Phish closed out the opening weekend of their 2024 summer tour with a strong Sunday show, proving the old adage that you should not miss one. Across both sets, improv and energy were both at a high level as the impressive amount of tightness displayed all weekend was on full display.
The band opened with a concise “Free,” not spending too much time on the jam before guitarist Trey Anastasio strummed the rocking opening riff to “A Wave of Hope.” The band quickly dove into improvisational waters on the trusty jam vehicle and mellowed the vibe out with a repeating riff and sparkling piano work from keyboardist Page McConnell.
Anastasio crafted a gorgeous and melodic space early on while bassist Mike Gordon played a very active role in the evolving jam, engaging in heavy interplay with the guitarist and keeping him on his toes. Drummer Jon Fishman kept a brisk pace as the relaxed major-key vibe continued, a tone very well suited to the early evening.
McConnell began to gently lay in some Fender Rhodes textures and then floaty synthesizer as the jam began to transition into a darker space. Heavy reverb from Gordon informed the switch as the spacey layers continued to unfold atop the synth.
Without diving too deep into darker spaces, Anastasio remained active in a melodic zone, pulling into a brief ascending progression before starting up a new vein of major-key peaking. Finishing with a blaze of glory, Phish returned to the ending of “A Wave of Hope” at the tail-end of a very solid 15-minute first set jam.
A perfect mid-set call of “Bathtub Gin” offered another 15 minutes of improv as Anastasio worked a riff akin to “Scarlet Begonias” into the early part of the jam. Hitting an excellent Type I peak early on, Anastasio led the way into the next segment of interplay with some vamping, leading McConnell onto his Wurlitzer as Gordon took a textural role.
Delays began to filter in along with multiple massive bass bombs as Anastasio hinted at “Sand,” bringing a peppy and active role to the jam. Modulating once more back into a major key, Phish hit another fantastic bliss peak before heading back around to “Gin” proper to close.
Without missing a beat, Anastasio hit the beginning of “Wilson” to keep the energy up ahead of the 150-show bustout of “The Connection,” last seen on December 7, 2019 in Charleston. The upbeat tune gave way to the long-awaited return of “Thread,” conspicuously absent since September 1, 2021 – a gap of 122 shows. No rust was evident on the song as we were treated to several minutes of dissonant and synth-drenched madness that comes with this awesome song.
A quick cooldown with “Joy” led to a rocking pairing of “Runaway Jim” and “Life Saving Gun” to close out the first frame – neither going too far into a jam but keeping the energy at a peak level.
Returning for the second frame, Phish proceeded to play an absolutely flawless set (in my opinion), beginning with the first “The Squirming Coil” to open the second set since June 30, 1999. As McConnell took a brief piano solo, you could feel the imminent “Tweezer,” and the crowd went wild as Anastasio laid into the opening riff.
Contrary to the trend of evil jamming on Friday and Saturday, last night’s “Tweezer” stuck almost entirely to gorgeous bliss themes, beginning with some bright Wurlitzer from McConnell as they explored the Type I space.
Gordon seemed to want to head in an evil direction early on with a distorted synth effect, but McConnell and Anastasio stayed firmly in “Tweezer” proper, reaching a solid peak just before the 10-minute mark and transitioning into a more thumping space thanks to Fish.
Modulating up into a new key, Anastasio laid down some bleeps and bloops over the bed of piano before switching back to a clean tone to build the bliss. A patient and ethereal space developed over the next several minutes with a gorgeous guitar-centric bliss peak that seemed to undulate slowly but surely across the venue.
Sticking to chordal work for a while, Anastasio gave space for McConnell’s twinkling piano to lead the improv with some great riffing ahead of an increase in tempo, gradually getting toward a more minor zone. Gordon stepped up with some aggressive synth tones for a spell before Anastasio’s soloing pulled back from the dark and took on a funkier quality.
Spacing out for the final few minutes, a rare moment of disconnect between band members came as Fish attempted to push into a faster jam but Anastasio and McConnell stayed firmly in a half-time wind down. Recovering from that brief hiccup, Anastasio smoothly segued the end of the “Tweezer” jam into “Scents and Subtle Sounds.”
The “Scents” jam began in a floaty space with a low drone from Gordon as Anastasio returned to the ethereal bliss of the preceding “Tweezer.” Contrary to the slow and patient build of that jam, “Scents” quickly headed for a soaring peak as Anastasio put his well-practiced chops on full display. Working in a heavy dose of crystal-clear sustain usage (welcome back, on-stage amps), some of the finest guitar work of the whole weekend elicited a big cheer from the crowd as Anastasio continued to bring the joy and light.
Quickly pivoting into a more aggressive and rocking mode via some powerful chords, Anastasio led the charge into the next section in tandem with Fish. Dialing back the power after a minute, Fish kept up the speed while Gordon and McConnell laid into menacing textures, giving us our first taste of darkness of the night.
Eerie synths bled in as McConnell and Anastasio traded riffs, soon seamlessly working a transition to a major key back into the jam as Gordon followed them, though not before another blast of dark layers.
The final couple of minutes of “Scents” was very much akin to the Mexico “A Wave of Hope” from earlier this year – an ambient and patient outro filled with twinkling noises and synths. This kind of jam is phenomenal and something I was overjoyed to see more of from Phish.
A rocking “Twist” kept the energy going with a strong peak before the band put their foot back to the floor with the opening of “Crosseyed and Painless,” getting the biggest crowd reaction of the night at the first notes. This Talking Heads cover did what it does best – deliver a screaming peak that had several moments of spontaneous crowd reaction, building energy upon energy as the band modulated into another perfect major zone.
Coming down from the peak, Anastasio led the charge into a propulsive zone filled with dark guitar and bass work behind Fish’s leadership. As space took over, Fish moaned the “still waiting” line repeatedly, gradually bringing the excellent jam to a close.
A perfect call for a set-closing “Slave to the Traffic Light” saw Anastasio build peak after peak in fine form, his amazing melodies closing the perfect second set with a beautiful amount of sustain and joy, one last time.
A romp through “Possum” followed by the expected “Tweezer Reprise” closer ended night three at Great Woods on a high note, everyone leaving the venue full of satisfaction and happiness after three high-quality nights of Phish.
Summer tour is off to a very strong start as the band heads to Mohegan Sun Arena tomorrow and Wednesday night before three nights at Alpine Valley this weekend. Stream every night of tour via LivePhish.com – I’ll be eagerly watching from the couch as I count down the days until my next shows at Mondegreen!
Thank you, Phish, for an absolutely incredible weekend!!
Thank you as always for the great revenue. Agree basically a perfect second set, not much else you can ask for. Thread is one of the only new Phish songs that somewhat captures the old vibes of the early 90s IMO