[Photo by Joel Berk]

While the days of packing up the car and doing a full tour are seemingly long gone with the two-leg breakdown, often requiring fans to fly, there is seemingly a LOT (pun intended) missing from the scene we once knew. Sure, there are many things still prevalent: from the tailgate mentality to the nitrous vendors looming in the shadows, the overall feel and vibe of a community on the road, traversing the highways of this great land just seem to be a thing of the past. Call me nostalgic, or a bit older, but most things that were tour staples are now simply a rarity, or gone all together.

Sure, you can still pack the car and catch a string of shows in the Southeast or Northeast, but the days of hardcore touring are just about extinct. Speaking with a dear friend over the MSG shows about how he did every single one of the 54 shows of Fall ’95, it got me thinking for a future column, the one I am writing today. Think about the logistics alone it takes to pack up a van with five or six people, a dog and a small amount of money and figuring out 54 shows on the fly. That’s what my buddies did. (For instance, they even had to replace the gas pedal with an empty tennis shoe taped to the floor once it broke off mid-tour. Phish kid ingenuity at its finest). So, how did they support themselves? They sold beer, grilled cheese and other stuff to make it from one show to the next. And – it worked!

[Photo by Parker Harrington]

Sure, today people still do the same, but not nearly to the same extent. In fact, the snapshot of the late ’90s, more specifically ’99 and ’00 saw an influx of shady characters on the lot at just about every show, selling hard drugs and god knows what else. But, it also gave the lot scenes before and after shows a certain vibe and element that let you know you were not in Kansas anymore when deciding to pick up and join the traveling circus known as tour. Yes, many folks have since grown up, had families or retired from Phish all together at this stage of 3.0, but I, for one, miss the elements of the lots that made the scene – as an overall whole — what it once was. That includes the good, the bad and the ugly/dangerous.

There was nothing like traveling all summer and seeing the same cars on the road, camping with people at Deer Creek and then running into them three weeks later on the road to Limestone or Great Woods. The sense of community, bond of camaraderie and general accomplishment and luckiness was something I wouldn’t trade for anything. It is still something we all share with one another at every show, but in smaller snapshots – the long hauls just don’t seem to be feasible anymore, and that starts with the schedules that the band plays. It’s logistically and geographically impossible to tour like we used to tour.

While the Grateful Dead gave an introduction into the jam band world and life of touring to a mass of high school and college aged music fans towards the end of the last century, with Jerry Garcia’s passing, that opened the portal for many of them to latch on and discover Phish.  However, in Phish’s case, since Hampton they have yet to truly capture a younger audience the way the Dead/Phish relationship spilled over, and it results in many of the fans ageing along with the band.  For instance 50% of YEMblog’s 4,000+ Facebook fans are between the ages of 25-34, while only 13% are between 18-24. A whopping 30% are between 35-44. When you looked around a typical Phish show during the late ’90s, you saw mostly college aged kids such as myself, that’s not the case anymore. Also, when you consider the age of those fans and that perhaps many of the males are married, the fact that 73% of YEMblog’s Facebook fans are males leads me to believe many fans can’t leave their wife and/or kids to “tour.”

Yes, I’m older and don’t spend as much time in the lots as I used to at a show, but I wish that those who do would realize it’s as much of an experience as the show itself sometimes. The buzz in the air as showtime approaches, the late night rest area gatherings with random fans who are on the same journey as you and especially the things sold in the lot at shows are all there – just in smaller doses (again, pun intended). One glaring example is the “lot shirts” and clothing lines of old. I remember tours when I had to sell an extra few beers to buy a shirt I saw five shows earlier and still have enough cash for a ticket and gas money and food. In addition to those fan-made pieces of clothing and art, there were tour staples like Be Good Family and seedleSs clothing lines that I remember on tour for years. Sure, again, they may still be there, but it’s just not the same in my eyes.

This again goes back to the scheduling of shows and geographical logistics. I’m sure it’s one reason that Phish’s management books the tour(s) the way that they do, to ward off hangers on that eventually brought the scene down and infiltrated the backstage, and it seems to be working. For that I am very thankful. I work hard and am able to travel in a little more comfort with my fiancé to the shows we want now, but for your Average Joe fan who relies on driving and selling shirts or selling beer to support themselves on the road, it’s much harder. Higher gas prices don’t help.

Overall, I feel that the main ingredients of that once amazing mixture of the cake known as tour are still there, but it seems like instead of picking it up fresh at the bakery on Sunday morning, with the smell wafting through the air and your nostrils, we are simply trying to make the same results out of a box bought on the shelf these days – at least in regards to certain aspects of the scene.

As the iconic line in Chalk Dust Torture asks: “Can’t this wait ’til I’m old, can’t I live while I’m young?” The answer is still most certainly yes! It just seems that that pace has slowed a bit, and the eats on the lot, or gear you just have to have to be the headiest kid at the show are a bit watered down. That said, enjoy every minute, because the same old band awaits inside of each venue. And in the end, that’s all that truly matters.

Phish – Steam > Auld Lang Syne > Down With Disease

The band threw down for custom jetpacks with RGB LEDs, foggers and wireless controls to make the stunt look realistic according to the article and surprisingly the gag was pulled off without the use radio or headsets. Gallo has worked with the band in 2009 for the “Sarah” gag and again in 2010 for the “Meatstick Musical” stunt. Be sure to read the entire article for a revealing look at what many fans consider the best part of Phish’s recent New Year’s Run.

[Photo of DMB Caravan @ Bader Field by Jeremy Gordon]

The big question is which acts will play at these four festivals? The promoter’s representative, Ken MacDonald of Starr Hill Presents, who you may remember as the guy who confirmed Phish Summer Tour 2012 will indeed take place, played coy and not only wouldn’t reveal the bands, but also claimed “no one on the planet” would be able to confirm the festivals’ headliners.

We’ve got to think MacDonald’s “no one on the planet” quote referred to Atlantic City legend Pinky Kravitz. Just one week ago Kravitz theorized that Phish would perform at Bader Field from June 15 – 17 and that the other June event would feature one of four bands who could draw 50,000 fans per day – “the Rolling Stones, Radiohead, U2 and Bruce Springsteen.”

Pinky changed his tune yesterday when he claimed “Phish will be the act that will perform on June 22, 23 and 24.” Oddly, June 22 and 23 are two days which aren’t included in the permits issued by the city, yet are Friday and Saturday nights while the 24th and 25th fall on Sunday and Monday. Kravitz went on to say that Metallica will play at Bader Field on the last weekend in June (June 29 and 30), though again that isn’t one of the weekends for which Starr Hill received a permit. Finally, Kravitz claims that Kenny Chesney will headline one of the September fests. Hopefully the discrepancies will be sorted out soon, but – as always – we’d suggest waiting for an official announcement before making any non-refundable reservations. We’ll keep you posted on any further word.

The band certainly left a lot of room for debate with regard to the recent four dates at Madison Square Garden as they played uncharacteristically well to begin the run, but trailed off noticeably as the days led up to the New Year’s Eve celebration. While many fans finished the run with a bad taste left in their mouths, when we look at it all in aggregate there were plenty of big-time highlights to reflect upon.

A is for Auld Lang Syne Tease – After all these years, Trey still manages to catch everyone off guard when he throws Auld Lang Syne teases in unexpected places, and what better a spot than smack in the middle of a climactic Fluffhead solo at the end of a flawless version to close out the first set.

B is for Belt Buckle – You have to hand it to the folks behind Dry Goods. Whether its limited edition posters, merit badges, or tour shirts, they always have something fans want to take home as a keepsake, but this year they outdid themselves. Phish created a giant Texas-sized gold belt buckle custom-made especially for the New Years Run.

C is for Cost – Ticket prices reached record new highs both in terms of face value and in the secondary market. Stubhubbing profiteers started the bidding for New Years Eve tickets at an overwhelming $350 a piece for behind the stage nosebleeds and the piece went up n a hurry as the seats got closer to the stage.

D is for Dark, Dark in the Daytime – Anyone who expected a lighthearted first set to serve as a warm up on December 28th got a pleasant surprise when an early placement of Cities launched into lunar orbit. In retrospect, despite coming so early in the run, the aphotic Cities jam holds up as one of the best re-listens of the run.

E is for Energy – Is there any venue out there that explodes the way MSG does? The reaction to Quinn The Eskimo, the peak of 46 Days and the start of the unexpected second song YEM on 12/29 was exceptional, even by Phish at MSG standards. Yet nothing compared to the roars of the crowd when everyone realized the quartet had segued Chalkdust Torture into I Am Hydrogen on night two.

F is for a Free Day – Let’s face it; we ain’t as young as we used to be. As much as four straight night at the Garden is essentially holiday run protocol, maybe there was something to last year’s day off between the Worcester shows and the final three nights at MSG. I know a lot of folks in the crowd were running on fumes by the fourth straight night, so it doesn’t take an expert in sleep science to hypothesize how the band felt.

G is for Golden Second Set – My how the span of one set and a couple unpopular song choices can change the consensus. The second set on New Years Eve contained a hard hitting setlist, the years quintessential new cover tune in Golden Age, six different segues between songs, and a Sneakin’ Sally. Looking only at set two in isolation, it’s almost impossible to imagine what could prompt fans to walk away unsatisfied. Then again, nobody ever claimed Phish fans were an easy lot to please.

H is for Hot Mike’s – We had a feeling that a memorable Mike’s Groove was on tap this year after it was mysteriously absent from the MSG segment of the holiday run last year. We didn’t get the big one on New Years that we’d hoped for, but the version on 12/29 certainly didn’t disappoint. The high energy interplay in Weekapaug was probably the best of 3.0, the Chalkdust after Mike’s took everyone by surprise, and the fast segue into Hydrogen was stylish, unexpected, and well-executed.

I is for I Feel Good about Hood – Among the many highlights of the December 28th show, a highly memorable Harry Hood stood out, not only due for the hair-raising ending we’ve all been waiting for, but also for it’s comeback bout heroics. For the first six rounds or so, Harry seemed a step behind and headed for lackluster finish, but in the end he rallied the crowd and delivered that long-awaited knockout blow.

J is for Jaded Vets – It’s a valid question to ask if longtime Phish fans have developed unreasonable expectations. The band may not have been the hottest its ever been toward the end of the run, but they still went far beyond anything 99% of bands around the world did anywhere else over New Years. They played nine sets of music over four consecutive nights without repeating a song, executed massive scale concert theatrics, and provided some big musical highlights.

K is for Killer Whale – In the effects department, we did see Trey dial up his trusty old delay loop to signal the introduction of Gotta Jiboo, but the infamous whale call (aka, the Digitech Whammy) was nowhere to be found.

L is for Lack of Bustouts – Lifeboy and Glide were welcome treats, but in the past Phish has always thrown long dormant tunes from their massive catalog into NYE Run setlists. Guess we’ll have to wait ’till next year for that Lushington we’ve been chasing.

M is for Missing Chemistry – After the first two shows of the run set things on course for another amazing holiday run, something went south. It’s hard to pinpoint it, but the chemistry on stage as well as between the band and fans seemed a little off starting right from the start on the 30th.

N is for Not Missing Much by Watching at Home – Not only did watching the stream provide the comforts of one’s own couch, toilet, and refrigerator, but the Live Phish team did a fantastic job filling the intermissions with interesting segments like a behind the scenes look at MSG and the photos lining the halls on the walk to the stage. On New Years Eve, they had some pretty humorous screen shots as well like this one here.

O is for Odd Song Placements – The list of oddly placed songs is long and spans from “pleasant surprises” (the first Free ever to open a show, a second song YEM, or a Sloth opener), to “mediocre at best” (Caspian as the second song in the first set and BDTNL third), to “abysmal” (Alaska and Wading in the Velvet Sea late in the third set on New Years Eve). Sometimes spontaneity can make a show, whereas other times it disrupts the flow.

P is for Piper – The NYE Run may have been light on exploratory jams, but you can’t dog the Piper from December 30th. All four members of Phish teamed up to knock the lengthy jam out of the park, complete with an otherworldly display of LD Chris Kuroda’s handiwork.

Q is for the Question that Will Live on Forever – Why exactly did Phish opt to play Alaska and Wading in the Velvet Sea at the end of the third set during a New Years Eve show? That, my friends, will be a question that fans speculate about for years to come. Sure, some people will say, “It’s their band, they can play whatever they want,” but you have to know that Phish is keenly aware of which songs are their crowd-pleasers are and which songs are their stinkers. Every band knows that about themselves. If you think that they’ve never noticed the bathrooms fill up during the ballads, you‘re dreaming. It’s a fact. Anyway, these two songs certainly shouldn’t make or break the run, especially after two great shows, an the amazing gag production, and a great second set on New Years Eve, but someday I’d love to know why it happened.

R is for Renovation – We all heard the horror stories leading into the run about how bad the “new” MSG would be for the Phish shows, but thankfully those fears were unfounded. While it was nice to walk around the interior of the lower bowl pre-renovation, it was also nice to have clean bathrooms, large corridors, more food options (if you were in the part that was renovated) and Sixpoint on tap.

S is for the Streets of Cairo – An ongoing theme in 2011, Trey worked Streets of Cairo (a.k.a., “There’s a place a France”) teases into jams for both Halley’s Comet and Tweezer on multiple occasions. The use of the Cairo theme yielded particularly great results during Tweezer, which holds up more and more as you go back and re-listen to it. Everybody complimented it immediately, but in retrospect, this version holds up with some of the best versions of 3.0.

T is for The Sloth is a Hard Song to Dance To – Anyone who hasn’t caught Sloth live in a while got a pleasant reminder of how some Phish’s more ambitious material can mess with you while trying to dance. You can’t just mail it on Sloth. Like Split Open and Melt, Rift, or even Sparkle, it’s one of those songs that requires some customized moves to fit the odd rhythms.

U is for Upside Down – In our New Years preview, we mentioned that over the course of Phish holiday runs, the 28th has never been considered the consensus best show of the run and the 29th has only been considered the best once in 1996. Oddly enough, this year the 28th seemed to be the clear favorite on account of the heavy emphasis on improvisation, while the 29th is widely considered a close second.

V is for Vultures – If the song history for Vultures from phish.net is accurate, the song Vultures and its placement in the first set of the 30th served as direct foreshadowing of what was to come from Phish fans in the next two days and beyond.

With their clear reference to timing, expectations, and those expectations not being met, the lyrics of “Vultures” appear to be an indictment of the dissatisfied Phish fan. Too often the anger, greed, and delusion of the fan unhappy with the length of a given song, setlist, or show is manifest in an irrational feeling of being somehow cheated by the band. This ungratefulness must wear thin at times. In a broader sense, “Vultures” reflects the impending death of anything. Whether it be a job, a relationship, a way of life, or a really good show, when the end is near, the signal is clear. At times we can all see the vultures moving in. Clearly, based on one’s perspective, this can be a good thing or a bad thing.

W is for Weather – Outside of a cold first night, the weather in New York City was unseasonably mild on December 29 – 31. While you’ll never confuse NYC in December for Miami, the relatively warm weather was much appreciated by the fans.

X is for the Extraterrestrial Gag – As part of a long-running history of presenting a special theatrical production alongside the music during New Years Eve show, Phish set the bar ever higher this year with one of the most complex yet. As hinted at in the posters for the MSG shows, Phish used the new song Steam as its “vehicle” and both band and fans were lifted off the ground and up to the rafters in the steam. Lyrically, the song exudes an interesting discussion given its afterlife and otherworldly connotations. This year’s production was so good, it feels wrong to call it a “gag“.

Y is for YEMSG – YEMSG is more than just a convenient little rhyme. YEM has been played eight times at MSG, which is tied in a dead heat with David Bowie for the most played song at the venue Billy Joel once deemed “The Holy Temple of Rock n’ Roll.” This year Phish took everyone by surprise by not only dropping a big YEM early in the run, but also early in the show when it popped up in the second song slot of the first set on the 29th.

Z is for Zoot Suit – In the midst of reminiscing about the new years gag or griping about the song selection, everybody forgot to give kudos to Mike on his New Year’s Eve jacket. Never one to shy away from a little pageantry, Mike adorned a slick new drape that looked like it came either straight off the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club or off the back of the drum major in a high school marching band.

To close out 2011, Phish returned to Madison Square Garden for a quickly sold-out set of four shows. Given that you are reading this column on this particular site, you are probably well aware of that fact as Hidden Track has been known to be partial to the boys from Vermont and may have written a few stories about the jamband poster-boys over the last few years. Unlike this fine section of the Web, the mainstream musical press tends to treat Phish, their penchant for selling out arenas on multiple dates and ability to anchor their own festivals with a bemused sense of admiration. They acknowledge the band’s accomplishments while condescendingly mocking its underpinnings. In a world where the music industry seems to have lost its ability to relate to its consumers, what does Phish do that no other band seems capable of doing and why can’t they seem to get any respect outside of its wide circle of friends?

[All Photos by Rob Chapman]

More than most bands, Phish fans draw sustenance from the camaraderie of their brethren, whether at the arena or sitting at home. It’s this devotion that elicits much of the mockery from Williamsburg and other non-Phish loving quarters. Attempts of fans to “review” any show or describe the experience aren’t helping matters…or advancing the field of music criticism. For any band that changes their set list on a daily basis, reviewing a single show tends to have the same effect of describing a snowstorm by writing about one of its snowflakes.

The fact that it’s not a fruitful endeavor doesn’t stop people from trying. If you scour the Internet, for every insightful and objective review of a Phish show, there are fifty that amount to nothing more than glorified diary entries, filled with self-referential dialogue and comparisons of the You Enjoy Myself from that night with another one the writer heard eight years ago. These types of reviews are fine if you happen to know the person, completely useless if they’re a stranger. You never quite hear Deerhunter fans talking about shows in this manner. Then again, when have you ever seen two Deerhunter fans violate the hipster code and talk to each other at a show?

Phish’s fervent following draws inevitable comparisons to that of the Grateful Dead, another band that befuddled the mainstream press. However, it’s rare to find those that followed Jerry Garcia in his prime that savor or foster the association and there’s little intersection between the two fanbases. Where Dead fans skewed towards the inclusive, Phish fans tend to tip towards the exclusive: mention a Run Like An Antelope you saw in Colorado and it’s more likely someone will tell you of a BETTER one they saw in California rather than say “cool.” Subtle differences over egalitarianism aside, those that come to Phish shows find themselves surrounded by people that understand the concert experience. Whether it’s your seat or not, there’s room for everybody (and given the number of people that like the shuffle around to sit with their friends, there usually is room for everybody) and the communal sharing and levels of trust amongst strangers would put Baby Boomers to shame. To a person, Phish fans enjoy the music with an unparalleled enthusiasm. If you don’t think the crowd affects how you walk away from a show, you’ve never been part of a truly exceptional audience.

What prompts this response could probably be traced to the essence of what draws anyone to a specific band or a certain musician. Only cyborgs and WASPs have gone through life without having the experience where a certain chorus, guitar solo, rhythm or melody grabs something in their soul and won’t let go. It can manifest itself in the simple focused head bob or, if alone, a full-blown air guitar freakout or Rerun-quality dance steps.

Like a Na’vi bonding with another entity through their Rasta dreads, once this simpatico is established, it’s pretty much a lifelong bond and the feeling is always susceptible to repetition upon demand. When put into the Phish context, cynics would point out that it’s just a reaction to the drugs. (Presumably, without drugs, Phish fans would be more inclined to Michael Buble or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah). Those cynics may not be wrong; drugs surely do not weaken the connection nor lessen the chances of reviving that rush. What draws all these people to Phish is the band’s ability to consistently deliver this feeling to their fans on a reliable basis. When you hear someone talk about it being a bad show, they likely aren’t talking about the musicianship or the songs, they’re talking about the lack of that connection during the show. When Phish fans staged a mini-uprising after Trey Anastasio released Shine, the howl had as much as to do with the music’s ability to establish that connection as it did with the fact that it wasn’t a Phish album.

Even the most amateur psychoanalyst could dissertate on the attachments anyone has for the music of their youth and it would not be a losing wager to gamble that 95% of the sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden or any other show equates Phish’s music with their younger days, regardless of when they occurred. Ultimately, what makes the relationship between Phish and their fans a sustainable success is that, when not on hiatus, Phish has no qualms about playing the songs their fans love, regardless of their shelf life. If you think that’s just common sense, think back to Kurt Cobain’s abject refusal to play Smells Like Teen Spirit for those who might have enjoyed hearing it. For music cognoscenti, embracing the past, much less succeeding by revisiting it, offends their natural instincts to see music pushed forward and break new ground. With periodic new albums and fresh material, no one could credibly accuse Phish of getting lost in the attics of their vast catalog. By not forgetting that their music possesses meaning for those who listen to it, Phish refuses to neglect the connection they’ve established with their fans. By not unseemly exploiting the relationship, they assure that the connection will last.

A quick Google search for “Forbins Restaurant” provided no results about an actual real-world diner, but I did find this post on the www.week4paug.net message board. The post was created by forum user “Nobes” on Dec. 27, alerting fellow members of the upcoming “commercial running nationally starting in January” which he apparently had a hand in creating.

We.Are.Everywhere.

[Ed. Note - We're still getting used to this whole 2012 business. The ad went live in January 2011.]

[Photo by Michael Stein]

Now, let me say something and be very clear: there is absolutely no place in the universe I’d rather be than at a Phish show. The vibe, the ENERGY, the people, the ritual are all things I live for and have toured the country to experience for many years. But, sometimes expectations exceed the performance, which seemingly happened this past week for many in attendance (and some watching at home, as the shows were broadcast live via pay-per-view streams). Were there standout moments? Absolutely! The problem was, they were far less frequent than we have come to expect from Phish, on New Year’s runs, and especially at Madison Square Garden. But, on the flip side, did I enjoy these shows as much as many other barnburners of 2011 and years past? Definitely. Just for different reasons than the music alone.

One’s experience at a show depends on several factors including who you are with, the location of your seats, what you possibly ingested and so on. All of those factors play into the overall experience. But it is the music that is ultimately the catalyst which allows for us to enter the portal of the divine. The single biggest reason, besides seeing friends of old this run, that I thoroughly enjoyed myself is easy to explain. It seemed that everywhere I turned, even during a weird song placement or sloppy version of a song I had seen live 100 times, I watched the newer groups of fans soaking it all in and enjoying it tenfold. That – made me smile. To be able to hear the song you came to see – whether it be Farmhouse or Ghost – and rock out in your own world for the first time is a priceless experience. But, that still doesn’t hide the fact that the band members’ hearts didn’t fully seem into it this year.

The 28th saw the first-ever Free opener in Phish History and a with a well-played version of Glide right behind it, the band set the tone for a very high energy night. An early first set Cities was the first true highlight, with bassist Mike Gordon leading the way out of the typical space. But, it was simple things like the mid-first set placement of Contact (which is usually reserved for late second set and more typically encore slot), that summed up a majority of the entire stand: weird. Whether it was placement, execution or reeling in the potential for greatness, the band was playing things safe and hardly pushing the envelope.

Official Video: Contact > Sample

A scorching Birds of a Feather, Carini > Tweezer onslaught began set two of the first show, while a fiery Rock-n-Roll and majestic Harry Hood rounded out the meat of the set. To further set the “weird” mood for the remainder, the band offered up a triple encore of a short Tube, Rocky Top and Tweezer Reprise. Overall, a pretty solid opening frame on a night that often served as a warm up show for the band. The problem was, they did little from here to build on it, and by the time the run was over, many fans were calling the 28th the best overall show of the four.

The 29th opened with a great first frame – more high energy and in my eyes, a great setlist. A second song You Enjoy Myself again seemed out of place, but was a welcome treat by fans and garnered “Ooh’s” and “Ahh’s” from the fans when it started. An absolutely scorching Funky Bitch was a set highlight, with Page McConnell absolutely wreaking havoc on the upper parts of his keys. Roses are Free was another welcome treat, as Halley’s Comet and Run Like an Antelope closed out one of the better sets of the week, and carried over some of the higher energy from the previous night.

[Photo by Michael Stein]

The second set was notable for the Crosseyed & Painless opener before a slightly out of left-field Simple, which melted sublimely into the first Lifeboy in two years, also last played during the 2009 New Year’s run in Miami. A ferocious Mike’s Song, one of my favorite in recent memory, awkwardly landed in Chalkdust Torture, before transitioning into a faster-paced, more upbeat version of the normal soft-as-a-down-pillow-landing-pad of I am Hydrogen. A truly unique segue that will stand out in the memory of those who saw it live led the way to a funky, driving Weekapaug Groove, Character Zero and Loving Cup encore to close us out in arena rocking style. All in all, at this point of the run I still had some high hopes for the final two performances, having found ENERGY and some interesting ideas and efforts, if not execution, from the band through the first two nights.

PAGE TWO = 12/30 and 12/31

The New Year’s Gag

A Pay-Per-View webcast of tonight’s show is available through LivePhish.com.

We’re trying something different this run. In addition to our at-a-glance recap of the show we call The Skinny and the setlist, we’re also presenting a Live Blog with the help of our friends at Next Jam. We’ll compile tweets from @YEMblog along with screenshots and other interesting notes. You can find our Live Blog after the jump.

Setlist:

[via Phish.net]

Check out our Live Blog and The Skinny from MSG…

• Venue Capacity / Attendance: 20,000 / 20,000
• Previous Shows at Venue: 12/30/94, 12/30/95, 12/31/95, 10/21/96, 10/22/96, 12/29/97, 12/30/97, 12/31/97, 12/28/98, 12/29/98, 12/30/98, 12/31/98, 12/31/02, 12/02/09, 12/03/09, 12/04/09, 12/30/10, 12/31/10, 01/01/11, 12/28/2011, 12/29/2011, 12/30/2011 (23 Performances Including Tonight)
• Number Of Songs / Length – First Set: 10 / 8:21 – 9:41 [80 Minutes]
• Number Of Songs / Length – Second Set: 9 / 10:04 – 11:13 [69 Minutes]
• Number Of Songs / Length – Third Set & Encore: 9 / 11:43 – 12:54 [71 Minutes]
• Total Number of Songs / Covers / Originals: 28 / 3 / 25
• Biggest Bustout: Auld Lang Syne [Last Time Played 12/31/2010 - 39 Shows]
• Debuts: N/A
• Average Song Gap: 9.82
• Longest LivePhish Track / Shortest LivePhish Track: Fluffhead (15:14) / Lawn Boy (2:45)
• Audio: Live Phish

Poster…

Belt Buckle…

You can purchase FLACs, MP3s or ALACs at LivePhish.com. One of the many highlights from 12/31/91 was a raucous Tweezer that opened the door for the jam style that would develop the next spring. As a sample, here’s Tweezer > McGrupp and The Watchful Hosemasters from the LivePhish mix…

Tweezer McGrupp And The Watchful Hosemasters by HTBloggin

Setlist:
12/31/91 Worcester Memorial Auditorium (The New Aud), Worcester, MA

Set I
1. Possum (8:25)
2. Foam (8:11)
3. Sparkle (4:33)
4. Stash (9:00)
5. The Lizards (10:03)
6. Guelah Papyrus (5:46)
7. Divided Sky (12:42)
8. Esther > (9:49)
9. Llama (4:47)
10. Golgi Apparatus (4:56)

Set II
1. Brother (6:12)
2. Bouncing Around The Room (3:43)
3. Buried Alive > (2:28)
4. Auld Lang Syne > (0:52)
5. Runaway Jim (7:37)
6. The Landlady > (3:27)
7. Reba (11:30)
8. Cavern (4:53)
9. My Sweet One > (2:28)
10. Run Like An Antelope (10:35)

Set III
1. Wilson > (6:50)
2. The Squirming Coil > (7:33)
3. Tweezer > (13:13)
4. McGrupp And The Watchful Hosemasters > (8:10)
5. Mike’s Song > (7:42)
6. I Am Hydrogen > (3:04)
7. Weekapaug Groove (7:09)

Encore:
8. Minkin Appreciation (1:26)
9. Lawn Boy > (2:30)
10. Rocky Top > (2:36)
11. Tweezer Reprise (3:16)

[Photo by Michael Stein]

A Pay-Per-View webcast of tonight’s show is available through LivePhish.com.

We’re trying something different this run. In addition to our at-a-glance recap of the show we call The Skinny and the setlist, we’re also presenting a Live Blog with the help of our friends at Next Jam. We’ll compile tweets from @YEMblog and @Bizarchive along with screenshots and other interesting notes. You can find our Live Blog after the jump.

Setlist:

Set 1: Punch You In the Eye > Prince Caspian^[1] > Backwards Down the Number Line, Nellie Kane,Divided Sky, Sand, Vultures, Rift, Joy, Quinn the Eskimo

Set 2: Wilson > Axilla > Piper > Twist > Julius > Golgi Apparatus > Also Sprach Zarathustra, The Horse > Silent in the Morning, David Bowie^[2], The Squirming Coil

Encore: Boogie On Reggae Woman, Good Times Bad Times

[1] Unfinished.
[2] Silent In the Morning teases.

[via Phish.net]

Check out our Live Blog and The Skinny from MSG…

• Venue Capacity / Attendance: 20,000 / 20,000
• Previous Shows at Venue: 12/30/94, 12/30/95, 12/31/95, 10/21/96, 10/22/96, 12/29/97, 12/30/97, 12/31/97, 12/28/98, 12/29/98, 12/30/98, 12/31/98, 12/31/02, 12/02/09, 12/03/09, 12/04/09, 12/30/10, 12/31/10, 01/01/11, 12/28/2011, 12/29/2011
• Number Of Songs / Length – First Set: 10 / 8:08 – 9:25 (77 Minutes)
• Number Of Songs / Length – Second Set & Encore: 13 / 9:59 – 11:33 (94 Minutes)
• Total Number of Songs / Covers / Originals: 23 / 5 / 18
• Biggest Bustout: Vultures [Last Time Played 6/11/2011 - 25 Shows]
• Debuts: N/A
• Average Song Gap: 8.65
• Longest LivePhish Track / Shortest LivePhish Track: Divided Sky (16:03) / The Horse (1:06)
• Audio: Live Phish

Poster…

Belt Buckle…