Phish Stares Straight Into The Future With 26-Minute ‘Kill Devil Falls’ At Dick’s

In their 41st year as a band, Phish played their 41st show at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park last night after two incredible shows to start the run. The Friday night show alone contained three songs that crossed the 20-minute mark and featured some of their strongest improvisation of the year. Phish took to the stage a few minutes after 8 p.m. MT on Saturday night and delivered another strong show with excellent flow, a commitment to jamming and relentless energy.

“46 Days” threw the show into high gear right away. The band stretched out quickly playing a dark and dramatic jam to open the show, reminding fans of the fantastic version played two weeks ago at Mondegreen, the band’s first festival in nine years. Both versions were only around 10 minutes but packed a punch. A solid opener, it’s nice to see grit and power from the band right out of the gate.

The number two slot has been promising lately and this “Oblivion” was no exception. The new song off the Evolve album had some big moments in its debut year last year and last night’s version was the longest of 2024. At almost 19 minutes, this version coasts along effortlessly, demonstrating something that would prove to be a theme in this show: a willingness to allow improvisation to breathe and not feel rushed to move on quickly. Strong communication and tremendous playing from bassist Mike Gordon gave the jam a spacious feeling and allowed the band to meander, in the best way possible. The band has been switching between the two versions of “Axilla” on this tour, last night they chose to play “Axilla (Part II).” The powerful song had a slow melt ending with “Bathtub Gin” emerging beautifully from the ambience.

“Bathtub Gin” made its sixth appearance this summer and was just shy of the 20-minute mark. The incredible communication between keyboardist Page McConnell and guitarist Trey Anastasio was on display as the lighting designer Chris Kuroda made undulating waves of lights over the stage. The jam developed into a sick funk groove with drummer Jon Fishman maintaining an unreal pace that allowed the others to stretch and dance on top. Gordon played melodically giving the jam a slightly ominous tone. Trey answered that by building inspired peaks to close the jam.

Great versions of “Undermind” and “Maze” followed and allowed McConnell to shine, demonstrating why we call him the Chairman of the Boards. The mid-nineties classic “Free” was a showcase for Gordon, who is having an unbelievable summer, playing with authority and clarity. Closing the excellent first set was “Most Events Aren’t Planned.” From Page’s side project, Vida Blue, this song is over 20 years old but made its Phish debut in 2017. An incredible version also closed set one during their show at Mohegan Sun on 7/24/24. That version capitalized on smaller arena energy and had the crowd roaring with the powerful descending chord riffs that end the song. It’s a fantastic way to put an exclamation point on the end of a set.

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

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Set 2 opened with almost an hour of nonstop playing, which included some connected and inspired improvisation. First up was a song most commonly seen in the encore slot, “Loving Cup.” The last time the Rolling Stones cover opened the second set was in Phoenix in the fall of 2021. It works well as the amuse-bouche before a big jam in spot two.

“Kill Devil Falls” has an impressive batting average as of late, with multiple excellent versions since the monster Syracuse version last summer. This summer’s versions from Bethel and Mohegan Sun are worth a relisten. At 25 minutes, last night’s “Kill Devil Falls” was the longest in the band’s history (beating current record holder 7/31/15 from Atlanta). The jam found an optimistic tone early on and grew in intensity. As it began to settle the band didn’t feel rushed to move on but continued to play within the quieter dynamics. Fishman’s drumming pushed Trey to find a repetitive riff and he built towards that classic Phish peak we all know and love. Continuing post-peak, Mike got his drill out, Trey tore apart a riff, Page kept it grounded on the piano, and then it all started to fall apart (in a good way). A missed pedal made for a clumsy transition into a new (to Phish) song on its third outing this summer.

The Anastasio/Marshall/Herman tune “What’s Going Through Your Mind” had a big showing in Mondegreen with a 25-minute version that launched one of the best sets of the festival. This jam was percussive and tense and Trey played with distortion over the tension. Again the band moved through many quieter sections and stuck with the jam. The Talking Heads’ “Crosseyed & Painless” also got taken out for a walk and peaked tremendously.

“Split Open and Melt” has been played four times this summer but in every other show, it has closed the second set. This version continued the great flow of the set and added some weirdness with its typical noise jam, but it was not one of the wild exploratory versions we have seen in this song’s renaissance over the last few years. Just over a year after its debut, “Monsters” had its third showing of the summer and fit well in this slot late in the fourth quarter. A masterclass in tone and rock god shredding, Trey tore the song apart and then the band put it back together with its classic rock refrain. “Carini” closed the set and although it was under ten minutes, it had some real moments of intrigue. A classic encore of “Bug” and “First Tube” closed out night three at Dick’s.

This run has been strong for a few reasons. One reason is the band’s commitment to playing improvisationally. The band’s ability to find interesting places quickly, pull from different eras of improvisation, and sit in quiet places for longer makes these jams feel effortless. Leaning into new music is another factor. New music continues to fuel the band’s creativity and big jams often develop out of brand new songs. Finally, returning to venues where they feel comfortable tends to be successful for the band. This is their 13th year playing Dick’s and it remains true that they love it.

It’s been quite a run so far, and I think we’re all excited to see how the band closes out not only this run, but what has been one of their strongest and most consistent tours of the modern era.

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Phish concludes Summer Tour 2024 tonight, Sunday, September 1 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Livestreams are available via LivePhish.com.

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