Phish
July 2026 MSG
"Phish In Five"
In Phish's fun loving manner, they took the opportunity to play special shows with songs written on or before those years. The 7/22 show was dedicated to the band's 1992 self and so on. The combination of Phish playing as locked in as they have in years, with a focus on their early songs, was just too good to miss, so RtBE saddled up for all of them.
Each night we will discuss pluses and minuses, but overall this run was a very special, high quality offering from the band that will be held on par with the group's historic Baker's Dozen run a few years back. There were very few negatives as each night was unique, energetic and worth attending as Phish continues to deliver in leaps and bounds for their fans.
July 22nd 2026 - 1992 focused show.
Pluses: Everything. Phish hadn't truly announced their plans, only hinted at them, but when the opening "Glide" kicked off, the (less than sold-out) arena knew this run would be something special. The energy was through the roof on this night (more so than any other) from the beginning to the end as Trey Anastasio arrived in a black cut off t-shirt, just like old times. A fun "Foam", "Axilla" (which had the Chase Bridge bouncing), "Stash" and a gorgeous "Reba" were first set highlights. That doesn't even mention the Jon Fishman fun or the "Vibration of Life" bust out.
Second set "Mike's Song >"I am Hydrogen" > "Weekapaug Groove" was one for the ages with great playing combined with old antics (trampolines and leg kicks) while the extended "Bouncing Around The Room" jam was glorious. A monster encore of "The Horse > Silent in the Morning", "Big Black Furry Creature from Mars", and "Run Like an Antelope", capped off an amazing show, setting the bar incredibly high for the run.
Negatives: None.
July 24th 2026 1993 focused show.
Pluses: Friday saw the band, keep the throwback antics kicking ("Big Ball Jam", dancing in "Guelah Papyrus") while also bringing in a few rare covers that rocked hard, "La Grange", "Sparks" and "Good Times Bad Times". "The Wedge" jam was the best on this night, (just beating out "Chalkdust Torture > Sparks" to these ears) keeping the idea of stretching out older 'non-jam songs' like "Bouncing Around The Room" from the previous show, flowing.
Negatives: While played well, the chilled out "Bathtub Gin" shifted the vibe in the Garden. After a roaring "Llama" to start, the Friday night sold out crowd were ready to go nuts, but a stretched out Gin cooled things down, not in a bad way, but not in a very exciting way either.
July 25th 2026 1994 focused show.
Pluses: Tweezer-fest. After an aborted first set (see below) the band decided to throwdown an incredibly memorable extended second set revolving around their jam warhorse. Dipping in an out of a host of Hoist tunes, "Tweezer" was a monster, especially it's final appearance, a meaty blues rock killer groove that needs to be heard before the band dropped into a "Squirming Coil" finale. Dynamite stuff.
Negatives: The power outage to end the first set. Things were rip roaring to start (rare Beatles cover, amazing "Simple" jam, funked out "Punch You In The Eye") but during "Wolfman's Brother" things cut out. Unfortunately these things happen, but an announcement, via bullhorn if necessary, to let the crowd know what was going on, would have been helpful.
July 27th 1995 focused show.
Pluses: Deep dark jamming. The most experimental night of the run, this show got into it from many different directions. "Hailey's Comet" in the first set hinted at the jam layers to follow, but "Prince Caspian" "Drowned" and "It's Ice" were multi-faceted, heavy jams that had unique playing from all involved, including Trey on his '95 era mini-percussion kit. A very Mike Gordon focused first set was a delight as well.
Negatives: It is hard to fault the band for delivering more, but both sets would have ended perfectly with their ripping respective covers, "Funky Bitch" and "Johnny B. Goode". Tacking on "Taste" and "Free" two songs played well and that RtBE loves, seemed superfluous. Again this isn't much of a negative at all as the band is on fire at the moment.
July 29th 1996 focused show.
Pluses: Everything. Opening and closing with the best nights, Phish pulled out all of the stops for their final performance of this mini run. An old school dream first set, which was a touch clunky at times (but not enough to be a negative here) led to an amazing display of instrumental prowess to close as the band was lit up, launching into the stratosphere.
The two extended jams in the second set, "Y.E.M" and "Crosseyed and Painless" just may be some of the finest jamming Phish may have ever done. That may seem like a prisoner of the moment reaction, but feel free to check them out for yourself and see if they don't measure up. Unlike the night before the jams in these two numbers were less experimental and more propulsive with the band totally synched up. Both jams went over a half hour with ease as the band was locked and raging, it will be fun to return to these two efforts often.
Negatives: None.
Overall, an amazing run and for a band this deep into their career to be this continually creative is a marvel. Both 7/22 and 7/29 were all-timers to these ears, and the in-between had amazing moments as well. RtBE can't wait to catch them again at MSG in a few months.
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