Phish’s annual New Year’s Eve show at New York’s Madison Square Garden tends to involve some special flourishes. For instance, two years ago the band performed Trey Anastasio’s full Gamehendge song cycle for the first time in 30 years. As the calendar flipped from 2025 to 2026, the band had something a little more farcical in store.
Last night’s MSG gig centered on… a tribute to dairy? Partway through Phish’s performance of “It’s Ice” near the end of their second set, a guy in an ice cream man uniform emerged, ringing a cowbell. He kept it up as the band debuted their cover of Prince’s “Cream.” (Big night for Prince in pop culture.) As Rolling Stone points out, although this was Phish’s first reading of “Cream,” they covered “Purple Rain” 32 times between 1993 and 2012 and have done “1999” four times.
According to a tweet from the gig, songs piped in during the set break included “Cold As Ice,” “C.R.E.A.M.,” “Whipped Cream,” and “Ice Ice Baby.” When Phish returned, they kicked off their third set with the milk-related “Harry Hood,” and the pageantry ascended to new levels of absurdity. People in cow costumes roamed the aisles, while onstage, dancers dressed as milk cartons moved in unison to the music. Another carton appeared overhead to pour a milky white sheet upon the rest, which resulted in the dancers discarding the milk container costumes to reveal an all-white wardrobe.
The ice cream men came back as Phish approached midnight with “Also sprach Zarathustra, op. 30” and “Auld Lang Syne.” For the encore, the band members themselves dressed as ice cream men to sing an a cappella version of “Sincere” from The Music Man, another live debut for Phish. They then performed “Spock’s Brain” for the first time in over six years, an inclusion teased earlier in the night on the side of the aerial milk carton. (In a play on the missing persons notices that used to appear on milk cartons, it noted that “Spock’s Brain” had been missing since July 14, 2019.) The show closed out with “Tweezer Reprise.”
Phish famously have their own Ben & Jerry’s flavor, Phish Food, but we’ll require someone more well-versed in Phish lore to discern whether the dairy/ice cream theme had some deeper significance.
Set break music:
As of 11:27, the set break is Cold as Ice into into C.R.E.A.M into Whipped Cream into Ice Ice Baby.
— Andy Wagner (@obgenetics) January 1, 2026
