‘I Feel the Feeling I Forgot’–Highlights from Phish’s Return

At 8:18 on Tuesday December 31, 2002, everything was right again. After some very appropriate background music by soundman Paul Languedoc, the lights went down and the sellout crowd in Madison Square Garden cheered as loudly as if they’d just won the lottery. And for all intents and purposes, they did. This was Phish at Madison Square Garden and this was the hardest ticket in the history of rock concerts. At 8:18, Phish took the stage and ended the 800+ days of self-imposed hiatus. ‘That moment when I go onstage,’ Trey was quoted as saying, ‘is going to be everything that I can do to make it a high explosive, incredible show from the second we walk out. A powerful, emotional, real moment. I’m going to give it every ounce of my being.’ And from the opening notes of ‘Piper’, to the closing notes of ‘Velvet Sea’, Trey and the band did just that. Phish used these four shows to return to their roots of the hard rocking jams, circa 1995, to take their fans on that magical journey that made us follow them around the country in the first place, until that fateful day in October. At 8:18 on Tuesday December 31, 2002, everything was right again.