Sphere We Go Again: Phish Launches 2nd Weekend In Las Vegas

After an introductory first weekend at the Las Vegas Sphere, Phish returned to the technologically enhanced venue on Thursday to kick off the second of three weekends of this year’s nine-show residency. Outstanding improvisation, particularly in the second set, framed the fourth show of the run, with equally impressive visual elements to match.

The interior of The Barn, the band’s recording studio in Vermont, served as the visual piece before the show started and would surface again at set break and various other times.

Guitarist Trey Anastasio counted in his bandmates to set the tempo of the show-opening “46 Days.” The Barn behind, above and beside them broke open into wooden, angular, geometric shapes, making a tunnelling effect. Instruments were brought into the picture, eventually landing in place inside a reformed Barn.

The come-to-be rarity, “Guyute,” arrived in the two slot. Chris Kuroda’s virtual light rig was employed as accompaniment. While the four musicians traversed the rigorously challenging composed “Guyute” sections, Kuroda’s signature synchronicity with them came through massively beautiful arrays of lights that shifted around in colorful combinations.

A soundtrack for Sin City if there ever was one, “Maze” was paired with framed Phish concert posters of past jutting out from the wall, which shifted into the world of David Welker’s Rift cover art and a glimpse at the namesake maze represented within the iconic blue imagery. The same visual was used when Phish played “Rift” last weekend.

The playful sounds of the intro to “Esther” brought a carnival-like feeling into the circular room. A sparkling gold chalice next to a shoreline, transitioned into an otherworldly waterfall landscape, synching up at times with lyrics about lakes and water. The juxtaposition of the natural world with ornate, non-natural structures is reminiscent of Festival 8 art installations.

An improvisational highlight of set one, “Gumbo” came next and saw the band draped by an animated desertscape with yolk-like sun rising over rolling hills of sand and cacti. “Hot sand” lyrics sung during “Gumbo” matched what being shown on the screen.

The animated sky went dark and the sun turned to a white moon, later morphing into a cartoonish marble race course, while rhythmic jamming took hold, bassist Mike Gordon played a leading role with keyboardist Page-McConnell’s synths co-starring. When Trey did run leads, he tracked toward the rhythmic foundation being collectively built.

A wild checkerboard visual developed as the “Gumbo” jam powered on, Angine de Poitrine could have blended into this visual element. Circling back to the desertscape – now at night – coincided with landing back at the ending of “Gumbo,” and Page’s dazzling piano solo as the sun set behind the desert hills.

Trey switched to an acoustic guitar before the ensuing “Brian And Robert” and a hyper realistic depiction of the woods, with large trees, ferns, other flora, and glimpses of a blue sky were somewhat ironically paired with the song’s “You’re just staring at your walls” lyrics.

“Stash” brought the room back to the bubble gum world – like “Split Open And Melt” last week – with claymation-style characters chewing gum and an army of feet stepping on wads of gum across a Mars-like gummy landscape. “Stash” developed into a blissful, hopeful cadence, not the brain-breaking noise machine jams of late. There was sweet, delicate interplay among the foursome, leaving plenty of room to breathe, embellished by drummer Jon-Fishman’s dramatic flourishes on the floor toms.

“Moonage Daydream,” debuted by Phish on Halloween over at the MGM Grand nearly 10 years ago when their musical costume was David Bowie’s The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, punctuated the first set. A colorful torrential downpour of lights – Lite-Brite on steroids – flanked the band while they played the Bowie classic.

A view looking out of The Barn windows was depicted during the evening’s set break. When Phish came back for the second set, “The Curtain With” was chosen as the opener. Red lined graphics formed on the screen in a wavy pattern that eventually projected a trippy look at Trey playing below.

Outstanding improvisational moments unfolded repeatedly over the next 37-minutes that began with “Fuego” getting paired with a trip to the dentist and journey inside a mouth and through a winding river of rubber duckys, astronauts on inner tubes and mechanical lungs.

The “Fuego” jam – which LivePhish labeled “Dark Puddle” – did indeed get dark and menacing, enveloping an amorphic structure while Mike leaned deeply into a pulsating low end. Complete darkness in the room matched the sounds emanating around the spherical room. Fish played the Marimba Lumina to add to the otherworldliness of the dramatic jamming.

The expansive auditory experience continued with end of the dentist visit giving way to the return of Kuroda’s virtual lighting rig. Trey locked into a riff to navigate the others out of the noise and Mike’s bubbly bassline quickly joined and co-steered the path forward.

Deep into the “Fuego” jam, Mike was vocalizing certain “Fuego” lyrics like “viking warrior.” The tempo increased and Trey briefly toyed with a familiar melody as the virtual lights burst with equal intensity and the momentum of the jam soared to new heights.

Out of the dark puddle emerged the often covered TV On The Radio song “Golden Age.” Kuroda kept shape shifting lighting patterns, at times resembling fireworks, while the band found their way back into heavy jamming. Musically shape shifting in similar fashion to the colors on the video screen, elements of “Fuego” came into play for a lengthy tease.

A joyous jaunt through “Backwards Down the Number Line” narrowed the focus after the previous massive bouts of improvisation. Phish punched up “Cavern” next, with the visuals shifting to stacks of pillars resembling the structure of a pipe organ.

A false closer, at the end of “Cavern” Trey thanked the audience but then followed with the actual second set ender, “Possum.” A creepy web of tangled tree roots formed on the screen in conjunction with Phish ripping through “Possum,” bursts of lightning-esque jolts at times linked perfectly with Fish’s snare snaps.

The encore started with the classic “Fee” sung partly through a megaphone by Trey. The band was shown on the screen mirrored as if looking through a kaleidoscope. The encore kept going with “Tube” as spatial rows of dotted lights danced and flowed around the group.

One more song was left to be played with “More” bringing the night to an end with stained glass windows appearing as part of the last visual components.

---

Phish’s second of three Sphere weekends continues on Friday, April 24 and Saturday, April 25. Livestreams of all nine Phish Sphere shows are available to purchase through nugs and LivePhish.

---

Buy Phish Sphere 2026 Livestreams

---

Want more Phish stats?

Visit JamBase’s The Skinny Hub

More Skinny

Posters