MSG7 RECAP: WHAT A BEAUTIFUL BUZZ OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE GUY FORGET
[We would like to thank user Suzy Barros (@SuzyDrano) for recapping last night's show. -Ed.]
Well! What a couple nights that was, I’m glad I wasn’t tasked with recapping Friday night because I would have overfluffed (or fluffed just the right amount depending on who you ask, Best "Fluffhead" ever amirite???). Anyhoo, Friday was perfection for me, as was the only other show I’ve seen this summer (3rd night Alpharetta) and though I’ve only listened to the highlights of the other shows, it’s enough to know something special has been happening in their playing, even besting the already excellent playing they did during the spring tour.
"Loving Cup"!!! Summer terr debut and the last time it opened a show unless I’m mistaken is all the way back in the cursed year of our lord 2004. I assume the reason being primarily because of its normal usage as a raging encore but there is really no good reason to not set the stage for the evening with a rager as end it with one, now is there??? Plus, when I turned around to give my dear old friend Marnie who joined me for these two shows a huge hug she was having a meltdown, I hadn’t realized it was her favorite song so that made it even better.
Scorcher of a "Maze" and "Martian Monster" to follow, Trey’s just been bringing the heat lately, I don’t know what’s up but dude has been eating his Wheaties that’s for sure.
Typically lovely "Divided Sky" gave everyone all the blissed out blissiness before PERFECT TIMING I HAD TO PEE ANYWAY! And get a refreshing beverage. All joking aside, it’s always been one of my least favorites and it’s better for me to use those few initial intro minutes of the song to get shit done than harsh anybody’s buzz by looking less than ecstatic. And guess what it worked out perfectly cause by the time I got back to my seat, I realized "Fuckerpants" had elevated himself to his royal title. This is definitely jamchart worthy (right guys???), I’m pretty sure it’s the longest version ever. Goes many places and is one version that I am going to be listening to a bunch which is something I never thought I would say. Crazy peak and super wacky spacey ending that led straight into "NICU" which was just normal wonderful NICU.
Great "Steam" to follow and I apologize for giving short shrift to any of these jams and not doing any deep diving but this version definitely deserves your attention. I’m not going to sugarcoat it, "Drift While You’re Sleeping" is my least favorite song in the rotation by a humongous margin so I spent the majority of it trying to stay positive by thinking what they were going to follow it with as a set closer. Silly Suzy. Anyhoo……
Everybody and their mother knew this night would entail a monster "Tweezer" so when "SYSF" kicked 2nd set off I thought there was a momentary blip in the simulation since it obviously holds its own as a powerhouse yam vehicle but then I remembered how things work these days (10 minute set opener followed by the mega jam). Annnnnnnnnd after a little bit of a trainwrecky how the hell does this song end moment, on came Uncle Ebeneezer and the whole eezer crew. Time to settle in for a 30 minuter right? Wellllllllllllllllll, that is until a little disrupter by the name of "GUY FORGET" raised his dormant head. I didn’t know jack shit about "Guy Forget" until 2011 Dick’s and didn’t really think much about seeing or hearing him again. I can say a few things without question, Mike kicks it off with the bass at about 6:26 of "Tweezer" with Trey close on his heels. Then 20 seconds later Fishman starts singing it. They sing it for about a minute and then start a jam and what a jam it is!!! Best "Guy Forget" jam ever without question. I’m pretty sure everyone I knew thought it was "Guy Forget" and the jam that followed was "Tweezer" but there seems to be a lot of debate on it and I’m just here to report the facts as I understand them. In any case the last two minutes of the 17 minute “Guy Forget jam” reach a really blissy peak and then boom it’s back into Tweezeville. So we have 6ish more minutes of a Tweezer jam that gets pretty spacey at the end before shape-shifting into "What’s The Use?" The Use in this case presumably being to remind Trey how much I love "Scents and Subtle Sounds." It was way too short for my liking but at least I got a little bit of S&SS sugar before Trey segued back into Tweezetown.
Then I don’t know what happened, given Trey’s pretty emotional thank you speech at the end of the set I feel like he started feeling the end of the show coming because both "Everything’s Right" and "Number Line" were two of the best (not longest obviously or anything but just so much great energy) versions of those songs I’ve ever seen. End of "Number Line" is just total shredathon and then Trey makes everyone cry before ripping their faces off with one of the highest energy "Tweeprises" I’ve seen in recent memory and that’s saying something.
I have a PSA now, I realize the glowsticks and the balloons got a little out of control at one point but now there’s absolutely none and you can’t have fucking "Harry Hood" without glowsticks so let’s get back on track people. It was a truly stellar "Hood" and a perfect encore.
Overall, just two fantastic days in NYC, beautiful weather, great friends, mellow vibe, the always phenomenal staff at MSG, I’m so glad I came for these two and very happy for everybody who got to catch some of these absolutely killer summer shows. See y’all in the fall.
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Phish.net
The Mockingbird Foundation
One thing I’m not so clear about is why many keep stating this is the first GuyForget in 425 shows since 2011…? They rocked Guy Forget in second set 12/28/19 after Drown…I was there..scope LivePhish…seemed to be almost identical in every way to 2011 and last night…anywho maybe I’m missing something and sorry to yuck the yum of anyone who thought you were in midst of a major bust out..love y’all and this takes nothing away from great run, thanks Phish!
I respectfully and adamantly disagree. There was a time when peaceful jams (a la Hood) fit a glow stick war nicely. However, not everyone is into it. Instead of find, pick up and throw, there are a handful of people who grab a bunch and throw all at once. They’re not continuous like they once were.
I was one who previously brought packs of glow sticks in. However, after that Dick’s video, I realize the short term gain for non-biodegradable plastic souvenir. I’ll let CK5 do his work.
Thanks for the review, happy you enjoyed the shows.
I was enjoying the Martian Monster relisten with my 3 year old in the pool this morning on Sirius and got him to keep his groove through that Caspian. The Caspian holds up. It is worthy.
A funny thing happened to me today, though the love dovey oxytocin overload can be a little much (I was giving socially distant mental hugs to the overwhelming majority, even the Spiccoli look alike who over indulged in my section and would not stop talking) i found myself singing the universal message of positivity from Everything’s Right. Sidebar: My theory is that when it drops the cosmos knows someone in the crowd is in danger of going clockwork orange and the message is cascaded over galaxies right into the collective conscious of the band, and as they hear the line “And the long night's over and the suns coming up,” they are “saved” so to speak. End sidebar.
Though I realized that there i no way for me to sing the dialup modem groove jam, so that could have something to do with it. I do have a good feeling the textures of that deconstructed groove will be infiltrating my dreams via my subconscious for decades to come. Here’s hoping.
Again, loved your work and your perspective.
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Per .net the 12/28/19 Guy Forget was quoted multiple times, but was not the song proper. They also teased and quoted it in Charleston 6/1/2022. I haven't listened to 12/28/19 in a minite so not sure sure if this is similar to the Halfway to the Moon/Shafty-gate of 7/30/22? .net ultimately followed LivePhish's determination that it was the song not tease/quote. There is some debate about quadrophonic toppling "quote" in Axilla II on 4/22/2022. Regardless that was a fun Guy Forget and I certainly won't forget him either! Thank you reviewer and thank you fellow Phishermen, Phisherwomen, and Phish for yet another beautiful experience together on planet earth!
The 2019 Guy Forget is the lyrics overlayed with the chord progression from Drowned so my guess is it was considered a tease by Phish.net. This version just sounds like the same lyrics overlayed with a Tweezer jam to me but I haven’t heard the 2010 version so not sure if there is an actual chord progression associated with the song or if it should really just be treated as a tease every time it’s played. In 2019 it went on for about 2 minutes while here it seems more like 30 seconds. The jam out of Guy Forget though? Not Guy Forget or Tweezer… Pure Phish!
When phish is on, it sounds unique. Like, it’s still the band and the song you’ve heard a hundred times, but something’s better. This occurs most often when they’re relaxed and loose. MSG opens them up in that way. Other venues too… Alpharetta, MGM, Dicks, etc.
When they came back in ‘09 they were understandably not loose. Still great music, but not “Phish as great as it could be.” Since 2012, we’ve had more and more of those loose moments. More and more as the years roll by, especially post-Covid. (Fall 2021 … ⚡️).
It seems that they’re about as happy and loose as I’ve ever seen them. This run at MSG was a celebration of loose, fun, grateful Phish.