Review & setlist: Phish soars over Fenway for two nights of rarities and redefined favorites

Arts admin August 3, 2026 0 Comments

Review & setlist: Phish soars over Fenway for two nights of rarities and redefined favorites

Phish is a band that thrives off of, among many other things, surprise. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the Vermont quartet has a bag of tricks that is deeper and more unpredictable than any other touring band in the world right now. With roughly 350 original songs in their catalog, a rotation of countless more covers, a proclivity for theatrics ranging from audience chess games to vacuum cleaner solos, and a finger on the pulse of what their fanbase is expecting and what they’re not.

Friday and Saturday night at Fenway was a riveting demonstration that, for Phish and its fans, the surprise is still very much alive.

As Phishheads descended upon a sun-soaked Fenway on Friday evening, the band unleashed the first of the weekend’s many unexpected treats: a first-set-opening “Carini.” The menacing non-album jam vehicle is often saved as a second set treat, but unleashing a near-18-minute rendition to kick off the show as a was a promising statement.

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“Free” showcased guitarist Trey Anastasio’s knack for not only improvising but composing infectious leads with sincere pop sensibility.

“Kill Devil Falls” was a thrilling underdog of the first set and a prime example of Phish being able to take a straightforward rock structure and evolve it into something entirely novel. In Phishspeak, one would refer to this as a “Type 2” jam — a complete untethering to a song’s original composition to give way to improvisation and spontaneity. This particular rendition was a thrilling slow-burner, building from a more sparse foundation, weaving Anastasio’s ideas with keyboardist Page McConnell’s varying synth and piano and building to a gradual peak.

Set closer “Harry Hood” was a familiar crowd favorite, played with precision in the first half and leaving room for invention in its jam section.

If there’s one thing that fans may have predicted, it’s that the band would be playing more of the recent additions to their vast songbook.

Coming off of a Madison Square Garden run in which Phish dedicated each night to songs that they debuted from a respective year in the ‘90s, they were due to play a healthy dose of songs written since returning from an extended hiatus in 2009. Friday’s second set gave way to many of these, and while many veteran Phish fans would be skeptical of what a setlist like that may look like on paper, Phish has a masterful way of proving that there’s far more than meets the eye. Such was the case with opener “What’s Going Through Your Mind” which stretched to nearly 20 minutes and provided Anastasio the opportunity to join drummer Jon Fishman on a mini drumkit — an invitation he would take a number of times throughout the weekend.

This jam navigated towards “Fuego”, a true stadium rocker with a chant-a-long chorus somewhat akin to “Seven Nation Army.” What most certainly was not on any Phishhead’s bingo card was the cover of XTC’s “Melt The Guns,” considered to now be the biggest bustout in Phish history, having not been played since April 29, 1987. The frantic and proggy singalong saw Fishman locking in brilliantly with bassist (and Sudbury native) Mike Gordon for a polished reimagining of a song that the quartet hadn’t taken for a spin in 2,051 shows.

Phish lighting designer Chris Kuroda showed his unmatched skill during the 13-minute “A Wave of Hope,” adding great texture to a jam that circulated through a variety of concepts. Friday was punctuated in a spirited way by the lighthearted and anthemic encore of “Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.”

Friday’s show set a high bar, but was also a harbinger for what was sure to be a memorable tour closer the next evening. Phish met the moment beautifully, delivering a first set on Saturday that was a triumph in many ways. A feedback-fueled “My Friend, My Friend” swelled into “Tweezer,” the beloved and funky jam springboard off of 1992’s “A Picture of Nectar.”

The intricate main riff of “Tweezer” was an earworm that the band would venture back to several times throughout the set and provided a heaping dollop of funk that transitioned seamlessly to the light and bouncy “Sigma Oasis.” A blistering “Chalkdust Torture” gave Anastasio the wheel and trailblazed to the calypso-jazz shuffle of “Stash.” The jewel of the set came with the closing “Sand,” with Gordon’s bass providing the perfect canvas for the band to creep its way towards the guitar-fueled peaks of a standout jam.

Phish did not pause once throughout the first set, forging their way through new reinvention upon some of the most trusty staples of their catalog.

Saturday’s second set did not relent, illuminating one of the many aspects that makes the current era of Phish so fascinating: their patience. Sure, Phish devotees put a special emphasis on jams that allow Anastasio to crescendo with furious energy, but when the band leaves space to breathe, it truly emphasizes the trust that each of the four members has in the collective. When no single member tries to oversteer the boat, concepts are able to simmer and materialize with such ingenuity.

An 18-minute “Ruby Waves” demonstrated this with pristine clarity, offering the perfect notes to meet each moment. As the name would suggest, “Light” played with tension and release that radiated at its peaks. The slap-funk of “Weekapaug Groove” locked into the tight interplay of Anastasio’s guitar and McConnell’s keys before “Ghost” journeyed into an uninhibited threading of motif and innovation. The anthemic rock of a “Character Zero” encore would have been a worthy accent to cap the night on its own, but the trusty “Tweezer Reprise” proved once again that there’s no better way to end a show on a high note.

The weekend was a testament to Phish’s unwillingness to rest on its laurels when it comes to surprising its audience. Seeing Phish is kind of like playing fantasy sports — you can read the tea leaves and make your picks, but no matter how many shows you have seen they will always end up zagging from conventional wisdom. For instance, Fenway shows may come with an expectation that perhaps the band might treat the run as a more standard, greatest-hits type of event, but instead fans were treated to two nights of experimentation and curiosity.

Phish proved that no matter what kind of prediction its fanbase might hold, they always have an offspeed pitch in their repertoire and encourage the listener to meet every moment with fresh perspective.