Friday, December 30, 2011

Phish 29 Dec 2011 at Madison Square Garden, NYC

Wow.

The first set opened appropriately with The Sloth, which has become my own personal theme song this vacation.  The Sloth was a welcome set opener, but not a big surprise.  The following YEM, however, was a bit unexpected.  It was especially fun when Trey and Mike bounced around on their trampolines to face the back of the stadium.  We waved like crazy.  There was a nice bass breakdown that led into the vocal jam.

After a rockin' Back on the Train, Page brought in the organ for Moma Dance.
An awesome and electric MazeRoses are Free, and Halley's Comet were packed into the set before a concluding Antelope.  It made me think of the version at Super Ball IX when Trey brought up the winners of the Runaway Jim road race (full name: The 101st Running of the First Annual Runaway Jim 5k Road Race).  It was hot as blazes that Saturday, and running a 5k on a broiling pavement NASCAR racetrack may not have been my brightest idea.  Thinking about it makes me shudder... but that might just be because I'm in sloth mode.
Crosseyed & Painless opened the second set.  They pulled the same move during the 1-1-11 show too, but I didin't even mind.
Lifeboy was a real treat to hear live, and provided an introspective moment for us all to cool down after Simple.


The real highlight of the second set (and the show, for that matter) was Mike's Song>Chalkdust Torture>I am Hydrogen>Weekapaug Groove.  That was the jam that kept on giving.

Hydrogen first sounded like a well-placed tease during Chalkdust, but the band artfully eased into the slowed-down tune in a purposeful way.

Loving Cup capped off a great show.  These were the boys that I remembered seeing at Superball.  Wednesday night's show seemed to be played by a totally different band in comparison.

After last night, it's killing me to have to wait another 30 hours for the new year's show.  Maybe I'll pass the time at the Garden.
See you tonight!

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