.”
This show was awash in high-level improv from start to finish. Army of One in the first set usually isn’t a great sign, but the troops rallied. Huge opening jam out of ER followed by a super slick Tube. It was clear already at that point that Phish had no intention of letting off the accelerator driven through the floor the previous night.
The NYE gag was literally breathtaking. We gasped and cheered when the dolphins and whale came out. Every year I think they’ve pushed it as far as they can go. NOPE. Phïsh wins again.
Don’t forget to actually pay attention to the jam on Waves, which they actually shredded. Even if the whole gag did have a fair bit of thematic overlap from the NYE 2017 soul planet bit, no one can have any real complaints about this show. A real treat aurally and visually.

Overlooking midtown Manhattan, Planet Earth from the 37th floor of the hotel. Still waiting to come down from experiencing the Waves, Sand, and Ice tonight.

We may never know what the number games leading up to NYE were about, but the way this band chooses to move with the changing terrain of 2020-onwards (and really since Curveball) is what keeps me coming back. Inspired creative and bright resilience.

Some thoughts by set while I’m still deflating:
First Set was exactly the pull you in, build you up, then pay you on the head that a first-of-three should be. Everything, if you will, was Right. Especially at 17 minutes of bubbling jams to show how the night would go. I’m somehow always ready for a 555 and Army of One. After no Mike or Page lead songs last night, this felt good. When we realized it was another Axilla (Part ll), I begged my neighbor for the boys to take outro out for a walk in the dark, night rain. And they did. I could have stomped in that mud for 20 min, but the 6 or so minute jam was still a personal highlight.

In the second set, some may be about deep and pumping Set Your Soul Free, and they’re in the right. But you were already where that Fuego took you, then show us all the way cause that’s where I want to stay. Until they pull a What’s the Use like that. Trey looked up into CK5’s blue light wash like an about-to-be-abductee, descending not too many feet above his head, then lingered long in the total dark during the pregnant-as-a-whale pause. At the time, it felt like a short set but looking back that’s just a testament to how well paced and real those jams were.

The third set, though, is why they hang Phish banners in the rafters. The stage was struck bare and replaced with smaller rigs and sets in a line across the stage. No other giveaways and with the obvious lack of rafters overloaded with balloon nets, no one knew what was coming. A rock and roll Free elevated us all; the band came along, too. The long middle of Madison Square Garden stage rose up about ten feet in the air, draping a white pyramid all around the skinny rectangle to connect with the perimeter of the main stage below.

Suddenly, the word “FREE” was popping out of the angled front and sides, then disappearing again, creating entire new canvasses for the lighting and design masters to paint. Then came the lasers on special for this show scaffolding surrounding the standard donut light ring. When Waves kicked off, you could hear and feel the mumbled hopes for a tsunami. For only ten minutes, they packed it in, with the lifesize silver dolphins and how-did-they-get-her-in-here big humpback whale soaring and diving through the air. It was……just so MSG N3. They kept with an earth and ocean theme, with Sand and Split Open and Melt, with an It’s Ice encore each taking a loving turn under the fog and bubbles and seaweed strands.

Happy New Earth Day, everyone. Take care of your planet and your favorite band.

This was an unbelievably great show. From the first song trey had an energy to his playing I haven't seen in a long time. The first set might not seem like much on paper but it's essential listening, Everything's Right > Tube is 25+ minutes of really inspired jamming and whatever you do don't sleep on that Gin. Set 2 was much looser but incredibly cohesive as one long piece of music, SYSF reminded me alot of the Taste jam from the Baker's Dozen. Light was a nice slow build to a gigantic peak winding down into Fuego which made up for a shaky start with a really cool jam, lots of great Trey delay stuff. Best What's the Use i've heard in a long time, glad they keep that one in rotation for night's like this one where they can try some new phrasing on it. Even Numberline had a great peak, but nothing prepared me for this third set. Just listen to it, nothing I could write would do justice to how amazing that experience was inside the garden. Greatest NYE set I've ever seen... in April... but still. What a set, one of the greatest versions of Sand ever played. Incredible stuff

From 307 w/c_wallob. I've read plenty of opinion pieces here on .net about about Phish having lost the art of the big night, Halloween/NYE/what have you.

That's all bologna and all of those people are haters because this show had *it* in spades. The Tube in S1 just seemed to be psychically placed after an absolutely blistering Everything's Right. Astute phanners will note the first hint at Earth Day in the bridge of the opener! Mike had a fun little bass solo (what phrasing!) into 555, as if he was beckoning the band to follow him. BotT made its usual set 1 type 1 appearance, preceding an always welcome Army of One, which felt unspokenly appropriate given the recent uninvited meteorological phenomena visiting my home state of NY. Is it too much to read another Earth Day reference into this? Axilla II (!!!) Got *another* walk around the block, although without the same gravity it did during it's initial type II debut in Vegas last year. The Bathtub Gin was perfunctory, as was SANTOS...

Then set 2. I have a hard time imagining that they could top this tonight, and that's not for a lack of faith in the band. I don't know about you, but when Trey teased "Happy Birthday" during SYSF on Earth Day, I started choking up a little bit. I can tell you, reader, that I felt as if I had just been personally serenaded, and I think many in the room would agree based on the abrupt shift in the energy in the room. The jamming from the Birthday tease on through the end of SYSF is must hear stuff, and I would argue the best playing of the night. Every once in a while Phish gets into one of those grooves that are "self contained", as I call it, where the band seems to find a spot en route to their next peak that they're happy to set up camp in and kick it for a bit. A path of least resistance to bliss, if you will, and oh boy we have. Just when I thought the band had reached a harmonious connection (plugging my wish for tonight) that thus far I hadn't quite felt this run, Trey ripcorded into... Light! After a slow build back, they found their way back down that same gr00ve str33t punctuated with an emotional peak. All of Light is recommended. It'd been a minute since I heard Fuego, and by the sounds of it, a minute since the band had played it. It probably doesn't translate to tape very well, but there was a super serious space jam on the ass end of that Fuego, the likes of which I hadn't heard. The fade into WTU found me personally surprised with Trey's playing. The last time they played that song in that room, I was chewing my nails dozwn past the cuticle as Trey attempted to stay upright (heh) on his faulty platform. Tonight could have not been farther from that. This buttoned-up rendition of WTU featured a celebrated and longer than usual pause to accent the flawless soaring and sustained melody from Trey. After 3 consecutive barn burning jams, it was just the breathe of fresh air we were all looking for. After that birthday tease, nobody was surprised with the very intentioned BDTNL. Sappy? Maybe. Thematic? Oohhuneyyoubettabelieveit!

Set III was beyond words. The lights, the dolphins, the lasers on the waterfall... it was just beyond objectivity. I won't lie, I had to pull up the trusty ol' .net after "Free" to figure out what song it was, but hot dawg if A Wave Of Hope didn't have some hose of a type I on it. I hope everybody is happy Trey owned the whale call finally! Sand was arguably the real meat of this set, with solid interplay, most notably between Trey and Mike with that modal line towards the end. SoaM featured a great visual gag.

TREY NAILED ITS ICE

This show was truly special. Here's to another solid run at home base and another year of this band being the best one. Blaze On!

This was my first time attending an entire "NYE" run, as well as my first time catching a gag / three-set show. Let me just start out by saying that I had a fucking BLAST and would recommend the experience to any Phan that can swing it. I had only been to ten shows before the run started and was amped to scratch off a ton of tunes I'd been chasing, catch a bunch of killer jams, and relish in the energy of YEMSG.

It's really tough for me to definitively say which night of the run was my favorite, as 4/21-23 were all spectacular. At the end of the weekend, I left feeling like N2 stood out as the strongest for a combined rarity factor with some excellent performances. However, after re-listening to this show, I think it might be N3. The actual NYE show is usually known to be one of the weaker performances, leaning more heavily on gag mileage than musical content. In this case though, I was consistently impressed by the output of the jams, even those which did not transcend time and space (but those, too!).

Set 1 starts off with a really sweet Everything's Right that morphs and grows, ebbing and flowing very smoothly for a >15-minute opener. Tube has a tasty extended groove section where Mike and Fishman lay down some really excellent funk sauce. Trey's effect play here is pretty dope, as well, especially when combining the synth pedal with the delay. After a fairly standard 555, Fish and Page pull off an extended and gradual ascent that serves excellently for a developing Trey solo--I loved this one. Army of One was a nice choice for a run that was relatively lacking in Page vocals. One of the more unique jams I've personally caught, Axilla II's outro is harmonically and sonically rich, digging into some very deep textures as Fishman lingers on the laidback groove. The jam chart's choice of the word "hypnotic" is apt. I've never met a Bathtub Gin I didn't like, and though this one remains fairly straightforward, I thought the slow increase in energy was great. Fishman specifically drives this jam, ripping on the set even when the dynamics are bit more subdued. A VERY strong SANTOS closes out Set 1--one of the most spirited performances I've seen.

This show only gets better in the second set, beginning with a big ol' SYSF that spends some time dabbling in shallow waters before fading to a space with slightly more murk and swirl. Around 12:20, the band sets on the foundation of a groove that'll take us to a phenomenal peak in which Trey is using his looper to duel soloing phrases with himself. The Happy Birthday teases are just icing on a cake that had the whole room in a state of euphoria. Light achieves some pretty sweet heights as well, landing in a groovy and celebratory jam space for the final minutes. Fishman is excellent all the while. Next up, Fuego is absolutely epic. The main song is executed spectacularly, and then we get an extended outro jam that establishes some very industrial tension, to use jam chart's verbiage again. The > into WTU? feels all too appropriate here, and the second half of the tune is absolute bliss (please just listen to Fish here). Finally, a special birthday BDTNL for Bella wraps up Set 2.

And then the gag came. A buddy of mine came with me this night for his first show (what a first show to catch, lol), and his only request was "I hope they play Free." As soon as Trey started chugging away, we blew up. The stage setup was pretty low key for this tune, but the jam section was nice and tasty. When the band turned around to face the back of the arena, you could FEEL the excitement in the room (this would be repeated again during the Divided Sky pause the next night). I wasn't super familiar with A Wave of Hope before this show, but CK5 and the rest of the choreographers really helped me get into it with a spectacle waterfall/laser light show. When the dolphins and whale came out for Waves, it was game over: fucking killer gag. Waves itself was a bit drawn out and stagnant, but being there in person was mystical and enchanting, as Trey's playing emulated aquatic sonar calls--someone in that building had to be tripping way too hard at this point, hahaha. Sand moves through a number of excellent motions, most notably landing in a powerful, descending harmonic pattern established by Page. Set 3 closes as SOAM gets an atypically amorphous jam that creates a deep tension as the band explores the depths of the ocean floor. Very dooming and lurking. The It's Ice encore was a bit slow and the "underwater" section pretty short-lived, but the complex compositional pieces were nailed, so I was happy with the finish. Definitely an odd end to a show, as there wasn't your typical Hood-like peak or anything, but I found this show super refreshing and entertaining.

I don't write show reviews too often, but this night struck me so much in its singularity that I felt I needed to put some thoughts down. Much of this show's legend going forward will revolve around the stunning visual display in set 3...and rightfully so. It was probably the best "gag" the band has performed in several years, and arguably one of the best ever.

However, I think what makes this show so great is its musical depth. Phish has often used 3 set shows in the 3.0 era to showcase their catalog in a more straightforward fashion, often forgoing deep improvisation. This show is the diametric opposite of that. Phish goes deep in each set from this night...and often. Set 1 starts with a super relaxed, super confident 17 minute Everything's Right into a 9 minute Tube. Other highlights from this set include the deep take on Axilla II into a particularly spirited Bathtub Gin. All in all, an excellent opening frame.

Set 2 here...talk about something that looks one way on paper, but in reality is totally different in reality. This set is masterful (outside of Fuego's rickety composed section). This thing is a masterclass in flow. The band is completely in the zone and nothing is stopping the improvisational ideas from flowing. SYSF>Light>Fuego is one of the best hour-ish segments of music the band has played since returning last year. Ideas upon ideas with Fuego producing some of the most unique improvisational music I've heard in quite some time. Throw in a perfect WTU placement, and a spirited take on Numberline, and this thing gets wrapped up with a bow. I love how this set weeds out the casuals and the setlist-focused people. This is likely the best set of the run and it has the "worst" setlist. Classic Phish with a capital P.

People have written quite a bit about the stunning visuals of set 3. I'll only say that I was in section 111 right behind the stage...and it was basically the perfect spot to take in the breathtaking visuals. It was incredible...but as always, I'm focused on the music. And the music...was great. Free starts the set with a very solid straightforward take on the song. A Wave of Hope is a pretty inspired new mid-tempo rocker that I actually dig quite a bit. This Waves/Sand/Split Open and Melt segment though...this is what pushes this show firmly in the "legendary" camp for me. All three of these songs are performed with exuberance and boundless creativity, marrying the stunning visuals with legitimately great music. Again, this show manages to avoid the trappings of a normal "gag" set where the band forgoes musical depth for the spectacle. This set and this segment in particular marries the two in way that Phish rarely if ever, has accomplished...at least not in many years.

The spectacle continues into the encore with a strong version of It's Ice, its first appearance in the encore slot...and this marathon night is finished. I'm left with gratitude from this show, and it's provided a packed treasure trove of musical highlights to listen to for years to come. This for me is one of the best shows the band has played in the 3.0 era. I'm endlessly surprised and delighted that the band can still top themselves in their 39th year of existence. Long live Phish.

What a show. The Everything's Right->Tube was strong and kicked off what promised to be a splendid, if delayed, New Year's celebration. 555 made a nice appearance, giving way to a roaring "Back On The Train" that suitably kept things moving. Army Of One set up an Axilla (Pt. II) that tore us open, and then we were really going. A nice if somewhat unremarkable Gin preceded a mighty S.A.N.T.O.S. - apt, given we always would remember where we were, even if none of us knew what was in store. One tidbit I've read in a few places that I nevertheless feel compelled to note here, mostly for my own sanity and recollection: the 555 gave way to five more songs in the first set, then five in the second, and finally five in the third, making for the 555 show. These guys!

The second set was forceful; personal highlights there were the Fuego and probably the strongest BDTNL I've ever experienced live, shouting out to Bella's birthday. All the while, though, our minds were on the foretold set III, and everything until that would be an appetizer. In between 2 and 3, we saw the stage cleared, only what appeared to be a giant white sheet left in its wake. We spent setbreak speculating and considering all the possible contexts: no Halloween this year, so maybe a full album cover? The Earth Day shirts and branding was omnipresent, but could it be a misdirection?

Lights go down, and set III starts with a monstrous Free in which it immediately became apparent that the real star of the show would be CK5: Kuroda was absolutely on fire (and ice, and everything in between), setting the stage literally and psychologically with the lighting design. My head was on a swivel. I couldn't stop gawking at everything visually happening. A Wave of Hope gave us some insight into the Earth Day theme, and then, sure enough...that Waves. First, we in the audience simply became the ocean, various shades of blue and green descending upon us. The flying dolphins were one thing, a cool gimmick, and then no less than the Museum of Natural History whale emerged from under where we were standing, capturing everyone's (including the band's, by the looks of the video) attention. The bobbing ambient soundscape blended perfectly with the visuals, and the drone sea-dwelling mammals dipped and dove as if actually in water, nearly interacting with retired Knicks and Rangers jersey banners in the rafters. It was an absolutely unbelievable sight. The two-hitter of Sand and Split Open and Melt, both of which had featured at the Gorge last summer, opened my cranium and deposited severe hits of dopamine. The encore It's Ice was, naturally, icing on the cake.

Overall, an incredible show, if a little heavier on gimmickry and effects than notable for the musical prowess - which isn't to say that the music was bad, either. Quite the contrary, they complemented each other perfectly throughout the show and especially in the third. It was just that the visuals were so astounding, everything else is ever so slightly on the back burner in hindsight. I'll be re-listening to this one for a long time to come, I imagine.