Phish Infects North Charleston With 34-Minute ‘Down With Disease’

Phish rolled into North Charleston, South Carolina on Friday night, the first of another three-night run. This tour has six three-night runs (including Hampton), four of which are indoors. They’re back indoors again, and after a day off, they headed into this one at North Charleston Coliseum with ambition and energy.

Is the switch from an outdoor to an indoor venue going to give the crowd and band some more comfort and energy? Are we back to the “it’s all about the energy” era, where compositions are secondary to the jamming? These are questions we were asking going into Friday night’s show.

The first set showed the band getting comfortable with runs through “Free,” then “Rift,” and in the third slot came “Spanish Moon.” Phish hadn’t performed the Little Feat classic since their October 2023 three-night stand at Chicago’s United Center. Next up was “Reba” without the whistling. The “Reba” jam was short, but was heart-wrenching for a few moments, wringing the feeling out of this dependable crowd favorite.

We heard the first “Devotion to a Dream” in 322 shows, which was a bit apparent based on the playing. And this tour has been full of bustouts and songs dusted off after a while on the shelf. You can hear the dust on some of them, but the flip side is it shows the band is loose, open, comfortable and willing to take risks — which pays off in the jams.

In “The Final Hurrah,” we saw some of the payoff of this approach. It was the first time played in nearly a year (August 4, 2024), and it stretched out into a nice, relaxed groove, that turned toward a peak at the end. The band was relaxed with nowhere to go for a few days.

Trey was eager to get into “My Mind’s Got a Mind of Its Own,” the first in 149 shows, teasing the riff before launching into a solid version. “Hey Stranger” was next, giving Page and Trey room to turn on the effects in another slow tempo but satisfying jam.

Set one ended with “Taste,” and a full white-lights “Walls of the Cave,” sending fans into setbreak full of breathless anticipation.

Set two kicked off with “Slow Llama”! This was the song before “the jam,” one of my favorite moves of the past several years. On the Helping Friendly Podcast, we often talk about the inevitability of “Down With Disease.” Often, I have to ignore the nagging feeling of “again?” because it almost always delivers something special.

This “DWD” was a true adventure. In the first part of the jam, Trey was chord vamping in sync with Page’s piano, then they all slowed down a bit, and it got a little darker, like climbing down a ladder into the dankness of the sewer, or maybe like a boat going under the surface of the ocean.

We’re submerged, then Trey went into the major key and pushed the jam back up toward the light. Then back down again, and our boat was capsized — effects pushing us underwater, and then we rose again, fighting the huge waves.

After 18 minutes, we’ve conquered the storm, and we’re back on calm seas. The sun is out, our clothes have started to dry, the beauty of being at sea has returned.

Then, about 21 minutes in, the band appeared on the deck of the boat and started a big dance party! Page on piano, Trey with a grungy tone that pushed the jam forward. Tempo was totally manageable, not too fast, but never stopped.

From there, they built to a full-band peak, with Trey sustaining notes and holding it to the end, earning the big, celebratory, trilling finale, before they returned to the song for a brief finish.

Three songs were the longest played versions in their #phish histories last night: The Final Hurrah: 11:35 (the previous longest was 12/28/18 at 10:02) Down With Disease: 34:12 (the previous longest was 4/21/24 at 33:26) Sightless Escape: 17:03 (the previous longest was 1/31/25 at 12:52)

— Scott Marks (@bizarchive.bsky.social) Jul 12, 2025 at 10:20 AM

Following this huge adventure, we’re back in it with “Twist” — grungy, spacey, short and setting up a fun duel between Mike, Page and Trey. A trip to “The Well” followed.

“Sightless Escape” came next, another surprise and a balance of the approach of performing songs that haven’t been played in a while, which overlaps with the freedom to jam. A loose and free-sounding upbeat jam emerged, a reminder that any song can get “out there.”

The set ended with standard versions of “Chalk Dust Torture” and “Suzy Greenberg,” and they encored with a one-two of “When the Circus Comes” and “First Tube.”

The unpredictability, openness and patience that came from this show led me to believe that we are in for another two nights of adventure on the high seas, leaving from the port city of North Charleston.

---

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

---

Want more Phish stats?

Visit JamBase’s The Skinny Hub

More Skinny

Additional Videos

Poster