This was my very first Phish show. You never forget your first! I flew up for the day from south FL with two buddies. One had seen Phish a bunch and the other was a newbie like me. I didn't recognize most of the first set, save for Ocelot, Sample, Julius, Sparkle, and Sand. I remember the Sand being monumental, as well as the Julius. My more experienced friend predicted a Everything's Right opener and a 2001 appearance in Set 2. I was thrilled with both. I started to understand Phish somewhere between Everything's Right and Soul Planet. The jams between reached the cosmos... I am now a fan of MEAP - I think it is a great tune that usually rocks out. I loved the R&R to end Set 2 and the three-pack encore properly initiated me as a Phish fan... As a dead head, I remember feeling like I was in an alternate universe at this show...being my first, it felt like a Dead show, it smelled like one too, but the music was oh so different. In the years that have followed, I have no longer felt in that alternate universe at a Phish show. I am there in the Phish universe, and in those moments; nothing else matters. Thanks for a great show, I am sorry it is taking me close to 3 years to review this show...but I will never forget it and I am already geared up for the next show...

This was my first show, I was 18 years old and drove from Erie with my GF and some friends. I brought a sheet of good white blotter LSD with me and took 2 hits when I got there. I ran into a group of friends from Erie hanging out on the floor, front right of stage and proceeded to dose everyone who wanted it. Before I knew it the entire sheet was gone. That whole crowd dancing in that front-right of center area were tripping hard. It's strange but I just had this realization of how the band plays off the crowds energy and how I contributed to that energy on this night at my first show. I feel like part of the music this night. :)

SET 1: First Tube: sure solid opener call. Mix isn’t ideal but I’ve just come off the 2013 shows on Apple Music where the mixes are stunningly good so maybe my ears need some realignment - wish the drums were louder though. First half is pretty whatever but it warms up nicely and the second half rages nicely. Uncle Pen: fun, played well with good solos from all. Carini: oooo fun! Get down! Super rare in the first set, not letting the foot off the gas at all yet. Jam starts in a funky/choppy space with Mike pretty much taking the lead melodies. Turns happy and mellow at 6:30 ish. Loving the Mike/Trey interplay at 8:20, that’s what it’s all about my friends. Trey messes with chordal whammy playing for a bit at 9:30 and by this point it’s clear that something is up as normally Trey would have pulled the ripcord on this by now given the era. Very clear that it’s gonna be one of ‘those shows’ even if the setlist gag isn’t clear yet. Things get super abstract by 10:00, big ol’ whirring clouds of synth in the background and some solid rhythmic motifs. Some Trey ripping from 11:00-12:20 then it dissolves altogether and wanders along in eerie ambience set against Fish playing a beat in 11/8(!). Finally Trey makes the call for > KDF. Decent jam, must’ve been mind-blowing to get a jam like this in the first set at the time. No hose or anything and a bit uncertain from Trey but nothing to complain about here. > Kill Devil Falls: haha, setlist gag confirmed. Awesome. Crowd must have been going bonkers. Really spirited run through the composed section and Trey’s voice sounds good. BOAF teases at 6:30 or so. Appropriately raged though nothing you wouldn’t expect from the song. Page with the ‘we love Dick’s, we do’ afterwards followed by Fish’s rimshot, lol. Crowd starts a ‘we love Dick’s!’ chant, but it’s soon cut off by… You Enjoy Myself: YESSSSSSS! Total ‘holy shit’ moment. Even if this weren’t clearly a setlist gag, this would just be awesome placement under any circumstances. I’ve never heard the crowd louder during the FIRST pause, forget the pre-Nirvana. Composed section is near-flawless for the era – I hear one note from Trey that wasn’t played, literally just one, and everything else is accurate and (most importantly) articulated loudly. Page is great through Boy Man God Shit and tramps. Standard jam though Trey really rips this one, then B&D, then one of my personal favourite VJs ever with the iconic ‘we love Dick’s’ stuff from Trey, HILARIOUS stuff. Love how that part of the VJ culminates with the band settling on ‘Trey loves Dick’s’ and repeating it until Trey bursts into laughter – perfect. It’s like they’re 18 and idiots again, in the best way. THIS is where 8/31/12 really takes off for me and never really lets go. One of the most airtight YEMs of the whole era, nothing mind-blowing but so much fun - worth returning to absolutely. Ocelot: lol, awesome. Just like with YEM, would’ve been good placement even minus the gag. Very well played type 1 Ocelot from Big Red. All eyes on the U now… Undermind: FUCK YOUUUUUUUU. Was pretty much inevitable that this one would deliver the goods given its place in the setlist and the need for it to be stretched out to work as a set closer. Follows the usual formula until the call-and-response between Trey and Fish and then it moves quickly into a groovy jam. You can feel the four-headed monster juuuuuust start to rear its head at around 7 minutes in. It’s brooding, it’s washy, it’s floaty. Mike is bumping all over the place. At 9 minutes in it turns upbeat and happy, big fan of how much the rim click cuts through the mix. Trey turns on the melodic bliss at 9:45 and we’re slowly climbing up that ladder. Effects at 11:00 ish, then whammy, then BIG trills from Trey, quickly echoed by Page. Denouement turns spacey and broad with Page organ, and it ends in a big flourish. The legendary Dick’s Undermind! Not personally one of my absolute A++++ creme de la creme jams of early 3.0 (I go to Reading DWD more often to scratch the bliss hose itch) but it objectively is great stuff and would have been incredible at the venue. What a face-fucking set! — SET 2: Runaway Jim: haha direction of the setlist gag is now clear (love their choice to end set one on the U, modern Trey would never do something like that.) Jam meditates on the standard Jim feel for a while. Fish drops a really inventive 6/8 groove while the rest of the band searches around, veers VERY close to LxL for a while but Trey (understandably) resists. By 10 minutes in Fish and Mike have locked in on a groove, then the rest of the band follows them into an awesome funky/jazzy motif, sort of Afrobeat-ish? Love Trey’s rhythm playing here. After a bit of wrangling Trey and Mike push the band into ANOTHER funky rhythm, this one even slower and more cowfunk-like. This lasts for a couple mins and finds its way into a peaceful melodic Mike-led space over which Trey executes a whammy solo nicely. Some more soloing over this groove for a while, then finally it dissolves into a really cool outro with some spritely plucking from Trey. Some cool passages in this jam mixed with some more mundane passages, worth a listen overall. > Farmhouse: LOL this would be a bad call in any other circumstance but because of the setlist gag I’ll allow it. Trey’s soloing is sweet and plaintive and I love the sustained note that he holds for what feels like nearly a minute. The song ends - like, properly finishes, with the end slowdown and all - and then Trey, clearly clock-watching, holds onto some ambience, and suddenly we have a dope ambient outro jam that should realistically be marked as Farmhouse > Jam. This portion of the song is awesome, goes from sleepy ambience into disturbing spacey tension over the course of a very slow souring. Seriously good playing from all members. Reminds me of a range of stuff, kinda sounds like Tim Hecker or early progressive electronic music. Also sounds like the 2001 and they definitely would’ve gone there if not for the setlist gag. This is pound for pound my favourite Farmhouse for sure. Really wonder whether this jam was pre-planned, I would guess not. > Alaska: cute A, nicely peaked. Chalk Dust Torture: solid pace and conviction in the composed section, then really great old school raging from Trey in the solo, then we’re straight into ANOTHER extended jam, and this one starts more promisingly than just about any other in this show so far, with a weird snaking funk groove starting around 7 minutes in and continues for a good while. Love Fishman’s choice of drum part here, not at all like his usual playing and he doesn’t relent until 10:00. At that point he relents and Trey pushes the band into a nice serene space. Cool melodies after 12:00 that sound great with whatever effects Trey is playing with. Opens up into a slightly more ambient sound around 13:45, then contracts again once Trey starts up some rhythm playing. He starts soloing again and it sounds awesome, then Trey starts using reverb pedals to fire off notes into the void and it’s all too beautiful for words – REALLY nice section here. Finally the jam starts fading into the abyss and we are left anticipating the E. I’m a big big fan of this jam, this thing really has no dull moments as far as I’m concerned. One of the best 3.0 Chalk Dusts and probably this show’s most underrated jam! Emotional Rescue: lmao. Hilarious. Glad they picked this one for this slot. Mike sounds horrible here, like truly unbearable. No matter. > Fuck Your Face: had to happen! I like the energy of ending the set with this. Also one of my favourite ripcords in the band’s history, Trey abruptly starting this during the Emotional Rescue outro is hilarious. What is Trey saying in the big outro flourish here? — ENCORE: Grind: perfect! Meatstick: even more perfect! Love the Phish from Vermont. — OVERALL: so here’s the rub with this one – if I were closely following Phish at the time this show would have blown my head clean off. This is a revered show for very good reason; I see many people describe this as the moment Phish was truly ‘back’ for them, and I really can’t dispute that too hard, even if I definitely prefer certain shows from early 3.0 up til this point. I mean, five massive jams? A band that was willing (albeit forced) to explore again, even if it didn’t always work out? An absolutely classic setlist gag that started a trend that continued up to a few years ago? Fantastic stuff, and if the Phish you had come to know mostly shirked type 2 jamming, 8/31/12 would’ve been so damn refreshing. As for me personally, I really like this show, though definitely dispute the idea that it’s perfect or deserves a place in the highest echelon of 3.0 shows (it is for SURE up there though, just not in my top 5 or 10.) As I implied the flipside of the band needing to jam more out of necessity is that not all of these jams are zingers. Carini and Jim have attractive timestamps but there’s not much there in the way of sustained brilliance – both are worth relistens but they do detract a little from the full show experience for me. The setlist gag also makes the flow a little strange at points, especially in the second set, and the LivePhish mixes for these shows are a bit iffy if that’s an issue for you. Having said that: a possibly career-best Farmhouse, a possibly career-best Undermind (though one that might be a touch overrated in the grand scheme of the band), an awesome underrated Chalk Dust, a great YEM with a top 5 vocal jam ever, and good renditions of KDF, Ocelot and Alaska. Hard to argue with that! 5 stars on paper, 4.2 stars in execution.

One can argue that this show stands as the greatest Phish performance of the 21st century because it functioned less like a traditional concert and more like a single, continuous piece of music with a clear artistic vision. From the opening Buried Alive into the shocking early arrival of Tweezer Reprise, it was immediately clear the band was deliberately inverting expectations, using Reprise not as a punchline but as a recurring musical anchor. As the first set unfolded—through a pristine, patient Reba, the swagger of Funky Bitch, the psychedelic looseness of Roses Are Free, and a deeply exploratory Split Open and Melt—each return to Tweezer Reprise reframed what had come before, tying wildly different styles and eras into a cohesive narrative. Rather than feeling repetitive or gimmicky, the motif gave the entire set purpose, creating tension and release on a macro scale instead of within individual jams. The second set expanded that idea into something joyous and expansive. A wide-open Kill Devil Falls and fluid Twist established a relaxed but confident improvisational flow, while Golden Age delivered one of the night’s most luminous jams before snapping back—again—into Tweezer Reprise, by now greeted with recognition and celebration from the crowd. Boogie On Reggae Woman provided pure release, and the placement of You Enjoy Myself felt intentional and profound, highlighting the band’s core values of playfulness, communication, and risk. When Tweezer Reprise surfaced yet again, it felt inevitable rather than excessive, completing a musical circle the band had been patiently drawing all night. The encore finally delivered a full Tweezer, transforming what had been teased and fragmented into a complete statement, and Harry Hood sent everyone home on a wave of warmth and shared understanding. Phish absolutely melted down SPAC and this show will go in the history books as one of the greatest Phish shows of all time. I hope this one day this will be pressed on vinyl and we as Phish fans should make it known to have anyone who joins the community listen to this show as a staple to what Phish has truly become. Rating: 4.65/5 5 Stars

Just thinking about this show today in preparation of a new MG tour in March. What a freaking show. I am local to this venue and really enjoy going there and this show was no exception. Very small, intimate theater where most of the staff that work there are retired volunteers who love music and the arts. Love this tour as they played a lot of the tunes from their new album (which I loved even on first listen). I remember the vibe being wonderful, not too crowded, everyone had space, we were all dancing in the front of the stage/aisle without issue. Drinking tall boy Yuengling's (bleh!). I remember someone saying that they saw Trey on the side of the stage and calling BS but low and behold, he was there. The show itself without Trey was really fun but once he came out the roof went flying off the place. If I'm not mistaken, I think he was playing Scott's guitar which was pretty cool to see. I remember them starting up with cities and the place just lost it. What a great memory. I am sure a recording of this show exists, and I also think they have some shots from the balcony on YouTube (if it has not been taken down over the years). it does not do the show justice but take a peek to get an idea of what the scene was like. Pumped for some more MGB!

SET 1: AC/DC Bag: always cool with this as an opener. Really solid Bag! Trey takes a couple runs at the end solo and comes out of the gate with some cool plucky country playing. Good way to kick off another Gorge run. > Timber (Jerry the Mule): LOVE this placement, exactly where it needs to be. Standard, does what it normally does, no more no less. Wolfman’s Brother: usual clav-driven funk to start opens up into another typical rock jam that Trey (for the era) rips to shreds. Rock god scenery chewing all over this one, he’s full of energy tonight. Would recommend! Funky Bitch: it’s a funk rock night at the Gorge! Great placement - not ready to let up just yet. Similar to Wolfman’s this is shredded by 3.0 standards. Hard to get much better than this in the era - really good stuff! Happy Birthday to You: adorable, for Kuroda. If this is the cooldown song in your set so far things are going pretty well. There’s randomly a small Satisfaction jam following this one (???) and then Trey calls for > Wilson: cool! Trey talks during the pause about an NFL player named Wilson, I’m not a football fan so can’t comment on this - context? Possum: non stop rock n roll indeed. Standard for the most part. Tube: nice, was hoping for something jammier/funkier and this delivered. Standard mostly but definitely enjoying Trey’s playing in the jam here - the 90s called and they want their wucka-wuckas back. Funk for days. Secret Smile: oh wow okay! I’m a big fan of the studio version of this song, one of my favourite Phish ballads in that incarnation. Live it’s… just okay - the production/performances that make it so magical are stripped away. Respect them for giving it a go though. McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters: yeahhhhhhh very nice. Good placement! Sounds clean to my ears and has an awesome transition > The Ballad of Curtis Loew: fun! Page sounds good! Split Open and Melt: good set closer. Fast out of the gate and the jam, while nothing special, gets the job done. Good set. — SET 2: Crosseyed and Painless: awesome! Fits the vibe of the first set perfectly. First 9 minutes of this is given over to Trey who does all the usual rock god theatrics, then it moves in a weirder slightly atonal direction for a while. Fish and Trey move to dissolve into space but then both attempt to reform it at various points over the next few minutes, to no avail really. Shuffles along in slightly awkward spacey wanderings until eventually it reforms in a half-time feel with a couple minutes to go. Sounds EXACTLY like Roggae for a minute there and would’ve made for a perfect -> but Trey opts for Twist instead. Not a great jam IMO. Soloing is good at the start but a lot of this is very uncertain-sounding and tentative. Don’t believe the timestamp. > Twist: what is Trey doing during the last set of ‘twist around’s? lol. HEAVY Tequila tease at the start of the jam. Jam mostly goes the usual route with some atonal edge to Trey’s playing, then he fires off some funk siren notes and we get a minute or two of really cool spacey playing reminiscent of the middle section of Echoes. Mike fires off a few fight bells here, he’s clearly a fan! Then out of absolute nothingness this forms > Steam: wow, nice transition and call here. This actually gets a really solid type 1 jam, rages more than you’d expect. Check it out if you like this song. > Waves: nice, definitely enjoying the mellow vibe this set is cultivating after that Crosseyed. Cute first jam and then a very pretty outro that I wish turned into a jam of its own. > Twenty Years Later: standard. > The Mango Song: yeah!!! Perfect for the sort of set they’re cultivating here. Playing isn’t perfect but who cares. Gets a little extra length at the back end. Bug: nice! Played well I thought. David Bowie: nice! LOVE Trey’s dissonant quote of the Bug theme in the intro - that’s how you create a narrative for a set. Chill jam for a while with a big Crosseyed tease from Trey. Nice strumming at 10:00, then a quick move into a standard peak. Not topping any highlight lists but goes over great all the same. Rocky Top: awesome! My favourite bluegrass tune now and forever. Set closer? > Character Zero: very cool with this as the REAL set closer. Trey asks ‘Toph’ (lol) to turn off the lights and the band starts howling at the moon during the typical solo, amazing. They tack on a noisy AMM style jam at the end here before finally ending the song. Love it! Great set! — ENCORE: Harry Hood: love whatever Mike’s doing in the intro here. Trey’s playing in the leadup to the miracle riff is AMAZING, like really really melodic and beautiful, but then he just sort of slams into the end without the customary minute or two of rock shredding. A shame as this was shaping up to be an exceptional Hood. > Fire: fast, sloppy, fun. A reference to wildfires in the area, apparently? — OVERALL: great show! I’m a big advocate of this show, it really delivers the goods and then some. What it lacks in brilliant extended jamming (C+P is extended but not brilliant) it makes up for in setlist construction, goofiness and type 1 playing. Set 1 is balls to the wall rock-out music and set 2 is serene and calm and must have been great on a summer evening at the Gorge. Clearly surpasses the following night for me! 4.2 stars.

I was there. One of the best "Waves" ever IMO. Vastly overshadowed by the all-time epic 30m+ "Soundcheck Waves" from the night before, but in any event, this one goes deep, delicate, and beautiful in a way that Phish rarely does. There used to be a great Vimeo LivePhish vid of it, but alas, seems to have disappeared.

My buddy miracled me a GA ticket last minute. I just gave it a through re-listen today. All I can say is WOW. This is prob my 10th MSG show and by far the best. There is nary a misplaced note from 2nd set (Sand) onward. This band has truly entered a higher gear. The boys were SURGICAL. The amount of space that cactus and fish are making right now for trey and page to play on top of is immense and trey and page are playing deliberately - delicate in one moment and tour de force another. I think this will be one we all look back on, not for its unbridled fire, but for its tightness, restraint, and precision, all wrapped up in a super fun gag. This is what this late-middle era is all about, a fine wine. Ice Cream - Eat your heart out!!!!

Looking back in 2026 some (me) would argue this Carini was THE turning point in 3.0, the inception point upon which Phish regained their wings and learned how to listen again as Carini would go on to become a transformative jam vehicle for the rest of 2013, a re-proving ground where the boys learned how to trust and dig deep again on a consistent basis...

Set One: 1. Chalkdust Torture: opened the show with arguably Phish’s best and most Rock N Roll song from the early 90’s 2. Moma Dance: Phish 97 funk era song. If you see a lot of shows this song can be played out, but in this show it’s an interesting placement being in a sandwich because they segue in and out of back to…. 3. Chalkdust Torture: end of song 4. Back on the Train: More rock and roll chugging along. Bonus points for it deepening the NYE Gag theories and at very least brought associations of Trey and Mike and their PSA for the NYC Metro system 5. Axilla Part II: More high energy rock and roll. I just love both Axillas. The first one is post apocalyptic Gamehendge dropping the buzzard, (is that a dead famous mockingbird?) with truly psychedelic lyrics. Want to know if it is true that when Phish was making Hoist, which is seen by the band’s attempt for mainstream popularity, that Axilla II was born out of a record executive note and push for them to be less weird than they are and have accessible lyrics. If that is true, well then I have to say that they succeeded. The imagery of sitting by the pool in the summer is a nice setting for this song. Maybe because of the selling out of the original psychedelic Gamehendge adjacent original version is why Axilla II was shelved after being played regularly in 1994 and 1995. Axilla II wasn’t played again until 2021. There was a 26 year gap for this. Nowadays it’s the regular version and Axilla I is the rarity. On Hoist though despite this possibility entirely made up selling out theory, Phish still made sure the song was psychedelic by adding the coda not originally associated with Axilla I. This spacey dark matter coda set is the first overtly trippy moment of 12/30/2025 6. Divided Sky: Arguably Trey’s compositional masterpiece when all is said and done. His prettiest. 7. Blaze On: The only 3.0 song of the first set. 2015’s message of hope song is an another modern day rocker. 8. Tube: lyrics ripped from Fishman’s 1980’s notebook. Funk and dance party song that ends rocking. 9. Reba: another stone cold Phish classic. Lyrically it is playful, surreal, childlike, funny. The Reba jam, many phans feel like the Reba jam is Phishiest prettiest music. The jam is heavily influenced by Frank Zappa’s “Inca Roads”. 10. Split Open and Melt: another stone cold Phish classic. Lyrically already trippy, complex compositionally, and the jam nowadays is basically Phish’s version of the Grateful Dead’s “Dark Star” adjacent “Space” that in modern times showcases just how psychedelic their lighting director Chris “CK5” Kuroda can get. Often feels like Phish is trying or actually is making contact with aliens Set Two: 1. Ghost: unusual placement, nice!!! from the getgo the band is jamming full on interplay listener to eachother locked in. Not the funk funk funk, but patient jamming, laid back but thoughtful. Cerebral. Same feeling as the next two songs really. Which isn’t a bad thing. The flow is on. 2. Ruby Waves: I can appreciate it as one of the first songs Trey wrote that encourages stepping away from active addiction “escaping from the prison of lies” 3. Light: read this was inspired by Eckhart Tolle and the book “The Power of Now”. So New Age spirituality influenced. “Light” was among the first batch of songs Trey debuted after August 7th 2008 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn , NY venue capacity of 650. 4. Crosseyed and Painless: The first three songs of this set were all building to this peak of explosive energy. 5. Twist: A cool down of sorts because let’s be honest that Crosseyed energy is just unsustainable, but still they kept exploring musically and the whoos were a nice release after the tension and transcendence of Crosseyed 6. Cavern: Before this started Trey made it sound like this was the closer which Cavern is known for. Cavern, another Phish staple. Rocking with weird trippy lyrics. Surreal. Fantasy. A little funky too courtesy of Mike’s bass playing 7. First Tube. To fakeout encore and get this bonus just felt like a gift. And it’s atypically exploratory musically like the first three songs of this set. Encore: After “First Tube” ended I screamed something like “Feeeeeee, please! I haven’t seen it in like 20 yeeaars! last one I saw was Camden 09 and only one before that was Starlake 03. “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you get what you need.”-Brenda Drift While Your Sleeping: Any song that isn’t a dance number gets bitched about being piayed at Phish shows. Phish shows are known for their dance parties. This show as a whole is more cerebral than dance party. It’s one of those shows that has relisten value for when you are by yourself driving, walking, sitting and listening, whatever. Drift is indeed an epic song and the message is about the power of love. it’s not all peaches and cream, but our days are fleeting anyway. “we move through stormy weather, we know that our days are few, and we dream and struggle together and love will carry us though”. Alternatively, in the tweaked words of Robert Hunter: “Some come to dance the night away, some come to make it just one more day. Whichever way your pleasure tends, if you plant ice you’re going to harvest wind”.

OK Raise your hand if you thought that when they started Theme in the #5 slot, that it would be the jam of the night..... ya, thought so! A pretty much perfect 2nd set of no filler... just the way I like it! The 1st 4 songs of set 2 were a perfect package. And I am glad that some one besides me noticed the Manteca tease in Disease! But y'all missed the fact that the 2nd part of the Theme jam after the theme solo proper, was indeed a FULL Manteca jam!! It was amazing. Go back and listen again. Trey definitely plays that rhythmic pattern and then the whole rest of the jam is on that pattern. The set list should actually go Theme>Manteca Jam>Simple....but doubt they will fix it. Good 1st set too! Great to see Antelope at the end of set 1 being the anchor with a big jam and interesting long extended peak! Strong Wolfman too! And Bag. Opening night with a bang!

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!

“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 :)

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.

[b]MSG 4 Review[/b] [b]Live Long, Prosper, and Pass the Ice Cream[/b] 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.

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

This was a very fun show and both sets have great stuff. I loved getting Divided Sky, Reba, and Split Open and Melt in this first set! Those are such great Phish songs that are amazing to see live. I was seeing some folks in a Phish discord server complaining about this show, and I disagree with them. I could argue Ghost through Crosseyed is the best stretch of the run through the first three shows. There was no 20+ minute jam that I was hoping for. However, the band stretched out very nicely during Ghost through Crosseyed and I thought the playing was great and didn’t meander. No jam of the year but I really can’t complain about the jams. 4 back to back 13+ minute jams is good. In general there are so many awesome phish moments to experience live. For example, the gorgeous melodic build in Lizards from 12/29, a scary melt jam, Reba jam, and all of Divided Sky. Each offers an incredible feeling and experience that is totally unique and getting that exact feeling live is very rare but when it happens it’s like welcoming an old friend.

I just want to say this show looks and sounds incredible. How precious a band and how spoiled a fanbase we are that DWYS is a ‘downer’ of an encore and brings everything down. If any other jamband than the Grateful Dead played that song, people would be amped for it and call it their best song. We just have so many YEMs, Divideds and Guyutes that a multi-genre, time-warp nostalgia of a song is still somehow a letdown. And that’s not even really a knock on the other jambands. It’s just, DAYUMN this band the Phish spoils us rotten. Much love and happy new year, my phriends!

Professional, workmanlike set list and show. A few high points (Axilla) in set one, good energy throughout. Second set was a bit aimless with the explorations, but ended with great energy. As with any “average” Phish show, it was excellent! In reference to themselves (see the night before), it was as certainly not their best. Possibly holding a little back for a big one the next night.

My only request for this show was no Tweezer, and the boys delivered! Tight composed parts, deep communicative jamming, and amazing segues back into songs. All of the first three nights have been of high quality in different ways: it’s truly an embarrassment of riches / “pick your poison” assortment.

Night 3, the fabled 12-30 date along with all the hype in the world after 2 fantastic shows - Phish had to come ready to meet the expectations ready for this one. The word for this show was "locked in" - the jams tonight nary wasted a moment - it felt like they all had a plan and they were all executed well. No random bust out for this show - but a lot to offer. Another sandwich with chalkdust and Moma got us started. Tube, like usual was a massive dance party. (Crowd like usual was amazing and eating it up as they should!) But the easy highlight of the 1st set is the melt, which had my jaw melting to the msg floor at the end. 2nd set here the heat gets turned up, and this is where we get some HOT, really intense, focused jamming. My friend said he felt like every time the jam ended tonight, they had plenty of room to keep going and STILL keep it interesting, which I agree. Ghost thru first tube was just a straight up classic MSG dance party, you did not want to leave your seat unless your bladder was exploding or you had to catch an early train. It was night I left the garden feeling satisfied despite the show ending well before 1130 and only a drift encore (I actually dont hate drift I just think as a standalone encore its on the weaker side of things) --- all in all this was a fucking fantastic phish show with strong jamming - our section on the chase bridge rocked as hard as ever!!!! Set One: B Set Two A Rating: 4.3

As we settled into encore and I heard "It will all feel new," it dawned on me that this was a fitting theme for this night, where some classics were trotted out, but in typical fashion, with different takes that felt new and invigorating. Jotting down some quick thoughts: Set 1 - very nice. Would have liked to remove a song or 2 to allow more time for some of these other excellent jams to be expanded - CDT-Moma Dance-CDT sandwich another fun back and forth. 3rd night in a row with a playback song, is this a tell for NYE? - BOTT - really excellent type I jam - Divided Sky and Reba - nothing fancy, just done right - Tube - Soaring, funky, great type II stuff! - SOAM - Evil Phish. Not unlike some of the versions of the past few years in its approach, but once again pulling itself from the Phish-induced wreckage was mind boggling, patiently and expertly done Set 2 - Rocked hard, with the first 4 songs equating to about an hour of non-stop type II jams that went in different places. Ghost, Light, and Crosseyed and Painless were all standout versions in my book. - Ghost: Great interplay, smooth and deft movements to different chords and tempos - Light: Beautiful as always, but a little more juice and just a very pleasing set of melodies - Crosseyed and Painless: So funky, so exciting, this one really got all of the crowd going and would highly recommend this relatively short but sweet version - First Tube: Great set closer after a high energy Cavern that Trey teased us by pretending this was the final song, Trey really wanted everyone engaged here and brought it!!! Not a sensational show, but an excellent one nonetheless, with several type I and type II jams that stuck their landings, and the band on their game playing all their classic and complicated tunes without a hitch. One more night and crossing my fingers for more Phish magic :)

My review is simple. Was it the greatest show I've ever seen? No. Did it rock? Yes! First set was hit after hit, leaving little to be desired (other than maybe a little tempo). Second set was jam city, ending with a very appropriate cavern and first tube to bring the crowd back. The encore was fine, not great, but fine. Overall I'd give tonight a 3.85-3.9, it was a great show under normal circumstances, but tonight was new years run MSG, instead it was very good in comparison to the night before.

My girlfriend and I hit the Sunday/Monday shows coming away obviously pleased. Our plan was to fly home today after seeing some old friends in the city and return excited and rejuvenated for the new year. Except we live in Syracuse. We were convinced the current storm was gonna get our flight canceled but delta said “whatever man, let’s try it”. They get the plane loaded and then three minutes later tell everyone to get off. 3 delays/hours later I just turn to her and was like “wanna just go to the show?” Haul our ass back to the city, changing reservations and scrambling to buy last minute tickets, all the while thinking “is this going to be worth it? Are we being idiots?” Friends, the answer to both questions is “yes”. What a show, what a run, and what a story I will tell way too many times to my friends in the years to come. Remember that you do sometimes get a return on the faith you provide. -Joe O’B

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.

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

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!