After an energetic night one and spectacular New Year’s Eve show, the boys took the stage for night three at Madison Square Garden. The first Phish song on Jan. 1, 2016 was “Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan.” The lyrics could not have related more to a crowd of people nursing hangovers and wondering what exactly happened last night.
Page McConnell got down to business early in the first set with “Heavy Things.” After a few moments of onstage, private discussion between Trey Anastasio and each other member of the band, they picked back up again with “How Many People Are You?” a Mike Gordon and Scott Murawski original. The song was upbeat and Gordon seemed pleased to be in the spotlight, while Anastasio added flare on guitar. On to “Stash,” the crowd fulfilled its duty to sing the “whoa-ohs” and to double clap right on cue. The song also provided an opportunity for a rather spacey and almost eerie jam in which McConnell and Anastasio played off one another quite well. The “Stash” jam eventually crescendoed into an intense, screaming guitar solo that left the crowd cheering for more.
Like “Stealing Time,” “Undermind” was the perfect chance for McConnell to pounce on the keys, providing the light, playful sound to an already funky tune. Then came the best part with Anastasio circling back to incorporate the riff from “Stash” and then to a “Stealing Time” tease.
A straightforward but near perfect “Rift” and phans were ready to put their wingsuits on. “Wingsuit” allowed both concertgoers and the band to relax if only for a few minutes. Since its release in 2014, the song has solidified itself in their repertoire, beginning with a breezy intro but making its way to an explosive display of instrumental technicality. The pressure from “Wingsuit” subsided with an easy-going “Ocelot.” McConnell the lounge singer stepped up to the mic and delighted fans with “Lawn Boy.” He introduced Gordon who took a few minutes to deliver a bluesy bass solo. “Run Like an Antelope”—an eternally pleasing song—included a scorching solo from Big Red, which hit every single note. “Antelope” returns with teases of “Stash” and “Stealing Time.”
After set break, the boys returned to the stage and captivated the audience with the unmistakable, ominous intro and bass line of “Down with Disease.” The jam provided opportunities for each member to put their best foot forward. It was a perfect second-set opener that seamlessly blended into “Dirt” and then to “Halfway to the Moon,” where McConnell stole the show with a thunderous storm of keys and vocals. “Theme From the Bottom” was passionate and heartfelt, characteristically starting out slow and chill, as it built into an incredible jam (my personal favorite of the evening). This was followed by a 17-minute “Light” that delivered a round-the-world deconstructed jam with ups, downs, space and intensity that was largely led by Anastasio with a “Manteca” tease.
The evening, already speckled with Fuego, led to a strong performance of the album’s title track. Although relatively new, fans sang along enthusiastically—a sure sign of both acceptance and enjoyment. The band then segued into “Slave to the Traffic Light,” a senior song for the quartet, that provided a passionate and emotional close to the second set. After a brief intermission, Phish returned to the stage for “Farmhouse,” the solo encore track that ended the evening.
Night three of Phish’s New Year’s run was filled with some amazing and thoughtfully layered jams, but there was an uncharacteristic lack of band-to-crowd dialogue; they even seemed to leave the stage more abruptly than usual. Perhaps we weren’t the only ones feeling the fatiguing effects of the prior evening that left a blank space where our minds should be.
Setlist via Phish.net
Set 1: Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, Heavy Things, How Many People Are You, Stash, Undermind > Rift, Wingsuit, Ocelot, Lawn Boy, Run Like an Antelope
Set 2: Down with Disease[1] > Dirt, Halfway to the Moon > Theme From the Bottom> Light > Fuego > Slave to the Traffic Light
Encore: Farmhouse
[1] Unfinished
· Stash, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, and How Many People Are You teases in Undermind
· Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, Stash, and How Many People Are You teases in Run Like an Antelope · Manteca and Linus and Lucy teases in Light
The band took a new approach to how fans see and experience a show in Madison Square Garden by utilizing an innovative space in the room for the first time during their New Year’s gag. As the third set started, all four members rose up on a small stage at the back of the house. Once the band was positioned under a funnel shaped screen a curtain suspended fully encapsulating the quartet in a full cone shaped hourglass complete with a full light show. This new, visually aesthetic treat was something that shed a light on why Phish fans come back time and time again. The deeper undertone of the hourglass is open to interpretation, but it looked like that band was literally lost in time and in full control of their musical destiny.
New Year’s Eve is one of the most anticipated nights for live music all year and along with Halloween is one of the toughest tickets to get. Phish delivered three sets and an encore full of musical highlights, stretching many of their songs well beyond their traditional norms and as the band broke into a new stratosphere there was no looking back. The first set saw some serious heat in a nice extended, delay-based jam from Trey in “Wolfman’s Brother,” the sold out crowd singing the outro to “I Didn’t Know” and a smoking “Reba” > “Walls of the Cave” to cap off the first set was just a warm up, though packed full of heat. The second set was where Phish took standard songs and stretched them into something great through some stellar improvisation. The “Kill Devil Falls” -> “Piper” -> “Twist” was some of the most beautiful pieces of improvisation and the most fluid transitions of the entire run. With two sets under their belt, the band was flexing their range and evidently having so much fun on stage.
Being a fan of improvisational jam band music means that you’re open to trying new things and after your ticket gets scanned and you walk into the venue, you’re taking a musical leap of faith and a risk to explore parts unknown. As Phish closed the chapter of 2015 they proved that they’re firing from all cylinders with their foot firmly pressing down on the gas pedal looking into 2016. It seems as if the band is unstoppable of even being slowed down and no matter what they do next, they’ll do it with grace and conviction. There’s simply no better way to ring in the new year than with a garden party and whether the band is flying in on a hot dog, being raised on hydraulic lifts, literally staging a runaway golf cart marathon, playing on top of an equipment truck or fully encapsulating themselves under a psychedelic hourglass, for that brief moment perhaps you can quench that insatiable thirst for more Phish.
Over three sold out nights in Burlington this New Year’s weekend, Twiddle played into the past, present and future of their musical catalog and continued to prove why they are one of the most talked about bands in the jam scene. The packed crowds at Higher Ground were treated to three very different nights of 
The second set saw a weaving of non-Twiddle moments, including a tease of Phish’s “Divided Sky” as well as a meaty jam of Daft Punk’s “Robot Rock,” in the middle of a nearly 20-minute version of “The Box.” The night ended with a more mellow approach as Twiddle cooled off the crowd with “Beethoven and Greene” before ending with a “Gatsby the Great” Reprise.
While the three day run didn’t include much in the way of catalog rarity, what it lacked in surprise it more than made up for in production value. Twiddle demonstrated a growth in technical skill and creative staging. Their studio polish appears to be rubbing off into their live performance with precision, turn-on-the-dime transitions and unique musical moments. The latest addition of Evan Antal as Lighting Director (Zed’s Dead, Kendrick Lamar) on this three-day run elevated the overall show experience.
This show started off as a Trey lover’s wet dream. “Sample In a Jar” kicked the festivities off in fine fashion, with Anastasio showing the renewed vigor in his fingers had carried over from the summer. His short lead was crisp and fluid, and featured bursts of notes that show he has been practicing a lot. “Free” continued the Trey-led theme, as Anastasio was a rapid-fire genius from about 6 minutes on, up until the song’s closing coda. “Simple”>”Back on the Train” displayed a little full-band interplay, but again it was Anastasio who owned the section, before “Waiting All Night” and “555” slowed things down and funked them back up.
A sublime “Roggae” gently gave way to a story of a child being frightened by a big, scary dog. A rollicking version of 2014 Halloween favorite “The Dogs” gave way to a set-closing “46 Days,” where Anastasio and Page McConnell traded haunting, yet tasty licks, sending the crowd completely amped up heading into set break.
Up next was “Ghost,” and it wouldn’t be a notable version if it didn’t sandwich a brand new song, “Can’t Always listen,” which I honestly thought was “Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad” for a handful of seconds. A line from the chorus, “The stars are sitting pretty/and the world’s just spinning fine,” made for an upbeat and happy vibe of the song that simply made me smile and think that everything will be fine. Sit back, forget about everything else, and enjoy these four nights with four guys on stage and 20,000 of my closest friends.
A segue back to a short “Ghost” jam gave way to a “Waves” that proved inspired, but wasn’t anything to get crazy over. Phish decided that during the 15:17 that followed, the duration of “Bathtub Gin,” that they were going to take us on a sonic journey. There are so many times in my years of seeing this band that I am convinced they read each other’s minds, but this “Gin,” which did not contain a moment of down time or any confusing parts, proved my thoughts right. The last five minutes soar to a level that only Phish can climb to. If the Magnaball “Gin” was a surprising treat that brought the song back to its improvisational roots, then the “MSGin” surpasses that in stature and cohesion alone.
This multiple Grammy award-winning musician brought to us decades of music from R&B, to 
This multi-talented woman dabbled in film, television, as well as music and didn’t allow her father’s shadow to define who she was or what she wanted to achieve in her career. For more than 20 years, she refused to cover her fathers songs, but in the end, it was her celebration of his music together with her angelic voice that will live on in our hearts forever.