2025-12-31 New York City, NY

 12/31/25

Set 1

Finally have the time to tackle this beast today. The show opens nicely with an energetic and tight Free. Some great robo honking from Trey and they deliver a very nice version that is nothing must hear but still absolutely gets the job done.

The following BOAF is even better, staying firmly type 1 but absolutely knocking it out of the park. Again, nothing must hear, but I would still call it excellent at the same time.

After a nicely placed BATR comes Stash. Stash follows in the vein of Free and BOAF, giving us a REALLY GOOD version that won't have you screaming about it from the highest mountain but will definitely leave you satisfied when all is said and done. Really good stuff!!

Waste is always great to hear but seems really badly placed tonight in my opinion. That being said it's lovely as ever with not a flub to be heard. Page's solo is exceptionally quiet tonight in a rather unique way. Some lovely phrasing on it in particular. Again with the rest of this set so far this is nothing must hear truly but it's still great for sure.

The first must hear of the Night comes in the form of a giant 16 minute MyFe. The song and initial soloing are excellent. They are just ripping it up in the best way. The jam takes a little bit to get going but gets into that weird no man's land of not being sure whether it wants to go dark or go light. Thankfully it doesn't go full on Bliss but does go into a hard rocking zone and they rock the F out of it basically. I'd call this must hear it's a headbanger.

In another screwed up setlist call, they follow it up with A Life Beyond the Dream. I'm a big fan of this song and don't understand the hate but this was just bad placement all day long. Like, what the corn .... That being said, it keeps in line with the rest of the set delivering an average excellent reading that doesn't reach must hear status but definitely does the job and satisfies all around. Great little version, imo.

Actually, it really feels like that should have been the end of the set. It would have worked great emotionally and flow-wise if that did end up being the end of the set. Instead they follow it up, kind of awkwardly and unnecessarily with Kill Devil Falls. Solid type 1 version but maybe the least impressive thing of the set so far but that's not like saying it's bad or anything. When listening to it all it really felt like an awkward choice out of Life though.

And again we get another end of set fakeout with a prematurely placed More. What is with this sequencing tonight?! Love this song and I gotta say it feels grest to hear it again!! Nicely powerful, its a great version! Love this More - it does what KDF set out to do and does it better. Just pounding, hard hitting and full of passion. Doesnt reach must hear, but its excellent.

A finely placed Monsters follows, giving us another breather. And hot damn it rips as always. AGAIN, nothing must hear but still great on the whole.

The set concludes with 10 minute LSG, echoing set one of 12/30/23. This one doesnt approach the insanity of thet hose fest but it still delivers big time. And dang the mix sounds SO good on this - Pages gooey keys just sound GREAT. This LSG feels extremely funky, like an alternate universe Crosseyed and Painless!!! Right away we get into funky Crosseyed jam land. Love the goopy and thick nature of this one. Unfortunately Trey lays back and does that "do nothing" thing for like two minutes, sounding unsure what to play. Thankfully everyone else carries the jam - listen ti Gord and Page! Finally Trey slowly starts to honk it up lightly with the robo filter, but hes just laying back all pornofunk style like its 1997. It actually sounds great despite being minimalistic. They are really jamming TOGETHER, sounding like one cohesive whole, nobody soloing. At a certain point the funk suddenly evaporates and we shift into hazy bliss rock zone. And away we go. The jam picks up speed full throttle ahd they fly to the sky, spraying the hose far and wide before perfectly returning to the song and leading us out. Yo, this LSG is FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!!!!. Definitely must hear, it feels slightly unique compared to most versions. Fantastic.


All in all, by New Years first set standards, I thought this was actually a really enjoyable set. The playing is tight, the energy is high, Trey is nailing his solos, etc

The only real problems are the unnecessarily placed versions of Waste and Life. Other than that, this set falls in the "average excellent, genuinely really good, better than I expected" category. No need to ever revisit it but I definitely enjoyed it from start to finish for the most part. Its like....a run of "excellent but nothing special" versions of songs. It doesn't feel rushed or half assed, either, which other NYE first sets often do.

I think its far stronger than, say, set 1 of 12/31/23, for instance. MyFe is the main keeper along with LSG, but shoutouts to Stash, Birds, More and Monsters.

TL;DR: dont be scared of this set, it doesn't bite, lol

 

Set 2

We open set to tonight with a 10 minute version of Sand. Typical stuff - good but nothing special. Its not particularly hot, morphing lazily into pleasant, chirpy bliss rock, unfortunately. It does all end up working out pretty good in the end though. Good stuff.

The jam slides down real low at the end and they SMASH into a 15 minute Fuego!!! Heck yes!!! Listen to Fishman crushing thise effin drums. This is HIGH OCTANE like the Hershey 2021 version. Heck yes, let's go!! This sucker is TIGHT and blazing hot, just exploding with energy. Dang! Unfortunately, the jam is a mess. It pretty much flounders out of the gate for a long while before settling into this low key introspective kind of aquatic area. Quiet plying, Trey on pitch shifter, Fishman pounding those toms. Its actually really nice when it gets going! Listen to them all syncing up together perfectly throughout!!! Trey slowly leads them out and up , though it takes a long time. Hes slowly increasing the energy. The jam is turning into a hot and heavy slow burn affair. This is really sick - great flow and build to this sucker!!!! I don't know if Id say they reach X Factor, but its getting there! Listen to Trey rip that feedbacky lead, just soloing it up nice and slow, but also hot at the same time. The peakage on this is really cool - its like a late night, low key, small explosion. Hard to explain. And still, listen to Fishman just annihilating his kit, good lord. And from here the jam fades quickly to an unceremonious close....This Fuego is GREAT! I'm calling it must hear for sure! No, seriously, this Fuego rules!!!!

Out of Fuego and quickly we launch into a short No Men (6ish minutes. The hell?...). Great choice to keep the energy going strong regardless!! Very nice and hot type 1 reading. Fishman is still just beating the crap outta those drums and Trey is just ripping leads. Awesome type 1 version! And although it doesnt jam, it ends surprisingly naturally and the abbreviated length doesn't feel like a letdown.

Immediately after they slam right into a 12 minute Mind, that chunky riff just hitting hard. The jam begins with Trey introducing this ascending riff motif they all latch onto. From here its into basic soloing for a bit. Then he starts the ascending riff again, higher up the neck. The whole band sound like a train slowly working their way up a mountain, one chug at a time. They rock it good from here but unfortunately its undelivered promises as it kinda gets stuck in "this rocks but isnt exploding" land. Its unsatisfying like the, what was it, 7/5 Boulder Life Saving Gun? Its right there abd then it just.... ends. And youre kinda blueballed.. bummer. Cant recommend this one.

They quickly rectify their mistake by giving us a 21 minute YEM. Its not immaculate but its played 98% there and that's far more than enough! Extreme energy though - the boys sound HYPED AF. The initial type 1 just explodes. Its not particularly ripping, just crazy energetic like Fuego was. BALLS TO THE WALL ENERGY LETS FREAKING GO!!!!! And then jusg as I say its not ripping, it EXPLODES into giant burst of peakage before dropping out into a Gordo bass solo. Fishman solos along, keeping it going. Then the vocal jam as expected. The following jam wanders onward funkily from there, eventually returning to a full blown Fuego reprise at 18 minutes. . This YEM is the tits, yo. Absolutely must hear!! Its awesome!!!

Straight out of YEM without a breath to spare, they rip right into the most unexpectedly placed Its Ice Ive ever heard. Heck yes, lets go!!!! Even better, they basically nail the sucker - thank god the song isnt a massive rarity anymore!!! From what I understand, during the breakdown jam, a guy came out banging a cowbell and, I think, walking a cow around (or is that later??). Lol. Gotta love our boyz....

So Ice concludes and they finish the set with the gobsmacking cover of ...Cream! By Prince!!!! Get it? Huh? Its Ice....Cream!!!!! RATTLE THAT COWBELL, MOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Its so damn weird hearing them play this buts also so awesome. The bluesy vibe of the song is so perfect for Phish. Almost surprised they never played this before!! Not much to say - its fantastic!!!

All in all, for the most part this set was GREAT!!! Its not perfect - there are nitpicky flaws for sure (Mind, Sand, short No Men etc), but for the most part I enjoyed th crap outta this set!

Fuego, YEM and Ice>Cream are totally must hear. Fuego and YEM are really exceptional though. Man, this is great show so far!!!

 

Set 3

Aka, HOODPOCALYSPE

So, as we all know by now, the set opens with a 13 minute Harry Hood. When you get a Hood opener, you know you are in for some serious shiznit! Anywho, the set begins with the cowbell and MOOOOO again (ah, this is where the cow saunters to the stage....). The song begins amidst the rattle of the cowbell from hell. Some very nice robo playing from Trey durinf the intro and the whole thing just has that....air of specialty. You KNOW this is gonna be a good one. And it IS!! The beautiful slow build section is damn exquisite tonight. PERFECT use of sustain and feedback, everyone so effing in sync with each other. This one feels like it has some serious emotional heft to it. Hell, its almost making me teary eyed. By modern standards, its just beautiful...ugh......AND WE STILL HAVE AN ENTIRE SET TI GET THROUGH AFTER THIS?! Golly, the peakage is off the chain, just magic all over. Daaaaammmnnnnnn. Yea, this is MUST HEAR. There have been a plethora of amazing Hoods over the last few years and this is up there with the very best of the bunch. Easily.

And into 2001 from there - that set placement is a lot more satisfying than you might think. Without watching the video is this when everybody is coming out of the freezer and dancing around? I forget, lol. I'm calling this must hear. The jamming is just so ridiculously tight and on point in every way. This is a ridiculously satisfying 2001, lol. Just exactly perfect.... SICK! LETS DANCE, SUCKA!!!! This is what a perfect version of a song sounds like. Full stop. Wow.

T MINUS 90 SECONDS TO NEW YEAR'S LET'S FREAKING GO!!!

They perfectly time 2001 and have it end on the final note right slam at midnight, launching right into Auld Lang Syne. Greatest New Years transition ever, holy hell that was SICK.

And once ALS is over, they rip straight into the New Year, giving us a 30 minute Tweezer as our first taste of 2026 Phish!!!! Tweezer is a multifaceted beast. The song itself rips, buoyed by international sing in multiple languages - reference to the 2010 International Meatstick? (Definitely - Trey does a Meatstick quote, lol) Its awesome and kicks ass. They rip the type one right to the 9 minute mark and peak it hard. From there, the jam quickly shifts downward into an intospctive and quiet kind of late night funkiness, ala Fuego from set two. They pleasantly meander to the 15 minute mark where so ethereal haziness starts to creep in. The blissy noodling continues for another 5 minutes or so. Finally around 20 minutes they get their act together and jam REALLY takes off! They spend a long time slowly evolving the jam into a nasty, raging, nuclear robo filter bomb from Planet Spacefunk. 20 to 25 minutes is just pure raging filth. Somewhere around 25 minutes it shifts into "lets classic rock - peak this sucker" mode. And of course from there they detonate the nuclear hose bomb and peak us into the next dimension....When all is said and done this wasn't my favorite Tweezer - there's a solid 10 minutes of not much happening in the middle unfortunately. That section isn't bad but it seems like it meanders a little bit too much for a little bit too long. But thats a "me" problem. This Tweezer is a beast, and holy smokes what way to begin a new year of music!!!!!!

How do you follow that up? With a 20 minute Piper, that's how! Piper does its usual, boring, noodly upbeat bliss rock thing for far too long as always. What else did I expect? Somewhere around 9ish minutes, Trey gets brief loop going beneath the blissful maelstrom. This seems to help them slooóooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwllllllllllyyyyyyyyy move elsewhere. Trey kicks it up a notch, from blissy noodling into more straightforward rocking. By 10 minutes, this is enjoyable, but also boring as hell. Same boring bliss rock Piper as usual so far.....ugh. Its not even raging THAT particularly good, nor is Trey ripping it up much besides setting lots of loops to vamp over .....Im bitching a lot here. Sure this is great for most folks. For me, this is the exact kind of Piper I generally hate (SPAC2025 rocketship excluded). We get it - type 1 raging is great. Now, come on, do SOMETHING interesting for the love of god!! By 13 minutes they are STILL firmly stuck in type 1. At least it IS blazing hot. Definitely headbanger material for sure. I will concede this "pedal to the metal" section is pretty damn hype.....Trey starts throwing in pitch -shift whale siren loops in the background. THANK EFFING GOD AT 14 MINUTES WE LEAVE TYPE 1. PROCEED DIRECTLY HERE. JUST SKIP THE FIRST 10 MINUTES OF JAM AND GET TO THE GOOD slide So Trey keeps these awesome lowkey whale sirens going while the jam chills right out into this awesomely groovy and latin-y zone. Trey loops the siren, kicks on the robo filter, and proceeds to go for it. Fishman is doing awesome and unique drum work. Hes doing this cool marching snare thing, coupled with a latin vibe, while Trey honks it up. At 16:30 the synths finally come out to play and the jam begins to slide....askew.....and hell freaking yes, we go full blown weirdo type 2 into this strange and funky, obtuse kind of latin-robot jam. Super rhythmic, everyone syncing up together again. THIS IS SICK. LATIN SPACE ROBO JAZZ FUNK DELUXE. ALL HAIL X FACTOR MAGIC!!! Around 19 minutes, they start to work their way out and back into a hard rocking, slow groove zone. Hot and heavy. Just burning. And then in an instant its all over.....dang it. That type 2 section was so sick, its a shame it was so brief and took so long to reach....

So Piper concludes and they segue nicely into SANTOS to close the set proper. Its SANTOS. Its set closer. It rips. What else is there to say?

We get an A+ encore tonight beginning with a new a capella number before they launch into the first Spocks Brain since Alpine Valley 2019 (?!?! There really wasn't ONE somewhere in between?!). Spocks is awesome. Grab that sucker. The expected Tweeprise sends us on our way.

All in all, this set was an absolute powerhouse from start to finish. Not a weak link in the chain, I think this very well might have been the strongest set of the entire run and that's an insane thing to say considering how New Years shows usually go from a musical perspective. This set was classic. Just about everything was must here and The encore was the incredible icing on the cake.

I am really surprised how much I enjoyed this show overall despite the flaws. This show was musically a million times better than I expected it to be. There was a lot going on in a lot of it is just terrific.

On the whole I don't know if I'd call this one of the best shows of the year but I definitely call set three and the best of set two among the finest music of the year.

Set three I'd probably put in the top 10 sets of the year maybe eight.

Sayonara 2025!!! Hello 2026!!!