SPAC At It: Phish Continues Celebratory Weekend In Saratoga Springs

Phish played the penultimate show of this leg of their Summer Tour 2025 on Saturday night, with their second of three concerts at SPAC in Saratoga Springs, New York. The weekend celebrating the end of another successful tour, as well as lighting director Chris Kuroda’s birthday yesterday, laid the groundwork for the second SPAC concert.

The evening’s “Mike’s Song” infused extensive teases of Black Sabbath’s “N.I.B.” and Kuroda’s 60th birthday was commemorated while Phish performed “No Men In No Man’s Land.”

The SPAC Sabbath “Mike’s Song” moment came three songs into the first set, and though not a bust-out “Iron Man” cover, it followed the recent death of rock legend Ozzy Osbourne. Around seven minutes into “Mike’s,” the song’s namesake, bassist Mike Gordon, was first to land on “N.I.B.,” followed by guitarist Trey Anastasio picking up on the protracted nod to The Prince Of Darkness.

Before “Mike’s Song,” Phish took an otherworldly approach to the start of Saturday’s first set, launching the concert with “Martian Monster.” After letting attendees know their trips would be short, Anastasio, Gordon, keyboardist Page McConnell and drummer Jon Fishman kept up the space theme and seamlessly dropped into “Also Sprach Zarathustra” (“2001”), giving the danceable instrumental cover a somewhat rare early-show appearance.

After “Mike’s Song,” the summer’s first “Wading In The Velvet Sea” arrived through Page’s leadership of the nostalgic ballad. Phish closed the loop with a vibrant “Weekapaug Groove” completing the “Mike’s Groove” trifecta.

The first “Sand” since the 40-minute juggernaut played 11 days prior in Philadelphia was selected after the “Mike’s Groove” sequence. The SPAC “Sand” was quite tame in comparison, lasting a little over 11 minutes within the tightly jammed offering colored by Trey’s swirling siren loops.

Set one progressed with a joyful run through “Evolve” and a dynamic “My Friend, My Friend,” the latter punctuated with Trey’s “myfe!” exclamation.

The final song of set one was “No Men In No Man’s Land.” Trey started playing “Happy Birthday To You” during the “NMINML” jam in honor of Chris Kuroda’s birthday. While the band treated CK5 to a musician tribute, the livestream showed the band’s longtime crew member celebrating his 60th.

Like the North Charleston, South Carolina show earlier this summer, a second set, second song “Down With Disease” was the improvisational highlight and anchor of set two. “DWD” trailed the “Oblivion” that brought the foursome out of set break.

The opener chugged along until the band members found their improvisational path outside of the “Oblivion” song structure. The ensuing jam was linear and flowing, unfolding with collective ease among the players onstage. Continuing his notable efforts from the first set, Mike’s assertive bass playing commanded attention from his bandmates and listeners alike.

Mike’s signature bombastic bass intro signaled the start of “Down With Disease.” Placing the arguably absurd only qualifier ahead of the only 24-minute “DWD” at SPAC last night is a testament to the embarrassment of +20-minute jam riches consistently being added to the mix.

The band charged forward with a melody-driven “DWD” jam, initiated by Trey locking into a riff and holding steady while the others coalesced around his ideas. Page responded with equally expressive piano runs, over Mike’s pulsating low end and Fish’s jittery snare rolls. The texture of the groove morphed with Page’s move to synthesizer and Trey establishing a new, intensifying theme.

A frenzied tempo and sense of urgency grew out of the foursome’s aggressive improvising. Each cycle increased the pressure on the collective interplay, like the musicians were goading each other right to the brink of combustion. Several unrelenting minutes of a four-person highwire act on full display, without a net.

New footing was found as the “DWD” jam shifted a final time, orchestrated by loud thumping notes from Mike’s thundering bass. Fish utilized his Marimba Lumina and Mike picked up his drill as an ambient soundscape enveloped SPAC for the hauntingly atmospheric transition into “Light.”

Mike added extra bass mustard to the “Light” intro and kept the forceful notes coming throughout. Similar to the first set’s “Sand,” the second set “Light” revealed a concise but potent jam, presented through thoughtful exchanges and targeted interplay, hitting on a section sounding a bit like XTC’s “Melt The Guns” for a brief moment.

They then triggered “Life Saving Gun” and much like the above descriptor of the “Light” jam, Phish’s 15th attempt at the song, introduced in 2023, was the source of another well-constructed improvised segment. Funky and rhythmic, “Life Saving Gun” was propelled into its jam by the song’s rumbling pulse, again bolstered by Mike’s ongoing tenacity.

With the clock winding down on the second set, a smooth segue into the Billy Breathes beauty “Waste” supplied a brief slowdown ahead of the closer. It was then up to “Fluffhead” to bring the set to a thrilling conclusion.

Longtime setlist staple “Golgi Apparatus” was chosen to begin the two-song encore. The Velvet Underground’s “Rock And Roll” lit up SPAC to bring an end to the night of “fine, fine music.”

Phish wraps this portion of their Summer Tour 2025 tonight with their third and final show at SPAC.

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

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