Phish Returns To Columbus After 25 Years With Roller-Coaster Setlist

Phish walked off the stage at the long-gone Polaris Amphitheater on July 15, 2000, with a fine “Loving Cup” encore and no true sense of when they would return to Columbus. By that point, the band was only a few months out from announcing their hiatus after a run of fall shows that year.

Who could know what the future held for them? Even now, who knows what awaits us each time we walk through the doors to the next night’s show?

Phish returned to a different Columbus last night, to a somewhat undersold one-off weeknight gig at The Ohio State University, and indeed they themselves were different. A lot can change in 25 years. Maybe Trey Anastasio belting out the chorus to “Loving Cup” is the only true constant we have in life.

At any rate, the band served up a well-balanced meal in Ohio’s capital city, a setlist that featured dynamic movement between softer ballads and upbeat, bass-driven rock ‘n’ roll. Nothing got too far out by 2025’s emergent standards, but by and large, the show touched on all melodic corners of what Phish does best these days.

Anchored by a first set-closing “Life Saving Gun,” the show will likely be remembered for its unusual setlist more than anything, particularly its latter-era bustouts in “Petrichor” and “Waiting All Night.” Twin Mike-Gordon-led jams in “A Wave of Hope” and “Piper” held down the second set and will easily find their way into low-key “Jam of the Year” chatter as 2025’s wonder continues. Let’s get into it.

The show opened with “AC/DC Bag,” calling back the Pittsburgh show from just two weeks prior. The similarities between these one-off Rust Belt shows ended at the lyrics, however, as Phish took last night’s version into sunnier planes compared to Pittsburgh’s chugging and overall edgier version. The sunshine continued in Columbus with “Roggae,” the stage bathed in honeyed lights from Chris Kuroda.

The band didn’t waste much time getting into the surprise song selections. Page McConnell’s waterfall keys signalled “Vultures,” and the crowd responded in due fashion. The song ended with its characteristic “woos” from the audience, and, whatever your opinion on all that, the band couldn’t help but indulge a little.

“Martian Monster” followed with eruptions and cheers. Just a shade over four minutes, this one felt like it could have kept going for at least another 20, frankly. The song, as it were, is certainly a bit one-note, but this was the first true peak of energy in the room, and the ending seemed to come a bit too soon.

Not to worry, though. Where “Martian Monster” amped up the crowd, “Mull” delivered on the promise. Of all the “4.0” Mike songs, what few there are, this one has the most legs. It’s a treat, and in a sea of somewhat oddball pairings in the rest of the setlist, “Mull” was the hidden gem of the night. The song itself was a perfectly solid rendition, giving way to a bluesy jam, rich with Allman-esque licks from Trey. Early in the jam, shades of “One Way Out” (not a true tease, merely shades) appeared, which then led into a soaring full-band jam.

“Strawberry Letter 23” returned to Page’s neck of the woods for some lovely melodies before the band dipped into a well-earned “Undermind.” The final half-hour or so of the set was a microcosm of the night: a surprise “Petrichor” call into the best improv of the night in “Life Saving Gun.”

The first “Petrichor” in three years was certainly an unexpected call. Jon Fishman took his place at the marimba lumina behind his kit to start the composition, and, generally speaking, the crowd seemed dialed in. Across six sections of somewhat jarring dynamics, “Petrichor” offers a little bit of something for everyone, yet it remains a hard sell in the middle of a set.

Known mostly as a centerpiece of Trey’s 2014 orchestral work, the song, long as it is, hasn’t truly found a home in Phish setlists since its 2016 iterations. I’d argue that it worked well in Columbus, however, simply as an earnest paean by the band that ultimately teed up what came next. Talk about the art of contrast.

“Life Saving Gun” put Mike in the driver’s seat. Throughout the jam, his synthy Serek bass pulsed and pushed the band into different moods. The bulk of the jam saw the band settle into a groovy, borderline Shpongle-ish space. Mike’s melodic vamp hit two notes over and over, as Trey and Page offered touchy flourishes and Fish kept the snare and cymbals hot. Seek out this jam at all costs.

On paper, thus far, the show was a grab bag of tunes that fit surprisingly well together. The armchair setlist reviewer will find plenty to nit-pick with a show like this, and that’s fine. But the stitching holds up.

While the first set (and, you’ll see, the second set) moves generally from downtempo to uptempo songs and back, the finished product is a fairly polished showcase of 2025 Phish: tight as hell, willing to experiment, dancing across the decades in an ever-expanding catalogue.

Echoing the show-opening “AC/DC Bag,” the second set started with a straightforward “Sample In A Jar.” Immediately following, the band ducked into “A Wave of Hope,” which seemed like it had been in the offing since its last showing in Manchester.

Here was the first of the night’s two tentpole jams in the second set. At 26 minutes, “A Wave Of Hope” covered a lot of territory. Marked less by murky deconstruction and more by intentional movement through multiple passages, the jam continued the night’s position with Mike at the helm. Briefly, around the 18-minute mark, the band took the volume way down and let Page sizzle a bit on the keys, creating a bewitching atmosphere that Trey slowly navigate while Mike maintained a steady low-end bass line. The final rush to the peak was replete with tension and angst, emotions that would ultimately be released about 30 minutes later.

The underrated and long-overlooked “Waiting All Night” made its first appearance since 2021, and then “Axilla (Part II)” brought the energy right back up (you see what we mean about the high-low dynamics of the show?). The back end of the tune segued very nicely into a slightly slower than usual build into “Piper.”

And here arrived the other side of the heart of the set. “Piper” explored somewhat similar territory to “A Wave of Hope,” always roving behind Mike’s bass line and searching for the next phase of the jam, and eventually landing in a wildly joyful Trey-led peak. This was not the all-out bliss-mode jamming that often prompts the white lights from Kuroda; rather, the white lights hit the audience again and again as the band continually circled a psychedelic theme toward the end. This was a dense jam, one that will reward multiple listens.

The landing pad was a well-earned “Lonely Trip,” featuring delicate vocals from Trey and beautiful work from Page. From there, a high-energy spin through “Backwards Down the Number Line” and “Loving Cup” closed out the show proper.

The encore delivered a gorgeous, if somewhat perfunctory, “Bug” followed by “The Mango Song.” What came next was true nightcap catharsis.

It seemed like “Run Like an Antelope” had been lurking on tour for the past few weeks, finally pouncing on Columbus. The room practically burst when Trey poured out the opening notes. It’s not the longest “Antelope” on record, but it was precisely the finale that the night demanded.

All your tension-and-release dreams were drawn up in technicolor as Trey led the band at full gallop toward the benediction. The band blazed past an 11:30 p.m. curfew to ensure that we got the message.

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Livestream Phish’s Summer Tour 2025 concerts via LivePhish.com.

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