12.31.98 Madison Square Garden, NYC

Phish.net show page


Set 1: 1999 > Mike's Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Ghost -> Ha Ha Ha > Cavern

Set 2: NICU > Character Zero > Tweezer -> Cities > Wading in the Velvet Sea, Run Like an Antelope, Frankenstein

Set 3: Runaway Jim -> Auld Lang Syne -> Simple > Harry Hood > Tweezer Reprise, Llama

Encore: While My Guitar Gently Weeps


Notes: Prince’s 1999 made its Phish debut (appropriately) at this show and included dancers on stage and synchronized steps from Trey and Mike, who wound up lying on the stage with the dancers surrounding them. Weekapaug and Runaway Jim subsequently featured 1999 teases; Jim also included Auld Lang Syne teases. Simple included Magilla teases. For this show, the Holiday Run dancers’ costumes included a devil, a prostitute, and a pimp. The band jammed Runaway Jim until just before the New Year. The dancers reappeared throughout the crowd and handed out thousands of glowrings to the fans just before a grand balloon drop and pyrotechnics display at midnight. The band counted the crowd into the New Year before busting into Auld Lang Syne. While some fans used the glowrings to start a Glowstick War during Hood, others used them to create long chain links of rings in the arena.

AAC - 184 MB
mp3 - 329 MB
FLAC pt 1 - 619 MB
FLAC pt 2 - 538 MB


***NOTE - as of 1/2/10 the above links direct you to the remastered version***

(2/5/10 note - listening back, this is probably the weakest of my efforts so far. If it's still an upgrade for you, right on. But there's something about it that doesn't make me smile every time I hear it, as the other remasters do. The source is pretty boomy, but hey I guess that's partly due to MSG being so huge. And part of it was that it was one of my first efforts. Big Cypress was the first, but that source was much clearer to begin with. Anyway, just wanted to throw that out there.)

Now that NYE 2009>2010 is drawing near, I thought I'd turn back the clock 11 years to 12/31/98, when The Artist Formerly Known As Cactus and company took MSG by storm, starting with the title track off Prince's "1999". This alone is worth the download, as you can hear the crowd going apeshit right off the bat. Doesn't hurt that the rest of the show smokes pretty hard, too. Quite a shock to the system after getting our ears used to 2009 Phish, but a fun jaunt nonetheless.

This is a great FOB Schoeps mk4v recording. As with many FOBs, the nearby chatter can get distracting but otherwise it's a great sounding pull. Without changing the EQ settings it's a bit muddy in the bass department and lacking in treble/clarity, so I've tweaked it a bit. Mike still has plenty of liquid delicousness and is now paired with crisper mids and highs.