Rose City Return: Phish Plays In Portland For 1st Time Since 1999

Phish wrapped up the Pacific Northwest leg of their 2025 Spring Tour last night with their first appearance in Portland, Oregon since 1999. Building on the previous two nights in Seattle, the band delivered two jam-heavy sets to one of the highest-energy Phish crowds I’ve ever felt outside of an MSG show to celebrate Easter, 420, and the inaugural National Live Music Day in style.

Wasting no time, a “46 Days” opener set the tone by diving right into the jams. Early on in the improv, bassist Mike Gordon activated a space-age synth-filter effect, bolstering guitarist Trey Anastasio’s leads with a thick and heavy sound. The whole band felt loose and warm from the jump, melding on several collective musical phrases before Anastasio slowly pushed them toward a major-key modulation with a well-timed blast of sustain.

Emerging into a sunny motif, keyboardist Page McConnell laid down some bright piano chords while Anastasio stuck to a clean rhythmic vamp, eventually switching to lead work to begin a patient peak build under the steady hand of drummer Jon Fishman.

As the band soared through their first Type II white-light peak of the show, the packed arena answered with an exuberant cheer, arms raised in joy and celebration as Anastasio’s confident and insistent trilling brought things back into “46 Days” proper.

A classic two-slot “The Moma Dance” led into “Cities,” a nice one-two punch of some dancey funk before Anastasio stumbled upon the opening riff to “Plasma” only a few notes into the Talking Heads cover’s jam.

Sticking close to form at first, Anastasio probed with active play as McConnell laid down a soft foundation of Wurlitzer electric piano. Adding in some subtle loops, Anastasio led the band into an ultra-calm zone, spacing out with some phaser-like tones as McConnell continued his mellow approach on Wurli.

Gordon laid down textures with some insistent higher-register playing as the band continued to develop the patient and spacey motif, Anastastio’s phrasing taking on an almost “Stash”-like quality for a spell before the band executed a smooth major modulation.

McConnell added some minimalist Moog One synth tones to the mix as Anastasio began to weave a melodic tapestry, Fish matching his increase in energy with harder tom and snare hits. Gordon once again upped the ante with the introduction of a synth effect, the “Plasma” jam suddenly became very busy and sonically dense, where it had been serene and calm only a little bit earlier.

The fluidity with which the peak emerged and was built from there was nothing short of astounding, as Anastasio’s blistering runs elicited massive cheers from the crowd as Phish hit a sustained burst of sheer joy and energy to bring the 16-minute jam to a close. Perhaps a bit too eager, Anastasio cued a somewhat rocky re-entry into “Plasma” ahead of “Bouncing Around the Room.”

Maybe the coffee in Oregon was particularly strong yesterday, but the band failed to sync up on their classic number, Anastasio in particular attempting to push the band into a faster tempo and forgetting his own part in the vocal round with a hyperactivity that would continue through the rest of the show.

Brushing off the flubs, the guitarist ripped straight into “Sigma Oasis,” delivering the night’s centrepiece jam and longest version of the 4.0 staple played to date.

Kicking into the guitar solo at a brisk tempo, Fish took an early lead to what would be a monstrous rhythmic showcase with some insisted ride cymbal work, Anastasio only spending a little bit of time in the raging Type I space before driving things into uncharted waters.

Sticking to a rocking motif at first, Anastasio found a theme to work around that was quickly matched by McConnell, the keyboardist throwing in insistent piano work as the guitarist continued to soar through his leads.

The extended raging section eventually gave way to a new modulation, Fish once again refusing to let go of a single drop of momentum as Anastasio layered loops and delays to create a swirling cloud of peaky guitar. Beginning to come down from the screaming energy that had dominated the first half of the “Sigma” jam, Gordon pushed to the forefront with some aggressive fills as Anastasio dug into a repeated rhythmic pattern and the whole band flirted with turning things minor.

Committing to that pivot, the rhythm section continued to shine with an absolutely relentless assault, though each of the four band members was playing with a high level of aggression and power. A colossal peak developed as the jam blew past the 20-minute mark, Phish completely honed in on each other as they brought the third standout jam of the first set to a blistering close, once again getting the arena to cheer in delight at the powerful music.

Keeping the energy going, Anastasio unleashed a wild, seat-of-your-pants take on “Run Like an Antelope” before a sing-along “Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.,” brought the high-quality first frame to a close.

Read on after The Skinny for the rest of the recap and more.

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The second set got off to a decisive and auspicious start with “A Wave of Hope,” Fish continuing his leadership role from the first set with a brisk ride-led beat that Anastasio colored with delayed riffs early on.

Getting into an exploratory zone, McConnell went to an elastic patch on his Moog One, Anastasio leaning into shearing off blocks of delayed sound as Phish opened the portal into the unknown and became shared pieces of a singular brain. Anastasio led the way into the next section with some gritty and rocking riffs, developing a number of different themes in succession as McConnell utilized a minimalist chord approach to contrast with the unrelenting pressure of Fish’s groove.

Beginning the descent into the darkness, Anastasio dove deep into his effects toolkit for some dive-bomb delays and reverbs, being matched almost immediately by Gordon’s intense cloud of synths. McConnell took the opportunity to push forward into more of a lead role, his articulate notes blending with Anastasio’s choppy delay work atop Fish’s steady hand on the ride cymbal.

Continuing in the rhythm-dominated zone, McConnell threw in floaty and jazzy Wurlitzer chords as things truly began to go off the rails, Anastasio’s ring modulator effect signalling that it was time for some true weird Phish. The jam faded into a brief dreamlike interlude, Fish slowing his pace for the first time and weaving into the snare-tapping beat of “Twist,” wrapping up an incredibly intense and powerful 18-minute “A Wave of Hope.”

The playful bounce of “Twist” gave way to “Scents And Subtle Sounds,” which started as a contrast to the sheer power and aggression of “Sigma” and “Wave of Hope,” opening into a sunny and beautiful major-key space with hints of “Mountain Jam.”

One of the top things about this tour so far has been the dexterity that Anastasio has been playing with, and his long-form peak build within “Scents” saw some truly head-spinning runs and trills, his recent solo tour continuing to pay dividends with arpeggio after arpeggio, McConnell ducking and weaving with melodic contributions of his own on piano.

I feel as though it is truly impossible to listen to this “Scents” without feeling an overwhelming sense of joy, exuberance, and a little bit of disbelief that a band in their 42nd year can unlock improvisation with this kind of power and articulation – nothing short of spectacular.

With a looped line of sustain, it seemed as though we might be in for a post-peak venture off into the weird, but Anastasio instead opted for “Everything’s Right,” beginning the fourth-quarter jukebox segment that pops up frequently when the guitarist is a little bit over-excited.

The all-too-brief “ER” jam segued hilariously into “Boogie On Reggae Woman,” played in a higher key than normal – though Anastasio performed admirably in his vocal delivery and the Moda Center crowd absolutely loved it. From there, the band weaved a smooth segue into “2001,” the late-set dance party more than delivered as Portland brought sheer volume of energy to the instrumental Phish cover classic.

“A Life Beyond the Dream” offered a breather ahead of a gorgeous “If I Only Had A Brain”-infused “Harry Hood” to close the second set, Anastasio powerfully building to a strong and emotional climax as is the custom.

A two-song encore of “Wilson” and “Slave to the Traffic Light” saw both songs taken at an atypically fast pace, Anastasio’s eagerness and hyperactivity extending through the end of the show as he thanked the Portland crowd with a huge smile to send us off into the night.

With a day off tonight, the band heads down to California for two intimate nights at San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium this week before wrapping things up with three at Los Angeles’ iconic Hollywood Bowl over the weekend, and if the PNW shows were any indication, things are only going to get better from here as the band spends more time onstage together.

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