Back In The Garden Again
MSG - 12.2.09 (Photo:Wendy Rogell)
With a second set fueled by adrenalized playing, a non-stop setlist, and an exploratory epic, Phish pieced together an explosive first night of their highly-anticipated Madison Square Garden run. Arriving in the Big Apple for the peak of their fall run, the band capitalized on their current momentum, kicking off their three-night run with a song-driven escapade. But in the highlight of the evening, the band let themselves go in a far-reaching exploration of “Light,” crafting one of the best – and most original sounding – pieces of improv of fall tour. Building on this run’s many standout versions of their newest jam vehicle, the band placed the song in the spotlight of the second set, taking the song on its most interstellar journey of its young life.
12.2.09 (W.Rogell)
Centering “Light” for the second straight show, the band launched into the show’s unquestionable highlight, riding the exploratory piece into the stratosphere. The band soared through a multi-dimensional segment of improv, further realizing the song’s potential in a type-II odyssey took vast step beyond Cumberland County’s second-set excursion. Transforming the song’s ever-climbing ladder of soul candy into a more hard-edged experimentation of unique Phishy planes, the band crafted the type of open-ended exploration that keeps me wanting more.
12.2.09 (W.Rogell)
Diving into a collective, free-form journey with some of the most engaging whole-band interplay of the fall, the band moved from abstract textures into a palette of original groove; and the spirit of exploration tasted in Albany resurfaced in droves throughout this gorgeous piece. Gordon slid into a section where he continued his tasteful, yet prominent, use of his envelope filter. Continually adding a new, directional feel to the band’s jamming, Gordon continues to push the envelope from the bottom end. As Page joined in with a heavily synthesized effect, the jam came to a final peak before dripping into “Slave,” forming the standout combo of the show. Molding a unique take of the majestic build, Phish used “Slave” as more than a landing point, but as a creative vehicle as well. Again placed as a centerpiece of a second set, the band showcased another strong version of the song in a year that has included many.
12.2.09 (W.Rogell)
Just as “Slave” triumphantly crashed to an end, “Tweezer” growled open to christen Phish’s return to their New York home. At this point, I thought I’d be gathering my brains off the arena walls before leaving for the night, but the colossal MSG “Tweezer” that many of us anticipated didn’t exactly precipitate. Instead of a thick molasses groove-fest, Phish played a compact, dirty rager that sounded akin to a full-on mid-nineties version. Locked and connected, the band ripped through a particularly fast version of the song that featured some standout communication between all the members. Firing through an aggressive rendition of their classic springboard, the band has used “Tweezer” as a more contained jam since fall started, and this one followed suit before blending into “Joy.”
12.2.09 (W.Rogell)
Playing it straight forward from here on out, the band featured a gorgeous rendition of “Harry Hood,” evoking memories of the many standout versions played in the building throughout Phish’s history. Adding a hefty dose of arena bombast with their popular ’09 combo, “Suzy,” “Antelope,” the band punctuated the first night of their New York stand with a series of fun, composed grooves. Setting up two nights of Madison Square Madness with a blistering second set on Wednesday night, Phish confidently stepped back to the bright lights of Broadway.
Set 1 Notes: Strong versions of “Chalkdust,” and “Wolfman’s” led the band out of the gates with a juxtaposition of styles before they stretched out a mid-set “Ocelot” in a far-more than average blues jam in the middle of the first set. The bust-out highlight of the night – and perhaps the tour – came with the dropping of Zappa’s “Peaches En Regalia,” which the band played impeccably before dropping into a meticulous “Divided Sky.”
I: AC/DC Bag, Chalk Dust Torture, Wolfman’s Brother, NICU, Ocelot, Brian and Robert, Poor Heart, Sample in a Jar, Peaches en Regalia, The Divided Sky, Cavern
II: Golgi Apparatus, Light > Slave to the Traffic Light, Tweezer > Joy, Sparkle, Harry Hood, Wading in the Velvet Sea, Suzy Greenberg, Run Like an Antelope
E: A Day in the Life, Tweezer Reprise
Tags: 2009, Fall '09
I’m very happy to hear the Peaches tonight. Got my first in Austin in ’99, second set opener. They are clearly practicing off stage, and putting their covers repertoire back together. It never ceases to amaze me to hear them pull something off the shelf, then nail it.
last night was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. i cannot wait to share my impressions with all of you, once i collect my thoughts (and imbibe some coffee). i have a feeling that musically speaking, last night will hold up on tape and be above-average for the tour but was not an epic blow-out for the ages. however, the energy contained within that Round Room last night was nothing short of incendiary. i have never felt anything like it in my life. IT truly was all around me.
true story.
Sorry to get off topic here but is there a general consensus regarding the best show since the comeback? Is there 1 show or a few shows that everyone seems to be in agreement about?
Contenders of the officailly “Best show(s)” of the year so far:
- RR2
- Deer Creek
- Gorge 1
- Hartford
- Philly 1
- Albany (only Set 2)
Best of the year so far:
RR2
Gorge1
Deer Creek
Hartford
Philly 1
Set 2 Albany
I haven’t listened to MSG yet
anybody got torrent link for the show?
what a setlist! thank you for contributing to the on-line community with your reviews (of course, as i’ve said before, I could do without the comparisons, but like phish and each show, miner isn’t just writing for me, he’s writing for himself first) I hope the thousands of dollars you and other people talk about spending following this band also end up in the charities phish has at EVERY show for EVERY city.
What a setlist for a first timer! I’m glad Phish is not pandering to the touring folk, because, let’s face it, most of them are just being selfish doing drugs every night and end up ruining their lives. On the flip side, to each their own and if that’s what you want to do do it, but the great phish experience will turn into a road of sorrow and that’s not phish’s fault, but the individual.
I’m not pointing fingers at miner, because he is a contributor to the phish community at very least.
Thank you for the reviews, I love waking up and reading the news. I follow Phish (like most of us) like most people follow baseball/football/hockeyinsert american sport, both great American past times.
Again, thank you mr miner! keep up the great work!
great write up Miner
looks ilke my work shit is cleared up
leaving in a few hours
see ya’ll for the last 2
getting pretty stoked
Yeah I would echo Al’s votes on shows of the year.
My order would be: Gorge 1, Red Rocks 2, Philly 1, Hartford, Hampton 3, and CCCC.
Single sets worth it: Deer Creek set II, Philly 1 set II, Albany 2 set II, SPAC set II, and MSG1 set II.
IMO, set of the year so far is Albany 2 set II followed closely by Gorge 1 set II.
a few preliminary thoughts, which will probably come up later:
1) peaches was killer. what a treat. trey got a little lost on the turnaround after the 2nd section, right before his first “solo” line, but was patient and came in at the right time; the rest of the song went swimmingly.
2) i know there were 2 days off since portland, but no less than 4 tunes were repeats from that show: cavern, golgi, light, and antelope. i can’t complain, of course, since light was the undisputed musical highlight of the night and antelope caught us all with our pants down (then proceeded to shred our faces off)… but still, i was more than a little surprised. not sure what to make of this.
3) someone fact-check me here but i believe this is the first time A Day in the Life has ever been played as part of a multi-song encore. then again, the other one was tweeprise which didn’t exactly shock anyone. although it did rock so hard and peak so high, i thought trey was going to fall over (not the only such moment in the show btw)
4) my mvp of the show award has to go to trey for some of the most diverse playing i’ve heard from him in a long time. his highlights are strewn about this show like … something that’s strewn everywhere (brain…not…fully…engaged…this…morning). chalkdust, a song that seems to follow me to every show i see, was a particularly great example of diverse, dynamic, soulful and patient soloing by Big Red. Ocelot and Wolfman have it too. Light and Tweezer are all over the map in the best way possible. The builds in both Slave and Hood feature some of the most unique guitar work those songs have seen all year long. Oh, and at the end of ADITL (i think… maybe it was tweeprise) trey did the jedi with his guitar. it seemed that he wanted to do that old bit with mike where they pretend to “fence” with the necks of their instruments but mike either didn’t feel like it or didn’t notice trey trying to get his attention. still, it was nice to see. trey was like a boiling cauldron of energy the entire night, constantly spilling over with his witch’s brew of magic as if it were something out of his own control. amazing to see.
that’s all for now. time to listen to the tapes.
I love the setlist from last night too but man it is another baffling thing when Phish has a bust out in their back pocket like Peaches, which is a perfect opener, and they wait till that late in the set to play it. If they open with that, the room basically sets on fire. I remember thinking the same thing at NYE 96 when they opened with Axilla > Peaches. Why play that second?
Similar to the Curtain With from RR this summer. Why play it second? And on the third night? Of course I love that it’s there but I just am kind of baffled.
This Light jam from last night is off the hook. What a privilege it is to be able to wake up and hear last night’s show in no time at all for free, in an uncompressed AUD. Huge props to the tapers’ diligence and eTree for the service.
based on the general negativity by PT writers here last night as the setlist unfolded, i was expecting a much more negative write up. im happy to hear that minor thought it was a really solid show. nothing wrong with a mid 90s rock solid tweezer. i cant fin wait to hear light.
I really had an awesome time last night. We can always make complaints about the setlist (“aw man, Joy is geigh”, etc), but when they slay every song like last night it’s the greatest concert experience I’ve ever had. And the exploratory jams just put it over the top. I don’t know if we’ll get 45 minutes of improv like 11/27 but what we got last night was worth the price of admission.
@kb – there is way too much negativity on PT, especially based on nothing more than the setlist.
^by PT i mean phishthoughts BTW
a distinction – when most people on this site say PT, they mean Phantasy Tour.
it’s confusing since PT would also be the initials of this site, but when referring to this site it’s usually sufficient to just say “this site,” or if you prefer, “here.”
PT is also known as the Green Board i believe?
i like to think of it as the place that intelligence and decorum go to die.
also i’m just busting balls. feeling a little punchy this morning. apologies.
^i re-read my post and i did say ‘here’ so your explanation wasn’t needed. JK
Nice write up miner! Looks like a great start of the MSG run. Wifey and I will be there tomnorrow…
Gunnin4you:
“most of them are just being selfish doing drugs every night and end up ruining their lives.”
You might want to be careful with those generalizations. While Phish’s fanbase has grown up and there aren’t as many “kids” on tour as there once was, it’s pretty unfair to generalize. Most of my crew that did entire tours in the 90′s also ended up finishing grad school and are successful professionals with families. Yes, you always have some people who fit your description, but there are plenty of other good unselfish people out there. Also, although Phish isn’t throwing 30 minute jams into every show, they are playing quite a variety of songs that just about anyone on tour should appreciate. Even if some of these shows don’t have that big jam (which is what I am always hoping for), they all seem to have something unique about them. So I’m not sure they are pandering or not pandering to anyone. I think they are just trying to have fun. A great tour!
Not trying to bash you, bro. Just don’t think that generalization was fair.
@aw-
have fun tonight man…
enjoy yourself…
Looks like a great show! I snagged a ticket for tonight, so I’m headed down (solo-unusual for female fans, I know, only my second time doing it that way). Totally psyched to be with you all! Headed to pack, work, an get down there. Maybe I’ll run into some of you! Seems they saved some nastiness for the next three nights! Hope I can score a tkt to fri!
Oh, and for what it’s worth, my faces of the year that I’ve attended are:
Albany set 2
Indio sunday (all 3)
Hartford
spac
^ should read faves, silly iPhone spell checker!
I thought you meant it as slang for ‘face melters’ and I really liked it
My Favs of 2009:
Hampton 3
Deer Creek
RR 2
Gorge I
Darien (sleeper)
Hartford
Indio 2 (sets 2 and 3) and 3 (set 3)
Philly I
Albany 2
This Light jam really is great. Lot of styles out of Trey, and around minutes 10-14 it sounds very much like ’03 era open playing.