The Phish band from Vermont (a.k.a. Phish) are off and running with ‘Phish in 5’ at Madison Square Garden – five unique shows calling back to their 1990s era. With three shows down and two to go (Monday and Wednesday), there’s a lot to look back at and plenty to look forward to, with photos by Kait Dugan from Night 1 of the residency.
As of their performance on Saturday night, Phish has now played 94 shows at Madison Square Garden, second only to Billy Joel, and for these most recent shows, they have been performing songs and setlists that harken back to the year associated with each numbered show.
Because this would limit setlists to songs of each era, Phish would need to build some room in for improvisation (easy enough) so that things could be stretched out and they could stay on theme.
Earlier this tour, the jamming of non-traditional jam vehicles was a staple of most shows, with nearly every show of the tour featuring at least one; notably, “Bouncing Around the Room” being taken for a 15-minute jam in Indiana, “Bug” jammed for 14 minutes in Syracuse, and “Ass Handed” in Maryland clocking in at 17 minutes. So with a little practice, jams at MSG were found in traditional (“Bathtub Gin,” “Tweezer”) and the non-traditional as well, something that was warmed up for over the previous 11 shows.
In leading up to these final shows of “Phish in 5,” the championship caliber playing has continued to move ahead, even if the road for these final two home games shows is on the tougher side. A great deal of jam vehicles have already been played and knowing the band will avoid repeats, the potential for what will be in the last two shows, let alone what will get a jam treatment, is more limited, especially after Saturday’s “Diseaser Fest.”
The number of songs and choices the band can make are going to continue to decrease, limiting the band and creating a test for Phish – they’ll have to do something with less options on the table, like when a cooking competition TV show has chefs use ingredients only found in a gas station market.
Just as these chefs pull it off somehow, that’s what Phish will do, starting tonight. It may not seem tasty, but by the end, everyone will be satiated.
Phish has had three residencies at Madison Square Garden – the 2017 Baker’s Dozen, the 2023 7-night run, and now “Phish in 5.” The first residency set a high bar for creativity and covers, as well as staying on theme for each corresponding donut of the dozen. The second residency, while solid through and through, had no discernable theme. By the time the dust settles after the show on Wednesday night, Phish will have reinvented the residency once again, bringing a new twist and theme, calling back to classic eras of Phish and using the history of the band to take fans on a wonderful trip down Nostalgia Lane.
What have we seen each night, and what can we expect in the final two installments of “Phish in 5”? Here are some of the many things considered during Phish’s revisiting their 90s era at Madison Square Garden.
Phish – July 22, 2026 – Madison Square Garden, NYC
On night one, 1992-era Phish give us another jammed out “Bouncing Around the Room,” the first “Cold as Ice” more than three decades, “The Vibration of Life” inside a “David Bowie” and antics from Trey and Mike (laying down on the stage during “I Am Hydrogen” while pedaling their feet in the air) and Fishman (jumping on Page’s grand piano following “Love You”). The setlist had plenty of Junta and Lawn Boy tracks, a slew of heavy hitters to start the run. The 92-era post-show music of En Vogue (“Never Gonna Get It”) was a fine detail that carried into the next two evenings.
Set 1: Glide, Runaway Jim, Foam, Axilla, Stash, Cold as Ice > Love You > Hold Your Head Up[1] > Sparkle, AC/DC Bag > Reba[2] > Possum > David Bowie -> The Vibration of Life -> David Bowie
Set 2: Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Bouncing Around the Room -> My Friend, My Friend[3] -> Split Open and Melt, The Lizards, Harry Hood[4]
Encore: The Horse > Silent in the Morning, Big Black Furry Creature from Mars, Run Like an Antelope
[1] Fish on vacuum and “GOOOAAALLL” announcement from Trey.
[2] No whistling.
[3] No “Myfe” ending.
[4] Aborted and restarted.
Phish – July 24, 2026 – Madison Square Garden, NYC
Night two meant a trip to 1993, when Rift was released and the band toured with the Giant Country Horns. Alas, no horns yet this run, but we did get Trey wearing a Marvin the Martian shirt, a call back to one of his iconic ‘fits of the time. Pre-show music of A Tribe Called Quest, Morphine and Digable Planets had fans keeping a keen ear out to see what ’93 tunes would be on deck.
Opening with a high energy “Llama” and a jammed out “Bathtub Gin” were a perfect way to bring us back to 1993, as was the rare “Daniel Saw the Stone.” “Big Ball Jam” was brought out of retirement, as was ZZ Top’s “La Grange” which had Anastasio shredding on guitar for the set closer. Set two was highlighted with an invigorating opener of “Also Sprach Zarathustra,” a rare appearance of The Who’s “Sparks,” the revival of “Slave to the Traffic Light” and some weirdness in “Makisupa Policeman” and the “Kung” that followed.
Set 1: Llama, Bathtub Gin, Lengthwise -> Maze, Gumbo > Daniel Saw the Stone, Weigh[1], Guelah Papyrus, Divided Sky, Tube -> Big Ball Jam -> Tube, La Grange
Set 2: Also Sprach Zarathustra > Chalk Dust Torture > Sparks > Slave to the Traffic Light, The Wedge > Makisupa Policeman[2] -> Kung > Suzy Greenberg > Golgi Apparatus > Good Times Bad Times
Encore: Sweet Adeline, Fluffhead
[1] Lyrics changed to “on a summer day.”
[2] “Iced green matcha tea, policeman looking at me” lyrics.
Phish – July 25, 2026 – Madison Square Garden, NYC
On 1994 night, Phish looked back to Hoist and played most of the album throughout the show, even if the first set was cut short by the sound going out after just 50 minutes. The return of Trey’s Pepe Le Pew shirt and “Back in the U.S.S.R.” recalled The White Album Halloween performance in Glens Falls (also the last city the song was covered in) while “Simple” was a nearly 20-minute splendid early jam ala the previous night’s “Bathtub Gin.”
The second set opened up with a fiery “Highway to Hell” that gave way to two “Down with Disease”s and six total “Tweezer”s, a combined 45 minutes for the latter. Adding in songs from Hoist in between the portions of the “Diseaser,” the band tossed in “Catapult” and a set closing “Squirming Coil” before a vacuum-filled “Purple Rain” encore to close the night. Post show music was “Hotstepper” by Ini Kamoze, a perfect 1994 dance track as fans headed out from MSG.
Set 1: Back in the U.S.S.R., Simple, Rift, Punch You in the Eye > Wolfman’s Brother[1]
Set 2: Highway to Hell, Down with Disease -> Tweezer -> Down with Disease > Tweezer > Sample in a Jar > Tweezer -> Lifeboy, Julius > Tweezer -> Catapult -> Tweezer > Cavern -> Tweezer > The Squirming Coil
Encore: Purple Rain[2], Tweezer Reprise
[1] Ended mid-song due to FOH outage.
[2] Trey on drums and guitar.
What can we expect from Nights 4 and 5 (Shows #95 and #96) of “Phish in 5”?
These next two nights have left room for whatever songs come from the 1995 and 1996 eras of the band. While 1996 is the year Billy Breathes was released, 1995 is a bit trickier with only A Live One to call from, and many of those songs have been played already (except “Montana,” “You Enjoy Myself” and “Wilson”). So let’s speculate a little without spoiling – perhaps we get some songs from Quadrophenia or the Gamehendge Time Factory on 1995 night, and perhaps with 1996 night, they’ll finish “Harpua” from The Clifford Ball, play some tracks off Remain in Light, or even give us a full album treatment of the aforementioned Billy Breathes.
Having personally avoided visiting Phish.net to check for what might be played, the surprise potential is high, and with Tuesday off in between these shows, anticipation will continue to build for 1996 night. If there were ever a time for the Phish knowledge accumulated by fans over the last four-plus decades to be put to good use, our time has come.
Phish is in championship form once again at their home venue of Madison Square Garden, and these last two nights will prove to be a historic close to “Phish in 5” and leave fans wondering and anticipating what shows #97, #98, #99 and #100 at MSG will look like, potentially later this year.
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