photo: Chris Bavaro

Last night, Phish opened their five-night summer run at Madison Square Garden. These shows represent the band’s 92nd through 96th performances at the venue. The group has emphasized these numbers and even issued a throwback digital version of their ’90s newsletter the Doniac Schvice. With this in mind, plenty of folks have anticipated that these five dates, will contain 1990s reference points and last night’s show saw this come to pass (including the lack of sleeves on Trey Anastasio’s shirt).

All of the songs that the band performed on Wednesday debuted in 1992 or earlier. The setlist could well have appeared 34 years ago on 7/22/92.

Phish took the stage and set the tone by performing “Glide” for the first time in 225 shows going back to 8/31/21. Two songs later, the band revisited “Axilla” which the quartet last played on 8/18/24. A major throwback moment took place in the middle of the set when Jon Fishman appeared on vacuum and vocals for Syd Barrett’s “Love You,” as he had last done on 7/16/16. This was preceded by an intro of Foreigner’s “Cold As Ice” (a song that band had jettisoned on 5/18/92) and succeeded in familiar fashion for a Fishman vacuum tune with Argent’s “Hold Your Head Up” (which last surfaced at MSG on 7/29/23 at MSG when Fishman sang Neil Diamond’s “Cracklin’ Rosie.”) The final 57 minutes of the set moved from “AC/DC Bag” into “Reba,” then “Possum,” at which point, following the into to “David Bowie,” Phish summoned “The Vibration of Life,” which the group had last done 1027 shows ago, then returned to “Bowie.”

The second set also focused on material circa 1992. It began with a familiar run from “Mike’s Song” into “I Am Hydrogen” and “Weekapaug Groove” (with trampolines during “Mike’s Song” as back in the day). Then, perhaps the lone deviation from the earlier era, occurred during an 18-minute “Bouncing Around the Room.” Phish certainly played the tune back in ’92 but the first extended version of the song took place on July 10 in Indiana. The open-ended jam at the end of “Bouncing” eventually led into “My Friend, My Friend” and then “Split Open and Melt.” A classic take on the “The Lizards” came next before “Harry Hood” closed things out, following a brief hiccup at the outset, which led the group to restart the song.

The encore maintained the period vibe. It opened with a pairing of “The Horse” and “Silent in the Morning” which the band debuted on 3/7/92 at the Portsmouth Music Hall on the second night of the band’s ’92 spring tour. This was followed by “Big Black Furry Creature from Mars” (last played on 8/9/24 at Bethel Woods) during which Mike moved onto his back and Trey raised the microphone stand above his head. Finally, “Run Like an Antelope” closed things out in fitting fashion.

MSG show 93 will take place on Friday.

Setlist via Phish.net

SET 1: Glide, Runaway Jim, Foam, Axilla, Stash, Cold as Ice > Love You > Hold Your Head Up[1] > Sparkle, AC/DC Bag > Reba[2] > Possum > David Bowie -> The Vibration of Life -> David Bowie

SET 2: Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Bouncing Around the Room -> My Friend, My Friend[3] -> Split Open and Melt, The Lizards, Harry Hood[4]

ENCORE: The Horse > Silent in the Morning, Big Black Furry Creature from Mars, Run Like an Antelope
[1] Fish on vacuum and “GOOOAAALLL” announcement from Trey.
[2] No whistling.
[3] No “Myfe” ending.
[4] Aborted and restarted.

This show was Phish’s 92nd performance at Madison Square Garden, featured a setlist comprised entirely of songs from the 1992 era of the band, and included the return of long dormant antics from that time (trampolines in Mike’s Song and bicycle kicks during I Am Hydrogen). This show also featured multiple bustouts: Glide (last played August 31, 2021, or 225 shows), Cold as Ice (last played May 18, 1992, or 1,468 shows), Love You (last played July 16, 2016, or 382 shows), Hold Your Head Up (last played July 29, 2023, or 135 shows), and The Vibration of Life (last played November 19, 1996, or 1,027 shows). Hold Your Head Up featured Fish on vacuum and a “GOOAAAALLL” announcement from Trey. Reba did not contain the whistling ending. My Friend, My Friend did not include the “Myfe”ending and contained The Well teases. Page teased the theme from Speed Racer in The Lizards. Harry Hood was aborted and quickly restarted. For the finale of BBFCFM, Mike lay on the stage and Trey extended his microphone stand to maximum height.