Phish/July 30,2017/New York,NY

Tonight's donut theme was Jimmies (a.k.a. sprinkles). When I heard that, I immediately started thinking of Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page. I've been a Hendrix fan for over 30 years, so I really hoped his music would pop up that night.

Set #1 opened with "The Curtain With"; a song that always makes me remember the Coventry shows in 2004.  Then the first Jimmy of the night showed up in the form of "Runaway Jim". The rarely played "Esther" showed up before "Brian and Robert" then finally a "David Bowie" to end the set.

Set #2 started with a frantic 20+ minute cover of The Who's "Drowned". That's usually a very good sign. "A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing" went into some deep space with its unusual jam section. Next up was a funny "Harpua". ("Harpua" is part of Phish's Gamehenge myth which includes a young boy named Jimmy.) This long segment featured all 4 guys sitting down on stage and contemplating the nature of the universe. Finally, it was determined that the universe is basically......a DONUT.
"2001" jacked up the energy in the audience. After finishing the set with an a capella "In the Good Old Summertime", the band left the stage. I felt major anticipation about the encore for some reason. Then they did it: Phish debuted Hendrix's "The Wind Cries Mary". WHAT A MOMENT. After that, you couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

Below my ticket stub is a photo I took on one of the three days.

Setlist for this show: http://phish.net/setlists/phish-july-30-2017-madison-square-garden-new-york-ny-usa.html

Phish/July 29,2017/New York,NY

Night #2, and we were excited. The donut theme for this show was Cinnamon. The guys began with one of my favorites: "Llama". They followed up with an energetic "Wilson", but much of the rest of the set was fairly relaxed. That all changed when the band busted into the Beatles' "I Am the Walrus". I was completely surprised and delighted at the same time. The ending of the song was a dive into serious musical chaos. You could REALLY feel the MSG crowd loving it.

Set #2 began with a very exploratory 20+ minute "Blaze On." "20 Tears Later" followed up with an early-70s doom-rock riff on the outro. Later in the set was a fun "Meatstick" preceding a somber "Dirt". Closing out the 2nd set was a euphoric "Harry Hood".


So.....no Cinnamon song yet. Here's when the guys encored with Neil Young's "Cinnamon Girl". I found out later that they haven't played that in 20 years. (Almost to the day.) This classic sent us out into the streets of NYC feeling very fine.

Below my ticket stub is a photo I took on one of the three days.

Setlist for this show: http://phish.net/setlists/phish-july-29-2017-madison-square-garden-new-york-ny-usa.html

Phish/July 28,2017/New York,NY

My friend Adam and I were very excited to see our favorite band in NYC for 3 nights of their "Baker's Dozen" run. This would be my 1st time back to Madison Square Garden since the 1993 Jerry Garcia Band show.

Add the fact that our hotel was literally across the street from MSG, and we were thrilled. This show's donut theme was "Double Chocolate". The show began with Phish doing an a capella version of the song "Chocolate Rain". The set continued very nicely and ended with an intense "Sand". Set 2 opened with the mellow reggae of "Have Mercy" before switching gears into a raging 20+ minute "Chalk Dust Torture". The chocolate theme continued with their 1st ever cover of "You Sexy Thing" by Hot Chocolate. The crowd went nuts when Trey started with the signature guitar riff. Set 2 ended with a very high-energy cover of the Velvet Underground's "Rock and Roll".

I walked away from this show highly impacted by the intense *vibe* of Madison Square Garden. When the crowd gets engaged and roars, you can really feel it. Below my ticket stub is a photo taken by me on one of the 3 days.

Setlist for this show: http://phish.net/setlists/phish-july-28-2017-madison-square-garden-new-york-ny-usa.html