It is truly a blessing to see this band each and every night. A lot to be said about the first hour, so I'll leave it to people who could better describe the face-melting glory with which we were bestowed.

The second set is full of more inspired playing by the band, very neatly tying a debut in like it's been played for years. Has anyone noticed the eagerness to jam new songs this tour? Sheesh these guys are never lacking in evolution.
I understand that some people don't like the band to play free and loose and about love or light, but if such a second set is "aimless" and "meandering," it might be time for you to start letting people who still get it take your seat at the venue.

Encore was an absolute home-run. See y'all Tuesday!

Never miss a Sunday show folks. If you don’t know this by now, then that’s on you.

Highlights Set 1: Power Gin, Funky Theme, Double Llama, Disco Tube.

Highlights Set 2: Sigma, Life Saving Gun, NMINML, Light.

Bag and MFMF both got a little jam treatement, but Gin came in and got things kicked off. After that, the next stretch of songs was spectacular. Theme featured a mini “Free” dual between Trey and Mike at the start, and proceeded to be vocally distinct from other versions. Llama with the extra mustard, so much extra mustard actually Trey played it a a second time. And then Tube went into full on Disco party. Exactly what the doctor ordered.

That Life Saving Gun debut was cool. No Men’s right after was a much needed deep jam for the evening. Light brought the heat for the proper close.

While Suzy packed a punch, Izabella brought the house down. Nuff said. Great fucking show.

There’s something different between a show like tonight where the band is intentional about taking songs for a whirl vs., say, Friday night where we get a more natural 4.0 show of jams throughout. But…

Who cares!! When Phish is locked in and having fun that night, so is the whole fucking fanbase. I’m here to largely review the 1st set.

The boys come out with a Sunday Bag type 2 opener and we’re off to the races. The thing about 2023 and 40 years as a band is they say so much more in 10 minutes than they have in the past in say 30 mins. The jam finds a quick groove before Trey says it’s MFMF time, which gets its own type 2 treatment that neatly segues its way into a Bathtub Gin that peaks in its usual glorious type 1 ways. Theme starts off atypical with a Trey and Mike jam (why are people going to the bathroom during this set do you not see what’s happening in front of you?!) that nicely weaves itself into the song’s structure before eschewing the ending for a funk jam that turns out to be full speed ahead into a FAST Llama (2nd in a week? What year is this?) which gets a type 1 jam treatment that LIGHTS MSG on fire! At this point the floor of MSG might collapse 48 mins into this show.

But the band finally gives us a breather of Tube. Right? No? Not a breather? Ok. Has anyone told you that Mike is incredible and a leader of jams and inducer of groovy dances this summer? No? Ok now you know.

Did Tube jam? Yes are you stupid or even paying attention? Of course it did this night is relentless.

Golgi closes out a very very fine set and feels like an appropriate energy stamp to what we just witnessed. What could set 2 bring after THAT?

The second set starts with Mike changing into his shiny silver shirt, or Sigma Oasis into the Page/Trey song Life Saving Gun. LSG gets a dabble before Trey turns it into No Men in No Man’s Land. Lonely Trip > FRANKIE SAYS > Jibboo > then…

We get back to our modern day roots + the 1st set vibe during Light which gives us the seminal jam of the night and closes the second set. This will probably be the jam you revisit. Suzabella sends us home on the stomping note the first set energy gave us.

——

“Never miss a Sunday show” is revived. I’m reminded of how a “I was there” Phish show and the energy it creates, let alone at YEMSG, is unparalleled. I think in the long run, some of these jams may lose their luster to the debates we have. I also think that if you combined the first set from tonight with last night’s second set, we’d be done here (ok maybe that’s where the Friday show nearly got). But in the short term, def listen to the first set and maybe the whole show from beginning to end and enjoy the feeling of experiencing THAT.

Highlights: Gin, NMINML, Light

Almost every song in this first set gets a bit of a special treatment. Bag has a gorgeous jam; 11 minutes is long for Bag! Theme has a very interesting and unique introduction. Totally unlike any Theme I’ve ever heard. Then they do a longer than normal, bubbly jam. A fantastic version that sounds different than any other. Llama gets played at the speed of light, and this is one of best Tubes in the past few years.

Life Saving Gun was a phenomenal debut. I’m happy to see them play a song off Trey/Page’s recent album, “January”. I was worried that none of those songs would enter the Phish repertoire. This has quite the nice jam in it. Fishman is driving the jam like crazy. Trey and Page do their job too and it results in a great 13 minute excursion. It felt a lot longer than 13 minutes; I was a bit shocked when I saw it was only that long.

This No Man’s has some of the finest playing of this year. Absolutely jaw dropping. Unbelievable how much brilliance they pack into these 18 minutes. Trey leading the way. Now this is must listen Phish.

Life Saving Gun > No Man’s was so good that they felt way longer than they actually were.

Gotta Jibboo > Light is some above average Phish to cap off a great set.

Set 1 will get more love, but this set 2 is brilliant. I love being surprised by a set like this.

I couch toured this one so I could live vicariously through my friend who was in attendance. The first set put a huge grin on my face. Tight playing, loose jamming, smooth segues, a playful duel, a “let’s play it twice” gag. This set will definitely be in my re-listen rotation. My only complaint is that it ended too soon.

Set II had some fine moments, but just didn’t seem to find its groove in the same way Set I did. Life Saving Gun and No Men in No Man’s Land are fairly indistinguishable and unremarkable as songs, and the jams didn’t do a lot for me. Frankie Says was nice to hear, but it was abruptly ripcorded in favor of Gotta Jibboo. Ouch. Luckily the Light jam went to some very cool places and rekindled some of the telepathic interplay of the first set. This set wasn’t outright bad, it just lacked the effortless flow and inspired interplay of the first.

The first set is must-hear. They just swung too hard in the first and didn’t have much mustard left for the second. Which honestly, is a pretty endearing thing to happen. People would have absolutely lost their minds to get a first set like that in 2009. How lucky we are to have this band 40 years into their career, still willing to take risks and make weird, dorky magic happen.

AC/DC Bag: Nice, little jam. Interesting that of the last five played, 4 have been over 9 minutes. I guess jamming out Bag is making a comeback! This one is upbeat and then mellow and then you can hear Trey angling for the next tune a good 20 seconds before they actually… ->

My Friend, My Friend: Very cool jam! Dark and ominous. Almost sounds middle eastern in parts. Would highly recommend! A killer segue into… ->

Bathtub Gin: Solid, straight ahead jam. Reminded me of early 3.0 Gin versions.

Theme From the Bottom: My first listen, I thought someone screwed up and they just went with it. Second time through, sounds intentional and possible rehearsed. Trey singing in that higher register though is not good. Outside of that, this version is unique and highly recommended. They 97 funk jam the very end of this and segue neatly into… >

Llama: Absolute hellfire. Sounds like Trey from 99 with that intense reverse reverb/backwards effect, no kidding. Really impressive and a complete face melter. Highly recommended. The banter at the end is very funny. Did we play that already? What are the rules? I remember the old Madison Square Garden, back before you kids were born. It was crazy back then!

Tube: What a killer jam. Just no filler in here at all. Most of it is just balls to the wall rocking out. Really good stuff would highly recommend! >

Golgi Apparatus: Trey making up new and annoying ways to sing the lyrics to one of the oldest Phish songs there are.

SET 2:

Sigma Oasis: Seemed fairly straightforward to me.

Life Saving Gun: Not good. Hope to never hear this again. Jam seemed rather listless and lost at times. >

No Men In No Man's Land: I liked the hard edge and rocking nature they find themselves in around the 12 minute mark. Sounds like Hendrix there briefly in the late 12s. Good stuff! Outside a few minutes after this part, this jam doesn’t do much for me. >

Lonely Trip: The set is on life support at this point. >

Frankie Says: Love this tune, but tough spot for it. I think how Page forgot how to play the intro. Trey and Page seem to have a tough time getting the intro off the ground. This is the shortest and most awkward version they have played. >

Gotta Jibboo: Very forced segue out of Frankie Says. Intro here is sloppy as well. Most of this jam just does not relay that confident swagger that much of this tour has had. >

Light: The early part of this jam has that distinct summer 97 sound to it in the 6 minute range. Love that! They could have kept moving this forward but instead lean on that major mode crutch. Too bad.

ENCORE:

Suzy Greenberg: Standard.

Izabella: The intro sounds so odd to me. Has been that way I guess since they brought it back. But outside of that, always happy to hear this.

Summary: First set was great fun and very creative and then not really sure what happened backstage that they would come back out for the second set so flat? Strange. Would rate this as a 3.7 out of 5.

Replay Value: My Friend, My Friend, Theme from the Bottom, Tube

Saw this from the first row of seats behind the floor. TBH some of the songs sound better on LivePhish than they did at the Garden, notably Gin which seemed halting in person but is quite good on headphones. Its opening notes mark the moment where the glowsticks started flying and the crowd really lost its shit. By the end of Lama they (erm, we) were in a frenzy. Overall this first set is hard-rockin' 1995-era Phish, with lots of shredding; if you are thrilled when Trey plays Hendrix (as opposed to admiring his chutzpah) then this is absolutely the show for you.

Me, I'm in it for the hose. And it's here that I direct your attention to Jibboo. This is not Phish's best song (even if Camden 2000 is grand). But I am writing this review to say that this version is gorgeous. I was startled to see how short it is when I logged on the next morning—in the moment it felt like a trip to the stars. CK5 certainly helped, turning the ceiling of the Garden into Monet's waterlilies. But it holds up on repeat listening. There's not much to this Jibboo, just that descending figure repeated until it approaches the ambient. You may be underwhelmed, but check it out: worst case, you've lost 10' 13" that you won't get back; best case, you've made your day.

The encore returns to the Set 1 space: have rarely seen a crowd as delirious as during Suzy Greenberg, and Izabella was like when a big wave dunks you at the beach. So all in all this show was a blast. Definitely in the low 4's, which as of this writing is exactly where the voters have put it.

Watched from the chase bridge lounges. This first set was some classic amazing stuff. One of the best sets I have ever seen live, At setbreak me and my friend both agreed Phish was on to something special this night. We were sure that they were going to rip a 2nd set for the ages and this would be the best show of the run. No, that didnt quite happen because the 2nd set didnt ever reach the peaks and valleys of the previous nights at msg so far. Still, the shows pretty damn underrated.

Must hears: Entire first set, No Mans, Light

Set one A
Set two C
Show score: 4.25

Alright final show or 2023 for me. Also my last day in NYC since this show and I don’t know when I’ll be back. If it was our last day ever there we hit the Bronx
Zoo and had an amazing steak dinner. Then we got to go to another Phish show. If that’s it well couldn’t have planned it better myself.

Set 1 starts out with AC/DC Bag and they came right out of the gates ready to go. It gets jammed nicely and then lands in My Friend, My Friend. This is another great version of this song over the last few years. Bathtub Gin follows and it’s a nice type 1 excursion, sometimes that’s all you need. Theme From the Bottom starts up much different, but what a version! They really rip this one and then we find ourselves landing in Llama. Wow I remember the Garden was bouncing once they started to rip this one. Tube is next and it gets down and funky the way we like it. How is this version not jam charted? Golgi Apparatus brings us to a close in grand fashion. Holy smokes, what a set!

Set 2 starts out with Sigma Oasis. I was not expecting this one. It’s played fine but standard. Life Saving Gun is next and I like this song. I think it has a solid jam for a first outing. No Men in No Man’s Land follows and they jam it out again. I like this song showing up mid set instead of first so I did enjoy the placement. The flow of this set was strange and we land on Lonely Trip. I like this song, but just added to a set of odd song choices. This fades into Frankie Says, which was a first for me so I took that in. Gotta Jibboo follows, I always enjoy the jam in this song so it had me bouncing around. Light closes out the set, which I didn’t see coming with a very solid jam. It peaks nicely and I kind of liked Light as a set closer. Suzy Greenberg, Izabella in the encore slot…Yes Please! That’s how you send the people home happy.

Set 1 Highlights-> AC/DC Bag->My Friend, My Friend, Theme From the Bottom, Tube. (Just listen to the entire thing).

Set 2 Highlights-> Life Saving Gun>No Men in No Man’s Land, Light

This was a good show and I had a lot of fun. Set 1 was just so dam good. Set 2 had some issues, but I also enjoyed them mixing up the set list. I’d give this one a 4.15/5.

When I slept until 8am on July 30th, 2023 I felt I was making progress on the ninety-minute time difference between Newfoundland and New York City. NYC may be “the city that never sleeps” but what would I know about it? I’d be lucky if I could keep my eyes open past midnight at least once on this weeklong Phish excursion.

I tiptoed out of the room and went downstairs to the hotel’s free buffet for a small and rather lame breakfast washed down with much too much mediocre coffee. I killed the rest of the morning on the sidewalk outside the hotel just watching the big city in action, and there was plenty to see. Though Springhill Suites was on one of Manhattan’s smaller side streets (37th) rather than one of the bigger and busier avenues there was still plenty of bustle going on.

The first thing I saw was small squad of beat policemen gathered in an alcove across the street from where I was leaning. They were patrolling through the multiple lanes of one-way traffic on my street that were continually being brought to a standstill by the traffic light at 5th and 37th. It looked to me like the cops were checking for stickers on windshields, but I couldn’t be sure. Regardless, every few minutes one of the cops would direct one of the cars to pull over, where another cop would be waiting to write the the poor driver a ticket.

I watched them do this for a full hour, ducking inside only to refill my lousy coffee cup.

After the cops had left an ambulance came down the street with its siren wailing and soon found itself stuck in traffic right in front of the hotel. It was odd to hear a screaming siren and see the emergency go universally unheeded by the other drivers who sat in their cars staring straight ahead and not giving an inch. The analogy to the countless homeless people populating the surrounding sidewalks was not lost on me.

It’s astounding just how many desperate people there are roaming the streets with their hands open to the frantic Manhattan hive hoping someone will stoop down and save their day. But there doesn’t seem to be nearly enough people who are willing to give. Living in a city this large must diminish a person’s empathy. Even after just a few days of saying “I’m sorry brother” “I’m sorry, good luck” “Sorry my friend,” I was already able to stop feeling horrible for not helping people after just a minute or two, instead of letting it haunt me for the whole day. I’m sure after a few months I wouldn’t even notice them, like most of the people I saw walking by outside.

Funny, while the police where engaging in their sting people were smoking big fat stinky joints on the street all around them with complete impunity. The city had recently legalized recreational marijuana and while there were only two stores in all of New York City that were legally allowed to sell the stuff it seemed like every second shop in Manhattan had signs in their windows offering 3-for-1 deals on pre-rolls.

And not only that, the city had decided that smoking weed was legal anywhere that one could smoke tobacco, so people stood on the sidewalks smoking pot all the time.

I should know, I hung out there a lot.

Once m’lady got up and around we headed out to meet some friends for lunch and then went to a matinee showing of a Broadway show written by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim called Here Lies Love.

But that’s another story.

Getting to this story - which ostensibly regards the third night of Phish’s seven-show run at Madison Square Garden - we were seated behind the stage. I’ve been behind the stage at several Phish shows and while it isn’t my first choice it isn’t my last either. To be honest, there’s a lot to be said about sitting back there. Especially Kuroda’s light show. Sure, it’s way, way better to see it from a vantage-point somewhere near the light board (like we were on night one), but CK5 lights up the audience more than any other lighting director in the business, constantly shining colourful bursts of light onto the crowd giving the band - and those of us lucky enough to be sitting behind the stage - an arena full of ever-changing eye candy to gape at throughout the show.

In fact, it seemed to me that Chris was lighting up the crowd with even more gusto than usual for this show, though it could obviously have just been my perspective. But it was a much more song-oriented concert than the previous two as well, with an awesome My Friend, My Friend near the top of the first set and Tube>Golgi closing it. Somewhere in there they almost played Llama twice in a row when Trey comically restarted the song as soon as they had finished it.

At setbreak I marvelled from my backstage perch at all the wonderful rigging it takes to pull of a Phish show, especially Kuroda’s hanging lights that rise up and down at the flick of a switch. It was reminiscent of my experience at Here Lies Love that afternoon, where m’lady and I had to weave through a uniquely interactive open-concept backstage area with the obligatory hanging ropes, pulleys, and stage props in order to get to-and-from our seats. Plus I had a bird’s-eye view of Fishman’s drum kit! Though not quite Neil Peart-ish in stature it’s getting there, and with his Marimba Lumina and all the other gadgets and toys, well, for a geeky gear-oriented fan like myself it was pretty neat to be back there.

The second set was again pretty songy and pretty rock and roll too, and it stayed that way right into the Suzy Greenberg encore, which single-handedly squashed an encore alphabet theme conspiracy that had been floating around the geekier message boards.

I had heard lots of chicka-chicka wah-wah pedal coming from Trey all night. So much that during the first set I randomly leaned into the stranger next to me and said into his ear, “I think I hear Jimi Hendrix coming!” After he looked at me like I was a cracked-out alien hobo I stood there silently feeling stupid for the next hour-and-a-half.

When I was finally redeemed as Phish closed the concert with Hendrix’s Izabella (which I had heard them play in the same room six years earlier) I turned to dude to receive my well-deserved high-five and he was…gone!

I did, however, notice that our friend Terry was seated just behind us in the Madison Club section (where we would be sitting for our final night), and m’lady and I went up to say hello as soon as the show ended.

I really like Terry and hadn’t seen him in a long time so I was shocked to hear myself say “no thanks” when he suggested we come back to his hotel for a nightcap or two. But I did. And here we were mere minutes from the clock ticking us into m’lady’s birthday. For shame!

The city that never sleeps, huh? Well, this lame-ass sure does.

https://toddmanout.com/

That first set was one of the best I've seen in years. I thought we were in for an epic show...
Second set started out okay with Sigma Oasis but that god awful Life Saving Gun song from the Trey & Page sessions was terrible and wouldn't end. IDK what the song is about but I can't help but to think the 2nd amendment gun nuts have gotten to Trey. There is no such thing as a "life saving gun". Period. The more guns, the more deaths. Look around. There should not be a song about it. Especially after such a fire first set. NMINML was a good save but Lonely Trip was more of a stumble. Come on, guys! Frankie Says was the best part of the second frame and it was the shortest song. Jibbo was a jarring juxtaposition but always a good, upbeat song to hear (usually in a first set) RIP Tony. Light was the icing on the slap in the face cake. Decent version of a shit song. I'm sorry. Do you remember what the first set was?!? And then Suzy as an encore?! Come on, guys! Izabella was maybe the highlight of the show. But again too short. Show over by 11:15? IDK... The weekend started out better than the Baker's Dozen and ended up worse than some shows I've seen in Camden. I love Phish and MSG (it was my 65th Phish show at MSG) but I was hoping for more, especially after that first set. I hope they don't have a hard time with attendance the rest of the shows bc of the lackluster performances Saturday and Sunday. Just sayin'... Thanks for an adequate performance.

I know, I know… on Phish.net we’re only supposed to post glowing reviews. Each show is the BEST CONCERT IN HISTORY. But In 200+ shows I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a delta between first and second set like 7/30/23. Did they know the show disintegrated after intermission? Is that why they played one of their shortest shows in recent memory? Honestly, the last time I saw that many people sitting during a Phish show was the NYE warm up at the (mercifully defunct) Capital Center in December 1997. It seemed like they knew they went off their rails and got off stage as fast as they could.

Life Saving Gun and parts of No Men were fine in Set 2, but what happened during the set break? Phish was spitting fire in Set 1: even though it was only 66 minutes, they played the living daylights out of each song. Super strong My Friend and Theme>Llama. It was the kind of set that keeps you on your toes, dancing, singing along…and then THUD. Set 2 crashed like a led zeppelin, and never found its footing. This is where I wish the band did post-“game” interviews like in sports. “Trey, you broke out zero songs in Set 2 that even your most casual fans could get excited about. The songs you did play were aimless and meandering…what did you want us to get out of that second set?”

As is always the case, I’m sure some people got something out of this show. But overall, everything after 9:15pm is perfectly skippable. Here’s hoping Tuesday is better…