Phish returned to New York\u2019s Madison Square Garden<\/a> yesterday for the fourth show of their five-night summer residency at The World\u2019s Most Famous Arena. Continuing the run\u2019s theme, the Vermont Quartet looked back to 1995 with both their setlist and on-stage antics. Trey Anastasio also continued the trend of bringing back era-appropriate outfits by sporting a Jah Volunteer t-shirt throughout the night. <\/p>\nAt the start of their first set, Phish briefly reprised the chess match they engaged in with their audience throughout 1995, and virtually in 2020 during COVID, with Page McConnell humorously making a single check-mate move on the stage while Red Light Management\u2019s Jason Comfort narrated the game on the venue\u2019s PA. Phish then picked up their instruments and launched into \u201cWilson,\u201d a \u201980s tune they regularly played in 1995 and which was officially released that year on A Live One. (The performance captured on that double album is from Phish\u2019s 1994 Garden debut.) \u201cWilson\u201d segued into Phish\u2019s cover of \u201cTimber (Jerry the Mule),\u201d which was revived in 1995 after sitting on the shelf for three years, and then Jon Fishman\u2019s rarely performed \u201cHa Ha Ha,\u201d which the band debuted at 1995\u2019s Voters for Choice benefit in Lowell, MA and hadn\u2019t played since August 27, 2021. During \u201cTimber (Jerry the Mule),\u201d Anastasio also nodded to 1995 by playing the auxiliary percussion kit that he employed that year, as he reportedly tried to shift the band\u2019s emphasis away from his lead guitar and push their rhythm in a different direction.<\/p>\n
From there, Phish moved into another 1995 staple, \u201cScent of a Mule,\u201d \u201cTheme from the Bottom\u201d\u2013a second song they debuted at the Lowell Voters for Choice benefit\u2013and \u201cHalley\u2019s Comet,\u201d the Richard Wright original that developed into a jam vehicle as the band moved into larger venues and stretched out their material on a more regular basis. Anastasio also played around on his percussion kit during the quirky cover, before it segued into the beautiful \u201cThe Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday\u201d and the sacred selection \u201cAvenu Malkenu,\u201d marking the rare time, in recent memory, when Phish has played the Hebrew prayer twice in the same calendar year. The first half of the show then came to a close with 1995 staples \u201cNICU,\u201d \u201cFunky Bitch\u201d and \u201cTaste,\u201d the latter of which the band worked out in real time that year as it evolved from \u201cThe Fog That Surrounds\u201d and \u201cThe Taste That Surrounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
For their second set, Phish kicked things off with another cherished tune, \u201cThe Curtain With.\u201d However, their decision to play the oft-requested number briefly broke from their 1995 narrative since the band didn\u2019t dust off the selection between 1988-2000 while they reworked its ending into \u201cRift\u201d and performed the rest of the song as \u201cThe Curtain.\u201d Yesterday\u2019s version of the number uncoiled into an extended jam that surfaced as a 15-minute version of \u201cPrince Caspian,\u201d another 1995 debut, and then a 29-minute cover of The Who\u2019s \u201cDrowned,\u201d which Phish picked up after covering Quadrophenia on Halloween in 1995 and had not performed live since October 15, 2023 after years of regular play. From there, Phish moved into yet another song they debuted in 1995, the tender \u201cBilly Breathes\u201d and an extended version of \u201cIt\u2019s Ice\u201d that found Anastasio back on percussion for a bit. The set then capped off with Phish\u2019s take on the Chuck Berry rocker \u201cJohnny B. Goode,\u201d which they introduced into their repertoire in 1995 but dropped after a July 8, 1998, show in Spain, and, finally, \u201cFree,\u201d the Billy Breathes single that first surfaced at the previously mentioned Lowell show<\/p>\n
For their encore, Phish revisited one final Lowell 1995 debut, \u201cStrange Design\u201d and then offered a cover of The Rolling Stones\u2019 classic \u201cLoving Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phish will return to MSG tomorrow, revisiting 1996.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a look at last night\u2019s setlist via Phish.net<\/p>\n
Monday, July 27, 2026, Madison Square Garden, New York, NY <\/p>\n
Set I: Wilson > Timber (Jerry the Mule)[1], Ha Ha Ha, Scent of a Mule, Theme from the Bottom, Halley\u2019s Comet[1] -> The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday > Avenu Malkenu, NICU, Funky Bitch, Taste<\/p>\n
Set II: The Curtain With > Prince Caspian[1] > Drowned[1] > Billy Breathes > It\u2019s Ice[1], Johnny B. Goode, Free<\/p>\n
E: Strange Design, Loving Cup<\/p>\n
[1] Trey on mini drum kit.<\/p>\n
This show was Phish\u2019s 95th performance at Madison Square Garden, included several 1995-related references (a setlist composed of songs from the band\u2019s 1995 era, Trey wearing a Jah Volunteer shirt, a chess board, and a mini drum kit) and featured multiple bustouts: Ha Ha Ha (last played August 27, 2021, or 231 shows), Drowned (last played October 15, 2023, or 113 shows), and Johnny B. Goode (last played August 8, 1998, or 927 shows). Wilson was preceded by Page\u2019s chess move for the band (the P.A. announced a checkmate, but Page moved the band\u2019s rook to C4 rather than A4, threatening the audience\u2019s queen rather than king). Timber (Jerry the Mule), Halley\u2019s Comet, Prince Caspian, Drowned, and It\u2019s Ice featured Trey on a mini drum kit. Trey teased Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35 in Timber (Jerry the Mule), San-Ho-Zay in Halley\u2019s Comet, Tequila and Cissy Strut (along with the rest of the band) in Drowned, and Johnny B. Goode in Loving Cup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo by Chris Bavaro Phish returned to New York\u2019s Madison Square Garden yesterday for the fourth show of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":789790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216],"class_list":["post-789789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=789789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/789790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=789789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=789789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=789789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}