Holy shit my mind was completely blown tonight!!! I’ve been to over 250 shows and I was left totally speechless. What just happened???????????? That Tweezer!!!!!! That entire second set!!!!!! The band was so locked in and msg was on fucking fire tonight. I honestly can’t put it into words. WOW. WOW. WOW. I love you so much Phish!!!!!!

In a full sprint! (Unedited)
Oh man oh boy oh my oh wow. WTF just transpired. Somehow a solid first set seemed like the bait with which we succumbed when all at once the second set was dropped Acme ton-o-bricks style on us like we were Wyle E Coyote thinking we had just lured the road runner to its death. Then, all at once, the road runner enters stage right flickers his tongue above the gravel and bricks and dust and does his meep meep tag line, scurrying away in a dust cloud. That’s how I feel right now.

It was clear from the onset that this musics tour de force would have its way with the audience. A crowd pleasing Wilson opener opened up a rock and roll can of worms on the capacity crowd and after winding their way through the final hurrah hints of what was to come started to imbue their way through the murky layers of sonic brilliance that was 46 Days. Almost immediately Phish turned type two and started climbing a sonic staircase towards Elysium with this typically rock anthem number. Settling down in the milieu eschewed by 46 Days, the crowd was treated to the first of two old school phish covers. Curtis Loew have Page another moment to shine before Trey slipped into a bluesy solo that disintegrated into the rafters of the garden.

Blaze On brought back some positive vibes stirring the crowd with its catchy refrain and settled into a pocket before cascading into Corrina! Trey gave this Taj Mahal masterpiece the full treatment as he settled into a light and airy solo that silenced the entire arena. With pins dropping from the banners in the rafters Mike’s song burst forth and energized an already rampant audience. Keeping tight and precise, with everyone anticipating the sideways carrot of mystery, out of the phish staple came the dissonant opening of Contact. It took the fellas a few bars to get this track, well, back on track but as they did all in attendance were on board and rode its bar car right into weekapaug.

As About to Run emerged from the smoldering ashes you could tell it emboldened the crowd and “liar” lyrics hit home for your humble narrator. Like a Requiem for “Story of the Ghost” this song dogs deep at the wounds of the past and hope to conjur, nay, remind the author that shot got real. More closed out the set and it’s sentiment of “There must be something more than this,” echoed deep into the rotund belly of MSG.

Lights drop mic’s hot, enter Tweezer like a prize fighters errant left. What the F”@$! Sublime goodness oozed from ever musical crevice as the band steered the sonic ship towards open waters. Tweezer disguised as the costume of years past slipped between eras in plethora of musical brilliance. All at once funky, minimal, heavy and thick, the music moved from dark and dingy to ethereal and major key, glistening as it peaked and dispersing into a series of chords that rained down star dust on the crowd; who, for the record, happily lapped it up. When the ship had reached international waters, the band in silly banter mode, pleased the crowd with some comical interlude before crushing them with Ruby Waves.

Picking up the momentum where Tweezer left off, Ruby Waves explored event more I chartered territories. Keeping with the special theme, it still remained fresh and present in the deep deep shadow of the Tweezer that preceded it. I had to keep pinching myself that a set of songs counted on one hand or less could be possible was on the cards. Ruby waves explored new territory, lighter and loose on its cohesive nature before deconstructing and reconstructing as Steam.

In my opinion, Steam minus lyrics equals brilliance. The forced rhymes and disjointed lyrical content detracts from its musicality. When the song ended and the music began Steam delivered and entered into a sonic landscape that defied its lyrical limitations. As the jam built, this author wondering if this set was already one too many songs long, Phish decided to add confusion to the already head scratching masses by returning to Tweezer...and not as a reprise, nor a slow crawl to the finish, ‘this was a true return to the song proper and the jam, which wavered, flickered, melted and reformed as Ruby Fucking Waves. Holy hell Batman, the joker is on the run.

Nudging itself slightly into the ensuing Slave, phish managed a four song second set in six song fashion in its musical allusions, reprising sonically sound sections of previously played songs to compete an aural loop that spanned the cosmos, entered a super nova and escaped relatively unscathed with a knowledge of what the fire holds. And the future holds but one things, one answer, Rock and Roll.

Tonight I was witness to what some might call a cacophony of chaos. A rebellion or raucousness. A hullabaloo of brilliance. I watched as my favorite band delivered a show to end all shows. First the shake it and then they bake it. Man I love this band.

Set 1: The first sets from this run have been pretty darn good, and this set continued that vein, peaking with a muscular and sharp Type I 46 Days and a Blaze On that Mike yanks into a minor key jam that nearly dives into Mind Left Body before swinging into a bouncy calypso-adjacent groove and giving us some really killer Trey/Page interplay near the end. Love the 25 year callback to the fabled A Live One Wilson as well. Don’t really love About To Run where it is (one more example of the band working out where the new songs fit in the context of a full show, a thing that plagued many a 2019 setlist), but that’s basically the one and only thing I didn’t love about this show.

Set 2: The second sets from this run have been pretty darn good, and this set.........well, no, this set is something else entirely. Let’s get to it:

1. Tweezer, Phish’s Dark Star (tm @waxbanks), apparently had spent too long outside the spotlight, and with this unbelievable version imperiously returns to its Jam Vehicle King throne. Trey finds a new key pretty quick and a jam of surprising tension develops, Fish urging the fellas on as Trey slathers on the effects to give things a nice murky feel. The band moves into a brand new gear (this will be a theme, you’d think it was 2014 again with the smooth multi-part jams) and Mike gets a chance to shine, then Fish switches up the beat from “skittering” to “let’s fuckin’ go” like the rhythmic monster he is, and a lovely anthemic jam emerges with Trey playing soulful notes and Page really going at it on the keys. Things could’ve easily ended here and everyone would be satisfied, but Mike goes to the envelope filter and another driving and powerful jam emerges, almost akin to the regular Tweezer jam in how dirt nasty it is, and another key change moves us to gentle near-silence and appreciative applause. Great jam, am I right?

Oh, hold on, I said “near-silence”. Fish keeps the beat and Page leads the band into a warm and gentle ambient jam like it’s 1999 all over again, Trey busting out one of his favorite chord patterns, the synths entering to devastating effect. The music builds and swells with power - this is truly inspiring jamming, one of the best segments of the year - and then with some stabbing chords we head into snappy and almost funky territory, Fish finding yet another disgusting beat to get your hips moving and Page moving to 70s-style electric piano. Trey initiates one more key change and both his soloing and the tempo pick up the pace as the 30 minute mark is breached for the second time this year, and the audience roars its approval as one final dark jam emerges, Trey starts playing something Heartbreaker-ish (it turns out to be closer to college theme “Let’s Go Band”, which I know as “Let’s Go Blue” from my Michigan days), and the jam comes to a close. 35 minutes and not a note wasted, pretty good!

2. The already-infamous Pan Story (which Trey obviously did not “just remember”) is a charming and fun bit of business; Jesse Jarnow on Twitter called it “absurdist musique concrète”, and it’s hard to argue with that description. Pretty good year for on-stage banter, huh?

3. Ruby Waves continues its all-timer year as a debut jam vehicle (right up there with 46 Days in 2003), pivoting from minor-key darkness to a delicate staccato piece of business that Mike runs wild through in what feels like a continuation of what they were getting up to in Tweezer. Fish once more pushes the band along - he’s the MVP of the night for me, carrying every jam on his squat and compact shoulders - and Trey fires off some nasty riffs before the jam winds down and ably slides into Steam.

4. They have played some monster Steams during NYE runs - 2011’s, 2013’s and 2017’s, to be exact - but this time Steam serves more as a vehicle for the musical fun portion of the evening, as right out of the final verse Trey slips perfectly into the Tweezer riff and they jam on that for a few measures, and then (a bit less smoothly, but hey) the band rolls back into Ruby Waves and they jam on THAT for a few measures so that you could consider it a Ruby Waves sandwich, another shot of improv for the road. A heavy-duty Slave, one of the best in a hot minute, closes out the set, and also my number of points for Set II, to match the number of songs they played. Oh, and the encore is a good deal of fun as well.

Final thoughts: Heck of a way to (almost) close out the decade, I think. The 12/30 tradition lives on.

While streaming tonight's show, and especially marveling at the liquid beauty of the second set, I was reminded of a poem called "High Flight," for tonight both band and audience together touched the face of God. Thank you, Phish.

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, --and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of --Wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air...
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew --
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

(Live and onsight for these crazy shenanigans, this review had alot of post show after glow) I don't know where to begin....um my pants are covered in mustard due to to the amount of rocking that has occurred.

I will keep it simple....they didn't play Simple. No in all honesty that was something else, first set had a masterful Blaze On and one of my favorites, 46 Days along with Mikes Groove and a Contact high. That in its own right was worth the price of admission, some Bustouts (adding some new first timers) and a fiery set closer and you got yourself a stew baby.

But to make a stew you need the meat and potatoes, unless your vegan and you got lentils and carrots. In this case it's your four song second set anchored by the 36 min Tweezer behemoth and a 13 minute Ruby Waves that had so much going on with the time it was given, this song really brought it this year...well how about that. Then from the murky deep comes Steam which starts to jam but then becomes a launch vehicle for 2 more minutes of Tweezer and three more minutes of Ruby Waves. Finally a Slave to close out the set...god I love Slave after a set like that, total cherry on top. Then a Rock n Roll to send us home even more happy then we were earlier.

This has been a hell of a 2019 IMO, tonight marks the end of a run for me. I caught every incarnation Trey offered this year and from Ghost of the Forrest to Carnegie Hall, a Summer, Fall and Holiday Tour with TAB splashed in for good measure, this was a great year of music and I was glad to watch the Kasvot Vaxt & GOTF songs mature, along with an emphasis on shredding. Tonight marks my 40th (a baby to you vets) show and what away to celebrate, wish I could come out to play tomorrow, but godspeed you mighty warriors and storm the beaches tomorrow night for me, LOTS still on the table, SOAM, Bowie, Mockingbird, Simple and loads more!!! Good night everyone, if someone finds my face please message me.

About 30 minutes into Tweezer it had become apparent that this show now had the potential to go into the books permanently as one of Trey's masterpieces. But nothing is ever given. And there was still a lot of music to be played and blind corners and intersections to be navigated. But the tracks had been laid and we were firm on the rails at this point. To rewind for just a minute...that first set was so slick, polished, serene, somehow still fiery, and in it's entirely just gorgeous. It felt like Trey belting "I'm about to run" near the end of that set was the tip of his hat that he already knew he was going to let it fly in the second. In retrospect now I'm not sure there have been any bands in the history of music that can do what we saw tonight. Many great bands have done different. But perhaps none have done this at this level.
That's just how it feels today. It was incredible to be held captive in that room musically for hours by 4 musicians crafting a musical mater-class that was hard to comprehend in the moment. It was that good. Start to finish. It felt flawless. Soul-Cleansing and uplifting even in it's darkest musical moments. That is a feat of intangible, trancendent genius. It was all there. And, finally, to hear them sing "her life was saved by rock and roll" was in a word: Perfect. If you do not know the lyrics to that song. Go read them. That song at that moment was no accident. Perfect. On a personal note: This person's life has been saved by rock and roll. Many times. Perhaps there are many of us here who have been saved my music. And Phish. For all of these years. Phish has been there. So now the time has come to properly acknowledge this band and simply say Thank you. That was special. All of this is has been special.

Well this is the show that made me finally create a phish.net account to write my first review! I have been a freeloader on the site for a looong time. I was there on the floor last night.
So, I have been seeing phish for 26 years I guess, first shows in 94. Over that time I have watched this band evolve and morph several times. While I am guilty of wishing we had the old days back, the latest avalanche of new material is simply outstanding.
Last nights show ranks in the Rarified air of top 5 shows for me. From the opening note of Wilson to the blissful jam out of r&r, it was perfect. The energy at MSG last night is something I have not seen in a long time, the overwhelming applause at the end of tweezer was deafening. Trey was just scratching his head in awe. It was a magical night. I will not run on about the songs in detail, as many have already covered this, but what happened last night at MSG was the reason that we all chase this band around. For the chance that you will get to see THE show. Last night was THE show since they reunited. I have no idea how else to put it, and no clue how they can still be playing this well. It was pure magic. High fives and hugs with complete strangers and jaws in the floor. The only place in the world where that reaction is possible these days. Thank you phish.

I am not one to discuss anything publicly on social media. However, after digesting what I heard and saw last night, I feel like it is my responsibility to discuss my own feelings. For many, if not most of us, music...live music...Phish music...is a transcendent experience that has the power to mark a moment in time while simultaneously bringing us all to a spiritual place that is difficult to get to on the best of days.

With that being said, 12/30/19 is one of those moments when we, as a community, were part of a collective experience that was incredibly special and much bigger than any one of us. The energy in the building was electric and that energy transfer from audience to stage and then back again was palpable and powerful. It is THIS type of night why we go and we listen over and over and over again. Looking around me, I didn't see strangers, but thousands of friends who I hadn't met, but who understood, like me, that we were all in this together in the best way possible.

That, my friends, is life as it should be - A celebration of all that is good and pure in the world.

Happy New Year to you all!

I will let others comment on the quality of the show overall, the X factor of being in the room versus being on the couch, specific songs/jams, etc., but I feel compelled to point out something that somehow other reviewers have missed.

20 years ago yesterday I remember exactly how I felt being in my skin when phish busted out Carinna on day one of big cypress, early in the first set. In a first set full of breakouts, that was arguably my favorite moment. Exactly 10 years later/10 years ago, I remember exactly how I reacted when they broke it out again, in what was undoubtedly a nod to big cypress, on 12/30/2009 in miami. And last night, 20 years later, they did it again. I’m not sure how many other folks caught it, but this old timer can tell you with absolute certainty but if we are lucky enough to still have this band in 2029, and if we are luckier even still to be getting another New Year’s run, I know of at least one song that will be included in the first set, And I can tell you with absolute certainty that I will once again jump through my skin with joy and excitement, even if I can barely walk at that time :-)

For the second year in a row after hearing the 12/29 show I found myself saying “there is no way that they will top that”. Much to my delight, I have been wrong on both occasions.

This show was great top to bottom. Fantastic first set. What a treat to get a Curtis Loew and a Corrina. The highlight of the first set, which time will likely forget due to what was to come, was the 17 minute Blaze On. I have been fortunate to catch this one quite a bit and never have I enjoyed it more than tonight’s. The jam was patient and exploring. I also really enjoyed the high powered 46 days

There isn’t much that I can even say about the second set. The set started with one of the all time great Tweezers (Dare i say THE msg Tweezer) and then never let up. And they added in some classic phish antics with the pan story. Perfectly executed Ruby Waves (which I was convinced would be the gag song) Steam that went back into Tweezer and then back to Ruby Waves before finishing with an absolutely gorgeous Slave. Perfect.

For me this show was perfect. It had everything I’m looking for. Great song selection, rarities, antics and incredible playing. This is why I Phish

5 Stars.

Crocs...wearable blankets...and that 2nd set. That's my list of the 21st century's greatest inventions. This thing had everything that made all of your exes hate Phish:

Preposterously incredible jams on about 92 different themes
More peaks than the Ural Mountains
30+ minute songs with lyrics that rhyme freezer and Ebenezer
A mini-set of comedy
And a visual art display by THE best lighting man in the business

Five stars isn't nearly enough. We're gonna need more stars. Until then....

For the most part, 2019 has been a down year for phish. The majority of shows have consisted of shorter songs (8-12min jams) and trying to fill the void with the idea that playing 200+ unique songs over 40 some odd shows is some how going to make us all think that playing into the ‘Bakers Dozen’ gimmick is what we want.

Tonight, for the first time all year there was a disregard for the “more is better” idea and instead phish played a complete top to bottom amazing show.

There is little doubt that MSG brings out the absolute best in this (3.0) band. Tonight was just another notch on that belt. Since 12/31/10 they have consistently brought it when they are in the Garden. No other venue in the last decade has produced the kind of top shelf material that MSG has. (Maybe Dicks).

Tonight was an absolute clinic in terms of what this band can do when they are properly motivated.

Not every show is a home run. But in true holiday run fashion the sacred 12/30 was once again taken to that next level. And I can’t be alone in saying thank fucking God.

Enjoy NYE but as I’m sure everyone already knows. This was the show of the year and no matter what the future holds I’m glad I can rely on 12/28-12/31 at MSG every year because I know it’s not gonna suck.

I don't even know how to begin this review (of 12/30/19). Phans are in the habit of throwing out superlatives in praise of most any show. And although I'm as guilty as anyone on that front, I lament the linguistic results: when a show or jam is truly SPECTACULAR, BLISSFUL, EXOTIC, and AESTHETICALLY AWESOME, the use of those words, in this context, comes with less of a punch. The words become watered down from overuse. Weaker. Less impactful. Aldous Huxley once said that words can be like X-rays, you read them and you're pierced. For just this once, I ask you to suspend your sensitivity to the linguistic norms that have corrupted language within the phish community. Let Huxley's observation apply. Let these words pierce you once again, because last night really was one of those nights. I mean it.

First set all around was very strong, as seems to be the pattern this 2019 NYE run. Highlights for me included a very well executed Ballad of Cutis Lowe. Trey had near-perfect tone on this one. Bluesy, lazy, and wailing. A 17-minute Blaze On was the clear highlight. Starting in funk soup, this one soared around for a while, eventually morphing into a funky jazz-fest that rivals any at Newport. And in a first set to boot! Wow! Corinna followed to bring us all into a gorgeous headspace of lovely vocal harmonies. Page shined on the Whirlister, sending soft tones out over horizon. The set ended a bit strangely with uber-short renditions of Mike’s and Weekapaug, sandwiched around a Contact, which itself is, admittedly, always a rare treat. The real sublimity came in set two. A four-song set tells you almost everything you need to know. Almost. For this tweezer was without doubt the most artistic and interesting jam I have ever heard live. After launching out of a beautiful section of on-point tweezer-based jamming, they pressed onward and outward, first into wide and titillating staccato space explorations. At around 21 minutes, they land into an absolutely transcendent post-rock anthem, reminiscent of Talk Talk’s beautiful album Spirit of Eden. This is post rock at its finest. Move over Sigur Ròs. The Phish are in town. All jokes aside, however, I cried during this portion of tweezer. It was one of those really spiritually motivating chord progressions. Know what I mean? Emotions ran. More funk jazz psychedelia followed, into standard bluesy phish rock, into happy happy rock music, eventually taking us all to a “lets go blue” chant to finish it all off, reminding us that even after producing renaissance-quality art, the Phish don’t take themselves too seriously, and we love them for it. "Pan story" antics made us laugh. Ruby Waves jammed too, alluding to the summer’s epic version at Alpine. Back into tweezer. Back to Waves. Wow. A gorgeous if standard version of Slave capped the set. Rock and Roll encore brought the dance party back, with lots of feel good vibes to send everyone home. This show will go down in Phishstory. And I mean it.

The thing about this second set is that it's reminiscent of '97. And I don't say that lightly.

I don't mean that it necessarily sounds anything like '97, or is as great, but its construction and overall effect are eerily similar. Listen to 12/6/97 II, or 11/14/97 II and compare. Sometimes brevity really is the soul of wit, and the short duration these sets share lends itself to a singular musical statement.

And this set is nothing if not singular, at least in this age.

I just listened to this entire show while retouching fashion photography for belk.com (at work). Most reviewers pour on the superlatives and proclamations - this humors me. I love the enthusiasm of youth and fanaticism in general. I also adore The Phish from Vermont.

For once, the zealots got it right! This is a high-quality 3.0 outing! That Tweezer - wow! I wasn't even annoyed by Ruby Waves! This is The Phish being patient and attentive - quality!

I don't know where they will be performing tonight's concert - from what I just heard, The Phish DESTROYED Madison Square Garden! Leveled it!

Unquestionably one of the top three or four 3.0 shows and definitely among the all-time greats. A fun side note - on the way in, I was telling my son Seth about being at 12/30/94 and the first ever "Wilson!" chant, and we both agreed that we were going to be getting a Wilson opener. As Trey walked on and grabbed his guitar, Seth loudly mimicked the "BA-dah, BA-dah" E chords, which rang out for real two seconds later, and got a perfect "Wait, wut?" look from the guy next to us.

This was my favorite show that i've been to (I was at Alpine3 this summer). First show was in 2003 (i'm 34yo so I missed the 1990s, sadly). This show had tears flowing during the Tweezer jam, people around me also wiping their eyes. I had "the feeling I've forgot". I felt like I was truly free and experienced the feeling I had as a teenager when I first started listening to phish - longing for my first show and imagining what it would be like. I've never fully felt that feeling until the Tweezer jam. It was absolutely beautiful. My love for this band may be at an all-time high after 2019. Thank you, phish!!!! -Maggie from Michigan

Long review ahead:

My girlfriend and I did the 4 night run in NYC. We had the same seats all four nights in section 114 looking at page’s beautiful bald spot. Most of our regular crew was not in attendance so these shows felt a bit different. She came down with a cold pre run. On top of this, seats are hard for us, we like to dance and flail about. First couple nights were certainly an adjustment. By night three it was make it or break it time. During the day we ventured out with some local friends and did the overcrowded MoMa that was somehow still worth it. Get to the show and it looks like we have at least one empty seat on each side of us, a tear of joy? Maybe. The guy to my left comes in and we are quickly having an awesome conversation. Things are looking up!

Wilson Ok OK we off
Final Hurrah, the guy next to me incorrectly calls it as party time on the first note, we are both pleasantly surprised when its some scandanavian fire. I find the line “I am in a square, dangling in mid air” very apt for Madison *Square* Garden that happens to be 7 floors up.
46 days My brain tries to will the band into playing it just like the Trey Trio did in Nola two years ago, but it ends up being a simply SOLID rendition and nothing too brain melty.
Ok Ballad of Curis Loew. I’ve seen 82 shows at this point, i’ve seen 7 curtis loews. I say something about this inflated stat, my new seat mate and dare I say friend this early into the show? Yes, yes i do; replies “well its my first”, immediately I’m put into a new headspace.
What’s this coming around the bend? Blaze on, a song who has become such a jam and energy powerhouse when used well. This version does not disappoint, we find Trey blissfully riffing within a few bars of starting the song, feels like something jerry would do occasionally at the beginning of an eyes of the world when he was FEEELING it man. The jam explodes in a familiar and awesome way getting deep for just a few moments. Next up we have Corinna, a song I wasn’t sure if I’d seen or not and certainly was not familiar with at this point. Side note: while recapping the show with my dad he let me know that its a Taj Mahal song who actually comes from where I am currently living WESTERN MASS. I found the song refreshing and fun, the best kind of bustout. Next we have an incredibly tight Mike’s ->Contact->Weekapaug. Its as if Mike gordon hand selected all the best oranges and juiced them down into the distilled nectar we crave for our ear mouths. Nothing but the juice, and contact is somehow extra juicy. By this time our small group of three new friends was calling ourselves a team and forging the road to a simply mind blowing second set. About to run is fun but honestly not too memorable but thats OK. MORE caps off the set in a way that gets me thinking about all the good things this year has seen and we all share in the vibrating love and light. Go TEAM!

OK onto the second set. Tweezer -> Trey is locked in, fishman seems determined. Mike and Page are scheming some sort of nefarious plan. What the fuck is going on? Time and space seem to bend at the bands will, we are transported into a world of pure improvisation. Our consciousness is lifted, the room is a ball of energy. We float in an ambient life force of PHISH pure and unadulterated. This is what we are after. No one is talking, no cigs in our section, the occasional “what the fucccccc” or gasp is all that gets uttered as the band plays on. I like to use the word transcendental for stuff like this. The band and audience are at one in flow. At the end of the jam, Tweezer turns into some sort of song I should probably be familiar with but its lost on me and it frankly doesn’t bother me. Pan story follows and I loved every minute of it. Ruby waves is the obvious followup and tonight seems like the perfect canvas for it to paint its beautiful melody. I found myself waking up the following morning with the lyrics bouncing around my head. Steam follows and provides a nice space for our brains to re-congeal just for a moment. The band, eager to play with its obviously captive audience, decides to weave Steam into Tweezer and then back to Ruby Waves. Nothing like a tweezer reprise that isn’t tweezer reprise if you ask me . To cap off this beautiful night the band decides to treat us to a well deserved slave to the traffic light. When it caps a night like this you can’t help but love every note while you reflect on all that is. The band leaves the stage before encore. Could this really be a 4 song second set? My mind can’t seem to fathom. At any rate the band comes back and brings the NYC vibes with the Velvet Underground’s Rock and Roll and its def gonna be alllllright now. We walk out different people than when we arrived. Go team! Go Phish! Mission Accomplished.

Monday night, raining and terrible weather, but...it's 12/30...The walk in, you can tell the people and building were palpitating, this is a PHISH night, no gimmicks. Long story short - Phish at their best. CK5 at his best. At MSG. I will not say this is 'the best Phish show' by any means, but all 5 guys were firing on all cylinders, in an MSG filled with phans giving and taking the energy as much as Phish was giving and taking those peaks. A truly memorable experience that has been a pleasure to re-live listening again several times.

PS
I am not a religious man, but boy, did Page bring me to Church during that Tweezer. Tears. And CK5 is defining the next level of lighting in any venue, let alone MSG.

This Tweezer. I can't love this band more than I do during this monster. Around 22:30-ish > 23:00 I swear I hear Morning Dew. The entire show is tits but the 2nd set is everything because of the Tweezer. They are so locked in and we reap all the blissful orgasmic JOY. We are beyond lucky to have found this band. Nobody beats Phish. No one ever could. 31:00-32:00 reminds us why we will always love Trey.

I was so excited for this show, I couldn't sleep for a week. I missed night one and two. Additionally, I was taking a couple of my buddies to their first shows. We pre-gamed the show at Rudy's and scored $4 pitchers that included free hot dogs. Man oh man did we have a squad - @GratefulRobinson, @MartyJanus, @JeffieGreenberg, @MyCousin_Vinny, and Joe.

I was itching for a "Punch" opener, but Wilson was a solid choice. By show 19, I still have yet to see the same opener twice. The pattern held true with this Wilson. The energy was hot and CK5 was lighting up the crowd during the signature Trey E major chord riff. Next came, "Final Hurrah", which was performed solidly. No crazy jams until "Blaze On."

Curtis Lowe came out of nowhere. Few were expecting it. I loved the rendition, which Page sang soulfully. That song was stuck in my head for the following days after the show.

Blaze On was a fantastic jam. Because of the monster Tweezer, it was overlooked, but it was up there as one of the best jams of the four nights. Around 11 minutes in, the band settled into a catchy groove and developed it far past typical Blaze On territory. I see a large amount of potential in Blaze On, and I predict that it will continue to be a vehicle for exploratory jamming.

It is always fascinating when you leave a show and forgot they played a Mike's Groove. It is easy to overlook the Mike's because of the brevity of the songs, but the Contact sandwiched in the middle was a good choice. As much as I love a class Hydrogen, the Contact fit perfectly. In the middle of Contact, they settled into another funky groove that stood out to me at the show. It was almost like Trey, Mike, and Page were playing three different chords until they converged to a certain sound. Fish kept the funk beat steady. I would have liked them to continue to jam it out, but eventually Mike came back in to finish the verses.

About to Run and More were performed fine, but back to back were nothing too exciting. Given the high quality of the preceding songs, nobody complained. Now let's talk about the meat and the potatoes. Never could have imagined that they would be able to top the final night of Alpine 2019, but they somehow managed to do so.

Around 20 minutes into the Tweezer I had completely forgotten what song was being played. The jam had many different movements and ended with the "Let's Go Blue" sports chant. What an ending. A major moment in Phish history, not just because of the length, but also the high quality.

I believe that the Ruby Waves that followed the Tweezer was an ode to the Alpine Ruby Waves. In this 1997-style set, there was nonstop exploratory jamming and the band gave the fans exactly what they wanted. The pan story added a level of strangeness and few had any idea what was going on. He hit me on the head with a pan. My buddy Vinny then replied, "ding." We were supposedly going to get a Harpua.

Unfortunately, I had to step outside and I missed the last two songs. But wow... what a show. It was a treat to get to attend this special evening. I will write up my New Years review over the weekend.

Anybody else hear the Ginseng Sullivan tease in the Tweezer? It's around the 23:30 mark of the official video of Tweezer. I love that section of the song, and if I'm having a shit day at work, I immediately put that section on bc it's just so damn beautiful and calming. I prob listened to it 30 times before I recognized the GS lick.

My favorite of 2019 behind Alpine3 and Camden3 (some attendance bias at Camden...)

Last night’s first frame was a little too spot-on 12/30/18 for me (Mike‘s Groove > More set closer), having REALLY enjoyed that first set last year

Second, though, was an absolute heater! That jam on the back end of Ruby was great. 0/2 on Reprise this year...something to look forward to in 2020...

If you guys don’t play tweezer reprise and YEM tomorrow and whatever else you haven’t played yet I will be so impressed you guys don’t have to do what we tell you to do I think you know that but I still think you follow us so you are tools or you hate your phans and play Julius bug Caspian and Time turns elastic wannanbes like petrichor and spices and walls of the cave because u are savant conductors. We are not buying it trey. Guyute and divided sky are good not Beethoven but good. The rest of your wanna be orchestra shit is just that .... dog crap I don’t know where you draw line but you’re somewhere in the middle which is not good I want you to be rebel and or kiss or play every sign that we put up we can’t have it both ways you either are for Jesus and Turn every cheek and do everything every hippie ever told you to do or you are ungodly and love having abortions and the Democratic Party and love maple syrup and vegetarians and think that you’ll help the world by recycling which CBS totally D bunked which is a liberal network so think about that. Trump is an asshole but so is Pocahontas and so is sleeping Biden and the dead guy you wanna offer us and you know who I’m talking about a dead guy from your Vermont state he is so old he will die in his first term but you love him because he offers free healthcare at all how about we all go out and actually work for a living how about thatI’m not usually political but people that don’t work shouldn’t eat it’s with Joseph Smith said when he came to America it’s kind of what Jesus said in his letters on his letters but his for apostles his four Gospels. Lazy slaw’s you have a song called the sloth and that shouldn’t be condoned or praised or something to be proud of it’s something to be hated as in the Democratic Party