2019/12/28 Phish @ MSG (Night 1)
Thank you, Mitty, et al, for adorning the MSG concourse with Freaky swag. So.Fucking.Cool. You could see a Freak coming from a mile away and it made seeing and meeting so many new and friendly faces so easy and fun.
At 8:12 on the first night of Phishmas, the Vermont Quartet debuted “Evening Song” and CK5, illuminated the Garden for this penultimate night of Hannukah. “NMINML” followed, a worthy yet predictable version. Surrounded by friends with whom I’ve been seeing Phish for almost 26 years, I had a very strong sense of both history and relationships. And so it bears repeating, as these relationships deepen and enrich with time, so, too, does my relationship with the band and the music. But that’s only part of it. Because as much as I love 1.0 and being with old phriends, I love 3.0, and being with new phriends and, especially, Freaks. And sometimes, I have the distinct pleasure of sharing time with people who’ve enjoyed the whole damn ride with me, 0.0 to the present, and I know they’ll be there for 4.0 and 12.9 and everything in between. And while I digress, this is very much related to the music and how I consume it. Because I was stuck in 1.0, and I resisted 2.0, shunned it even, and wasn’t ever interested in a song written after 1998, yet the present moment is the sum total of all of those things. It is early friendships and early songs and new friendships and new songs. It is a Picture of Nectar hanging in the Ghosts of the Forest. It is MSG as the modern day Nectar’s (paraphrasing Trey’s words when he reflected on 25 years at MSG).
And all of this brought to mind because of my relationship with NMINML, a song debuted in 2015, and S.A.N.T.O.S, written just last year, and “Down With Disease,” a song that debuted nearly 26 years ago on NYE 1993. Every now and again I find myself saying, “If I knew then what I know now…” Well, at long last, I do. DWD, a monster first set version, 12 minutes strong, with a bass intro that summarizes Phish in 6 notes. Goosebumps. Big time. The debut of “20-20 Vision” was nice, I’m sure, though I strategically hit the men’s room and made it back in time for a fun, jammy, straight ahead first set take of “Ghost.” And because the band obviously knew we were sitting with a mate from Creole country, a gorgeous “Gumbo” ensued, a tune that really showcases Page on the baby grand, sans effects. They boys kept filling my 1.0 plate with “Rift” and all too rare “Weigh,” complete with a badass bass intro. A three year dust off of “Dog Faced Boy” filled the ballad slot followed by “Twenty Years Later.” Things got moving again with “Tube,” always fun though it didn’t hit the most recent Nassau high water mark, and “S.A.N.T.O.S” has become a song that they can play whenever they want and I’ll happily dance my ass off. Interestingly, not only was S.A.N.T.O.S one of eight repeats from Nassau on 12/1, but it was also played in back to back shows at MSG as it rang in the New Year on 12/31/18, which was actually 1/1/19, but that’s just stupid trivia.
In retrospect, I guess that’s about as good as the first set of a four-night run could be — a very pedestrian 7,000 steps.
Another 3.0 tune that the band seems to like as much as I do, “Everything’s Right” opened the second set. A few mistakes getting off the ground and a little Type II jamming before settling into a very nice “Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1.” The set really got moving for me with “Set Your Soul Free,”another modern era jam vehicle that detoured into The Drifter’s “On Broadway” with a full band Trey led jam before finding its way into a stirring “Gotta Jibboo,” complete with a trip back through time and SYSF. “Free” broke out of the Jibboo space, replete with arena rock power chords and a monster bass solo from Mike that Trey eventually muscled his way in on, a stellar rock and roll version that’s worth a relisten. “Piper” was next, played with set closing ferocity and white lights to match. “Drowned,” a rare cover debuted at Halloween 95 under the Who’s Quadrophenia musical costume, was perhaps the song of the night, just as it was 24 years earlier, though I confess to barely remembering either that version or the epic take I saw later that year on 12/31/95. More Type II darkness, more Fishman antics by way of lyrics to “Guy Forget” before “Ass Handed Reprise,” a quote from Trey re: the mashup of Ass Handed and the Chalk Dust Reprise that ensued, complete with full band introductions, a lot of happy laughter, and a “Did we just invent a song?” quip from Fish. More white light jams with “Character Zero,” a song that “true phans” just love to hate, but I liked just fine, as I always have. Can someone tell me why they hate this song? I just don’t get it. Would you really rather they just left it off the set list and played for 8 less minutes? What am I missing here???
“A Life Beyond the Dream” was the first encore, giving me one more chance to enjoy Page on the baby grand before a jubilant “Rocky Top” sent us all home with a smile.
I clocked this one at 3:02 and 16,239 steps, a moderate output, with plenty of gas in the tank for the next seven (!) sets, though I felt every minute of my age as I headed to what may have been my first ever after show.
SET 1: Evening Song[1], No Men In No Man’s Land, Down with Disease, 20-20 Vision[2], Ghost, Gumbo > Rift, Weigh, Dog Faced Boy, Twenty Years Later > Tube > Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.
SET 2: Everything’s Right > Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1 > Set Your Soul Free -> Gotta Jibboo > Free > Piper, Drowned, Ass Handed > Chalk Dust Torture Reprise[3] > Character Zero
ENCORE: A Life Beyond The Dream, Rocky Top
[1] Debut.
[2] Phish debut.
[3] With lyrics changed to Ass Handed