Starting Off New In New Hampshire: Phish Begins Summer Tour 2025 In Manchester

On Friday night, Phish played a concert packed to the gills with firsts. For starters, it was the first show of the band’s 2025 Summer Tour and their first show in Manchester, New Hampshire’s SNHU Arena since 2010.

The evening also marked two significant changes to Phish’s audio-visual presentation: the premiere of Trey Anastasio's “Koa 1.5” guitar; and the band’s return to their original side-by-side formation for the first time since 2012.

Whether they were fueled by all the newness in the air or they were simply feeling it, the band played spectacularly, dropping two sets with polish and flow–and a whole host of excellent jams.

The quartet opened with a classic one-two punch: “The Moma Dance” and “Back On The Train,” both of which had a bit of extra pep in their step. But the bulk of the set’s pep was reserved for the following two songs: “Wolfman’s Brother” and “Theme From the Bottom.” All four band members were pulling their weight in “Wolfman’s,” Mike Gordon played some nasty slap-bass over Page McConnell's clavinet, while Trey funked along and Jon Fishman assaulted his cymbals.

The “Wolfman’s” jam went bliss mode before the band turned to “Theme From the Bottom.” Once again in “Theme,” Trey played some good old-fashioned rhythm guitar, and the jam only got better as a result. It slipped into a funk groove that probably served as a better tribute to the recently departed Sly Stone than any cover song could have. The year’s first “Old Home Place” was followed by a strong suite to close the set: “46 Days,” “Birds Of A Feather” and “Slave To The Traffic Light.”

The second set opened with quick runs through “Bouncing Around the Room” and “Sample in a Jar,” which in retrospect felt like a bluff meant to fool fans into thinking that they wouldn’t be treated to any jamming in the second set. Spoiler alert: no one went home complaining about the lack of jams.

“Life Saving Gun” was like a journey through space, with the band transporting the crowd from one improvisatory planet to another, with just enough time to explore each one before moving to other uncharted lands. The “Twist” that followed paid homage to “Life Saving Gun” with repeated teases before finding its own brilliant groove, only to settle on a ferocious, evil passage.

A fine but shorter “Piper” served as a bridge to the set’s final great jam, “Everything’s Right.” Throughout the show, the band’s communication was exceptional: perhaps thanks to being less than two months removed from their spring tour, they sounded fully locked in, with barely a hint of any tour-opening rust. Their interplay was on full display in “Everything’s Right,” as the quartet seemed to treat melodies like a football–tossing them up in the air, passing them around, and ultimately, in the song’s ultimate climax, spiking them.

After a massive second set, the band still had a three-song encore in them, treating the crowd to the first “Strange Design” of the year, a lovely “Harry Hood,” and a rousing “Suzy Greenberg.”

Phish returns to the SNHU Arena for the second of three shows on Saturday night. Livestreams of all of Phish’s Summer Tour 2025 concerts are available via LivePhish.com.

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Photos by Jamie Soja

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