Phish review – spiraling jams and communal bliss at Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden, New York

Unsinkable Vermont four-piece ring in the new year with a dazzling mix of improvisation, spectacle and fan devotion

Phish have long been something of a unicorn in the fabric of popular music. Operating largely outside the traditional framework of the industry, the Vermont four-piece has become one of the world’s highest-grossing touring acts without a single mainstream hit or a platinum-selling album, consistently selling out stadiums and amphitheaters across the United States for decades. Their extraordinary commercial success, built almost entirely on the strength of their live performances and anything-can-happen ethos, stands as a testament to the loyalty and dedication of their fanbase.

While they have played outside the US sparingly over the years – a couple of tours of Europe and Japan, even warming up the Pyramid Stage for that Prodigy set at Glastonbury – Phish remain a uniquely American phenomenon. Nowhere is that more palpable than at Madison Square Garden, which has become hallowed ground for the band and their itinerant fans. Since their apotheotic first New Year’s Eve outing there in 1995, through the Baker’s Dozen series in 2017 – a 13-night elaborately themed residency featuring 237 songs with no repeats – their multi-night runs at the midtown Manhattan landmark have become a cherished ritual for their dedicated community. On Tuesday night, the band returned to their spiritual home ground for the fourth show of a four-night New Year’s Eve run (and 87th date at MSG overall), delivering a marathon performance over three sprawling sets that underscored why they remain the standard-bearers of improvisational rock more than 40 years into their career.

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