Phish rang in 2018 at MSG (night 1 pics, all 4 setlists & videos)
Sunday’s concert was Phish’s 17th of 2017 at MSG and their comfort level at the venue was on display throughout both the lauded Baker’s Dozen residency and the equally successful New Year’s Run. While the former showed the breadth of the foursome’s catalogue when paired with fun cover debuts, as they went 13 nights without a repeat, the New Year’s Run was a different animal. From December 28 – 31, Phish just picked the best of the best from their repertoire. The four-night stand only featured a few rarities and a shockingly low number of covers, yet the Vermonters did an exceptional job of stringing together one classic after another. Not only was the song selection good, but Phish’s willingness to jam most of those songs out was well-appreciated by the improv-loving portion of the fanbase.
...2017 was the 20th anniversary of arguably the best year of Phish’s career: 1997. As Phish returned in 2009, each show had highlights, yet nights where everything came together were few and far between. 2017 was Peak Phish, in a way it was hard to imagine was possible coming into the year. The future is bright as the quartet enters the 35th year of their existence and everyone is welcome aboard the boat to set sail. [JamBase]
As Phish have done several other years, they rang in 2018 with four Madison Square Garden shows, which made for 17 MSG shows in 2017 (thanks to their "Baker's Dozen" run in the summer) and a total of 56 shows at the NYC arena thus far. As the JamBase review quoted above points out, they kept covers to a minimum this run, but did wrap up their final show with a Stones song. They also played a few songs from Trey Anastasio's solo band (including "Soul Planet" on New Year's Eve, which was a live debut for Phish) and, like they did last year, they dropped balloons at midnight on NYE followed by a seasonally appropriate rendition of "Auld Lang Syne." Setlists from all four nights (also via JamBase) and some official videos are below. We've also got pictures of night one in the gallery above.
12/28 Setlist
Set 1: AC/DC Bag > Wolfman's Brother, Roggae, Tube > Bouncing Around the Room, Back on the Train, Your Pet Cat > Waking Up Dead > Theme From the Bottom
Set 2: Wilson > No Men In No Man's Land > Twist > Everything's Right > Also Sprach Zarathustra > Harry Hood
Encore: The Wedge, Slave to the Traffic Light
12/29 Setlist
Set 1: Cavern > Blaze On, 555, I Always Wanted It This Way > Martian Monster, Heavy Things, Destiny Unbound, Ocelot, Walls of the Cave
Set 2: Sand > Chalk Dust Torture[1] > Ghost > Backwards Down the Number Line > Simple > Split Open and Melt
Encore: Julius
[1] Unfinished
12/30 Setlist
Set 1: Mike's Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Tweezer > Ass Handed, Kill Devil Falls > Bathtub Gin, Brother, More
Set 2: Down with Disease[1] -> Steam > Light > Farmhouse[2], Run Like an Antelope
Encore: Sleeping Monkey > Tweezer Reprise
[1] Unfinished
[2] with No Woman, No Cry tease
12/31 Setlist
Set 1: Carini > Suzy Greenberg > My Friend, My Friend, Fluffhead, Reba, Poor Heart > 46 Days > Maze > Character Zero
Set 2: Possum > Fuego > Gotta Jibboo > Golgi Apparatus > What's the Use? > You Enjoy Myself
Set 3: Soul Planet[1] > Auld Lang Syne > Free, A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing > The Moma Dance > Prince Caspian > Wading in the Velvet Sea > First Tube
Encore: Loving Cup
[1] Phish debut
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photos by Cory Schwartz