Fun times at the Garden. Got to my seat and noticed I had a fairly dead on view of the Maple Leaf flag. Then I look in front of me and I see a guy with his Toronto Blue Jays baseball cap on. I notice it has a maple leaf logo next to the Blue Jay logo and ask him about it since I had never seen the Leaf before. He says him an his buddy drove down from Toronto and it's his buddy's first show and it's his first show since Coventry. We traded traffic stories from that show. He is pleased that is a Maple donut show. I joke beforehand that we could get some Rush or an acapella version of O Canada. We get the Hendrix-lite version of O Canada and the Canadians are singing and gesturing to the song. Fantastic.

Crowd Control through Wedge are played well with the Wedge having a little extra mustard to it. After Army of One, having heard two Undermind songs already, I thought the Coventry Canadian had brought his time machine with him. Guelah starts up and the crowd is happy. And they are more than happy to hear Page break into Maple Leaf Rag. Mcgrupp starts playing and this is a very good thing. I've been seeing Phish since 2000 and had never seen one. Well played and we slip into Limb By Limb. Once again, well played and we hop into Walk Away. Walk Away falls into that category for me, where you could play it anywhere in a show and I'll be happy to hear it. They really jam it out and it could have made a nice transition to Tweezer Reprise if they wanted to.

Set Break--Canadians are pleased with the first set. So am I. I have been to many MSG shows, mostly NYE run shows, and this is easily the most mellow a crowd I've been around. It is welcomed.

Before the second set, I concede to myself that it will be a Golden Age opener and Piper will appear at some point. I am not a Piper hater, but the song follows me relentlessly. I've been treated to the SPAC 04 version so I guess I am indebted to the song. Golden Age starts and we get Trey leading the way. Sounds like a hint of "Oye Como Va" from Trey and then later in the song we get some Santanesque licks. Good stuff. We drop into a pile of Leaves and the crowd goes limp. They manage their way into Swept Away>Steep? Seems better as a cool down song than a springboard to the jamming that would ensue, but hey, Phish knows what's good for you! Jam into 46 Days which hurriedly gets to the jam and GOOD stuff indeed. The heart of the set and Trey is having a freakin ball. He gets on the Marimba and here come Page and Mike to lend a hand on Fish's drum kit. Canadians are digging it and so is everyone else. Out we go into old friend Piper which is solid with a nice jam as well. I was expecting the Possum to be played the upcoming weekend but I am not complaining. They do Possum proper with an extended buildup and some nice light work. The light work in 46 Days and Piper was commendable as well. The encore was not drenched in syrup or Sugar Magnolia or Sugaree, but the Canadians are plenty stoked after the show.

Side note: How do the donut recipients have enough self control to NOT eat the donut right away? Saw people taking selfies with their donut, discussing the evening news with their donuts, and bronzing them in remembrance.