Couch toured after doing the first 3. I was 100% prepared to miss the best show ever.

Set one had a little bit for everyone despite the jams not going too deep. It was certainly heavier on the ballads toward the end. Still, it was a hearty affair that got the juices flowing and got us primed for the rest to come.

Set two we begin to take off - Sand and Fuego were top notch. YEM was a nice 2nd set treat to get early and then It's ice bled into a fantastic cover of Princes Cream, which they absolutely nailed. Again, nothing immediate showstopping to this point but very solid phish, and no ballads in this set.

Set three begins the full "gag" and takes the cake for the best of the night. 2001 was a great song to ring in the new year, the freezer gag and all the peformers were a great touch and the whole thing truly felt like a NYE party, as it should. Fish going on the rocket was hilarious.

Tweezer was a lock once the freezer gag was unveiled, and it was a version that did the gag justice. it bled into a wild piper that really had me reflecting on how good of a set it was turning out to be, and how much i was having just couch touring it.

Okay so Spock's Brain fuckin rules and when I heard that coming with the milk carton i officially was pissed AF that I couldnt make it.

Tweeprise was as fitting a song to cap off 2025 for Phish as any. It was a solid year to put in the books.

Set One: B-
Set Two: B+
Set Three: A

Score: 4.45

MSG 4 Review

Live Long, Prosper, and Pass the Ice Cream

Tonight marked my 168th time seeing Phish, and somehow, still, they found a way to surprise me.

It also marked a handful of firsts. A first true New Year’s Eve kiss. A first Spock’s Brain chase caught. A first time fully surrendering to a “live long and prosper” mindset as more than a joke, more like a guiding principle. Beam me up, Scotty. Here we go.

First and foremost, a huge shout-out to my loving boyfriend Steve, who braved the rail with me for four nights in a row. That alone deserves its own tour poster. We dressed accordingly, cheap Amazon LED shoes and bow ties that lasted maybe five to ten minutes before surrendering to entropy. Worth it.

Tonight was Steve’s fifth show, and we have developed a dynamic that feels both ridiculous and perfect. We share this band. He is Spock. I am Data. I receive logic. He delivers it. Regularly. With precision. I also frequently get asked, “Do you want the Vulcan answer or the human one?” Reader, there is only one correct choice, and it is always Vulcan.

On night one, I told my best friend Sean that it would be hilarious if they busted out Spock’s Brain. I said it half joking. The universe was listening.

We walked onto the floor around 7:40 PM, fresh and ready, settling into the hearing-accessible section. I cannot overstate how meaningful that space is. People fully grooving by feel alone. Sign language interpreters translating joy. Balloons passing through the crowd so vibrations can be felt. It is a reminder that music is not just heard. It is experienced.

We have had access to upper suites all run, but I kept choosing this space. Roped off. Rail-adjacent. About fourteen security guards deep. Page side. Some of the kindest humans on the planet. Proof that maybe this place is not so bad after all.

We all arrived after dinner at The Little Mermaid, which was excellent, thank you very much. The band burst into Free, that classic Mike funk swagger, followed by Birds of a Feather. All weekend I kept saying this felt like old-school Phish, especially early on, and night one confirmed it.

Bouncing Around the Room landed as a reminder that Tom Marshall once said he knew Phish had made it when the entire Garden sang along. That tradition is alive and well.

Stash came next with crisp clapping, followed by Waste, which I still believe is the truest distillation of Phish’s emotional core. Gentle, earnest, devastatingly sincere. My Friend, My Friend scratched a personal itch, and A Life Beyond the Dream hit hard. That song matters to me. It always has.

Kill Devil Falls, then More. During the Baker’s Dozen, this was the song I came out to. Night three. I remember looking around MSG thinking, “I could scream this to everyone here and no one would care.” Half of what I said was lies. It took courage. But the life that followed? Skyrocketed.

Monsters followed. Then Life Saving Gun. Still no overt theme, but hints were forming. Ice. Cream. Bells somewhere in the distance.

Second set opened with Sand > Fuego > No Men In No Man’s Land. I begged to sit. My legs begged louder. Steve, however, does not bend easily when Pylon is calling. Up to the sky bridge we went, catching the tail end of the madness, saying Happy New Year and “I love you” to friends old and new. Shout-out to Meesh and Benny. Congratulations on conjuring life in the year 2026. Meesh, you glowed.

Back to the rail I went. Steve was easy to spot, deep in his glowstick era.

What’s Going Through Your Mind has been a favorite since Mondegreen. Dance like a fool every time. You Enjoy Myself followed, and yes, we all saw the poor soul misplace Trey’s trampoline mid-song. Trey corrected him live, without missing a note. That man’s origin story now includes public YEM shame. He survived. Barely.

Then came It’s Ice. The bell. The ice cream man. I touched the man. I did not touch the bell. Tragedy is relative.

Milk cartons. Ice cream props. A freezer portal. Harry Hood descended like a blessing, followed by 2001, and suddenly we were all in space looking for Spock. Fish disappeared. A fake Fish emerged with a bomb pop. This is why we keep coming back.

Auld Lang Syne brought my first real New Year’s kiss. I love my Spock. Deeply.

Tweezer > Piper > S.A.N.T.O.S. closed the set with ferocity. Kasvot Växt continues to age like wine and gasoline.

Encore time. Trey grinned. Milkmen appeared. And then it happened. Captain Kirk we have found him!!

Spock’s Brain.

I told Steve that morning that most fans will now love-hate-despise-love him . But when you chase something long enough and it finally lands, the joy is irrational and complete. Funkier than expected. Teased earlier. Fully realized at last.

Tweezer Reprise sealed it. Spock recovered. Order restored. 2026 initiated.

Phish has now played 91 shows at Madison Square Garden. Ice cream felt appropriate.

If you disliked this review, please hit the like button and subscribe. This is my first one.

Live long. Prosper. And never underestimate the bell.

Ridiculous doozy of a night. The 50 minutes of that tweezer and piper… some of the musical high points for me this year. After already awesome Hood and 2001 segments that had their own musical weight, Tweezer gloriously peaked with the gag and then dove back into the soup for an extended post-gag jam segment that built and built further. The fogged out lights elevated into otherworldly terrain. Piper was a fully formed epic in and of itself. The production otherwise was all around a blast. Spock’s Brain was beyond a treat.. throw in an epic MFMF, YEM, charged up KDF, LSG, Sand, Fuego and a couple first/bustouts for measure… stir in that NYE Garden energy and have another absurdly perfect night to cherish. Feel very blessed to have witnessed this and Tweeprise in the same year.

“Come waste your time with me,” they sang , hopefully tongue in cheek, because certainly no one left that show feeling like time was wasted tonight!

Prior to the show, our group talked about how traditionally the NYE show’s third set gag was always fun, but usually meant that a set was devoted to shorter and less jam-tastic improv, meaning that a NYE show was more likely to be made in sets 1-2. So of course Phish chooses to flip the script…

First set checked a lot of boxes on fun song choices, but light on the jams and improv. That being said, Myfe is fantastic and they remained on point for songs like Waste, Stash, and BOAF.

Towards the end of the first set, Trey says something to the effect of “we’re going to have a fun night, right?” - he repeated it, almost to reassure us that they know what is up and we wouldn’t have to worry about it.

And then sheer joy and chaos through my brain ensues in sets 2-3 courtesy of my GOAT band.

Set 2
- Sand & Fuego - excellent treatment and cover a lot of ground in the jams
- YEM - just when you think you got this song figured out, they drop a fricking 6th section to this song with a post-vocal jam jam (that’s not a misprint)! So cool, I think this is going to be a formula for future success.
- It’s Ice - Cream was a great ending, and of course the intrigue heightened while listening to C.R.E.A.M. and Ice, Ice, Baby, Peaches and Cream, etc. during set break. My clever wife posits that we will be getting free ice cream before the night is over, although we have no clue how that could be.

Set 3 was just freaking amazing, start to finish. The gag was so brilliantly executed by giving a nod to tradition and Phishtory while allowing for maximal musical experience. I think Harry Hood through Piper was an absolute 5-star jam experience, especially in addition to the wonderful semi-improvisation in sync with the dancers and visuals. The Sloth and the Meatstick dancers had me . And to use classics like Harry Hood & 2001 to bridge us into 2026 was amazing. Immediately starting the year with 50 mins of peak Tweezer and Piper was sublime. That was easily the best set of the run and likely one of my best experienced all-time, just wow.

What a great show and run, this band once again demonstrating the stamina and fortitude to leave us awestruck as they hit their golden age

Driving into Manhattan, I spotted a “TWZR” license plate, an auspicious sign indeed.

First set highlight was MFMF. They definitely clicked on that song. I would say that there was a lot of expectation in the crowd and it felt like going through the motions until they landed on YEM. It had the mini 2nd jam which probably wasn’t a nod to the NYE 95 show, but I like to think they thought of it. It’s Ice was a first time heard. I just need to cheek Tela off my Gamehenge bingo card!

This was my wife’s first show since NYE 2010 and it was fitting the celebration referenced that Meatstick multinational fun time. This NYE one of my favorite NYE gags they have done. I’ll never look at a carton of milk the same.

The 3rd set was a solid, jammy one and not a throwaway set in the least. The lights in Piper were nutso. Encore brought me full circle as I saw Spock’s Brain at my first show, not knowing what it was. Longest MSG Phish show ever and was handed a Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food pint and commemorative wooden spoon. Onward to Mexico and the Sphere. Happy New Year!