Phish Runs It Back To 1995 With Bust Outs & Sprawling ‘Drowned’ At Madison Square Garden

Phish settled back into Madison Square Garden in New York City on Monday for the fourth of five concerts on their 2026 Summer Tour. Night four marked the band’s 95th show at the “World’s Most Famous Arena” and it was all about 1995.

All told, the band played nine songs debuted that year, and offered staples and rarities associated with ’95. A jam heavy second set saw a sprawling “Drowned” and a massive bust out as the penultimate song of the frame.

The show got underway with a ’95 throwback, the audience chess move, with keyboardist Page McConnell doing the honors on the “check mate” move before guitarist Trey Anastasio, wearing his “Jah Volunteer” t-shirt, launched the band into “Wilson.” The quartet played “Wilson” 15 times in ’95.

The opening guitar strains of “Timber (Jerry the Mule)” fell into MSG next. Following a sole performance in 1992, “Timber” was revived in ’95 and became a vehicle for improvisation. Phish jumped right into a vibey jam on the MSG ’26 rendition. Drummer Jon Fishman began cooking up some fills with Trey joining him on his auxiliary percussion kit and McConnell moving to a crunchy clavinet amidst rolling bass lines from Mike Gordon.

A bubbly, percussive groove emerged via this format. Anastasio then hopped back on guitar and started throwing licks at the funky wall the rhythm section created, deftly turning up the temperature on the jam and tossing in some twang for good measure before working back into the main “Timber” groove.

The rock riff heavy “Ha Ha Ha” followed, marking the song’s first performance since 2021 and 34th overall since its debut in 1995. Mike’s bluegrass-tinged “Scent of a Mule” fell in the fourth song slot, featuring the piano stylings of Page McConnell and classic choreography from Trey and Mike.

Another ’95 premiere, “Theme From The Bottom,” came next. A characteristically uplifting and particularly well-woven jam materialized from the song that would later appear on Phish’s 1996 album Billy Breathes. “Halley’s Comet” made a pass through MSG next.

“Halley’s Comet” ties 1995 Phish to 2026 Phish. A historic version of the song in Binghamton, New York in December ’95 saw the band coloring outside the lines on the tune, which debuted in 1986, for the first time. Phish’s summer tour this year has seen the band doing the exact same thing with numbers that are traditionally kept within the song structure.

Phish took the MSG ’26 version for a spin as well, melting from the more rock outro into a silky, electric piano-laced escapade. Trey, Mike and Page linked up on a pretty line before Anastasio picked up his sticks again as McConnell draped shimmering piano over a steady beat from Fish. Page then moved to the Moog synthesizer for spacey runs before he and Gordon traded funky salvos ahead of Anastasio returning to the six-string.

Trey then gravitated the band into the gorgeous instrumental “The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday,” the title track of his senior thesis, otherwise known as Gamehendge. The song was followed by its companion, the band’s musical arrangement of the Jewish prayer, “Avenu Malkenu,” and another ’95 staple, “NICU.” Page jumped the gun a bit on his “Play It Leo” cue, which Trey fit in anyway with a laugh.

Phish then lit into the Mike Gordon-led Son Seals cover “Funky Bitch,” featuring its usual rollicking piano and guitar solos from McConnell and Anastasio respectively. “Taste” bounced into MSG following “Funky Bitch.”

The song was famously developed over the course of 1995 with working titles such as “The Fog That Surrounds” and “Taste That Surrounds.” The adjustments to the calculus of the song that would eventually land on 1996’s Billy Breathes as “Taste” took place over the course of 28 total performances of the variations in ’95.

The MSG ’26 rendition saw spirited and at times intense improv albeit a bit of a discombobulated ending to bring the first set to a close. Thirty years on and the song is still throwing curve balls at the band, a testament to the trickster nature of “Taste.”

Phish threw a curve ball of their own to kick off the second set with “The Curtain With.” In 1995, however, the band was in the midst of a 12-year “With” hiatus, owing to the fact that a chunk of “With” was recycled and sped up into the song “Rift,” the title track to the band’s 1993 album.

“Prince Caspian” emerged from “The Curtain With.” Debuted in ’95, Phish played the song 18 times that year and opened their December 30, 1995 concert at Madison Square Garden with the tune that would land on Billy Breathes. Existing as more of a straight up ballad in its early days, “Caspian” has voyaged further and further out to sea in more recent years.

Phish stuck with the improvisation for last night’s MSG performance, with Anastasio soaring as the quartet searched the song structure before swerving into Type II territory. Dark, growling riffs bloomed from the Languedoc, which Trey looped ahead of taking a spin on his perc kit, a staple of his Fall ’95 setup. Gordon washed the audience in bounding bass lines and Fish worked out his full kit as well. Page then dropped some funky clav on the festivities.

With Anastasio back on guitar, McConnell rumbled underneath on the Moog and Wurlitzer electric piano before firing up “Drowned” on piano. Mike led the way on the song the band played as part of their Halloween ’95 musical costume, The Who‘s Quadrophenia. The ensuing improv was full of peak Anastasio along with a “Tequila” tease.

Darker elements then began creeping into the jam which began giddy-up enough but morphed into a vibe check full of freeform jamming and more Tito Puente Trey with Page conjuring sci-fi sounds from his Moog once again.

A smoother groove sailed out from the madness as McConnell worked both the Moog and Wurly. Trey flipped back to guitar with his gravelly autowah before cooking up sizzling tones on the Languedoc for “Cissy Strut” teases. Page put a bow on everything by sliding into “Drowned” call backs on the Wurly, a siren song pulling Trey back to his percussion tree.

Anastasio then strummed out the opening strains to one of his most beautiful songs, “Billy Breathes,” another 1995 debut and title track to the band’s 1996 LP. Mid-90s staple “It’s Ice” rolled across the arena next. McConnell led the way through the intricate Anastasio composition. “It’s Ice” famously received the “Kung,” treatment at MSG on December 30, 1995.

The ’26 MSG “It’s Ice” included a filthy funk sequence full of throaty clavinet and wah-pedal infused warblings from Anastasio, which he looped once again, before hopping back on the perc as Mike made the Serek five-string pop.

After wrapping up “It’s Ice,” Anastasio kicked out the Chuck Berry riffs for a big bust out of “Johnny B. Goode,” last played on July 8, 1998, a 927(!) show gap. The band delivered the foundational rock ‘n’ roll song as the encore for their historic New Year’s Eve show at Madison Square Garden in 1995.

’95 debut “Free” checked into night four, and saw Trey throwing down growly licks during the funky sequence, punctuated as always by Gordon’s bass and brought to a raucous peak, which landed a bit awkwardly back into “Free” to put set two in the books.

Phish was back out onstage quickly to kick off the encore with the soul-searching ballad, “Strange Design.” The rollicking Rolling Stones song “Loving Cup” sealed the show and Phish’s revisiting of 1995.

Phish wrap up their “Phish In Five” run with 1996 at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Wednesday, July 29. Livestreams of Phish Summer Tour 2026 shows are available with a LivePhish With subscription.

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