Show Review - Phish 7/3/25 Boulder, CO
Easing Back In
Phish’s summer tour continued to Colorado last night for the first of three shows at Boulder’s Folsom Field, marking the first time the band has played somewhere other than Dick’s in the Centennial State since 2010.
The solid show was a great way to start off the Fourth of July weekend, though it felt as though the five days off since last weekend’s shows in Austin made the band a little bit less in sync than they had been for the first week of tour – plus adjusting to a football stadium as opposed to a smaller indoor arena setting can’t have been easy.
Guitarist Trey Anastasio greeted the Folsom crowd with a jubilant “hello!” before the band kicked into the tour’s second “Wolfman’s Brother,” beginning the first set by diving right into some loose jamming. Bassist Mike Gordon came through loud and clear at the outset of the funk, putting at ease any worries about stadium sound clarity.
Keyboardist Page McConnell took to some aggressive clav work over Anastasio’s dirty riffs, the band building as one from there into a brighter space with thick Wurlitzer textures. Anastasio and McConnell built a repeating riff together as the peak drew closer, exploding back into “Wolfman’s” proper smoothly to conclude the song.
“Tube” was tapped next and quickly asserted itself as a continuation of the improvisation we had seen in the opener. McConnell once again took to Wurli as the jam began, taking a quick solo as the rest of the band settled in to the driving groove. Anastasio used some delay on his subtle riffs, opening up the space as drummer Jon Fishman threw in percussive cowbell fills.
Anastasio and McConnell met up once again on a repeated riff, this one acting in an ascending/descending pattern for a bit before Anastasio returned to his melodic soloing. The riff continued to pop up for the next minute or so before Anastasio began to take the jam outside the standard groove with an infusion of rotary Leslie-simulated tones.
Fish loosened up the beat as the band executed a smooth major-key modulation, always a perfect mood for an outdoor summer first set. McConnell continued to lay into his Wurlitzer as the energy built, the soft bed of electric piano acting as a wonderful counterpoint to Anastasio’s continued leadership.
The guitarist began to weave a net of loops, swirling and increasing the intensity of the jam as Phish continued toward the peak, huge anthemic guitar leads breaking free from the cloud of sound. More guitar and keyboard interplay ensued as the band seemed to be reaching the conclusion of the jam, but Anastasio had other ideas and mellowed things back out while continuing to push forward with bright soloing.
Switching to rhythm guitar, Anastasio allowed McConnell’s Moog One sounds to colour the forefront of the space with their hypnotic patterns as Gordon acted in some powerful counterpoints.
Making the switch to piano, McConnell brightened the energy more and informed the rise to a peak that was well on its way, his playing leading the band as Anastasio continued to loop melodies and exist within a cloud of his own sounds.
Pure euphoria ensued as the guitar finally broke free for some huge leads, bringing us through one final peak and a smooth conclusion to “Tube.”
The first “Roses Are Free” since July 16, 2022 came next and was met with a huge reaction from the crowd, only increased by the quick dose of improv we got at the end – not truly “jammed out,” but shows promise if they decide to put the Ween cover back in more regular rotation after so long on the shelf.
“Maze” saw Anastasio bounce around the stage like an excited kid during McConnell’s whirlwind organ solo, the band building into a frenzy before cooling things down with “Bouncing Around the Room.”
By this point in the set, a massive and ominous black cloud behind the stage had caught the attention of many audience members, and that was only accentuated when flashes (and then huge bolts) of lightning were visible. Worrying about a possible postponement/cancellation due to weather was the at the front of my mind as Phish ran through “Nellie Kane,” blissfully unaware of the inclement weather behind them.
As they lit into “Kill Devil Falls,” the cloud started to look like it was going to stay several miles north – and the lack of a venue announcement to evacuate meant that we got to continue to enjoy the show with the rare opportunity to take in a lightning storm at the same time.
Fish propelled things forward as the improv began, Anastasio continuing his rapid-fire melodies as McConnell once again laid into smooth Wurlitzer. Modulating up into a major key, the band kept their foot on the gas as all four members engaged in active interplay. The keyboard work very nicely bolstered the guitar melodies as the two musicians continued to riff off each other, Gordon running right alongside with some bright and almost elastic-feeling tones.
Almost in sync with the weather, the screaming peak that came next was punctuated by several massive bolts of lightning, spreading across the sky and adding to lighting director Chris Kuroda’s amazing work as Phish smashed through the ending of “KDF.”
A romp through “Sand” was taken for a little bit of a ride thanks to some thick Yamaha CS60 synth textures from McConnell but was quickly reined in by Anastasio in favour of a relatively clean “Fluffhead” to bring the first set to a close.
One relatively short setbreak later (this and the announcement that the band would start promptly at 7:30 “in the spirit of being good neighbours to the community” makes me think that people were not happy about them going until 11:30 last night), the band returned and opened the gates strong with “Carini.”
McConnell laid on the sweeping Moog One textures early, the waves of synthesizer punctuated with sharp leads from Anastasio. This peak mode was quickly transitioned into a major key, McConnell smoothly reducing the effect of the Moog while beginning to infuse bright piano work into the jam, though he kept one hand out in space for a cool juxtaposition with the grounded, upbeat music.
Fish’s fluid beat kept things rolling as Anastasio cultivated the shining jam, his relaxed melodies beautifully augmented by McConnell on Wurlitzer and Gordon’s steady low-end. Showing off his well-practiced capabilities that have been on display all year, the guitarist unleashed some speedy runs that seemed to hint at another peak, but the band pivoted instead to some tense minor-key play.
Creeping synths came in, but the real star of this next section was the interplay between Anastasio and Gordon, the wild flurries of notes keeping things in a weird and uneasy zone before the band landed on an extended tease of “Duelling Banjos.”
Spacing out quickly, the jam was abandoned in favour of a surprise mid-set “You Enjoy Myself,” though the song has become more and more comfortable in this slot as of late. Another relatively clean execution of a complex song led to an exuberant jam, Anastasio leaning into some extra-funky chords as they reprised the jam for an extra couple of minutes of groovy music before dropping into “Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley.”
This song choice was met with a huge roar of excitement from the crowd as Phish began what would be the standout jam of the night.
Keeping the funk vibes rolling, Anastasio and Gordon both got into some deep, synthy tones while McConnell bounced on Wurli, Fish keeping things grooving with some articulate ride cymbal work. Beginning to depart the song proper, Anastasio confidently led a major-key modulation with some smooth melodies and then rhythm work, the rhythm section remaining in the deep funk pocket for a while longer.
Keys and guitar linked up on a new motif and the band began a patient, slow build of triumph over the next several minutes, propelled by Anastasio’s ultra-smooth playing – melodies just seemed to pour out of his guitar with no hesitation or effort.
Some rotary tones infused the peak as Anastasio toyed with some sustain, the bliss continuing with rock-solid work from McConnell on piano and Gordon’s bass builds. Exploding into one final peak, the band cleanly dropped back into “Sally” to another big cheer from the audience.
At this point in the set, we had a very solid show on our hands but were missing the X-Factor of a “holy shit” level jam that had taken place at each of the summer’s first six shows. With ample time to go, the beginning of the improv in “Light” seemed to be heading in that direction as McConnell took the band into outer space with a thick carpet of synth, Anastasio ignoring the heavy “Plasma” teasing from the rhythm section to keep the jam going – for less than a minute before he pulled a brutal ripcord into “What’s The Use?” after less than eight minutes of “Light.”
The remainder of the set – “Pillow Jets,” “2001,” and “Possum” – were all fun and well-played, but it seemed as though the band hadn’t quite synced up in the second set as well as they had in the first. Fish in particular seemed to flag tempo-wise on some songs, and hopefully we see a return to top form for tonight’s show now that they’re warmed up once again.
I just can’t help but look at “Light” onward last night and see a series of great songs played without coming close to their potential – though “What’s The Use?” did offer a beautiful moment of silence once I got over the pain of the ripcord.
The first “Stash” in the encore since 11/14/96 featured a solid Type I jam before the band brought back the rollicking “Rocky Top” to close the show for the first time in the 4.0 era – last played December 28, 2019 or 198 shows previously.
Phish returns to Folsom Field tonight for their first Fourth of July show since 2014, and hopefully with the night to settle in, we’ll see a return to the absolutely incredible jamming that took place over the first week of summer tour. Watch live promptly at 7:30 MT via LivePhish.com.