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Phish (Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY, December 31, 2023)

Posted in Madison Square Garden, New York City, Phish on December 31, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 31, 2023] Phish

I have seen many Phish shows (not nearly as many as most Phish fans, but more Phish than any other band).  The one show I wanted to go to that I hadn’t yet was New Year’s Eve at Madison Square Garden.

I wasn’t ever going to pay crazy prices for the show, so I always tried to get them in the lottery or through Ticketmaster.  And this year I actually did.  The key was also that I needed to get 4 tickets so my whole family could go–I wouldn’t spend New Year’s Eve without them.  I wasn’t sure how keen the kids would be about seeing a band they didn’t know, but they were all pretty excited about the idea of being in New York, at a concert, as the New Year dawned.

So I was happy to kick back and enjoy the show, with my biggest concern being that the kids weren’t too bored during the long solos.  But I promised them that there would be some kind of New Year’s gag to entertain them.

Little did I know that the gag was probably tame for them compared to what I’d described, but it was incredible for me and meaningful in a way I never imagined.

I had noticed that they hadn’t played “Possum” at MSG on this run.  It’s their second most played song (and one I hadn’t seen them play in 16 shows) so I thought I’d have a good chance of seeing it.  And maybe one or two others on my list.

Little did I know that I would be in for THE FIRST TIME THEY PLAYED THE GAMEHENDGE STORY IN NEARLY 30 YEARS (which includes Possum).

The show started with a lengthy version of “Everything’s Right.”  This is a newer song that I have heard five times already.  Trey must just sense my presence.  They followed it with “Tube.”  It’s a weird song with a jerky rhythm that I really like.  This version featured a lengthy jam that quoted the Mary Tyler Moore theme song.

Up next was a brand new song (debuted this summer) that I hadn’t heard before.  “Ether Edge” shows that Trey is still writing songs, and most of them are uplifting and positive.

It was a lovely song but I was super psyched when the band did a sidestep to play a song from Lawn Boy.  I’ve seen “Reba” (a big favorite for me) twice, but this is the first time they played the whole thing (including the whistling ending, which they seem to have been leaving out as of late).

I have a lengthy list of songs I’ve never seen live and which I would like to see.  And every once in a while they play a song that I have never seen that I didn’t realize I wanted to see, like “Taste,” a classic rock sounding song from Billy Breathes.

I have never really listened to the Ghosts in the Forest record which is kind of a shame since I’ve heard so much of it live.  “Ruby Waves” gets better with each listen.  It was followed by one of Trey’s newer, sweeter songs, “A Life Beyond the Dream.”  The set ended (rather early I thought) with a rocking and fun “Character Zero.”

I had seen in previous years that the act break was pretty long between the two main parts of the set.  We stayed put as everyone had gotten up and we were rewarded because they started set two much earlier than I thought they would.

I was pretty excited that they opened Set two with “Down with Disease,” a fun rocker–I wanted my kids to be into the rockers before the meandering jams started.

And then they started playing “Harpua.”  There was ONE song I wanted to hear at this show, and I hoped I’d get “Possum” but instead I got Harpua!  It was so rare in my mind, that it wasn’t even on my list.  And then Trey started talking.  And he mentioned Gamehendge.  And soon enough, my mind was blown.

I don’t even know if I have the words.

I’m not a first-gen Phish fan, I got into them around 1998.  But they were super easy to get really into because they released a lot of live albums. And you could quickly get sucked into the mythology and realize that you missed out on all the secret languages that they band developed with their fans.  Including Gamehendge.  Sure, they played Harpua from time to time, but, as was quickly pointed out once the show started Phish never played Gamehendge.   Live for Live Music gives some stats:

Prior to 12/31/23, the band had played Gamehendge—referring to the collective group of songs and their complete, accompanying narration—in concert only four times (that we know of): 3/12/88 at Nectar’s, 3/22/93 in Sacramento, CA, 6/26/94 in West Virginia (which also a near-complete performance of Phish’s Hoist album), and 7/8/94 in Mansfield, MA. There was also the 10/13/91 show in Olympia, WA that featured most but not all of the Gamehendge saga/narration, so that one gets an asterisk on most peoples’ list. Phish-nerds gonna Phish-nerd.

Over the nearly three decades since the last Gamehendge show in 1994, Phish seemed content to leave the land of Lizards in the past. The individual songs themselves have never disappeared from the repertoire, but until New Year’s Eve, chasing Gamehendge at a live show amounted to a pipe dream for generations of Phish fans: “What do you want to hear tonight? Gamehendge? Right, cool. Wouldn’t we all. Not gonna happen.”

So even if I’ve only been into Phish for 25 years, it was still an incredible moment.   I may not have been to 100 shows (this was my 17th), and I feel incredibly lucky to have been there in person, I still feel like I earned it (unlike my kids who were like, “what’s happening”).

It was pretty amazing to be there on site as it happened.  Even if we were behind the stage and couldn’t really see the performance, the place was electric.  And yes, I was moved to tears at being there, watching that giant rhimbus take over the stage was something else.

In my experience, I would have typically been at the show the night before (like when we went to see Pearl Jam in Philly on the night BEFORE they played Ten front to back).  The fact that I was there was pretty amazing.

And now Phish has released the entire Gamehendge saga on 4K stream on YouTube (you can’t see us behind the stage).

I also never realized that so many of the songs that were on my “gotta hear” list were from this saga.  I got “The Lizards” and “Punch You in the Eye.”

And of course I knew that “Fly Famous Mockingbird” was part of the saga but to hear it live WITH a massive drone bird flying around was incredible.

And it ended just as they sang Auld Lang Syne (my kids point out that he did the count down about a minute and a half before it actually turned midnight (and that the the song itself ended at exactly midnight), but who needs exactitude, right?

How do you top that?  Can you even top it?

Well, how about with a really jamming Split Open and Melt.  And then with a nearly 25 minute You Enjoy Myself (making this a true YEMSG).

And surely that would be the end.  But no, how about a ripping cover of The Rolling Stone’s  “Loving Cup.”  One which the whole crowd could sing along to.

I assumed there would be an encore (but really, after all that?)  And actually I assumed it would be a Tweezer Reprise because they had played Tweezer but did not play the Reprise.

But they couldn’t let us leave before 1AM.  And so, there was a super fun Cavern a fantastic First Tube (one of my faves) and then a night-ending Tweezer Reprise.

It was an incredible night.

We got some street cart food on the way home (and happened to stop on a street where there was a massive accident and police chase and then a massive line up for the bus.  But they threw on an extra bus driver for us and we wound up getting home some time around 4:30 AM

A pretty unforgettable New Year’s Eve.

I’m honestly not sure if I ever need to see Phish again after that.  But I feel like I need  to go to more shows to show my appreciation.

Thanks guys.

~~~~

A Phish.net site lists every song that Phish has every played and when the last time it was played.  So I decided to make my own personal ultimate list of Phish songs I’d like to see.

According to that site, there are about 200 songs I’m likely to hear live [not including one offs and gags and such].  The completist in me would love to hear all of those songs, (some they haven’t played in years, so that’s unlikely).  But given that enormous list, I have selected the 25 or so songs that I want to hear live (the ones on the bottom are the rest of the Kasvot Voxt album and it would be cool to get the whole thing, but not essential).  These are in order of frequency of play (as of 12/31/23 their most frequently played song is “You Enjoy Myself” 634 times).

  1. Golgi Apparatus (11th of the list) [475] J
  2. Foam (20th) [352] J
  3. Maze (23nd) [338] [Split Open and Melt has been played 344 times and I have seen it 6 times)
  4. Sample in a Jar (32nd) [305] [saw it TREY SOLO]
  5. Fee (35th) [286]  J  (Slave to the Traffic Light has been played 272 time and I have seen it 4 times)
  6. It’s Ice (40th) [254]
  7. Silent in the Morning (61st) [185]
  8. Prince Caspian (65th) [175]
  9. Twist (66th) [175]
  10. Scent of a Mule (79th)[146]
  11. Big Black Furry Creatures from Mars (81st)  [142] (They have covered Loving Cup 146 times and I have seen it 3 times)
  12. Guyute [133]
  13. Heavy Things [98] [TAB played it]
  14. Farmhouse [85] [TREY played it]
  15. Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan [80]
  16. Joy [55]
  17. A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing [46]   (Everything’s Right has been played 53 times and I have seen it 5 times)
  18. Weigh [45]
  19. Kung [39]
  20. Pebbles and Marbles [28]
  21. Fuck Your Face [20]
  22. Ass Handed [19]
  23. Mexican Cousin [15]
  24. *We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains [Kasvot Växt] [10]
  25. *Stray Dog [Kasvot Växt] [4]
  26. *Everything is Hollow [Kasvot Växt] [4]
  27. *Play By Play [Kasvot Växt] [3]

And these are the songs I’ve seen the most:

The six, five and four timers club [bold songs were played at this last show]

  1. Mike’s Song [6]
  2. Weekapaug Groove [6]
  3. Split Open and Melt [6]
  4. You Enjoy Myself [6]
  5. Wilson [6]
  6. Suzy Greenberg [5]
  7. 46 Days [5]
  8. Everything’s Right [5]
  9. Down with Disease [4]
  10. Roggae [4]
  11. Slave to the Traffic Light [4]
  12. More [4]
  13. Carini [4]
  14. I am Hydrogen [4]
  15. Back on the Train [4]
  16. Blaze On [4]
  17. Walls of the Cave [4]
  18. No Men in No Man’s Land [4]
  19. Chalk Dust Torture [4]
  20. Ruby Waves [4]
  21. Tube [4]
  22. Tweezer Reprise [4]

 

December 31, 2023 [Madison Square Garden night 4 of 4] July 25, 2023 [Mann Center night 1 of 2]
SET ONE SET ONE
Everything’s Right (11:38) [Trey song] (5) Strawberry Letter 23 [Shuggie Otis] 4:20
Tube (8:09) [4] Bathtub Gin 14:35 (2)
Ether Edge (4:26) [Trey song] Back on the Train 8:28 [4]
Reba [with whistle] (12:10) [3] The Squirming Coil 7:19 [2]
Taste (7:23) Axilla (Part II) 5:41 [2]
Ruby Waves (9:20) [Ghosts of the Forest] [4] Ya Mar 7:10 [2]
A Life Beyond the Dream (7:26) [2] Blaze On 10:16 [4]
Character Zero (5:16) [3] Waste 5:42 [3]
SET TWO Walls of the Cave 10:16 [4]
Down with Disease 8:26 [4]  46 Days 6:08 [5]
Harpua (9:01) SET TWO
Gamehendge Down with Disease 16:48 [3] 
The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday (2:38) The Well 20:38 [Eighth longest song I’ve seen]
The Lizards (9:50) No Men in No Man’s Land 6:10 [4]
Punch You in the Eye (6:24) ~ Beneath a Sea of Starts (Part 1) [Ghosts of the Forest] 9:07 [3]
AC/DC Bag (18:57) [2]  Piper 9:10 [3]
Tela (7:38) [2] Crosseyed and Painless 6:53 [Talking Heads] [2]
Llama [fast version] (4:26) [2] ~ Chalk Dust Torture  8:04 [4]
Wilson  (4:34) [6] ENCORE
The Sloth (5:20) [2] Wading in the Velvet Sea 5:05 [2]
Divided Sky (13:42) [2] ~ Fire [Jimi Hendrix] 4:43 [2] 
SET THREE
McGrupp And The Watchful Hosemasters (8:57) ~
Colonel Forbin’s Ascent (5:52) 
Fly Famous Mockingbird (7:47) 
Auld Lang Syne (1:25)
Split Open and Melt (14:26) [6]
You Enjoy Myself (23:46) [6]
Loving Cup (8:04) [3] (Rolling Stones)
Possum (11:02) 
ENCORE
Cavern (4:42) [2]
First Tube (7:46) [3]
Tweezer Reprise (3:41) [4]

 

August 7, 2022 [Atlantic City night 3 of 3] August 7, 2022 [Atlantic City night 1 of 3]
SET ONE SET ONE
Wolfman’s Brother 11:37 Chalk Dust Torture  7:39 [3]
Tube 12:07 [3] Wilson  4:18 [5]
Mountains in the Mist 6:57 Sand 11:19  [saw TAB play it too]
Ocelot 11:10 Plasma  8:25 [2]
Fluffhead 14:28 [2] Theme from the Bottom 8:10 [3]
Mercury 7:09 [2] Back on the Train 7:50 [3]
Gumbo 4:49 [2] Sigma Oasis 21:29 [Sixth longest song I’ve seen]
Carini 9:53 [4] Cities 4:43 [Talking Heads] [2]
SET TWO More 6:00 [4]
Mike’s Song 7:19 [6] SET TWO
I am Hydrogen 7:01 [4] Axilla (Part II) 5:54
Weekapaug Groove 8:13 [6] Soul Planet 14:52 [Trey song] [2]
A Wave of Hope 19:23  Down with Disease 20:51 [2] [Seventh longest song I’ve seen]
You Enjoy Myself 23:46 [5] [Fifth longest song I’ve seen] Ruby Waves 14:39 [Ghosts of the Forest] [3]
Suzy Greenberg 7:21 [5] Down with Disease 0:50 [2]
ENCORE Ghost 12:17 [2 plus 1 slow version]
Wading in the Velvet Sea 5:43 [2] Harry Hood 14:54 [2]
First Tube 7:21 [2] ENCORE
Sleeping Monkey 4:13
Free 10:35 [2]

 

July 20, 2022 [Mann Center night 2 of 2] July 19, 2022 [Mann Center night 1 of 2]
SET ONE SET ONE
Steam (8:27) [3] Space Oddity [David Bowie] (5:27) (a cappella) (first time since 2017)
Runaway Jim (11:50) [2] Martian Monster (5:50) [2]
Tela (6:46) Halley’s Comet (17:03) [2] (Richard Wright cover)
Kill Devil Falls (10:59) [2] Stash (11:57)
Theme from the Bottom (7:51) [2] The Moma Dance (7:22) [3]
Birds of a Feather (6:16) [3] Gotta Jibboo (8:09) [2]
I Didn’t Know (4:36) [with vacuum solo] (Richard Wright) Shade (4:27) [saw Trey perform at Newport]
Funky Bitch (6:48) [3] (Son Seals) Old Home Place (3:27) (The Dillards)
Split Open and Melt (14:58) [5] Walls of the Cave (11:49) (3)
SET TWO SET TWO
AC/DC Bag (10:01) More (5:37) [3]
Soul Planet (9:51) [Trey song] Tweezer (15:54) [3]
Simple (14:50) [3] Cities (5:03) [Talking Heads]
Light (9:28) [3] Tweezer (4:53) [3]
Party Time (7:34) Passing Through [Kasvot Växt] (4:34)
Lonely Trip (7:34) [Trey song] Izabella (4:01) [2] (Jimi Hendrix)
David Bowie (13:10) [2] Tweezer (4:40) [3]
ENCORE Mercury (7:30) 
Waste (5:29) [2] Piper (13:59) [2]
Loving Cup (7:41) [2] (Rolling Stones) Tweezer (1:11) [3]
Also Sprach Zarathustra / 2001 (7:48) [2] (Richard Strauss cover)
Character Zero (7:26) [2]
ENCORE
Drift While You’re Sleeping [Ghosts of the Forest] (11:45)
Tweezer Reprise (3:37) [3]

 

August 15, 2021 [Atlantic City night 3 of 3] August 14, 2021 [Atlantic City night 2 of 3]
SET ONE SET ONE
The Landlady (6:08) Llama [slow version] (8:03)
Scents and Subtle Sounds (pt. 1) (1:59) Tube (7:56) [2]
The Moma Dance [slow] (14:06) Destiny Unbound (7:24)
The Final Hurrah [Kasvot Växt] (8:25) [2] Ya Mar (6:36)
Mike’s Song (9:30) [5] 46 Days (7:57) [4]
I am Hydrogen (2:56) [3] Reba [no whistle] (12:03) [2]
Weekapaug Groove (8:09) [5] Soul Shakedown Party (6:02)
The Sloth (4:32) Split Open and Melt (15:36) [4]
Roggae (8:18) [4] The Squirming Coil (9:57)
Back on the Train (5:23) [2]
You Enjoy Myself (20:02) [4]
SET TWO SET TWO
Carini (15:44) [3] I Never Needed You Like This Before (5:21)
Set Your Soul Free (10:49) [Trey Song] [2] Drowned (15:54)
Beneath a Sea of Starts (Part 1) [Ghosts of the Forest] (8:20) [2] Ghost [slow version] (11:47) [1 first slow version]
Piper (11:57) [a bit more Carini] Scents and Subtle Sounds (pt 2 only) (4:56)
Waves (6:33) Chalk Dust Torture (8:30) [2]
Simple (6:42) [2] No Quarter (8:06)
About to Run [Ghosts of the Forest song] (6:47) [2] Slave to the Traffic Light (10:15) [4]
First Tube (8:21) Suzy Greenberg (7:48) [4]
ENCORE
ENCORE A Life Beyond the Dream (7:46)
Fluffhead (15:01) Tweezer Reprise (3:38) [2]
Backwards Down the Number Line (8:45) [2]

 

December 30, 2019 Madison Square Garden [night 3 of 4] December 29, 2019 Madison Square Garden [night 2 of 4]
SET ONE
Wilson (4:49) (4) Turtle in the Clouds (7:51) [Kasvot Växt]
The Final Hurrah (7:37) [Kasvot Växt] The Moma Dance (7:54) (2)
46 Days (8:40)  (3) Kill Devil Falls (8:40)
The Ballad of Curtis Loew (5:02) [Lynyrd Skynyrd cover]  Yarmouth Road (7:12) [Mike song]
Blaze On (17:17) (3) The Wedge (7:41)
Corinna (5:32) [Taj Mahal cover] Beauty of a Broken Heart (5:28) [Page song]
Mike’s Song (6:24) (4) Fuego (9:16) (2)
Contact (6:13) My Friend, My Friend (5:25) (no Myfe ending)
Weekapaug Groove (4:59) (4) Birds of a Feather (5:42) (2)
About to Run (7:47) [Ghosts of the Forest song] While My Guitar Gently Weeps (7:12) [The Beatles cover] (first time since 2013)
More (8:18) (2) Walls of the Cave (11:07) (2)
SET TWO SET TWO
Tweezer (36:08) (2) [LONGEST SONG I’VE SEEN] Carini (13:52) (2)
Pan Story (3:25) Back on the Train (6:22)
Ruby Waves (13:23) [Ghosts of the Forest] (2) Bathtub Gin (15:44)
Steam (with Tweezer reprise and Ruby Waves reprise) (11:53) (2) Golden Age [TV on the Radio] (11:06) (2)
Slave to the Traffic Light (9:28) (3) Also Sprach Zarathustra / 2001 (8:16) [Richard Strauss cover]
ENCORE Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley (5:12) [Lee Dorsey cover]
Rock & Roll (7:19) [Velvet Underground cover] Chalk Dust Torture (5:19)
Harry Hood (18:53)
ENCORE
Show of Life (5:35) [Trey song] (2)
Run Like an Antelope (9:08)

 

Camden, June 29, 2019
 December 30, 2018 Madison Square Garden [night 3 of 4]
SET ONE SET ONE
Mike’s Song (9:12) (3) Alumni Blues (5:14)
I Am Hydrogen (3:02) (2) Letter to Jimmy Page > Alumni Blues (1:53)
Weekapaug Groove (8:01) (3) Mike’s Song (9:14) (2)
Divided Sky (15:48) Glide II (4:03) (first since 1995)
Everything’s Right (9:50) [Trey song] (4) Weekapaug Groove (12:38) (2)
Guelah Papyrus (5:22) Crosseyed and Painless (8:50)
Sparkle (3:51) (3) Bliss (1:39)
Roggae (7:59) (3) Billy Breathes (5:35) (2)
46 Days (10:31) (2) No Men in No Man’s Land (7:50) (3)
SET TWO Tube > Weekapaug Groove > Tube (10:02)
Blaze On (9:23) (2) More (6:23)
NICU (4:57)  SET TWO
Golden Age (8:27) [TV on the Radio] Cool Amber and Mercury (9:35) [Kasvot Växt]
Ruby Waves (13:38)[Ghosts of the Forest] Everything’s Right (15:30) [Trey song] (3)
Death Don’t Hurt Very Long (2:57) [Kasvot Växt] Plasma (9:09)
Rift (6:11) (3) Light (20:01) (2)
Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1 (8:10) [Ghosts of the Forest] [debut] Wading in the Velvet Sea (5:25)
Waiting All Night (4:59) Split Open and Melt (18:26) (3)
Ghost (8:17) ENCORE
Say It to Me S.A.N.T.O.S (6:42) [Kasvot Växt] Funky Bitch (5:33) (2) (Son Seals)
ENCORE Wilson (4:10) (3)
You Enjoy Myself (19:50) (3) Rocky Top (2:40)
Grind (1:51) (a capella) Cavern (4:45)

 

Camden August 8, 2018
 Camden, August 7, 2018
SET ONE SET ONE
The Moma Dance (9:34) Crowd Control (5:20)
Free (8:03)  No Men in No Man’s Land (7:34) (2)
Undermind (8:27) Blaze On (11:22)
Theme From the Bottom (8:23) Lawn Boy (4:16)
My Sweet One (2:09) Infinite (9:26)
Steam (8:38) Wilson (4:08) (2)
Train Song (3:09) Roggae (9:29) (2)
Halley’s Comet (6:29) Rift (6:08) (2)
Everything’s Right [Trey song] (16:41) (2) 46 Days (9:41) [with Theme from S.W.A.T. tease]
SET TWO Sparkle (3:34) (2)
Julius (8:06) David Bowie (11:27)
Carini (11:49) SET TWO
Set Your Soul Free (10:52) [Trey song] Down with Disease (24:28) [3rd LONGEST SONG I’VE SEEN]
Wingsuit (9:05) Backwards Down the Number Line (8:28)
Scents and Subtle Sounds (12:04) I Always Wanted It That Way (8:45)
Waste (6:20) Miss You (6:25)
Split Open and Melt (11:59) (2) Light (16:30)
Character Zero (8:47) Mike’s Song (7:32)
ENCORE I Am Hydrogen (3:08)
Suzy Greenberg (6:33) (3) Weekapaug Groove (8:46)
ENCORE
Show of Life (Trey song) (6:02)

 

2017 Bakers Dozen Night 13 [Glazed]
 2017 Bakers Dozen Night 1 [Coconut]
SET ONE SET ONE
Dogs Stole Things (4:57) Shake Your Coconuts (3:37) [Junior Senior cover]
Rift (6:25) Martian Monster (6:02)
Ha Ha Ha (1:36) Timber ho! (8:29) [Josh White cover] (2)
Camel Walk (6:20) 555 (7:30)
Crazy Sometimes (7:38) [Mike song] Pigtail (8:00) [Trey song]
Saw It Again (6:08) Halfway to the Moon (8:44)
Sanity (5:32) Reba (12:53) (no whistling end)
Bouncing Around the Room (4:01) Moonage Daydream (6:07) [David Bowie cover]
Most Events Aren’t Planned (11:38) [Vida Blue song] Walls of the Cave (11:45)
Bug (7:05) SET TWO
I Been Around (3:55) Tweezer (16:12)
Izabella (6:42) [Jimi Hendrix song] Seven Below (13:10)
SET TWO Billy Breathes (5:27)
Simple (25:58) [2nd LONGEST SONG I’VE SEEN] Sparkle (4:08)
Rise/Come Together (7:28) [Trey song] Everything’s Right (11:42) [Trey song]
Starman (5:27) [David Bowie song] Slave to the Traffic Light (9:23) (2)
You Enjoy Myself (24:01) (2) [4th LONGEST SONG I’VE SEEN] Suzy Greenberg (8:09) (2)
Loving Cup (7:48) [The Rolling Stones song] Coconut (3:18) (a capella) [Harry Nilsson cover]
ENCORE ENCORE
On the Road Again (2:32) [Willie Nelson cover] The Mango Song (7:42)
Lawn Boy Reprise (1:28) Good Times, Bad Times (5:44) [Led Zeppelin cover]
Bass Solo (0:30)
Tweezer Reprise (3:56)

 

2016 Mann Center
SET ONE
Wilson (5:09)
Funky Bitch (6:14) [Son Seals cover]
No Men in No Man’s Land (8:16)
Roggae (9:46)
Nellie Kane (2:59) [Hot Rize cover]
Gumbo (6:21)
Birds of a Feather (7:35)
Sleep Again (6:05) [Trey song]
Things People Do (2:49)
Limb By Limb (7:19)
Split Open and Melt (10:18)
The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony (1:43)
Suzy Greenberg (6:40)
SET TWO
Fuego (16:04)
Runaway Jim (7:52)
Gotta Jibboo (8:51)
Breath and Burning (9:34)
Timber ho! (5:36) [Josh White cover]
Slave to the Traffic Light (9:36)
You Enjoy Myself (18:43)
ENCORE
Quinn the Eskimo (4:49) [Bob Dylan cover]

Junta:
Lawn Boy: complete
Picture of Nectar:  Eliza*; Poor Heart; Manteca*; Faht*; Catapult*; Glide (have seen glide II)
Rift: Fast Enough for You; Lengthwise*; Maze; Horn; Weigh*; All Things Reconsidered*; Mound; It’s Ice; The Horse*; Silent in the Morning
Hoist: If I Could; Riker’s Mailbox*; Lifeboy; Scent of a Mule; Dog Faced Boy; Demand ; Yerushalayim Shel Zahav
Billy Breathes: Cars Trucks Buses; Talk; Swept Away, Steep; Prince Caspian
The Story of the Ghost: Meat; Guyute; Fikus;
Farmhouse: Twist; Heavy Things; Dirt; Sleep; The Inlaw Josie Wales
Round Room: Pebbles and Marbles; Anything But Me; Round Room; Mexican Cousin; Friday; All of These Dreams; Thunderhead;
Undermind: The Connection; A Song a I Heard The Ocean Sing; Army of One; Maggie’s Revenge; Nothing; Two Versions of Me; Access me; Tomorrow’s Song; Secret Smile
Joy: Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan; Joy; Sugar Shack; Time Turns Elastic; Twenty Years Later
Fuego: The Line; Devotion to a Dream; Winterqueen; Sing Monica; Wombat
Big Boat
Sigma Oasis

TREY ANASTASIO BAND SETLISTS FOR ADDITION

 

TREY ANASTASIO BAND Fillmore 2016
 TREY ANASTASIO solo Newport Folk Fest 2019
SET ONE Sample in a Jar [PHISH] 
Sand (11:18) [PHISH] Blaze On [PHISH]
Sometime After Sunset (5:39) Brian and Robert [PHISH]
Mozambique (3:43) The Inlaw Josie Wales [PHISH]
Magilla (2:59) [PHISH] Set Your Soul Free
Gotta Jibboo (10:25) Back on the Train [PHISH]
Pigtail (6:29) Farmhouse [PHISH]
Curlew’s Call (9:38) Rise/Come Together [TAB]
Cayman Review (7:30) Shade [PHISH]
Ocelot (9:12) [PHISH] Summer of ’89 [PHISH]
Valentine (6:06) Sand [PHISH]
Tuesday (5:50) Snowflakes in the Sand [TAB]
SET TWO Steam [PHISH]
Drifting (7:39) More [PHISH]
Night Speaks to a Woman (10:21)
Delta Lady (4:29) [Leon Russel]
Simple Twist Up Dave (9:30)
The Song (5:06)
Feel It Still (3:11) [Portugal, The Man]
49 Bye-Byes (4:42) [Crosby, Stills & Nash]
Last Tube (10:40)
Architect (7:18)
Clint Eastwood (7:43) [Gorillaz]
Black Dog (8:35) [Led Zeppelin]
ENCORE
The Parting Glass (3:02) [traditional]
Heavy Things (5:08) [PHISH]
Push On ‘Til The Day (10:23)

 

 

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Phish (Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY, December 28-30, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Madison Square Garden, New York City, Phish on December 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 28-30, 2023] Phish

I have been to the Phish New Year’s Eve run a few times.  I went on Night 3 in 2018 and nights 2 and 3 in 2019.  But I’ve never been to New Year’s Eve.

I have reached the point where Madison Square Garden is too much of a hassle for me, so I wasn’t even planning on trying to get tickets for these shows.  But I figured I’d give New Year’s Eve a shot and I actually got some!

So I had no desire to go to these shows.

It’s possible that New Year’s Eve will be my last Phish show (that will make 17 shows).  I don’t really feel the need to go for 20, but they do keep drawing me back in.

I’m not going to The Sphere, though, as cool as that sounds.

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Michael LaPointe–“Private Hands” [The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar #19] (2021)

Posted in Canadian Content, Christmas, Hingston & Olsen, Jimi Hendrix, Museum of the Dandelion, Provenance, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar, The Walrus on December 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 19, 2023] “Private Hands”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was Michael LaPointe.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 19. Michael LaPointe, author of The Creep, has a line on a shoe once worn by Jerry Garcia.

I’ve read a lot of short stories over the years and I keep this blog as a way to remember them.  But it’s cool when I can start a story and recognize it.  I read this story over two and a half years ago in The Walrus, but it rang familiar after the first few paragraphs.  Interesting that i didn’t remember how it ended.

Harvey has a lot of rarities that he sells.  He is trying to sell a 1963 Fender Strat that Jimi Hendrix played at the Juggy Sound Studio.  He asks $500,000 but he knows it’s too much (Harvey overpaid for it and wants to make some money back). (more…)

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Wax Jaw / Trash Boy / Jim E. Brown (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, December 18, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Jim E. Brown, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Trash Boy, Wax Jaw on December 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 18, 2023] Wax Jaw / Trash Boy / Jim E. Brown

I was pretty excited to go to this show.  I had seen Wax Jaw a few months ago and they were outstanding.  This was to be their last show of the year and it was back on home turf.  It was also going to be my last show of the year and it seemed like a great one to go out on.

Then it rained.  And rained.  And rained.  Our area was flooded like crazy–schools closed, rivers overflowing, the works.  I probably could have still gone to the show.  It looked like Philly wasn’t as badly affected as my area was, but when I looked on the map, it did suggest that  there were flooding issues along the way and around the venue.  It just didn;t seem like it was worth going to the hassle.

So I stayed home.

Bummer.

I’ve seen a couple of videos and the show looks insane.  I hope someone has recorded the whole show. (more…)

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Karina Rykman (Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, December 15, 2023)

Posted in Boygenius, Butthole Surfers, Coyote Island, Karina Rykman, Marco Benevento, Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, Tom Tom Club, Ween on December 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 15, 2023] Karina Rykman 

I‘ve seen Karina Rykman play bass with Marco Benevento three times.   She exudes a joy that is infectious.  And her sound with Marco is outstanding–her fuzz bass is unparalleled.

So I’d wanted to see her solo for a while, even though her solo songs are a bit more discoey than I would have liked. She opened for Guster back in April and she and her band blew me away.  In fact, my wife liked her so much that she was totally on board with seeing her again.

Yes, her singing voice is rather discoey (she must use lots of effects on it to sound so echoey and outer-spacey, but man, when she jams, she gets down and dirty and often quite heavy.  But she also steps back and lets her impressive guitar player Adam November take over.  And her drummer Chris Corsico is pretty awesome too.

She sold out Milkboy (I was supposed to see her there in 2020 and I think it would have been a very different show) which she was pretty thrilled about.  And the crowd was 100% dancing to her groove.

She opened with three songs from her album Joyride (which had not come out in April).  “Joyride” and “All That You Wanted” are softer songs that accentuate her way with melody and hooks–the choruses are dynamite. (more…)

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Strand of Oaks [Winter Classic VIII/IX] / Pat Finnerty (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, December 15 & 16, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Boot & Saddle, Johnny Brenda's, Pat Finnerty, Philadelphia, PA, Strand of Oaks on December 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 15 & 16, 2023] Strand of Oaks / Pat Finnerty

I had every intention of going to this Winter Classic.  I even had a ticket to night one.  Which I bought very specifically because I had a ticket to another show on Saturday night.  Then at about 3PM on Friday the 15th, I realized that my other show was actually tonight!

And my wife and I were going to that show together.

And the Saturday night show sold out a long time ago.  Sigh.

By my calculations, this should be Winter Classic XIII, but the poster says IX, so I’ll trust he’s right.  And I’ll make sure I’m there for Number 10.

~~~~~~~~

In 2015, Timothy Showalter played his first Strand of Oaks Winter Classic at Boot and Saddle.

Every year since then he has played two to four shows around Christmas time to a small but rabid fan base.  Obviously he didn’t pay one in 2020.  And now Boot & Saddle is closed

I have been to three of these fun winter events.

When he announced December shows at Johnny Brenda’s, it just didn’t occur to me that these would be Winter Classic shows.  I’m not sure why it would have made a difference, but had I realized, I would have gotten a ticket before they sold out.  Even S said, you love those, I can’t believe you didn’t go.

When I’m looking for it now I see that it was clearly stated that this was a Winter Classic, but I guess I was looking in the wrong places. (more…)

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Coyote Island (Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, December 15, 2023) [KARINA RYKMAN]

Posted in Coyote Island, Karina Rykman, Marco Benevento, Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA on December 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 15, 2023] Coyote Island

Coyote Island opened for Karina Rykman.  I hadn’t heard of them and when I listened to a song or two I thought they sounded kind of folkie and mellow.  Turns out

Coyote Island is the musical vision of producer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Mike O’Hehir. For many years Mike travelled the country with guitar in hand. With roots in folk music, the sound quickly expanded into a new genre-bending realm of psychedelic indie. With good vibrations, dancey grooves, and tropical psychedelia, Coyote Island offers you a sonic vacation from the doldrums of existence.

Okay, so that’s promo blather but it’s not far off.

When the band started, they played an excellent instrumental jam.  It rocked and was really grooving.  Their second song was kind of lite-reggae.  I don’t like reggae, but I enjoyed this song because it deviated from the formula in little ways.

Their next song was, as the blurb says, kind of tropical psychedelia.  There’s definitely the tropical element in the drums from Ryan Benoit.  And five-string bassist Garrett Roy Jones played a great low-end.

It was lead guitarist Amir Rivera who really blew me away.  I loved the way he casually played some really amazing solos.  He was fast, but also very clean and tasteful.

I don’t have any song titles, although I do know that they played a super fun and hugely surprising cover of “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” by Kylie Minogue–sung by Amir.  Another really fun moment was when Mike broke a guitar string–a low E of all things–and had to get a new guitar.  He climbed off the stage to their gear which was stacked up in the crowd.  While he grabbed and tuned a guitar, Amir led the rest of the band in this rippling fun instrumental.  None of this is to dismiss Mike, whoc joined in about halfway through and added a ton of little details.

Indeed, Mike is a fun and engaging front man.  He’s got a smooth island-inflected singing voice [I was stunned when he said they were from Maine as they sound like the least Maine-sounding band I could imagine].  He had on a fun outfit and was generally smiling and happy.

When the set was over he walked through the crowd and happily talked to anyone.

Without question they would make an excellent opening band in nearly any situation.  I hope to see them again.

 

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Dogstar / Archer Oh (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, December 14, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Archer Oh, Dogstar, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on December 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 14, 2023] Dogstar / Archer Oh

I toyed with the idea of going  to this show, probably for the same reason that a lot of other people did.

To see Keanu Reeves!

I can’t decide if I like Keanu ironically or not, but it’s still pretty wild to think that a celebrity of his star power could have been just a few feet from me.

I genuinely had no idea what Dogstar sounded like.   So here’s the blurb from Underground Arts (more…)

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Open Mike Eagle (Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, December 11, 2023)

Posted in Milkboy, Open Mike Eagle, Philadelphia, PA, Pink Navel on December 12, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 11, 2023] Open Mike Eagle

Open Mike Eagle is probably my favorite rapper.  His wordplay is great.  His topics are great and he seems like a really good guy.

He came out to the little stage, gave a brief introduction and started right in with “Very Much Money.”

My friends are superherosNone of us have very much money thoughThey can fly, run fast, read PortugueseNone of us have very much money thoughThey know judo and yoga, photography, politicsSome of them leap over buildingsWriters, magicians, comedians, astronautsNone of it mattered when niggas was hungry

He told us we could help by buying merch.

Open Mike has a new album out and he played a song from it right away, the excellent “BET’s rap city.”  Mike has his gear–a laptop and some kind of triggering sample device on the table.  Mike’s device was also on a milk crate so he didn’t have to bend over–cheap and effective.

He didn’t do as much live music manipulation as Pink Navel did, although he did do some.  But he did leave his work area and come around front a few times.

Like during “Relatable” one of my favorite songs of his.  I love his delivery on this song and it was cool having him come right to the edge of the stage–I wonder if he had thoughts of coming down into the crowd.

I found Open Mike through his album Brick Body Kids Still Dream, so I was psyched that he played three songs from it.  I absolutely love “(How Could Anybody) Feel at Home” with it’s super catchy chorus.  He delivered the chorus in a really different way, which was fun.  And the gentle refrain of the following song “Legendary Iron Hood'”s “Ain’t nothing gonna stop me now” was great to hear.

Turns out that I now his What Happens When I Try to Relax EP better than just about anything else.  So it was great to hear Relatable and the follow up “Microfiche.”  I absolutely love his vocal style and his delivery–and the rhymes of this song are excellent.

For “79th and Stony Island” he did a fun freestyle.

Then it was time for a few more new songs. “WFLD 32” has a slow cadence and drunken horns over more if his clever lyrics

I started rockin’ simply then expandеd
This execution’s iffy but I planned it
I protect it if it gives me an advantage
Still want to be the greatest MC on the planet
Yeah, ’cause I’m immature
If I can name my own sicknesses then it’s cured
I’m finished at high ninety-percentage pure
COVID makin’ it impossible to finish tour

Then the new titles “a new rap festival called falling loud” and “we should have made otherground a thing” which features the lyric “Bonded over MF DOOM.”

This led to him playing the song “For DOOM” saying that a dream came true when he was able to rap with DOOM.  He followed that up with a song just for him, by playing (and silently rapping along with) the Madvillain song “Raid.”

There were two songs from his darker EP Anime, Trauma and Divorce, like “Death Parade” with the chorus that discusses the cycle of trauma

Should’ve been cool, but dude got screwed up
‘Cause shit got burned up, so he fucked her up
Then she turned big, I got chewed up
That shit fucked me up, so I’ma fuck you up
A kid caught hell, that kid grew up
And messed his kid up, he fucked her shit up
Then she fucked dude up, it all got screwed up
And that fucked me up, so I’ma fuck you up

And “Bucciarati” has a video with the awesome Paul F Tompkins (see below).

He ended the set with another song from Brick, 95 Radios, which features a chorus everyone can easily get into.

He said that normally he would take a little encore break and pretend to leave the stage.  But in Milkboy there’s nowhere to go. So fuck that.  He would stay and do more rap on purpose!

This was my first rap show and I realized it’s kind of weird to watch a guy rap when there’s nothing else to look at.  No band, no one else on stage.  But Mike was captivating.  And when he told us that the next song was a gang initiation, I think we were all ready to join up.  “Maybe Gang (an initiation)” is another great song from the Relax EP.

It has my favorite line

Confident, I keep my password on my license plate

And with the chorus, he rapped it heavier and heavier

We is not a gang, we all look the same as you
But don’t be ashamed, we all make the same snafu
We got different names, we might get the same tattoo
Maybe it’s a gang, maybe it became that too

It turned out that one of the guys near me went to high school with Mike.  Mike knew it and they were nudging each other on all night. It was really fun.

Mike ended the night with one more song, a track from an early EP.  “Ziggy Starfish (anti-anxiety raps)” is one of his faster songs and his flow was outstanding.

The show was short–about an hour. But it was great.   I was delighted to finally have seen him and I’ll certainly see him again if he comes back next year.

SETLIST

  1. Very Much Money (Ice King Dream) ©
  2. BET’s rap city ♥
  3. I’ll Fight You ∞
  4. (How Could Anybody) Feel at Home ∏
  5. Legendary Iron Hood ∏
  6. Relatable (peak OME) ≅
  7. Microfiche ≅
  8. 79th and Stony Island ∞
  9. WFLD 32 ♥
  10. a new rap festival called falling loud ♥
  11. we should have made otherground a thing ♥
  12. For DOOM ∞
  13. Raid (Madvillain cover)
  14. Death Parade ψ
  15. Bucciarati ψ
  16. 95 Radios ∏
    encore
  17. Maybe Gang (an initiation) ≅
  18. Ziggy Starfish (anti-anxiety raps) ¥
© Dark Comedy (2014)
¥ A Special Epsiode Of (2015)
∏ Brick Body Kids Still Daydream (2017)
≅ What Happens When I Try to Relax EP (2018)
ψ Anime, Trauma and Divorce (2020)
∞ A Tape Called Component System With the Auto Reverse (2022)
♥ another triumph of ghetto engineering (2023)

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Pink Navel (Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, December 11, 2023) [OPEN MIKE EAGLE]

Posted in Milkboy, Open Mike Eagle, Philadelphia, PA, Pink Navel on December 11, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 11, 2023] Pink Navel

I had been to Milkboy once before.  But for some reason I thought I was at a different Milkboy location.  However, this location is the one I was at last time.  It’s a weird space.  The music is upstairs from a bar.  It’s long and narrow, holding about 200 people.

For this show I arrived just on time, driving along a narrow side street assuming there would be no main street parking (I may have been wrong there).

I walked up the stairs and the guys in front of me were taking a long time to get in for some reason, and as I stood there, Pink Navel started.  The crowd was spaced out so it was pretty easy to sneak up to the front and get close enough to watch Pink Navel do his thing.

I hadn’t heard of Pink Navel, but the short version (from Pitchfork) is

Devin Bailey, the rapper, producer, and singer who records as Pink Navel, has an effervescent and nasal voice, an extensive knowledge of animated television, and an immense, somewhat intimidating pool of references and SAT words.

Pink Navel was a funny and engaging: “Anyone fucking with this say oh yeah!” (more…)

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