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Strolling through Central Park on New Year's Eve Day, it was impossible not to notice the hordes of tie-dyed hippie types wandering around glassy-eyed, kicking hackey sacks, and strumming guitars. Were the Dead in town? No way. Garcia Band? Even less likely. Of course! It's Phish! The Vermont quartet always mislabeled as a "Deadhead" band. For the record, Phish has nothing to do with the Grateful Dead aside from a penchant towards long, improvisational jams and a different set list each night. Hence the throng of fans that follow this band from town to town in a fashion akin to Deadheads of yestertour. And, just in case you were wondering, as of the close of 1995, the score of the ongoing chess match between Phish and the audience is Band 1/Audience 1.

The word from Worcester's shows on the 28th and the 29th promised greatness for this sold-out two night stand at The Garden. We were not disappointed. Saturday's warm up for New Year's was a rager by all accounts. The crowd was howling hours before Sunday's show, lining up outside Penn Station waiting for the magic to begin. Those lucky enough to get tickets (only a quarter of mail order requests were filled, and Ticketmaster sold out in record time) squeezed through the 7th Ave. entrance under the watchful eye of Jerry Garcia, whose picture hangs in front of the ticket windows inside The Garden.

With a bang Phish came on stage and ripped open the last evening of 1995 with a Gamehenge classic, "Punch You in the Eye," which ran right into "The Sloth." Later in the first set the quest for The Helping Friendly Book continued with "Colonel Forbin's Ascent" and "Famous Mockingbird." In between these two, Trey explained that when the band is not on the road, they are busy running the Phish/Gamehenge Time Factory, Incorporated. (Real Audio or 6 MB .au file) "There's trouble in Gamehenge right now," says Trey, as the band is in the middle of playing the gig and can't be at the Factory to produce time. The people of Gamehenge are helpless, of course, for without The Helping Friendly Book they cannot manufacture time for themselves.

Wouldn't it be horrible, ponders Trey, if we were all stuck in 1994 listening to the same pop song over and over… (the band breaks into Collective Soul's "Shine," with Phish lyricist Tom Marshall on vocals). "That would be terrible, wouldn't it?" jokes Trey after a rousing chorus. So, Trey continues, The Great and Knowledgeable Icculus sends the Famous Mockingbird up to the tower where The Evil King Wilson has stashed The Helping Friendly Book. We don't hear from Gamehenge again until "Lizards" in the second set.

After the audience put the band in check mate, to tie the score at 1:1 for 1995, Mike opened the last set of the year with "Drowned" from Quadrophenia, the featured album on Halloween 1995. Mike had a hard time hitting some of the high notes, but it's great to hear Trey pounding out those Townsend licks with such prowess. "Axilla" lit The Garden on fire after an especially bouncy "Lizards." Then came "Runaway Jim" complete with Page on the funk-o-matic synthesizer and Trey playing his own drum kit in front of Page's piano. Hmmmm…. Two drummers…. Not a bad idea, guys!

"Mike's Song" kicked our butts into high gear for the countdown to 1996. Instead of staying with the groove for the whole suite, Trey announced after some considerably introspective jamming that the band would be back in 15 minutes. During the set break we curiously watched Fishman sit in a barber's chair on stage and have his beard shaved under the watchful eye of his mom, Mimi. That's odd….

The house lights went out at about two minutes to midnight. Down from the lighting rig on top of the stage came a bed-like platform with all sorts of flashing lights and day-glo tape. The band walked on stage in doctor's outfits and worked mysteriously downstage with weird sounds pumping from the keyboards. It all looked like a scene out of Young Frankenstien. The "doctors" placed Father Time into the bed and proceeded to hoist the "patient" up to the skies while the lightning started to flash and the current flowed through the Vann de Graph generators. The countdown began as the bed reached the ceiling.

10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…*FLASH*BANG*BOOM*!!!!

12-30-95

Set I



Prince Caspian, 2001, Suzie, David Bowie, Simple, It's Ice (wacked 

improv section, like an incantation, Trey chants a poem featuring 

the phrase "Runaway Go-Cart Marathon".  I think Marshall's behind 

this.)  TMWSIY>Alvenu Malkenu>TMWSIY, Divided Sky, Sample in a Jar



Set II



Yamar, Free, Harry Hood, AC/DC Bag, Lifeboy, SOAMule (with LONG 

chops), Cavern, Antelope



E: A Day in the Life





12/31/95

Madison Square Garden, NYC, NY



I: Punch You In The Eye*, Sloth, Reba**, Squirming Coil***, Maze, Colonel 

Forbin's Ascent****->Collective Soul song->Fly Famous 

Mockingbird->Sparkle, Chalkdust Torture



II: Drowned->Lizards, Axilla II, Runaway Jim, Strange Design, 

Hello My Baby, Mike's Song->outro#



III: Auld Lang Syne/Countdown%->Weekapaug Groove%%->Sea and Sand, You 

Enjoy Myself, Sanity, Frankenstein



E: Johnny B. Goode



* with Landlady dance

** unfinished

*** Trey fucked up part of the composed part

**** With long narration about the passage of time and the band's role 

while off tour in the Phish/Gamehenge Time Corporation. The band asked 

what it would be like if we were back in 1994, and proceeded to play the 

"let your light shine down" collective soul song, sung by tom marshall

# a la 12/29/94 Providence Bowie

% Black sheaths are removed to reveal a mad scientist's laboratory behind 

the band. The setup featured large tubes, numerous lights, and a giant 

Van de Graff generator. Trey and crew played with the controls while Mike 

and Fish (or someone wearing his dress) bring someone in an 

all-white-Santaish outfit to a bed-type thing that has been lowered from 

the ceiling. It has radioactive colors and neon lights and they put the 

person on it. It rises, countdown begins, the guy on the riser is now 

somehow Fish, who throws confetti out to the crowd, big balls fall from 

the ceiling, trey starts auld lang syne.

%% Serious Harry tease