Phish Kicks Off 2016-2017 New Year’s Run At Madison Square Garden: Setlist, Photos & The Skinny

From 1992 – 1998 Phish would end the year with a four-night New Year’s Run spanning December 28 – 31. It was a tradition of one of the band’s golden ages that has become more loose in recent years as in 2014 the run started on New Year’s Eve and last year’s run began on December 30. This year Phish returned to the classic December 28 – 31 format, which made Wednesday night opening night of a four-show residency at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The quartet showed little rust as they treated a capacity crowd to an eventful show filled with fretboard fireworks from guitarist Trey Anastasio at every turn and all of the elements that make Phish the band they are. Humor? Check! Adventurous jamming? Check! Varied setlist? Check!

Phish unveiled their latest studio album, Big Boat, in early October. So much has changed in the less than three months the LP has been out, but most of it only gives credence to the Big Boat theme of Phish providing a magical, communal, spiritual live music experience while the rest of the world turns to shit. 20,000 came aboard Phish’s Noah’s Ark-like Big Boat at The Garden on Wednesday night and were able to put politics, death and disaster behind them for the evening. Phish fan Drew Hitz summed it up best leading into the show:

https://twitter.com/drewphish/status/814261943036940288

Thirty-three years into their career Phish keeps evolving. Just last night the band unveiled a new lighting scheme that made use of powerful lights ringing the entire arena. When the foursome would hit a peak, Lighting Designer Chris Kuroda would employ this ring of lights and the crowd would go wild. Musically, the biggest changes came to Anastasio’s rig. Ryan Chiachiere explains the changes in way better detail than I ever could for Trey’s Guitar Rig. Combine the fantastic new tones with Anastasio’s willingness to let it all hang out and you have the makings of a fine Phish show.

Coming into the run Phish had played 242 different songs over the course of 2016. The record for different songs in one year is 251 and the band displayed a willingness to break the mark by dusting off three tunes during the first set of the run. It all started with an a capella rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” a tune last sung by Phish on November 1, 2014 – a span of 76 shows. Following “Stealing Time,” it was right back to the bust outs with a cover of Velvet Underground’s “Lonesome Cowboy Bill.” The Loaded track had been on the shelf for 177 shows prior to Wednesday night. Drummer Jon Fishman did a fine job with the vocals after Trey introduced him as his favorite vocalist.

The first set rolled on with a triple dose of 1996’s Billy Breathes. “Free” gave the guitarist a chance to show off his new toys, while “Train Song” found the band struggling to stay in sync. “Prince Caspian” was also highlighted by Trey’s approach, which saw him weave gorgeous and powerful melodies throughout his solo. The same could be said of the “Roggae” that followed. Up next was a cover of “Funky Bitch” as now the group had played three covers – one more than they had performed at their last eight MSG shows combined. After two years of focusing on originals during New Year’s Runs, it appears everything is on the table this time around. A perfect example was the return of “Corinna,” a beautiful Taj Mahal cover that was a staple of the group’s early days. Phish hadn’t performed “Corinna” since August 17, 2012 at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. The set came to a close with standard renditions of “Stash” and “Cavern.”

Phish began the second set with a “Wolfman’s Brother” featuring a hearty, crowd-pleasing climax that saw Kuroda make great use of the lights ringing the arena. From there, the quartet lit into “Golden Age” by TV On The Radio. The last “Golden Age” took place on October 28 in Las Vegas and contained arguably the best improvisation of the year. Thankfully, the band picked up where they left off in Las Vegas as over the course of 20 magical minutes they explored vast musical terrain ranging from dark minor-key jamming to beautiful and buttery major-key jamming. It was the second instant classic “Golden Age” in a row and is where those who weren’t in attendance should start when listening back if they are sticking to the highlights. Phish connected “Golden Age” with “Simple” via a transcendent segue, though “Simple” was a short-but-sweet affair.

A straight-forward “Chalk Dust Torture” kept the arena rock flowing and led into a slow and swampy “Martian Monster.” The quartet were clearly feeling adventurous as they made their way through the Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House classic and settled in on a “Tweezer Reprise”-esque chord sequence. Trey picked up on the similarities and started singing “Your Trip Is Short” over the “Reprise” progression to the amazement of the audience. High-fives and hugs were exchanged throughout the arena as the band showed their humorous side by giving fans a full-on “Tweezer Reprise” with “Your Trip Is Short” lyrics before finishing “Martian Monster.” It appeared Trey was jazzed on his new tones as three songs with powerful solos concluded the evening. “Wingsuit” and “Possum” closed out the second set, while “Good Times Bad Times” served as encore.

Surprisingly, of the 21 songs Phish played on Wednesday none came off Big Boat. We’ll soon find out what the rest of the run will hold. The foursome returns to the MSG stage on Thursday night. A live webcast is available via LivePhish.com.

Watch official footage of the first song of each set in the two videos below:

[The Star-Spangled Banner, Stealing Time]

https://www.facebook.com/phish/videos/10153984617336290/

[Wolfman’s Brother]

https://www.facebook.com/phish/videos/10153984879346290/

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Photo Gallery (Photos by Adam McCullough)

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”439″ gal_title=”20161228 Phish MSG Adam McCullough”]

Full Show Audio (Taped by Noah Bickart / Shared by Jam.Buzz)

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