Show Review - Phish 7/11/25 North Charleston, SC
Longest Disease Ever
Phish tour continued down to North Charleston last night with the first show in a three-night stand, settling back into their ideal just-over-10k-capacity arena setting for the weekend with a slightly uneven show that continued most of this summer’s trend of at least one mind-blowing jam within.
Notably, the band’s decision to play indoors rather than the nearby Credit One Stadium was justified with the massive thunderstorm raging outside just before showtime – and the bottled-up energy inside the coliseum reflected everyone’s excitement to avoid the weather with massive cheers all night.
The show began energetically with “Free,” guitarist Trey Anastasio easing in with some slightly extended rhythm work, alighting on a familiar “You Enjoy Myself”-like two-chord pattern for a minute or so in the jam. Bassist Mike Gordon really dug in beyond his usual solo with some punchy and aggressive riffs.
A nicely-played “Rift” led into a surprise bustout of “Spanish Moon,” played for just the fourth time ever and first since October 15, 2023. The crowd roared with delight for the Little Feat cover before the band tapped “Reba” next, once again making it through the complex compositions relatively unscathed before Anastasio let loose a patient and gorgeous jam.
Keyboardist Page McConnell shone on a thick bed of Rhodes, colouring underneath the searing guitar leads as the band smoothly worked through the peak. “Devotion to a Dream” was a surprise call next, the Fuego cut having last been played at the same venue nearly nine years earlier on October 15, 2016 – a gap of 322 shows. Some rust was evident in the song, though its upbeat pace kept the flow of the set going before the night’s first bout of improv in “The Final Hurrah.”
Drummer Jon Fishman’s peppy pocket led things off as Anastasio picked his way through some upbeat melodies. McConnell’s bouncy Wurlitzer electric piano work saw the band go through some simultaneous hits and moving close to some “Sand” teasing before mellowing out.
A brief spin through some contemplative tones saw the bouncy groove return in earnest, Anastasio toggling nicely between rhythm and lead work as McConnell took to some sharp clav. Eventually, the quartet executed a smooth full-band major modulation and began to ride Anastasio’s fluid riffing toward a peak. The full conversation between guitar and keys led to a beautiful sustained peak, Phish dropping smoothly back into the ending (though in a higher key than normal) to mark the longest “Final Hurrah” to date.
“My Mind’s Got A Mind Of Its Own” was the next bustout on tap, appearing for the first time since May 28, 2022 (149 shows) before quick run-throughs of “Taste” and “Walls of the Cave” brought the energy back up to close out the first set.
Returning from the break, the second frame got going with an uptempo funk version of “Llama,” McConnell taking an extended and rocking organ solo with some “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” flavour to it.
It’s a common trend for modern Phish to ease into the second set with a shorter, straightforward song before diving into the improv, and they did just that last night as “Down with Disease” emerged. This version, clocking in at 34:12, is the longest in the band’s history, eclipsing the 4/21/24 Sphere version by just under a minute.
Anastasio looked primed and ready to go as the song began, though some hesitation in his performance of the signature “DwD” riff had me worried – followed by a couple flubs in the initial major-key space. Shrugging them off, the guitarist took a rhythm-oriented approach to the jam, setting some subtle loops and letting McConnell lead the way with some sparkling piano.
From there, Anastasio attempted to bring the band into a minor key, but a slight miscue led to a delayed modulation as the quartet slid into some “Oye Como Va”-adjacent territory. Fish fluidly set the pace as it felt like he was loose and warmed up for the first time all night, laying down the foundation for Anastasio and McConnell to throw some melodies back and forth over top.
Falling away from the straight-ahead melodic play, the conversational nature of the jam continued this time with Anastasio suggesting a descending melody that was immediately locked into by both McConnell and Gordon, the latter of whom began to twist it into a more minor tone. McConnell took that idea and began to run with it, switching to Wurli as the jam seemed to be setting up a darker tone.
Anastasio engaged in some relaxed chordal play, playing a similar riff for a while in a style reminiscent of late 1.0 while the jam became increasingly dominated by the rhythm section. Adding in some loops and a subtle chorus-like effect, Anastasio pushed back forward into lead territory, picking out some circular melodies as Fish subtly increased the pace.
There was very little urgency to the jam as Gordon began to lay down some swirling textures, Anastasio modulating to a new major key as Fish continued to push through a loose-yet-fast beat. We moved into “Mountain Jam”-adjacent territory next as McConnell continued to play off of Anastastio’s melodies with some ultra-smooth Wurli work, the band breaking from there into yet another modulation as they seemed intent on pushing through possible exit ramps.
Coming close to “Timber,” Anastasio stepped into some wah-infused play as the intensity increased and the band set their eyes on the jam’s first peak. Like bursting bubbles, Anastasio’s riffs never quite broke into full peak mode, and he pulled back into more textural territory to avoid ending the jam prematurely.
Once again locking in on a melody as one, the whole band hit a descending lick as Gordon seemed to urge a minor shift, though that was not to happen in this jam as Anastasio began a new vein of smooth, major-key rhythm work.
McConnell followed right along as the band broke into sunny territory, fluid play from all four members seeming to hint that the peak was coming – but they eschewed that route once again and calmed things way down into a contemplative zone. Anastasio took his time with some very purposeful melodic work. Fish’s spaced-out cymbal hits seemed to hint at a transitional space here, especially as the jam dropped to near-silence.
Fish pivoted back into the “Down with Disease” beat to attempt to get ahead of Anastasio’s inevitable desire to finish the song, but the guitarist had no plans to stop and brought the energy back up with some meaty chords.
McConnell matched that energy by pivoting to Rhodes, sending some waves of Yamaha CS60 synth across the room as Anastasio continued the muscly tone with some straight-ahead rock licks. Hitting into a higher-energy zone, Anastasio offered a counterpoint to the bright play of McConnell and Gordon with some dark, low-register riffs, screaming up into full peak mode after a bit.
Not content to ride that out for too long, the band executed another smooth major modulation as things burst forth into glorious territory, Anastasio seemingly ready to drive to a massive peak – but he once again backed off in favour of more exploration and returned to some upbeat rhythm work.
Getting into a bit of moody territory, McConnell, Anastasio, and Gordon whipped up a circular repeating riff to build tension as Fish matched the vibe on some fills of his own.
Emerging back into clear major territory, McConnell’s Wurli sparkled as Anastasio set off on a melodic journey, finally ready to begin building the peak that would release the pent-up energy of nearly 30 minutes at that point.
Fish kicked things into higher gear as Anastasio’s play got more insistent, the conversational nature between him and McConnell continuing as both musicians trilled. Continuing to build in energy, the packed arena knew it was time and went wild with joy as Phish delivered an absolutely epic peak, blissy build after blissy build washing across the room as Chris Kuroda hit the white lights.
Anastasio went full guitar god in the final couple of minutes, his blazing hot licks bringing the energy even higher as the band smoothly concluded the 34-minute “Down with Disease.”
As I wrote about in my recap of the Pittsburgh show from earlier in the tour, one of the things that has been really impactful to me about Phish recently is taking stock of the grip that they have on the majority of the crowd – looking around the room at minute 34 of a jam and seeing nearly everyone facing the stage, completely locked in with a huge grin was really special.
Without missing a beat, Anastasio led the band into a slinky “Twist,” he and Gordon engaging in a goofy effects-off to see who could create the most outlandishly high or low synth sound, facing each other at centre stage with huge grins on their faces.
The fun factor continued with a bouncy “The Well,” McConnell taking a nice extended organ solo in the sunny first part of the song while Anastasio and Fish cracked up through the darker outro among repeated shouts of “FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE WELL!”
With the beginning of “Sightless Escape,” it seemed like we had entered fourth-quarter jukebox territory – though this was more than earned after a 34-minute jam – but the band had a surprise jam in store for us.
Working through the slick groove of the song, a return to the chorus seemed like we were wrapping up to go into the next song – but the music continued with Anastasio crafting a gorgeous, flowing progression out of nowhere.
McConnell shone forward on Moog One, sparkling into some lead melodies while Anastasio stuck to patient rhythm. Once again reaching a chill-inducing peak, the moment when the guitarist switched from chords to leads was truly gorgeous and had the crowd riled up once again.
Almost as if it was planned, though it couldn’t have been, the segue to “Chalk Dust Torture” emerged perfectly from the end of the “Sightless” jam, though a timing misstep from Fish caused it to be less than the flawless transition that was hinted at.
Another funny moment between the guitarist and drummer came when Fish returned to the funky “Sightless” beat during the “Chalk Dust” jam, though Anastasio wanted to shred and just started playing blistering runs until the drummer caught up and switched back to the typical raging pace.
The set closed out with an always-energetic “Suzy Greenberg” ahead of the band’s a capella mics being brought out on stage at the encore break – but they were removed just as quickly and Phish capped the night with a pairing of “When The Circus Comes” and “First Tube.”
We’re back tonight for round two in Charleston as Phish continues their amazing summer tour, and the second show in the same room no doubt will brush off any lingering communication issues from last night. Let’s see what they have in store for us tonight!
Watch tonight’s show, alongside the rest of tour, via LivePhish.com.
