Here’s A Look At All Of Phish’s Summer Tour 2023 Debuts So Far

Writer(s): Trey Anastasio / Tom Marshall
Debut: July 11
Total Times Played: 4

Premiered on opening night of Summer Tour 2023 at The Orion Amphitheater in Huntsville, Alabama, “Oblivion” has been played the most of any of the new songs, many of which remain one-timers. As noted in The Skinny recap, “‘Oblivion’ marked the initial Phish debut of the summer.

“Written by Trey Anastasio with longtime collaborator Tom Marshall, ‘Oblivion’ was premiered by the Trey Anastasio Trio at Denver’s Mission Ballroom on June 9 and then was performed by the Trey Anastasio Band on July 7 in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Phish played ‘Oblivion’ during their tech rehearsal at The Orion [prior to the first show]. The song showed promise as a jam vehicle on [opening night] with a tasty improvisation in which Page toured his rig while Trey gave a tone clinic.”

Watch pro-shot video of Phish’s second attempt at “Oblivion” from the July 19 show at Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront Park in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Writer(s): Trey Anastasio
Debut: July 12
Total Times Played: 1

Phish’s second song debut was “Ether Edge” on night two of two at The Orion. As noted in The Skinny recap, “One of several new songs recently debuted at Denver’s Mission Ballroom by the Trey Anastasio Trio (Trey, Fish and Trey Anastasio Band bassist Dezron Douglas), ‘Ether Edge’ made its first appearance in a Phish setlist on Wednesday, joining ‘Oblivion’ which was debuted on opening night. The new original sounds like it could have been part of the guitarist’s Ghosts Of The Forest project both in tone and substance. With lyrical mentions of the moon and stars, the dreamy new song’s Rocket City debut seemed all the more fitting.”

Click above to hear an audience recording of Phish performing “Ether Edge.”

Writer(s): Trey Anastasio
Debut: July 14
Total Times Played: 1

Recorded for Anastasio’s 2020 pandemic solo album Lonely Trip, “…And Flew Away” made its first Phish setlist on July 14 in Alpharetta, Georgia, making it three song premieres in the first three shows of tour. As noted in The Skinny, “The Phish debut of ‘…And Flew Away’ was chosen as the second set’s breather.

“The Lonely Trip cut has been a staple of Trey Anastasio Band setlists for the last couple of years and translated well to Phish – though notably missed the impeccable vocal harmonies of Jennifer Hartswick, Natalie Cressman, and James Casey. The song continued the trend of debuting a new Trey song in the second set of each show so far on summer tour. Much like ‘Oblivion’ and ‘Ether Edge,’ there is potential to be explored and I look forward to where this song will go in the future.”

Watch video captured from the audience of Phish’s “…And Flew Away” debut above.

Writer(s): Trey Anastasio / Tom Marshall
Debut: July 16
Total Times Played: 3

Phish premiered “The Well” on night three at Alpharetta’s Ameris Bank Amphitheatre. Fish’s debut cover of Vicki Lawrence’s “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia” also made its debut at that show. As noted in The Skinny, “Up next was the Phish debut of ‘The Well,’ which Trey and Fishman had first played with Dezron Douglas in June. After the song’s light, upbeat first half, it descends into a deep, dark segment reminiscent of the ‘Saw It Again’ outro.”

The only other new song besides “Oblivion” to be played more than once this summer, Phish has gone to “The Well” three times, including on July 25 at The Mann in Philadelphia which can be viewed above.

Writer(s): Trey Anastasio
Debut: July 18
Total Times Played: 1

The title track to Trey’s 2022 solo acoustic album, “mercy,” made its Phish debut on July 18 at Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront Park in Wilmington, North Carolina. As noted in The Skinny, “The band then landed perfectly in a stunning debut of a newer ballad, ‘mercy,’ off Anastasio’s first fully acoustic solo album from 2022 of the same name. The emotion and intimacy that Anastasio is now able to access due to maturity, experience and vocal training is something that continues to blow me away.

“The excellent placement of debuts (this is the fifth original song debuted on this tour so far) continued with ‘mercy’ as it segued gently into ‘Twenty Years Later,’ which saw the band stretching out once again and playing with some swirling guitar work and Fishman laying down some intricate rhythms.”

Listen to an audience recording of Phish’s “mercy” debut above.

Writer(s): Trey Anastasio
Debut: July 21
Total Times Played: 1

Anastasio’s “Pillow Jets” premiered July 21 during the first of two shows at Star Lake Pavilion outside Pittsburgh. As noted in The Skinny “Another blink-and-it’s-done segue brought out the Phish debut of ‘Pillow Jets,’ a song that felt made for Fishman with its references to thunder and plenty of room to accommodate his ever-impressive drumming. The ensuing jam found all four guys just shredding like teenagers rather than middle-aged rockers, with an open-ended energy that you don’t often find in a song’s live debut. ‘Pillow Jets’ is one to watch.”

Watch pro-shot video of Phish’s “Pillow Jets” debut above.

Writer(s): Trey Anastasio
Debut: July 22
Total Times Played: 1

Night two at Star Lake featured the first Phish performance of Anastasio’s “Monsters.” As noted in The Skinny, “The most distinguishing feature of this tour is the onslaught of new material. Largely drawing from songs Trey first debuted with his trio featuring Fishman and bassist Dezron Douglas a couple months ago, and it was time for another one of those songs to make it onto the Phish stage.

“Tonight’s debut was ‘Monsters,’ a stellar new composition from Trey written in the saddest of all keys. The band showcased great command with this one, having soundchecked it multiple times throughout the tour. This did not feel like the band’s first public performance of this tune, it was well rehearsed and Page and Mike delivered strong backup vocals to the chorus. ‘Monsters’ gives Trey a new chord progression to flex his mid-tempo David Gilmour inspired ballad chops and while it’s perhaps not likely “Monsters” will be a new Type II jam vehicle, I think it is set up to be a potent contribution to the song possibilities for the “ballad slot.”

Watch and listen to Phish unleash “Monsters” via the clips above and below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCMgRi2lPFs

Writer(s): Trey Anastasio / Page McConnell
Debut: July 30
Total Times Played: 1

A few shows went by before the next debut arrived on July 30 on night three of the band’s seven-show residency at Madison Square Garden in New York City. As noted in The Skinny, “Set two opened with ‘Sigma Oasis,’ a ‘new’ song that’s already four-years-old. While it can often be a platform for deep improvisation, Sunday’s version was straightforward, highlighted by Kuroda’s evolving light rig, a candy store color palette transfiguring in space above the crowd. The debut of ‘Life Saving Gun’ of the McConnell/Anastasio release January showed just how far their compositions have evolved and how the evolved songwriting has tracked with the improv.

“Where ‘Sigma Oasis’ represents a bright bliss jam mode, ‘Life Saving Gun’ with its dark lyrical themes, was driven by Fishman’s proliferation of rhythms, tempo being the modus operandi of the current age of jamming. The improv out of ‘Life Saving Gun’ was forward looking, and ended up being the inverse of the ‘Gin’ jam from a similar spot in the first set. Instead of mixing tempos to create new space, Fishman seemed to lock in on a single speed and drum pattern while the other three proliferated musical ideas, hitting every mood on the mood wheel along the way.”

Check out an audience-shot video of the first “Life Saving Gun” above.

Writer(s): Trey Anastasio
Debut: August 1
Total Times Played: 1

The penultimate new song debut occurred on August 1 in the middle of the MSG residency with the final new Anastasio song, “Broken Into Pieces.” As noted in The Skinny, “The first so-called breather of the night was the breathtaking debut of ‘Broken Into Pieces.’ The band had been workshopping this one to get it into show shape, with Trey and Fishman first trying it out on stage in Denver in June at the Trey Trio shows, and then all four Phish men working on it during tour rehearsal and through several soundchecks throughout the summer.

“It’s no surprise then that it arrived in fine first form; instantly likable and another winning debut in a tour ripe with them. Adorned in classic rock clothing and full of recovery-minded reassurance, despite the despair of its title, ‘Broken Into Pieces’ is a welcome addition to the repertoire, a new first-set friend that works as a companion piece or alternate to ‘About to Run,’ and from that general branch of Trey’s modern songwriting.”

Stream an audience-recording of “Broken Into Pieces” above.

Writer(s): Mike Gordon / Scott Murawski
Debut: August 4
Total Times Played: 1

The lone Mike Gordon original, “Back In The Bubble,” joined Phish’s repertoire on the second-to-last night at MSG. The song was co-written by Gordon’s solo bandmate, guitarist Scott Murawski, and appeared on Gordon’s 2023 solo album, Flying Games. As noted in The Skinny, “Next up was the debut of ‘Back In The Bubble.’ A song written by bassist Mike Gordon, this was the 10th original debut from the band on this tour. Anastasio turned to face Gordon as he played the song, providing some nice harmonies.”

Hear the live debut of “Back In The Bubble” via the audience recording above.