Phish Delivers 4-Song 2nd Set In Noblesville

Phish proved the old adage correct last night when they delivered a Sunday show for the ages to close their three-night stand at the concert venue formerly known as Deer Creek. Marking their 30th-32nd performances at Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana dating back to 1995, they came on stage to close the run with purpose and intent – mixing unique song selection in the first set with absolutely massive jams in the second.

The band took the stage in the continuously humid weather and played an 11-song set consisting almost entirely of 2024 debuts, beginning with “Party Time.” Kasvot Växt cut “The Final Hurrah” led into the 103-show bustout of “Knuckle Bone Broth Avenue,” breaking out the Sci-Fi Soldier tune on the shelf since June 1, 2022.

The trend of shorter songs continued through “Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan” and a return to Halloween with “The Dogs” – though keyboardist Page McConnell‘s accidental triggering of the Chilling, Thrilling “Timber” intro sample gave hope that it might one day return.

“Destiny Unbound” led into the first song already seen in 2024 with “46 Days,” which quickly mellowed out and opened into a buttery major-key zone thanks to McConnell’s Rhodes work and guitarist Trey Anastasio‘s warm leads. Drummer Jon Fishman sent out heavy washes of ride cymbal as the band built to a solid peak, dipping into Type II improv for the first time during the show. Anastasio’s guitar tone and playing have been especially clear and precise this tour, with the return of his classic Mesa Boogie/Languedoc cabinet setup to the stage.

Coming down from the peak, it seemed as though “46 Days” was poised to move into a new vein of improv but a missed cue from Anastasio caused a rocky and abrupt re-entry into the song’s conclusion instead. Recovering nicely through the first “McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters” of the year, a nice evening “Wingsuit” gave way to a quick “Meatstick” and incendiary “Run Like an Antelope” to close the set.

With some sloppy moments and almost no extended jamming, I won’t deny that I was somewhat concerned going into the second frame – in some other modern-era shows where the first set focused on rarities (see 7/20/16), the second hasn’t had a large emphasis on jamming. Fortunately for all of us, Phish went in the complete other direction last night and delivered just the fourth four-song set since 2004 (joining 10/17/21, 2/25/22, and 4/17/23), loaded with over an hour of astounding improv.

Before diving into the jams themselves (I have a LOT to say), I do want to mention that it’s truly remarkable that in their 41st year as a band, Phish’s improv remains engaging and interesting on a nightly basis – not only are they still playing long jams, but they are evolving constantly, creating new themes and finding new spaces. After last night’s show, 2024’s six +30-minute jams stand as the second-most played in a single year, trailing 1995’s nine (note: this does not include soundcheck jams or festival secret sets).

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

Want more Phish stats?

Visit JamBase’s The Skinny Hub

More Skinny

Back to Deer Creek. Phish came out for the second frame and swaggered into “Ghost,” taking their time on a patient intro reminiscent of the song’s late 90s heyday, complete with some ambient sounds from Anastasio and bassist Mike Gordon.

The jam began in a relaxed zone, McConnell initially working in gentle piano lines around Anastasio’s rhythm work. Within seconds, Anastasio initiated a modulation into a major key, hanging back and continuing to let the piano lead the improv while subtly pushing McConnell in different directions.

Returning to a minor space after a brief spell, the band locked in behind Fish’s steady pace and the other three musicians began sharing musical phrases, finishing each other’s melodies and syncing up nicely for a few moments.

It became clear quickly that all four members were ready to commit to the modulation the second time it came around, Anastasio leading the charge into a bright and joyful space, effortlessly building into a patient bliss jam. Hinting at “Mountain Jam,” as he loves to do so often, Anastasio’s instant earworm licks inspired McConnell as the two musicians linked back up in some incredibly fluid conversation. While some may say that easy major-key bliss is an “easy way out” for Phish at times – and there are some that can feel that way – this initial segment of “Ghost” was anything but.

Fresh and inspired, Anastasio transitioned from lead work to chordal rhythms, infusing some delay in as the band began to pivot to its next section. McConnell’s addition of Wurlitzer electric piano into the space, along with his piano, took the jam down from the happy place and into a spacier, exploratory zone. Gordon dug in on a heavy, thumping style as Phish once again exhibited their commitment to more grounded play on this tour. After synthesizer tones dominated much of the 4.0 era before this summer from both Anastasio and McConnell, it has been refreshing to hear the two musicians use those effects more sparingly, focusing instead on their incredible connection through melodies, as mentioned above.

Not to say that there has been a complete absence of synth from the band, however, with Gordon’s new pedals adding some wild layers to the sound, as he began to do as “Ghost” continued. Returning to a major-key build, the band coasted upon the wave of joy they had created, with the heavy undertone of the bass synth effect, adding an excellent juxtaposition of moods.

At the apex of the peak, Anastasio transitioned his soloing into heavier rock riffing, and Fish responded in kind by pushing up the tempo and intensity. Anastasio threw in one last reference to his bliss hook as the jam finally began to descend into a minor key, getting heavier with each passing second.

The guitarist began toying with some stop/start motifs, searching for the next vein of inspiration as he and McConnell eventually landed on a riff together. The power of the rhythm section’s prowess was especially evident here as Fish and Gordon worked in perfect tandem to create a churning base.

Heading into more ambient territory, “Ghost” threatened to space out into nothing atop Gordon’s sparkling effects and Anastasio’s drawn-out sustain, but the guitarist had other ideas and continued to play, pushing the jam past the 20-minute mark. Fish initiated a more charging beat, but toyed with ambience more by stopping his playing then powering forward out of the haze. Anastasio latched onto the higher-intensity idea along with McConnell (and someone produced some cat noises??) as another gorgeous major-key idea took shape.

Hitting another strong peak, Anastasio seemed content to continue his exploration of bliss themes as Fish once again took the lead on a pivot into a faster zone. I continue to reference McConnell and Anastasio’s incredible telepathy, which has been such an important part of 2024 improvisation – once again on full display here. Chasing each other down a descending melody as the jam mellowed out once again, Gordon infused ambient textures into the space as McConnell’s Wurlitzer work hinted at some “Bathtub Gin”-like themes.

Pushing forward into the next section, it seemed as though we were destined for a charging rock peak, but Anastasio instead dropped into a half-time darker zone. McConnell finally went into synth world via Moog One and sent waves crashing across the audience as the filthy guitar locked in with Fish to create aggression.

Anastasio turned to his wah for some extra rock vibes and involved some wild whammy sweeps as McConnell’s heavy layers of Moog began to take over into full evil Phish mode. Briefly hinting at an ascending build, the cloud of scuzz became all-encompassing, each member of the band adding to the jam before Anastasio initiated a return to “Ghost” proper as the set-opening jam eased past the 30-minute mark – making it the second-longest in the song’s history behind the IT Festival version from 8/3/03.

The first “Soul Planet” since last year gave much of the crowd a needed bathroom break – though the song proper barely lasted two minutes before the band was back in improvisational territory, on their way to another 25 minutes of serious jamming.

The improv began in a driving space thanks to Fish, the rest of the band stretching out and getting back into the flow of things. Anastasio emphasized double hits at the beginning of each phrase with a heavy tone, some light delay keeping things ringing out. McConnell quickly went back to Wurlitzer as Anastasio toyed with a melody similar to “Wolfman’s Brother” before blending his clean guitar signal with his bass synth effect, giving a very cool contrast as the music got busier.

Ring modulator entered the fray next, demonstrating that this would not be quite as bliss-oriented as “Ghost” had been (shoutout to guitar tech Justin Stabler for the quick on-stage save of the off-kilter pedal). Gordon joined Anastasio in synth world as McConnell kept things grounded on Wurlitzer.

Fish kept the tempo driving perfectly as McConnell moved to piano and then Fender Rhodes atop a major modulation from Anastasio, who coloured the background with subtle loops as he began to pick out a beautiful melody.

The jam got even faster as McConnell began to add layers of CS60 synth overtop everything, even as Anastasio found a new vein of inspiration. McConnell’s use of synthesizer (now back to Moog) was augmented by Gordon’s own effects as the jam soared. Less than 13 minutes in and already in a mind-blowing Type II space.

Calling back to the synth-drenched majesty of the 10/16/21 “Carini,” Phish locked in as one and exploded into a towering peak jam, Anastasio confidently leading the way through an emotive passage of melodies as Fish refused to let one drop of momentum abate.

Fish returned to the “Soul Planet” beat as the peak ran its course, and Anastasio’s initial chordal vamps might have signalled a return to the song – but the band was locked in and ready for more.

A funkier tone took over with Anastasio’s delay work mimicking McConnell’s aggressive piano before Gordon’s high-register playing pushed the band in a new direction. It was time for a spell of darkness as Fish dropped the tempo down (more cat sounds??) and McConnell and Gordon began to spar, Anastasio descending into a textural role on delayed synth-filter guitar.

McConnell resisted the urge to go full synth mode once again and stuck to bouncy Wurli and piano, inspiring Anastasio to come up from the murk and hit into some wah funk. Gordon kept things heavy on the low end as the band continued to rip through the jam.

Existing somewhere between light and dark, this funked-out section was one of the best pieces of music played last night as Anastasio entered into a space similar to “Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan” smoothly without fully teasing the riff.

The band hit a rocking peak with a raucous response from the crowd as Anastasio led into one final build, confirming that the ocean IS, in fact, love – how could it not be after a jam like that?

Coming down and quickly spacing out, Anastasio led the band gently into the beginning of the first “Billy Breathes” since October 15, 2021 – a gap of 128 shows and the longest since the song’s debut in 1995.

The gorgeous cool-down pushed the set past the 60-minute mark as the band kicked off “Split Open and Melt,” all but confirming that we would be treated to the ultra-rare four-song frame. Dipping immediately into the controlled chaos that is typical of recent versions, Fish hung back at first to let the other three band members fill in the space with their effects.

McConnell’s restraint from synths continued at first here, adding gentle piano as a counterpoint to Anastasio and Gordon’s swirling tones – eventually turning dissonant and building on the rising wave of tension.

Acting in no hurry at all, the band patiently built tension before finally opening the floodgates on deep-space sounds, creating a perfect storm of cacophony atop the off-kilter drumbeat (with some “Stealing Time” quotes from Gordon), synthesizers coming together for a massively evil cloud with a blinking light at its heart, Anastasio mimicking a satellite lost in the reaches of outer space. A quick return to the song ended off the 77-minute, four-song second set.

Coming out for the encore, Anastasio took a moment to extend his gratitude to the Indiana crowd for coming back to see them at Deer Creek for so many years and how much fun they continue to have ahead of a beautiful “Slave to the Traffic Light” to close the weekend.

While this summer tour has produced its share of inconsistent sets and moments, it has overall been an incredible run for the band who continues to produce mind-blowing improv on a near-nightly basis.

Five shows remain until Mondegreen – tour continues tomorrow night with the first of two nights at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, marking Phish’s first stop there since 1998. Webcasts are available for purchase via LivePhish.com..

Additional Videos

Posters