Phish Turns Led Into Gold At Richmond Finale

Phish came rip (and riff) roaring back into Richmond’s year-old Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront for the second of two nights in Virginia’s state capital. The band’s previous four shows featured a fantastic weekend in Atlantic City that explored some of their most inspired improvisation in years, followed by a nearly 42-minute “Life Saving Gun” at the new outdoor venue that will be talked about for years.

Just their 10th show ever in RVA, but with a history dating back to 1990, Phish opted for a “Gumbo” opener to get the evening started on a celebratory note. Bassist Mike Gordon led the others into the first improvisational notes of the evening with some deep bass effects that guitarist Trey Anastasio casually supported with a string of notes around the main melody as garnish. Page McConnell went to his Wurlitzer to support the aquatic theme. This led into a journey into the unknown, but with a much more casual feel than the previous four shows of this eight-show run.

The show opener crossed the dividing line into the second half of the run and, while the show-opening jam felt relaxed and a little more age-appropriate than the ferocious sprint that got us to cross this halfway mark, the song choice and improvisational fluency indeed revealed a band mid-stride through a weeklong adventure. They wasted little time in building the intensity to the high baseline that’s been a hallmark of this short tour.

The first build of the night had all four members contributing as they navigated back into form, finishing the final verse that leads to Page’s piano solo. Except, this time, the brief solo was accompanied, for the first time ever, with some emphasis hits from Trey on his new electronic drum pad.

“The Curtain” that came next, in an unusual two spot, came with “With.” And “With” came with some additional adornment. “The Curtain With” became “The Curtain With Plus,” mostly led by Trey who continued to stick within the “With” framework while the band supported on a Type I basis.

The night’s third slot went to “Hey Stranger,” which opened up quickly with some reverse pedal effect from Trey that led down a casual path on the same setting as the two songs before it. Page had one hand on the Wurlitzer and one hand on the Moog, while drummer Jon Fishman kept both hands on the wheel. After some envelope stuffing, Trey came back to a clean tone to keep the jam orderly.

Of course, “orderly” has had little place on this tour, thus far, so perhaps as a ploy to bring back the wilderness and WILD-ness that dominated the weekend at the Jersey shore, Trey called out for “Llama,” and this “Llama” was NOT a “Slow Llama.”

It turns out that “slow” anything was just a ruse. Trey has proven over the past week that his Machine Gun Trey switch still works, with the on mode in good working order, as precise as ever.

Inside this “Llama,” Trey added extra oomph, first to the vocal delivery, then flawlessly returning to the fretboard ferocity that left mouths on the floor the nights before.

Even at age 28, which can feel like over 100 in song years, “Roggae” remains a first-set gem, a relative, light-rotation standard that never truly left the repertoire yet never wore out its welcome. “Roggae” had some extra mustard when it last showed its face, at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Colorado a month ago. This one showed some restraint but with just enough flourishes from Trey to demonstrate his newly inspired speed even in subtle flourishes, as had been happening all night to this point (and all run, to this night).

The tour’s first “Tube” brought anticipation for more of the first set improvisation that had been happening before Richmond. The idea for improvisation came early with Page’s expected Clavinet, accompanied by some Type I fooling around by Trey, the kind of fooling around that often signifies intent and presence. And sure enough, it wasn’t long before Trey abandoned his guitar entirely in favor of fooling around with some drumsticks.

As he went high on the mini-kit for cymbals and block, Mike took the moment to answer lightning with thunder. The whole band found themselves in lockstep amid a percussive trance that featured effects from Mike and Moog musings from Page. This egged on Trey to use both his mini-kit and new Roland pad for an electro-“Tube” jam in a brilliant, if short-lived, detour before getting back on that freeway in Los Angeles.

“Timber (Jerry)” was up next which, like “Tube,” had some immediate lines of inquiry from inquisitive, musical minds. Trey wasted no time in setting his intent to improvise. And with that, the rest joined in to take this one on a little drive.

“Most Events Aren’t Planned” has become a self-referential theme for Phish of sorts. Wednesday’s version featured some fantastic and agile piano from the song’s composer, which was then supported by Trey lines and light shredding.

Aaaaannd set break. For those in the venue, it was a chance to take in the skyline, while those at home did whatever. In my case, I took a shower (oh, the joys and convenience of couch tour and LivePhish).

Phish returned from the locker room to open the second half of the game with “Kill Devil Falls.” Those who are unaware of or unexcited by the song’s Type II potential need only listen to July 23, 2023 in Syracuse, New York – among other Hall of Famers – to be swayed.

And Anastasio was eager to dive right into unscripted riffing with this one, signaling to his conspirators to make shit up with him as they travel around Kill Devil. Page answered the call by splitting his attention between Moog and Wurlitzer, at the same time, while Trey riffed with a lead that wound into chunky rhythmic patterns. As they unified on a scene change, Gordon was not without something to say himself, moving up the fretboard for a Lesh-like moment while the band explored where to take things from this newly texturized matrix.

Trey went back to lead runs and melodic gestures while Page used the Yamaha synth for live sci-fi soundtracking. Fishman, always able to see around corners, charged the vehicle forward, experimenting with different dance channels before swiftly landing on the setting he was looking for. Trey went up-fret himself with soaring and sweeping soloing that entered friendly if unknown territory. He then put on the Speed Racer helmet, doubling in intensity as Fishman punctuated the eruptive charge with hits. After that, all it took was a shift to chords from Trey for the whole band to effortlessly swerve back into the song’s ending. A masterful landing and a clean stop.

Ever since the famed July 14, 2019 Alpine Valley version of “Ruby Waves,” which earned its own vinyl release and a fan-voted Jam of the Year award, the song always comes rushing in with high expectations, often met. In fact, nearly half of all 45 “Ruby Waves” live versions from before tonight made the Phish.net’s “Jam Chart,” an impressive statistic that rivals the ratio for Phish’s signature jam vehicle “Tweezer” (and exceeds those for workhorses like “Down With Disease” and “Chalk Dust Torture”).

The Richmond “Ruby Waves” brought an air of possibility, and possibility brings potential for weightlessness, where the song can break into a space that is free from all constraints. When that happens, “Ruby Waves” can become a spiritual experience that transcends gravity.

The foursome jumped off the first cliff with a textured unity that recalled their tapestry jams of the past couple of years. Mike went off exploring while Trey stayed purposefully underneath… at first… and low on the neck as he found the right effect for the moment and proceeded to step into lead with dirty tones and filthy licks. Mike injected some bounce into the proceedings, prompting Trey to switch to rhythmic notions amid choppy seas, at one point looking at all his bandmates, one after another, for a check-in as he went back to soloing with a melodic theme that he let unfold, confident that his bandmates were on net. Some trills and bends while all four locked in, unlocking the Phish trance that so many of us seek from these second set summits.

Trey fed his new melodic theme some meat, with the assistance of arena-rock tones, and Fishman’s snare rolls gave it lift. Suddenly the “Ruby Waves” was in full flight, aligned with the wish of the song’s narrator (and enthralled audience).

As Trey came back around to chords, the band wasn’t ready to land just yet. So Trey heeded the call from Page’s piano and got right back to building the 1.0-level intensity that he had just been hinting at until now. When he finally reached it, he unlocked the renewed speed that he’s been showcasing over the previous four nights: shredding then soaring, soaring then shredding, with Page hammering the C7 piano keys. A chaos jam emerged from the embers of the fire that Trey unleashed, the anticipation of the entire night now blowing wind under their wings as they navigated transcendent territory in the air.

As a unit, Phish landed the “Ruby Waves” vehicle on soft ground, exploring ambient noise that they somehow shaped into… something… from which emerged the opening lick to “Golden Age.”

The second cover of the night and just the third of the run, Phish opened up their signature take on the TV on the Radio track with a song-adjacent melody from Trey, until Page’s Moog crept in, which prompted Trey to switch back to textured rhythms and space-funk. It quickly devolved from there into “2001“-like musings from Page, while Trey raked and scraped across dead strings like he’s been streaming Tom Morello on his tour bus, and Mike thumped the musical blob into an evil staccato jam, pushing it through an alien soundscape, with the band trudging around this foreign territory as one unit, cohesive and unhinged.

Page put his Moog to work, as he worked to complement Trey’s tangled web of sound. With Mike employing some of his signature bass effects to anchor the unit, Trey’s movements became increasingly exploratory, running through several trials before he ditched the guitar entirely in favor of his new favorite toy, the Roland.

As with previous nights, the E-drums introduced Richmond to a new era of Industrial Phish jams, and Page channeled cat-pleasing noises on the Moog while Mike held down the groove. Trey and Fishman fused the technological (MIDI pads) with the organic (actual drums) for a superhuman trick that was made up on the spot, all for our delight. The temptation to lay into his own creation was too much for Trey, who picked up his guitar to have at it, veering into heavy metal tones before leaning back into more familiar Phish fanfare.

This is one of those jams that, when you hear it on Phish Radio years from now, you’ll be able to identify the era as Fall ‘26 even if you forgot the actual song/date it comes from. Trey’s electronic trigger pads and the industrial metal sounds that coalesced around them will be the dead giveaway.

Fun had, Trey attempted to end the jam with big “And CUT!” motions, but when Mike didn’t fall for it (or likely even see it), Trey made a sport of it, and as the tempo slowed down and the texture dropped into interference, “About To Run”-style Hendrix-rips began erupting from Trey.

Mike remained busy as well, eventually finding the foundation for a new slinky groove that Fishman sunk into, at which point Trey started FINGER-TAPPING. He smiled in satisfaction at his Eddie Van Halen-worthy shredding, and all four drove it into a rhythmic metal jam from there. Trey began to head-bang with his whole upper body. Thrilling and trilling his way past the peak, this is raise-your-fist-and-yell music. Devil horns a-pumping. Trey’s whole body moved into it, along with the audience, finding Led Zeppelin fireworks from the fretboard. The grin back on his face… WHAT IS THIS… “No Quarter!”… and then back to riffing around, in and out of Zeppelin.

Leaving “Golden Age” unfinished, they segued from connector-ambiance into “Meatstick.” Gordon teased “No Quarter” on bass, which was answered by Trey on guitar, whose face revealed a certain pleasure at his bandmate’s responsiveness and presence. The antics also elicited a smile from Page, and for a brief detour, the band layered “No Quarter” on top of “Meatstick” until they had to start singing.

A brief “Dixie” tease from Trey on the other end of the Japanese lyrics led to a quick conclusion to this short rendition. A straightforward “Backwards Down the Number Line” also kept to the point, clocking in at just over six minutes, while Trey was having too much fun to end everything there. Page quickly began to play the “Loving Cup” that closed the set.

After bows, the quartet came back out for a double encore of excellently executed “The Lizards” and “Julius,” and then it was thank you, goodnight, Richmond!

Well done. The streak continues. The patterns hold. The inspiration takes. And the band takes a day off to fly south for the second and final weekend of their brief, but already historic, Fall Tour. Next stop, Florida, a state that has its own fair share of Phish history, written on a ledger that just might have an additional entry come Friday night.

---

Phish’s Fall Tour 2026 continues Friday, October 9 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. Livestreams of Phish Fall Tour 2026 shows are available with a LivePhish With subscription.

Get LivePhish With

---

Want more Phish stats?

Visit JamBase’s The Skinny Hub

More Skinny

Poster