Phish Makes Debut At Birmingham’s Coca-Cola Amphitheater

After several stops and stints out Pelham-way at the historic (at least in jamband circles) and now-demolished Oak Mountain Amphitheater, Phish returned to Birmingham proper for the first time in over 31 years for their 18th performance in the state of Alabama, at the brand new downtown Coca-Cola Amphitheater. While the area around the venue is in the very early stages of coming back to life, the new venue should set the tone for a rapid refresh.

Narrative references to Birmingham (a magic city with “a lot of ghosts in a lot of houses”) and the changing, newfangled scenery came early and often in the first set as both fans and band quickly got accustomed and settled into the shiny new surroundings.

The quartet took the stage a smidge earlier than most anticipated, hitting at around 7:25 p.m. to ensure an abundantly generous and brilliant night of music spanning all eras from the legendarily deep canon.

After the opening “Back on the Train” set off the first of three runs through the Southland on the mini Late Summer Tour proper (following Friday’s one-off Bourbon & Beyond performance in Kentucky notwithstanding), “Cities” fanned up some expected cheap heat, nodding lyrically to Birmingham and establishing that Saturday in Alabama would be an exhilarating ride. “Cities” was the first of a half-dozen improvisational highlights from the night, an enduring and sternly plodding exploration re-setting the high bar that was set and pushed to new heights throughout a remarkable Summer Tour.

The canonical “Sample In A Jar” popped out next, one of the only down-the-middle readings of the night before “Theme From The Bottom” continued the deep vintage storyline of set one. Next, the only tune older than the band members themselves cheekily referenced the changing of scenery and “rubble-ing” of Oak Mountain, as a quick rip through “Old Home Place” represented the night’s only bluegrass turn.

What have they done to the old home place
Why did they tear it down

Given the early start and general acclimation requirements of a new venue, the crowd seemed relatively tepid (again, relatively for a Saturday Phish show) out of the gate and throughout most of set one until the band and Kuroda dropped the gearshift down and never relented.

The 39-minute “Bathtub Gin” / “Runaway Jim” segment looked like it could be the highlight of the show at the time. In any event, “Bathtub Jim” flickered a flashing indicator that a relentlessly brilliant second segment was ahead. “Gin” faded out of structured territory towards a steady and technical patiently-built bridge led by drummer Jon Fishman driving the bus and Page McConnell on the grand piano.

Lighting guru Chris Kuroda began cascading geometric designs overhead (with his endlessly fascinating moving rig) as the band merged into the singular unit so many seek, hose-pipe-ing a superlative 15-minute palette of ego-less psychedelic and pleasantly ambient elegance. Already having delivered a strong 70 minutes (which, on many nights would be a strong enough opening frame), a generous “Runaway Jim” came next as a healthy gift of lagniappe and elevated this night set one from very good to pretty damn great.

“Jim” was stamped noteworthy by the high-octane prog tear Trey Anastasio guided to land the ship as yet another commercial jet crossed above in the flight path to land a few miles away at Birmingham International Airport. Saturday in Birmingham will likely be known as the “Bathtub Jim” show, and for great reason.

Shorter set breaks in recent years have been a welcome change, and, after a brief pause in the action, a 21-minute “Sigma Oasis” was the first Phish tune of the night that debuted in this millennium. The song thematically introduced a set bearing more of the stylistically exhilarating sounds borne in the bountiful post-COVID “4.0” era. The high season that was Summer 2025 seemingly continued, showing no signs of waning after a six-week break.

McConnell led the charge on the first jam of set two, producing textural and sturdy sonic base layers from his laboratory for the rest of the band to build off. The synth-laden movement in the midsection was a lighter manifestation of what was to come later – things took a much darker and cosmic direction as the band flowed to “Down With Disease,” Life Saving Gun,” “Pillow Jets” and “Mountains In The Mist”.

Set two was pedestaled by this 70-minute all-killer segment (sans a breather from band or bathroom break opportunity for fans, and good luck on that – the new venue could use a few more of those), color me spellbound after all that. The standalone highlight of the night for was the dark arts alien drip down “Disease” jam, which filtered out and into the “Life Saving Gun” saga. During “LSG,” the five-headed monster gelled exquisite, and Mr. Kuroda clutched the amphitheater’s full attention, enchanting with an out-of-this-world production while the band piped out digital, dark, dank sounds for several minutes of sheer brilliance.

This was precisely the kind of performance that makes these cross-country adventures feel extremely worth the effort, in addition to time spent with far-flung friends (just a wonderful night when all the right college football teams took the W – this is the South after all (Go Dores! Go Dawgs!).

Deep in set two, the final rush of late plane arrivals flew toward their final destination with great frequency and the crowd began roaring for each jet, reacting with enthusiasm at the marvelous set beginning to take shape before them. I’d love to see the view(s) from above of this scene from the window seats.

After the final exhilarating and stout “Pillow Jets,” (featuring Mike Gordon grating out distorted and maniacal sounds with the power drill) the majestic “Mountains In The Mist” was tonic, as Anastasio poignantly delivered the sentimental song with respectable vocal prowess and delicate, tender and overwhelmingly beautiful riffs.

“Blaze On” was the only fairly pedestrian and lighthearted goofy Phish offering in set two before a late set two “Ghost” marked the final trip to Type II territories to close out an utterly dazzling second set with a high wow factor.

After all that, a single song encore seemed somewhat likely and would’ve been totally forgivable, but The Rolling Stones “Shine A Light” wasn’t quite enough for band or fans and wound into “Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S” to sign off on a final jubilant note.

When the quartet is playing at this level, a lack of bustouts (notably no song played was a 2025 debut), gags or novel song sandwiches can easily be cast aside as entirely unnecessary. Something tells me Sunday may deliver some or all of that anyways …

Saturday in Birmingham was classic, robust, and would’ve been a phenomenal starter course for a newcomer entering the carnival for the first time. Having met a couple of first timers before the show, I’m sure glad for them this was their intro, and I know it won’t be their last.

Onward to Sunday, it’s hard to not be absolutely thrilled by the continued new grounds that are still being broken in Phish’s fifth decade. A magic city (and band) indeed.

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