Live Review: Phish 12/28,29,30,31/25 MSG, NYC

Phish 

12/28,29,30,31/25 

MSG, NYC

For their annual four night NYE run at Madison Square Garden in NYC, Phish ended a sonically strong year with some solid playing. Each of the nights contained excellent jams and song selection, wrapping up with a blazing start to 2026.

Rather than do detailed reviews of each of the nights, these are some things that stood out. 

Don't be late:

Phish started each show right at 8 clock and for RtBE the majority of the best music over this run occurred in the first set each night. While the second sets each had large drawn out jams, for RtBE each night's first set individual highlights shined brighter. 

12/28's best moments were a ripping version of "Wolfman's Brother" which led into an excellent drawn out and funky intro to "Punch You In The Eye". 12/29's shining stars were a gorgeous "Curtain With" that lead into a blistering "Bathtub Gin" while 12/30 had a fun opening run of "Chalk Dust Torture > The Moma Dance > Chalk Dust Torture" and a cataclysmic set closing "Split Open and Melt". 12/31's early highlight was a version of "My Friend, My Friend" that will go down as an all-timer. 

Big jams just off the mark:

To these ears the Summer of 2025 was some of the best Phish improvisation we have heard in years. When the band stretched out their jams in the second sets each night of this run (excluding NYE), things weren't as successful. 

12/28 "Theme From The Bottom", 12/29 "A Wave of Hope", 12/30 "Ruby Waves > Light" all found the band in sync and playing well, but never really connected with that fantastic magic that they are capable of. Each Phish fan is unique and these jams may feel differently upon re-listen, but in the moment there wasn't that magic of say this summer's "Carini" from Forest Hills, or any of the SPAC jams. 

Saved the best for last: 

While 12/30 was the most consistent full show of the run, the band's best playing overall occurred during their last set. Hinting at the New Year's gag with a cowbell ringing Ice Cream Man accentuating "It's Ice" > "Cream" (a debut Prince cover) to end the second set, the band really let loose on NYE's third set. 

While Phish always delivers something on NYE, rarely does the music result in truly memorable versions of the songs played. That was not the case to start 2026 as a gorgeous version of "Harry Hood" rung in the New Year among the cows, dancing milk cartons and ice cream vendors onstage. "2001" was brief, but that word was nowhere to be found for the rest of the set which featured a titanic pairing of "Tweezer" > "Piper" that was almost an hour long. These two songs were the most inventive, energetic, and locked in Phish sounded the entire run and should be heard by all fans. 

"Say it to me S.A.N.T.O.S" and an encore of an acapella "Sincere" from The Music Man, the rare "Spock's Brain" and "Tweezer Reprise" were just frosting on this ice cream cake. 

Overall Phish ended 2025 and started 2026 on an extremely positive note. Here is hoping the band continues their NYE MSG tradition again next year. 

_______

Support the artists, peep some video below: