Show Review - Phish 7/12/25 North Charleston, SC
Screaming Through Space
Phish returned to North Charleston Coliseum last night for their second of two shows and continued the tour’s trend of bustouts, along with one of the most consistent setlists song and flow-wise of the entire tour so far.
The first set began innocently enough with “The Moma Dance,” bassist Mike Gordon and guitarist Trey Anastasio flexing a little bit of extra back-and-forth on the intro. It was clear that this was not going to be your average version as the jam began, Anastasio dropping into some very late 1.0-style funk riffing and setting up his signature “funk siren” delay loop.
Gordon anchored things with some deep synth play, keyboardist Page McConnell keeping things grooving on clav as the minimalist groove continued. The keyboardist then turned to Rhodes and Yamaha CS60 textures to elevate the improv, prodding at the bounds of the Type 1.5 play and threatening to break free entirely, Anastasio bringing in some upbeat riffing.
Getting warmed up with some jamming in the first song of the show is always a good sign, and the band continued the strong set with the first “NICU” since last summer and a big bustout of “Jesus Just Left Chicago,” last played on December 3, 2019 (208 shows).
McConnell and Anastasio both took great solos on the ZZ Top cover before the band tore through the tour’s second “Divided Sky,” Anastasio’s tone soaring across the crowd through the euphoric solo, the energy of the crowd continuing to be absolutely massive as it had all weekend.
The first “Destiny Unbound” in just under a year came in next with some great funky interplay between the band members as they built the jam around an extended “I’m A Man” tease.
Cooling things down with “Monsters,” appearing in a rare first-set placement, Anastasio went full guitar god over the power ballad before opening up into improv territory with “Plasma.”
Gordon dialed in a punchy tone at the beginning of the jam, driving the laid-back groove as Anastasio threw some delayed chords into the space. Gordon suggested a progression, though the band stuck close to “Plasma” form as Anastasio switched to lead work in favour of crafting a beautiful, upbeat space.
McConnell swirled around the guitarist’s riffs on Wurli, darting in and enhancing phrases with his bouncy play.
Coming down from the small peak, it seemed as though the band was poised for the first dark jamming of the weekend, though Anastasio quickly pulled them back to brighter pastures as McConnell’s Moog One tones went from menacing to bright and bouncy once again, calling back to Friday’s “Sightless Escape.”
Drummer Jon Fishman went cowbell-heavy in this section, bringing the rhythm section to the front as Anastasio and McConnell floated over the top on some high-register melodies. Anastasio switched from there to some more aggressive rhythm work as has been the trend over the last couple of shows while McConnell returned to some intense piano chords.
Hitting a solid peak from there, Anastasio blazed through some clean sustain and rapid-fire riffs as the band nicely dropped back into the ending of “Plasma” to conclude the first-set highlight.
“Bathtub Gin” came in to close the set with its usual blazing-hot self, Anastasio’s continued confidence oozing through his extended leadership, the rest of the band right alongside him as they brought the first frame to a massive peak and conclusion.
Returning from the break, the band began the second set with “Mike’s Song,” which quickly saw the band drop back into some swampy funk right in the tight rhythmic pocket. Before too long, Anastasio pulled the band into a nice major-key modulation to open things up into Type II territory.
Smoothly expanding from there, Phish easily worked through the upbeat segment with more clean playing from all four members, building a solid and joyous peak before dropping nicely back into the ending of “Mike’s.”
With no second jam, the band opted for a classic “Mike’s Groove” with “I Am Hydrogen” followed by “Weekapaug Groove,” the latter of which was filled with some atypical minor-key riffing and aggressive synth-filter work from Anastasio, though the hints of extended jamming were never fully realized as the band reined things back in just over eight minutes into the song.
At this point in the set and show, we were in need of some deep improv, and the band delivered with the longest “Mercury” since 2019. McConnell began the jam with some sparkling Rhodes work as Anastasio alternated between picked-out melodies and smooth rhythm chords.
Fish kept an impressive driving pace up, which gave lots of sonic room for the rest of the band to pepper in layers of effects and playing in the funk, Anastasio’s subtle loops creeping in from the outside as McConnell’s chords got to a more staccato place. Things began to get a little bit more menacing as McConnell introduced some droning CS60 sweeps, though he kept up the insistent Rhodes playing at the same time for a nice juxtaposition.
Anastasio executed yet another smooth major modulation from there and set his sights on a massive peak, beginning to play more aggressively as he weaved together melody after melody. Fish upped the intensity as the band soared through the final “Mercury” peak, McConnell’s piano work bolstering the effect of Anastasio’s incredible soloing before the band dropped back down into a propulsive funk groove.
This was not to last, however, as Anastasio ended the fantastic “Mercury” jam there in favour of starting up “Soul Planet.” Quickly returning to improvisational territory after the brief two-and-a-half-minute song, Anastasio aggressively pushed into minor-key rhythmic territory with shouts of “screaming through space!” interspersed.
McConnell went to Moog One and shot the jam right into outer space, psychedelic tones drenching Fish’s aggressive and driving beat as Anastasio went through some Whammy-bent textures of his own. Switching to his synth-filter effect, the guitarist pushed in front of the dense layer of keyboard texture and began to increase the intensity of the jam, Fish matching him both there and with a speedy tempo.
Continuing to ramp up the energy, the drumming became absolutely relentless as the band zoomed toward a peak, this time approaching it from a nasty minor-key perspective instead of the upbeat major nature of a lot of this weekend’s improv. Anastasio in particular let loose some insane fretboard fireworks, darting through rapid-fire runs and whipping the arena into an absolute FRENZY.
Taking a moment to catch their breath with “Joy,” Phish then tapped “Harry Hood” for the penultimate slot of the set, continuing this summer’s trend of ultra-patient versions with exemplary guitar work both in the build and the final peak. Just beautiful stuff – and the early conversations between Anastasio, McConnell, and Gordon are truly special, as always.
Despite thanking the crowd at the end of “Hood,” the band wasn’t done with the second set yet and opted for the first “I Am The Walrus” since October 11, 2023, Anastasio sporting a shit-eating grin for the wild and dissonant ending build.
Beginning the encore with an a capella “Carolina,” last performed on December 6, 2019 (206 shows), the band closed out last night’s show with a fiery “Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.,” always reliable in this slot.
While Saturday in Charleston lacked the standout long jam of Friday’s show, there was more than enough improv packed into the exemplary setlist – without feeling like ideas were unfinished or not explored, which can often happen in a show with shorter jams.
One more round tonight before the band heads up to Philly, and with two great shows under their belt, Phish is poised to burn down North Charleston Coliseum – tune in live via LivePhish.com.