Mix Live Blog: Madison Square Madness

31/07/2026 5

Page McConnell, Jonathan Fishman, Trey Anastasio, and Mike Gordon of Phish perform at Madison Square Garden on July 29, 2026 in New York City. Photo: Taylor Hill/Getty Images — Phish (L-R: Page McConnell, Jonathan Fishman, Trey Anastasio, and Mike Gordon) perform at Madison Square Garden on July 29, 2026 in New York City. Photo: Taylor Hill/Getty Images

New York, NY (July 31, 2026)—I just finished Leg 2 of the Jon Anderson & The Band Geeks Yes Epics, Classics and More tour, which took us out to the West Coast and Midwest U.S. and ended with a show at the Palladium in New York City near Times Square. That area is always bustling no matter what time of year it is, but this past week when I arrived, it felt particularly busy. Navigating the streets of NYC can be a chore, and when you add a 20-foot truck to the equation, all bets are off.

How many load-ins does it take to do four shows?

When we performed at the Palladium in 2023, we had a heckuva time dealing with our equipment truck. As I recall (though partially blocked to prevent PTSD), we made arrangements ahead of time to park the truck at a lot on the lower west side of Manhattan. We had advanced the arrival time and type of vehicle we’d be parking there, but when our truck arrived, the lot wouldn’t accept the vehicle (unpublished expletives!), forcing one of my crew guys to drive around in a holding pattern while I furiously scrambled to find a place to park it. It was late afternoon before we finally found a lot that accepted the truck, by which time my crew guy was way behind schedule for setting up his side of the stage.

This time we were prepared for battle! We hired an extra crew person to meet us at the Palladium and take the truck off our hands after load-in. He moved the vehicle to Secaucus, N.J. (across the Hudson), where he easily found a rest stop to stage the truck for the day. Later that night, he returned to NYC for load-out, relieving my crew of the unpleasant task of scrambling from the venue to a parking lot after the show ended, driving the truck back to the Palladium and getting it loaded—all before Local 1 went into overtime. Thankfully, it worked out pretty well.

Meanwhile, I learned about the July Madness at Madison Square Garden, which certainly helps explain why Midtown was so busy. MSG has been hosting Phish, Rush, Bon Jovi, J. Cole and Mumford & Sons, all within a few weeks. Most of these acts are doing multiple nights at the Garden; in fact, Bon Jovi just finished a nine-show residency there. The crazy thing is that almost none of the bands are doing consecutive nights, the exception being Phish on July 24 and July 25. The Bon Jovi dates are July 7, 9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21, 23 and 26.

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The resulting logistics are enough to give you daim bramage: Phish loaded in on July 24 for two shows and loaded out after the second show on July 25. Bon Jovi loaded in for their final show on July 26 and out after that show. Perhaps the audio rig stayed in place because Phish and Bon Jovi are both clients of Clair Global, but certainly the lighting rigs went in and out for each show. Yikes. Phish loaded in again on July 27, and out after that show. Rush loaded in on July 28 for the first of four non-consecutive shows. Phish loaded back in July 29 for a show that night, then loaded out to make room for Rush to return last night on July 30.

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There’s nothing on the MSG board for tonight, so the Rush crew gets a break for their show on August 1: no load-in, but they’ll have to load out right after. J. Cole comes in August 2 for a show, then out after that show to make room for the final Rush show on August 3, when Rush will load in again for their final show. And, of course, they’ll load out after the show is over because J. Cole returns on August 4.