Phish Time Travels To 1993 With Bustouts Galore At Madison Square Garden

Phish returned to Madison Square Garden on Friday for 1993 Night after kicking off the five-show run with an unforgettable concert on Wednesday. The band showcased what is best about modern Phish while playing a fan service show that was both nostalgic and exciting.

The quartet has been promoting these shows, aligning the peak years of the band’s rise with the numbered shows at MSG, leading to their expected 100th performance at the storied venue this winter. The band more than delivered for their 1992 outing on the 22nd, only playing songs from 1992 or earlier. Favoring songs that debuted or were last played that year, fans had a lot to speculate about which songs the band would perform last night while Phish lent the Garden to Jon Bon Jovi for a Bon Jovi concert on Thursday in between shows.

1993 was an exciting year for Phish. It was the beginning of the first massive peak, a time when the years of consistent touring (1993 is the 6th year in a row they played over 100 shows/year!) and relentless commitment to audience building started to really pay off. In February, Rift, the classic album that turned many people on to Phish, was released, and keyboardist Page McConnell got his first baby grand piano. There were improved conditions on tour with the addition of a tour bus, and the band continued to play bigger and bigger venues. Phish debuted 42 songs in 1993 and recorded their fifth studio album, Hoist, in the fall as well.

In 1993, Phish’s music was defined by precision, speed, agility and an increasing interest in pushing songs past their confines and experimenting with longer-form improvisation more consistently. Their show at the Garden last night was perfectly in line with those themes, demonstrating the band’s commitment to their concept for this run of shows.

Right before showtime, the preshow music was Midnight Marauders by A Tribe Called Quest, released in, you guessed it, 1993. The band took the stage at 8:04 p.m. with guitarist Trey Anastasio wearing a Marvin the Martian shirt over a long-sleeved red T-shirt, a look he wore often in 1993.

Opening with “Llama,” the band quickly demonstrated they would be leaning into speed and precision with a wildly energetic version. The band didn’t take long to marry their modern sensibility of jamming early in the show with their throwback theme, playing an over 17-minute version of “Bathtub Gin,” a song that had a very famous performance in 1993 (see 8/13/1993). Phish took turns playing with repetitive melodic playing; McConnell offered an optimistic theme on the piano, and Anastasio jumped on that and crafted a sunny climb over drummer Jon Fishman’s steady undercurrent. As the jam started to build, it took a turn, and Anastasio used effects to build a dark crescendo that had the crowd cheering. Similar to the famous version from The Murat Theatre in August of 1993, this version didn’t hit 20 minutes, but packed a bunch nonetheless.

Anastasio’s excitement was easy to see as he bounced up and down in between songs as the band paused before starting the intro to “Maze.” Over the intro, Fishman sang the short “Lengthwise” from Rift, for its 33rd performance. “Maze” was commanding as McConnell took his first of many impassioned solos of the evening and the band built a huge peak flooding the Garden with flashing white lights. The energy from the band was undeniable, and for a band in its 43rd year, quite impressive!

Despite debuting in 1990, “Gumbo” has been in a late renaissance the last two years with notable versions that deliver expansive improvisation. Last night’s 12-minute version did not disappoint, with the band quickly finding a crunchy groove that slowly turned melodic and pretty. An ability to deftly move between dark and light themes has been a feature of this summer’s improvisation, and this short jam is a great example of that (for an extended version, see “Carini” from 7/19/26).

“Daniel Saw the Stone” was the first song of the night that debuted in 1993, and the band played an excellent version for the rarity’s 25th performance. “Weigh” had its first performance in two years, and even though I have been seeing this band for over 30 years, this was the first time I saw this song live. The amount of veteran Phish fans getting songs they have never heard before was a common talking point for many who left the venue later that night.

“Guelah Papyrus” and “Divided Sky” followed before an incredible ending to the set. As the band played the funky “Tube,” Anastasio quoted from an AC/DC song, “Big Balls,” that the band played at their Superball festival in 2011 and yelled, “Big Ball Jam!” The crew brought out three colored balls and threw them over the audience for the biggest bustout of the night. “Big Ball Jam” hadn’t been played since December 9, 1994 (1,170 shows!), and the crowd roared as the band played along to the balls as they bounced over the crowd. This two-minute version was mercifully short but incredibly fun, as Anastasio put down his guitar, joined hands with crew members to catch a ball before returning to “Tube” to finish the song. The audience was thrilled to see these legendary antics from the early 1990s, and the band delivered a perfect exclamation point, ending the set with a blistering version of ZZ Top’s “La Grange,” last played 531 shows ago in 2012.

Set two opened with a 12-minute “Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001),” this cover debuted in 1993 and is still a mainstay in Phish setlists, but this version has a little extra mustard as lighting designer Chris Kuroda sent beams of light spinning over a deep bass line from bassist Mike Gordon and some synth textures from McConnell.

Staying fairly true to the era without any massive, over 20-minute jams throughout the night, “Chalk Dust Torture” provided one of the two moments of extended improvisation in the second set. With a stomping and aggressive entry into the jam, the band followed Fishman’s lead throughout the performance. The band found a hypnotic, repetitive and melodic space, indicative of this summer’s dominant jamming style. After patiently spending time in this floating space, Fishman pushed them towards the darkness, and McConnell’s synths gave the band a spacey texture to segue into the third massive bustout of the evening with “Sparks.” This cover from The Who had only been played by the band 15 times, and last night’s performance was the first in ten years, a 357-show gap. A rare mid-set “Slave to the Traffic Light” followed, before the band played another song off Rift, “The Wedge.”

“The Wedge” extended past the confines of the song for the second time ever, and the second time in under two weeks! The summer of “anything can be jammed” gave us an amazing 29-minute version in Savannah on July 15, and this version stretched to almost 13 minutes with contemplative playing that transitioned to a dark, shifting agitated space. The jam slowly wound down, and Trey began a clunky segue into another bustout.

The playful “Makisupa Policeman” made its first appearance in three years. One of three songs debuted in 1984, this old school Phish tune led the band into a cherished bustout of “Kung.” Last played in 2019, this song made its 40th appearance last night and had the crowd ready to celebrate with the triumphant performance of “Suzy Greenberg” that followed. “Golgi Apparatus” preceded the third classic rock cover of the night, “Good Times, Bad Times.” The Zeppelin cover absolutely rocked MSG with Anastasio’s spraying the crowd with his trademark “hose.”

Phish couldn’t leave without one more bustout; the acapella “Sweet Adeline” served as the first encore, a fitting throwback to the days when the band would often sing without instruments during their shows. “Fluffhead” gave the fans a final classic Anastasio trilling peak to close out the thematic and well-played show.

Phish has performed at the world’s most famous arena more than many legendary artists, including Elton John, Madonna, The Who and the Grateful Dead. As they make their way toward 100 performances at Madison Square Garden, they are managing to look back yet still play compelling shows that showcase what many fans love best about modern Phish. It’s hard to overstate how meaningful it is for fans to see songs and playful gags that they haven’t seen or heard in decades or have only heard about through old stories and cassette tapes. The band’s efforts to recreate iconic moments in their history in a playful way that doesn’t feel like a traditional nostalgic act have been inspiring. Not an easy feat. But not surprising for a band who appreciates its history but also focuses on evolution above all else.

Phish returns to the Garden tonight to celebrate their 94th show with — if the trend continues — a focus on 1994, an exciting year of Phish, to say the least.

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The quartet continues their “Phish In Five” run at Madison Square Garden in New York City tonight, July 25. Livestreams of Phish Summer Tour 2026 shows are available with a LivePhish With subscription.

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