The Number of the Day is 13! A Baker’s Dozen of Stats about Phish at MSG

Thank you, Count von Count. Now, on with the counting of the Phish at the Garden statistics!

  1. 39!: Number of shows Phish has performed @ Madison Square Garden to date. That’s a three baker’s dozen (so far)! [UPDATED 7/29/2017: Phish has now played 45 shows at Madison Square Garden.]
  2. 10!: Number of New Year’s Eve shows Phish has performed at MSG (1995; 1997; 1998; 2002; 2010-13; 2015-16).
  3. 25:39!: Length of the AC/DC Bag Phish performed on 12/30/1997 at MSG, the longest song they’ve performed at the venue according to LivePhish.com33:07: Length of the “Crosseyed & Painless” Phish performed on 7/25/2017 at MSG, the longest song they’ve performed at the venue according to LivePhish.com. [UPDATED 7/29/2017]
  4. 12!: Number of times Phish has played “You Enjoy Myself”, “Chalk Dust Torture”, and “Divided Sky” at Madison Square Garden, making it the band’s most commonly played songs at the venue.  [UPDATED 7/29/2017]
  5. 0!: Number of times Phish has played “The Oh Kee Pah Ceremony” “Uncle Pen” at MSG, making it the most commonly played song in the band’s live repertoire not yet performed at MSG according to our friend ZZYZX. [UPDATED 7/29/2017]
  6. 5!: Fewest songs Phish has played in a single set at MSG. This has occurred on three four separate occasions: 12/29/1997 Set II; 12/29/98 Set II; 12/30/1998 Set II; and 7/26/2016 Set I. [UPDATED 7/29/2017]
  7. 4!: Most songs Phish has played in an encore at MSG (12/30/1997: Carini>Black-Eyed Katy>Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley>Frankenstein)
  8. 920!: Number of shows since Phish last played “Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley” when they performed the song at MSG on 12/30/1997, making it the biggest bust out in the band’s history at the venue.
  9. 3!: The  number of times Trey Anastasio has performed at MSG without Phish: 12/17/2003 with Dave Matthews & Friends; 12/31/2005 with his own Trey Anastasio Band and sitting in with both the North Mississippi All-Stars and the Black Crowes; and 6/20/2006, again with Trey Anastasio Band as the opener for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.
  10. 13!: Most songs Phish has played in a single set at MSG (12/30/2010 Set I).
  11. 8!: Number of “one-timers” Phish performed at Madison Square Garden prior to the Baker’s Dozen. A one-timer is a song the band has only performed thus far in it’s career. (Collective Soul’s “Shine”; The Proclaimers’ “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)”; “The Theme from ‘New York, New York'”; Prince’s “1999”; the Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green-penned “Burn That Bridge”; Steve Miller Band’s “Fly Like an Eagle”; Rick Nelson’s “Garden Party”; and the Phish original “Can’t Always Listen”)[UPDATED 7/29/2017: 10!: “One-Timers” Played at the Baker’s Dozen:  Junior Senior’s “Shake Your Coconuts”, Harry Nilsson’s “Coconut”, The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever”, Shuggie Otis’ “Strawberry Letter 23”, the Velvet Underground’s “Sunday Morning”, Phish’s own “End of Session, the Fleet Foxes’ “White Winter Hymnal”, Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s “Powderfinger”, Tay Zonday’s “Chocolate Rain”, and Hot Chocolate’s “Sexy Thing”.]
  12. 3 hours and 43 minutes!: Longest Phish show at Madison Square Garden to date according to our friends at phish.in (12/31/2016).
  13. 202!: Days since Phish’s last show at Madison Square Garden when it opened the Baker’s Dozen, the shortest gap between two separate runs at the venue in the band’s history.  The record would not stand long if Phish were to return to MSG yet again in 2017 for its New Year’s Eve, as the gap between the Baker’s Dozen finale and 12/28/2017 would be a mere 144 days (4 months and 22 days).

(Featured Image and YouTube video at top of post used thanks to Sesame Street & The Jim Henson Company with  fair use considered)