On Saturday morning at 7 am I left my house in Geneseo, IL and drove to Wicker Park where I left my car and took the blue line to the orange line out to Midway. I got lucky with the weather. You never know how that could have played out. It was clear but still cold. I couldn't help but remember the weather we experienced in Miami the year before. During the drive into the city I heard a great old Casey Casum countdown from 1984. Lots of funky dance numbers for the cruise as the sun came up. On the plane I was sitting next to the window with a couple next to me. The girl went to the restroom and when she returned the guy got down on his knee in the aisle and proposed. She said yes and the entire plane clapped. At LaGuardia I took the M-60 bus to Harlem and transferred to the 3 line subway down to Penn Station. I love the energy of the city. There were many fans in front of the paramount with their fingers in the air looking for a ticket to this sold out performance. After the Labor Day run I said I was going to take a break from seeing shows but upon further review I decided to sneak this one night getaway into the agenda. I love seeing indoor Phish shows and Madison Square Garden is the self proclaimed World's Most Famous Arena. Before the show I walked around the Times Square area and down 7th Ave. to MSG. I had a slice of Sbarro before I went in. The metal detectors at the gate were not an issue. By the fourth night of the run they had the logistics worked out. The renovations make the concourse look great. However, the Chase Bridges over the upper deck take away from the sightlines of the rest of the arena. Also, it's just not as easy to walk around to different sections like it had been before the changes. My spot was in the 200s Page side.
Phish took the stage slightly earlier this night than the others. Many fans were late arriving. I liked the opening choice of My Pet Cat from Vegas 2014 Halloween. AC/DC Bag served as almost a second opener. It's Ice had a small jam segment. I loved the choice of Horn. That's a delicate song from Rift that I've always enjoyed seeing. Trey really pwned Divided Sky, Maze, and Julius. He played like a guy who was on the cover of Guitar World magazine. Train Song was a nice interlude. It was appropriate given my use of trains on this journey. Also, I thought about the maze of subways and streets that comprise the city of New York during that song. NYC really is humanity overload. There was not much in the way of improv in the first set but I liked the cohesive setlist and undeniable energy. I liked seeing Trey and Page really enjoying themselves.
It didn't take Nostradamus to realize Tweezer and Sand were on the way. This was the best Tweezer since Lakewood. I loved the blissful direction the end of the jam took. Sand kept the dancing going where the Tweezer left off. All told that was over a half hour of continuous music that clinched the victory for the night. Limb by Limb served as a cooldown number in this slot. Suzy was better than usual. I sensed Harry Hood looming. Trey played some pretty atypical licks during this version but I was disappointed in the lack of execution regarding the peak of this Hood. A stronger than usual YEM more than made up for it. Gordo used a very, very funky effect during the breakdown prior to the vocal jam. Best YEM since Kansas City. Lizards encore was very generous. Tweezer Reprise sent us off into the big city night. I purchased a can of Coca-Cola outside since I didn't have my usual cooler to run back to in the lot like a typical show. Then I made the stroll up 7th Ave. to Times Square and got into the massive line that had assembled for The Disco Biscuits at Playstation Theatre. This turned out to be a glorified bunker. The search to get inside was done by a black female who was more concerned with touching my genitals than searching any of my pockets. I found a vantage in the back row and took in the laser spectacle. I liked the Caterpillar in the first set. The horns were really a nice touch as well. They especially were great when they brought out two guys dressed as The Blues Brothers for a couple tunes from that movie to end set 1. The second set got some deep grooves going. I'm not a huge fan of Barber's guitar playing but I focused on Magner and his keyboard work which I find impressive. All told it was a fun way to spend the few hours after Phish before I had to fly home. I took the subway back up to the bus to the airport. I saw Steve A. who was on the 6 am flight home. It was nice to be able to get back home before the Bears game started. I'm glad I went. Phish played a great show. I met some cool people. Bisco was fun. Everything went smoothly. This was my 131st Phish show and first live music of 2016.
