Phish Continues 2018 Dick’s Sporting Goods Park Run – Recap, Setlist & The Skinny

One night after playing arguably the best show of the year, Phish returned to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Denver on Saturday for their second of three annual Labor Day Weekend concerts at the soccer stadium. Guitarist Trey Anastasio, keyboardist Page McConnell, drummer Jon Fishman and bassist Mike Gordon‘s 23rd show at the venue since making their Dick’s debut in 2011 may not have reached the massive heights of Friday’s masterpiece yet featured memorable moments around every corner.

Phish often goes an unconventional route to open at Dick’s and on Saturday they led with “Sand” for the first and only other time since July 13, 2014. McConnell shined on the opener as he started with Clavinet riffs before moving over to piano for barrelhouse rolls that urged Anastasio on to a crowd-pleasing peak. So many of Friday’s songs were about patience, yet Phish quickly built “Sand” to a rolling boil on Saturday to the delight of the audience.

The unusual placements continued with “Down With Disease” in the two-slot. It didn’t take long for the foursome to blow through the song’s normal structure and embark on the night’s first extended improvisation. Anastasio utilized a wild backward delay effect for a portion of his solo while McConnell colored the jam with Wurlitzer and Moog Voyager synth swirls. The equalitarian improv saw the band take turns leading the action. Eventually, the guys settled in on an ascending riff they used as the basis for yet another climax.

Trey huddled with Page for a few minutes before Phish launched into the slow-burning “Shade.” The band debuted the Anastasio/Marshall ballad on July 21, 2015 in Bend as part of a batch of originals that also included “Blaze On” and “No Men In No Man’s Land.” While “Blaze On” and “No Men” immediately became staples, “Shade” was played four more times over the next year and then disappeared until Saturday night. The well-played version of the beautiful song was the biggest bust out of 2018 at 75 shows, as Phish last performed “Shade” on July 16, 2016.

McConnell continued to stand out on Saturday as he fronted the group on just the sixth-ever live take on Big Boat track “Home.” Phish thrashed through the Page-penned ode to aging which still has yet to make good on its promise as a jam vehicle but took their time on a frothy “Wolfman’s Brother” that contained a brief but head-turning modulation. Next, came the first straightforward “Wombat” since 2016. The same situation was the case for an “Everything’s Right” that flirted with breaking form yet was more of a “Type I” affair. Phish had one more peak in a set filled with them in store for Colorado fans as they brought the 80+ minute frame to a close with a screaming “Bathtub Gin” highlighted by a particularly turbo-charged conclusion.

The recently debuted “Set Your Soul Free” opened the second set on Saturday. Phish took “SYSF” deep in Denver with a multi-part jam. The band explored plenty of terrain over the course of the 16-minute set opener. While portions of the adventurous improvisation were aimless others were ethereal. Mike Gordon kept lobbing impressive ideas into the mix and the “Set Your Soul Free” soared when his band mates followed along. Anastasio went Whammy wild on the “Fuego” that followed. Phish cracked open “Fuego” and embarked on a short but fruitful jam that featured exquisite interplay between the foursome.

The set rolled on with a hard-hitting “Chalk Dust Torture” that didn’t stray outside the lines. Anastasio fit bluesy leads into the pre-verse vamp in unusual fashion and then set off fretboard fireworks including ample calls to the aliens with his Whammy pedal throughout his solo. Trey seemed to be feeling it which made “Twist” a good call for the cleanup slot. Surprisingly, Trey yielded to Mike and Page for the majority of the fairly uneventful “Twist.” However, the guitarist let loose on the “Piper” that came next. Fish bashed away on a powerful groove anchored by Mike, while Page and Trey egged each other as Phish rode one chord structure to multiple peaks. Phish engaged in a minute or two of exploration after the “Piper” climax before revving into “The Wedge.”

The standard “Wedge” gave way to the evening’s first cover, “2001.” Anastasio put his Leslie speaker to work as Phish provided a dance party for the capacity crowd. “2001” was similar to much of the output on Saturday night, the band expertly filled in the nooks and crannies of each segment. The Dick’s dance party reached a fevered pitch when the first notes of “Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley” rang out. Phish hadn’t played the Allen Toussiant-penned gem since August 2, 2017 – the longest span between versions of the era. Saturday’s “Sally” was a short affair highlighted by a full-on vocal jam. “Slave To The Traffic Light” was served with a dollop of extra mustard to close the set, while the “More” encore had a few additional squirts of whiz.

Phish concludes Summer Tour 2018 at Dick’s on Sunday. A webcast is available via Livephish.com.

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