The Spectacle of Phish at Madison Square Garden on New Year’s Eve

photograph by Rene Huemer

Phish is a mysterious musical phenomenon. Since forming in 1983 in Burlington, Vermont, the jam band operated outside of music industry norms. The band never attempted to record a hit song and, as a result, barely gets radio or streaming play. The band does not even seriously promote its albums upon release, including 2024’s Evolve. Nevertheless, Phish became one of the biggest touring acts in rock music history, so far grossing more than $600 million in lifetime concert ticket sales. Phish is all about performing uniquely energetic concert tours, in which no two shows are ever alike. Ever-growing herds of passionate Phishhead fans travel the world, helping the band sell out multiple nights at arenas and festivals. How does this happen? It befuddles the mainstream pundits.

The summit of Phish’s tour itinerary is always the New Year’s Eve concert. Following a tradition that began in 1995, Phish once again headlined Madison Square Garden for four nights leading to New Year’s Eve, selling close to 80,000 tickets. With no support act, the band played two sets each night, with very little music duplicated across the run. The New Year’s Eve show featured three sets, taking the audience for a five-hour musical nirvana. The NYE concert was the band’s 87th performance at Madison Square Garden.

According to news reports, upwards of a million people were expected at Times Square. Just eight city blocks away, an impressive 20,000 rock fans entered Madison Square Garden in an equally joyous party mood. Phish NYE fans leaned far more towards glittery and sequined wardrobe than traditional jam band tie-dye. Many audience members brought glowsticks and balloons to toss overhead as Phish played. Most of the MSG audience seemed prepared to dance throughout the duration of the five-hour concert.

photograph by Rene Huemer

photograph by Juliana Bernstein

Phish always does something completely surprising at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Phish came on stage about 8 p.m. and the audience enjoyed the four hours of anticipation until midnight. The band revved its performance from the start with the fan favorite “Mike’s Song” and, through improvisational jams, flowed seamlessly into “Bouncing Around the Room” and “Weekapaug Groove.” During “Stash,” guitarist Trey Anastasio briefly teased the guitar licks of the Allman Brothers Band’s “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.” The three sets mixed a variety of funk blasters and dreamy soundscapes, and the crisp sound mix made every groove a dynamic delight.

Phish’s four musicians barely moved from their stations, focusing simply on where the spontaneous music was taking them and their audience. As vocalist and sole guitarist, much of the heavy lifting fell on Anastasio. More than adequately, he mastered his own brand of guitar noodling that was not particularly flashy, while expertly transporting the audience back and forth from featherweight vibes to gravitas. Keyboardist Page McConnell was more subtle, yet similarly ignited segments of numerous freewheeling jams with emotive catalysts; he stole the spotlight with a delicate piano solo on “The Squirming Coil,” a complex prog-rocking song that closed the first set. The rhythm section of bassist Mike Gordon and drummer Jon Fishman improvised often, and yet stayed in their lane of support.

photograph by Rene Huemer

As the second intermission ended shortly before midnight, Anastasio, Gordon, and McConnell resumed their posts on stage, this time in matching blue jumpsuits. Fishman, on the other hand, returned to his drum kit in his standard blue muumuu-styled dress with its red doughnut pattern. Phish opened the third frame with “Character Zero” before launching into a newer song, “Pillow Jets.” Large twirling coils of paper that were suspended above and in front of the stage all night began to descend, accompanied by large LED screens displaying kinetic swashes of color. A giant golden face and mask, fractured into four swinging parts that seemed to be struggling to unite, hovered above the lip of the stage. Six interpretive dancers, dubbed “conjurors of thunder,” strolled dramatically on stage dressed in gold robes and gold masks. As Phish played music, the dancers slowly unrolled two long golden banners.

As midnight struck, two canons in front of the stage exploded confetti into the audience. The four parts of the overhead face amalgamated. The dancers shed their golden robes and danced wildly in rave-ready outfits. The band launched into a buoyant rendition of “Auld Lang Syne.” For another hour, the band played more party-like songs, even indulging a brief but deep dive into elements of EDM music.

photograph by Rene Huemer

photograph by Cherie Hansson

The encore started with the four musicians standing side by side around one microphone stand. After a few false starts, they sang an a capella barbershop quartet-style rendition of “Grind.” Anastasio then introduced “Icculus” with a disclaimer acknowledging that the song was left out last New Year’s Eve when Phish performed Gamehendge. The dancers returned onstage during the final song, “Tweezer Reprise,” to throw large beach balls and smiley-face globes into the audience.

What was the meaning of the mask and the choreography? Were these visuals aligned with the lyrics of the songs? Like many of Phish’s lyrics, the links would be very challenging and possibly impossible to decipher. Enigmatic as it was, a Phish New Year’s Eve would not have been complete without a bigger-than-life closing. In the end, the audience got what it came for, which was five hours of solid jam music and a closing spectacle.

photograph by Juliana Bernstein

Setlist

Set 1

1. Mike's Song (>)
2. Bouncing Around the Room (>)
3. Weekapaug Groove
4. Stash (with "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" tease)
5. Evolve (Trey Anastasio song)
6. Llama
7. Split Open and Melt
8. Backwards Down the Number Line (>)
9. Carini
10. The Squirming Coil

Set 2

1. Sigma Oasis
2. My Friend, My Friend (>)
3. Sand
4. Golden Age (TV on the Radio cover)
5. What's the Use? (>)
6. Taste (>)
7. Golgi Apparatus
8. First Tube

Set 3

1. Character Zero
2. Pillow Jets (>)
3. Auld lang syne (Robert Burns cover) (>)
4. What's Going Through Your Mind (Trey Anastasio Band cover) (>)
5. Chalk Dust Torture (>)
6. Slave to the Traffic Light
7. Life Saving Gun (Page McConnell & Trey Anastasio cover) (>)
8. Say It to Me S.A.N.T.O.S.

Encore

1. Grind
2. Icculus
3. Tweezer Reprise

photograph by Juliana Bernstein

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The Manhattan Beat reports on New York City's live music circuit. All articles are written by Everynight Charley Crespo. All photographs are taken by Everynight Charley Crespo, except when noted otherwise.

For a list of Manhattan venues that are presenting live music regularly, swing the desktop cursor to the right of the The Manhattan Beat home page and click on the pop-up tab "Where to Find Live Music."

For a more complete listing of upcoming performances in the New York City area, visit The Manhattan Beat's January calendar.