Helping Friendly Podcast – MSG 2025 Recap (Jan 2, 2026)

Episode Overview

The Helping Friendly Podcast team—RJ, Brian, and Megan—delivers their comprehensive and characteristically thoughtful recap of Phish’s 2025 New Year's Run at Madison Square Garden. This episode is notable not only for the in-depth musical and fan analysis of all four MSG shows, but also for its announcement: the hosts are taking a hiatus from the show after more than a decade of documenting the Phish experience. They reflect on the state of the band, the highlights and weaknesses of the run, and look towards the future—both for Phish and the podcast.

Host Reflections & Show News

Taking a Pause: Explaining the Decision (05:03–09:45)

• All three co-hosts share major life changes and increased commitments (graduate school, jobs, family) as reasons for pausing the podcast.
• Brian: “I think we've all realized that the time that we put into this show is something we really cherish, but also something that requires a lot of our time taken away from families, taken away from professional responsibilities…” (05:03)
• Megan: “These four years have really been just an unbelievably creative time for me and really inspiring and working with Brian and RJ has really just been an absolute dream and the creative apex of my life for sure.” (07:41)
• The archive of content (top 25 tours, series like Rushmore and 40 for 40) is highlighted for listeners while the show is on hiatus.
• Shoutouts given to other Phish podcasts for continued community and coverage.

MSG 2025 Recap

Headlines for the Run (11:12–17:44)

Brian's Take: Creative Crossroads

• Brian: “Fish at a Creative Crossroads. What's next?” He observes the run largely lacked new material or “new jamming direction”, felt somewhat uninspired up until the monumental third set on New Year’s Eve—but sees this as a typical inflection point for Phish.
• Draws sports comparisons: a team struggling until a big late-game comeback.
• Suggests a new batch of songs is likely in 2026.

Megan's Take: All-In on the Gag

• Megan: “Fish saved it all for the Gag and delivers one of their strongest third sets of all time.” (13:46)
• Noted how the highlight came late, especially with classic songs (“Hood” and “Tweezer”) anchoring an epic third set after a run of shorter, less exploratory jams.
• Finds an interesting thread between SPAC and New Year’s “Tweezer” themes.

RJ: Jamming from the Unexpected

• RJ notes that, until the final night, the “most notable jams came from non jam vehicles,” highlighting how “Theme From the Bottom” and “My Friend, My Friend” yielded the deepest explorations.

Night-by-Night Highlights & Analysis

Night 1: December 28, 2025 (18:23–24:26)

Key Points

• Band readjusting after a few months off; expectations low, but show exceeded them.
• Wolfman’s Brother and especially the Theme From the Bottom jam praised for adventurous, groove-based jamming and subtle effects.
  • Megan: “It's so dark and sultry, edgy and it just really, really hypnotic. And I love how they're layering underneath it...” (20:20)
• Brian: Discusses evolving use of effects, comparing the more judicious 2025 approach to earlier eras.

Memorable Quotes

• Brian: “It sounded a lot like Natural Information Society to me.” (18:23)

Night 2: December 29, 2025 (24:29–33:42)

First Set Fire, Then Falters

• Megan: “I walked in and this first set...they came out absolutely swinging with this Carini Plasma Carini…The peak in Carini when they brought it back was super triumphant.” (24:39)
• Quadraphonic Toppling bustout especially thrilling for attendees.
• Curtain With > Bathtub Gin > Fluffhead described as “killer first quarter setlisting.” (25:28)

Second Set & Mixed Reception

• Brian: Notes several promising jams (Mikes, Wave of Hope, Golden Age), but feels jams are cut short before reaching “around one further corner.”
• Megan disagrees, calling the “Wave of Hope” jam “great” and its crescendo “unbelievable.” (29:53)

Discussion of Jamming Impatience

• RJ: Suggests Trey may be looking ahead to the Sphere residency, affecting focus and setlist risk-taking. (31:30)

Night 3: December 30, 2025 (35:44–47:42)

Set 2: Missed Opportunities and the 'Jam Problem'

• Brian & Megan dissect whether Phish needs a long, standout jam to make a big show feel special.
• Second set (Ghost > Ruby Waves > Light > Cross Eyed) has “perfect setlist” potential, but each jam is truncated.
  • Megan: “The story of, like, the band pushing the jam forward and Trey trying to pull it back.” (39:30)
• Brian: “In recent years, one of the things these long jams do is that they kind of remove you from the reality of ‘I’m at a rock concert on a Tuesday night…’” (39:30)
• Lack of new songs and low show gap discussed as a factor in repetition.

End of Set Criticisms

• Drift While You’re Sleeping as encore (44:41) gets universal critique:
  • Megan: “I'm sorry, but do not encore with drift while you're sleeping on 12:30.” (44:41)

Broader Reflections

• The challenge of keeping the “setlisting magic” and momentum of historical 12/30 shows is evident.
• Both hosts reminisce about how the lack of a Fall tour can leave year-end runs sluggish to start.

Night 4: December 31, 2025 — New Year’s Eve (47:42–66:18)

First Two Sets: Slog or Structure?

• RJ: “To me felt a Little bit like the Ohio State game I was watching, like long and frustrating...” (51:13)
• Hosts wish Phish would write more intentional first sets for nights like this; note first sets at classic ’90s shows were masterpieces in themselves.

Was the “Troll” Intentional?

• Team debates whether the lack of jams in sets one and two was a deliberate setup for the all-time third set.
  • Brian: “Was part of this gag holding off jams and deliberately playing weird, non relistenable set list so that the final set was this absolute masterpiece?” (55:42)
• Consensus: Probably not, but the effect is felt.

Set Three: A Rare, All-Time Jam Segment

• Brian: “It was the third set of People's Dreams... the band was just having a conversation, just flowing and building...” (58:46)
• Megan: Details the sublime jamming in Tweezer > Piper:
  • “The jam kicks off with these really juicy synths and deep bass from Mike... the solo that Trey takes like 16 minutes into this tweezer...his tone and phrasing was...so unbelievable.” (61:36)
  • Reiterates the rarity: “That sort of sense of freedom we did not hear really throughout the entire run until the final set. That's a very rare thing.” (61:36)
• Encore: Spock’s Brain and barbershop numbers, “perfect capstone to the year.” (63:56)

The New Year's Gag

• Hosts discuss the “callback” nature—Gamehendge costumes, nods to previous gags, with “Tweezer” at the center.
• Brian reads a listener comment: “I think the production company spent so much money on the Gamehenge costumes and props that they told the band we have to use them more than once before we buy new New Year’s Eve gags.” (65:44)

Broader Questions: Phish’s Longevity and 2025 Summary

How Many Years Left? (67:22–71:52)

• Host consensus: Phish still has creative drive, health, and inspiration—can likely tour for up to a decade or more if they wish.
• Possible future: more residencies (MSG, Sphere), fewer one-off large tours.

Summing Up 2025 (72:15–78:51)

• Brian: “I think something shifted in early 2023...we’re maybe the later stages of that.” (72:15)
• Megan: “Fish is still at a really, really good place creatively, but they deliver their strongest material and shows when they're pushing their patience and delivering really long jams.” (73:35)
• The year is seen as slightly odd: no Halloween, fall, or festival shows, but high points remain stellar (e.g. SPAC, NYE 3rd set).
• All three agree: Phish continues to avoid nostalgia traps and remain artistically restless and evolving.

Reflections & Sign-Off (79:01–82:39)

• Deep gratitude from the team for each other, Osiris, and the audience.
  • Brian: “I want to get into the weeds. I want to talk about why this band blows my mind. Why this band sometimes pisses me off like a child. Like, you know, a good friend. Why this band confounds me...” (79:32)
  • Megan: “These four years have been just absolutely incredibly inspiring to me...and I know a lot of women are too. So thanks, everybody.” (81:43)
• Commitment to possibly revisiting the pod in the future: “You never know. We've, you know, HFPod tried to take a break before and it came back…” (81:43)
• Final message to the fans: “See you soon.” (82:36)

Timestamps for Notable Segments

• 05:03: Hosts announce and explain podcast pause
• 11:12: Host “headlines” for MSG 2025
• 18:23: 12/28 show analysis—Wolfman's Brother, Theme From the Bottom
• 24:29: 12/29 show highlights—Carini opener, Quadraphonic Toppling, “jam impatience”
• 35:44: 12/30 show debate—need for “big jams,” critique of second set
• 47:42: 12/31 first set structure and debate about New Year’s Eve show flow
• 58:46: Full breakdown of the renowned NYE third set jam
• 65:44: Listener comments and NYE gag discussion
• 72:15: Where is Phish in 2025? Hosts' reflections and summary
• 79:01: Final reflections, gratitude, goodbye

Selected Quotes

• Brian (On show expectations): “You got to do it. When your kids are young. You got to do it.” (03:55)
• Megan (On NYE set three): “They kept us guessing until the end. You know, this New Year's Eve run was such a slow burn...” (13:46)
• RJ (On Phish’s perseverance): “They're still doing new and interesting [things] and that's just like—it's really inspiring and mind blowing, you know, that they're like, they could have mailed it in so long ago, you know, and still made as much money, if not more, you know, and they're just like, it's just not who they are.” (76:25)

Tone & Podcast Language

The episode captures the warmth, analytical depth, candor, and humor characteristic of HFPod. The hosts are both critical and celebratory, reflecting genuine fan passion and community engagement. Their parting words balance nostalgia, pride, and hope for both the music and the ongoing story of the podcast itself.

Conclusion

This episode of HFPod is a heartfelt sendoff—at least for now—melding astute musical analysis with community spirit, and ending with gratitude and openness to the future. For fans and newcomers alike, it serves as both a deep dive into one of Phish’s most storied annual runs and a reflective marker of how much the band and its fan culture continue to evolve.