12/30 Strikes Again – Phish Goes Big At Madison Square Garden: Recap, Setlist & The Skinny

December 30 is a hallowed and legendary date in Phish history. With standout performances dating back decades, it is the “night before” the big New Year’s Eve event, an opportunity for the band to let off some steam before the big gag on NYE.

Following up on a pair of really strong shows on 12/28 and 12/29, Phish began last night with a concise and well-played “Down with Disease.” Guitarist Trey Anastasio drove us to numerous peaks ahead of a smooth transition into the end of the song. Wasting no time and jumping right into “The Moma Dance,” the band seemed to stretch out the funky intro groove for longer than normal, a possible callback to the funk-laden 12/30/97 show played 25 years earlier in the same room. Another concise jam followed in “Moma,” hinting at Type II territory but not quite getting there.

“Pebbles and Marbles” was tapped next, making 2022 one of only four years since the song’s debut with more than two appearances (2003, 2004, 2019).

Following up on the strong jammed-out version in Toronto this past summer, “Theme From the Bottom” was taken on an extended journey just shy of 15 minutes long. A funky groove morphed into a bliss section with heavy Trey sustain before the jam collapsed in on itself with great help from waves of keyboardist Page McConnell’s Yamaha CS60 synthesizer and dark and spacey textures from Anastasio.

A well-executed “Reba” with a longer-than-normal jam and multiple white-light peaks was tapped next before funky Sci-Fi Soldier song “The Howling,” another well-played compositional song in “Foam,” and an EXCELLENT “Run Like and Antelope” set closer that saw some of Anastasio’s best playing of the run as the band once again built to a number of wild and dissonant peaks.

Read on after The Skinny for the rest of the recap and more.

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Last night’s five-song second set began with “No Men in No Man’s Land,” becoming the first song to reach the 20-minute mark of the run. A big theme of the jamming over the past few nights has been deep grooves that lead to a series of absolutely MASSIVE peaks and “No Men” was no different. The band was in no hurry, patiently exploring their space atop drummer Jon Fishman’s propulsive groove. Washes of Rhodes electric piano led way to a minor-key section before Anastasio stepped in and drove it home with blazing licks.

Wasting no time, Phish dropped the first cover of the MSG run with TV on the Radio’s “Golden Age,” another extremely reliable jam vehicle. Similar to the preceding “NMINML,” the second song of the set bounced gently into a patient groove, Anastasio and McConnell demonstrating their telepathic interplay with each other and drummer Jon Fishman. More blissful peaks closed it out before the band ripped into “Sand.”

My personal jamming highlight of the run so far, last night’s “Sand” began to depart from the song proper around seven minutes in thanks to a nice modulation. With more exemplary Rhodes work from McConnell, bassist Mike Gordon stuck out in this jam with his dark and synthy tones that offered a great contrast to the major-key vibe of the rest of the band. With very little warning, the jam shifted from bright and happy to a motif almost like a “Split Open and Melt” jam – dissonance and wild, almost jazzy playing with Anastasio employing his dial-tone effect and Fishman going absolutely wild on his kit. Departing the dissonance for some rocking play, Phish would return to the Melt-like theme once more before crashing exuberantly back into “Sand.” The jam wasn’t over, however, and the main riff of the song was used as one last springboard for a towering peak, a move highly reminiscent of the 4/21/22 “Ghost.”

A tender cool-down with ballad “If I Could” gave way to the set-closing “I Always Wanted It This Way.” The band (and especially Page) seems to be getting much more comfortable with the structure of this song and its role as a rave-up jam vehicle as time goes on, which made it a great choice to close the second frame. Similar to the 2/25/22 “A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing,” last night’s “IAWITW” was 13 minutes of high-octane Trey shredding that drove the capacity MSG crowd into an absolute frenzy as the band brought the show proper to a close.

A quick and explosive “Chalk Dust Torture” encore put a big exclamation point on one of Phish’s finest shows of 2022 and one that will no doubt live up to its spot in the 12/30 pantheon.

Only one night remains…three sets and a gag included. Tweezer STILL looms!

Phish completes their 2022 New Year’s Run with a New Year’s Eve concert tonight. Purchase a livestream via LivePhish.com or hear a simulcast through SiriusXM’s Phish Radio. Tune in to Phish Radio starting at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT for a pre-show featuring an appearance from JamBase’s Scott Bernstein.

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