‘It’s Been Too Long’: Phish Returns To Madison’s Kohl Center For Summer Tour Opener

Phish made a long-awaited return to the Kohl Center on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison, Wisconsin, on Tuesday night for the first of two Summer Tour 2026 opening concerts at the arena.

10,106 days had passed since Phish’s only other Kohl Center show, which took place in November 1998, and I imagine I was not the only person – along with the four members of the band – who was also in attendance 27 years, eight months and two days earlier.

One of the setlist stats for The Skinny is Average Song Vintage, which takes into account the debut year of each song played. Fittingly, the Kohl Center tour opener’s Average Song Vintage measured 1998 as the band relied heavily on material written before their last time performing in Madison.

After taking the Kohl Center stage for the first time in nearly 28 years, Phish delivered a 10-song first set made up of all but two songs that were debuted after their prior performance – “Back On The Train” (1999) and “A Wave Of Hope” (2021).

A reliable show opening – and in this case tour opening – song, “Chalk Dust Torture” officially launched the foursome’s summer run. The opener took a bit of time to get to full speed, and guitarist Trey Anastasio steered a sweet little bliss jam as a lovely introduction to the night.

“Ghost” seemingly materialized out of nowhere for a quick transition and saw keyboardist Page McConnell layering in chunky Clavinet while Trey took charge of delivering a big blast of notes.

The “Ghost” jam was the first instance I noticed bassist Mike Gordon sounding somewhat lost in the mix inside the venue from my vantage point in the lower bowl. The low end of the bass was full, but the middle range was hard to discern at times.

“Good to be back here, thank you for having us,” Trey paused to tell the audience. “It’s been too long.”

The guitarist then prompted the start of “Back On The Train,” which resulted in some lovely interplay among the four musicians, anchored by the steady hands and feet of drummer Jon Fishman. There was a similar approach and interaction within the subsequent “Free” that was carried by Fish and Mike squaring each other up.

The crowd erupted at the first notes of “Mike’s Song,” one of the earliest Phish originals and a centerpiece of Gordon’s contributions to the band. The band loaded the “Mike’s Song” with fierce intensity, getting fist pumps in the air in joyous response from around the arena.

As the band quietly approached the segue into the next song, it felt like “I Am Hydrogen” would take its frequent spot, but instead, another delicate instrumental, “The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday,” delightfully came next. The guitarist nailed the intricate composition from his Gamehendge saga.

The frequently paired “TMWSIY” companion, “Avenu Malkenu,” made its first Phish setlist appearance in 191 shows. Mike’s bass came through loud and clear during his “Avenu Malkenu,” spotlight.

An awkwardly forced transition into “Weekapaug Groove” worked past the peculiar introduction into the song to find footing and happily roll along. “A Wave Of Hope” provided another wave of improvisation, taking the form of egalitarian interplay between the quartet, as each played equal roles in the musical conversation and locking in as one singular entity.

There were more fists being thrown in the air as the formidable set closer “Character Zero” brought the first set of the tour to an end.

During set break, I spoke to a friend who was seated straight back in the middle bowl who mentioned that the arena’s scoreboard initially blocked the lighting rig run by Chris Kuroda. Throughout the prevailing second set, the lighting rig seemingly moved and shifted shapes more so than during the first half, with the lights dangling over the crowd mere feet above their heads, far from being obscured by the scoreboard.

The lights enhanced the second set opening “Run Like An Antelope.” The unexpected choice marked the first time “Antelope” kicked off a set two since October 2016.

The next 25 minutes were devoted to an expansive “Fuego” that had moments of brilliance through the linear journey. Some melodic passages worked well, and others took longer to coalesce or quickly stalled out.

Trey was casting ideas and altering his approach for the others to latch onto and found some success. Page introduced modular synthesizers into the fold and helped the jam progress into new sonic territory. The final moments of the “Fuego” jam culminated in the band finally hitting their stride for a satisfying conclusion.

Disapproving headshakes and glares side-stage indicated Trey was having issues with his stage setup at the onset of “Life Saving Gun.” Whatever was causing the distress subsided, and soon Phish was working up a dynamic jam that had the feel of an instant composition as Trey cultivated a catchy guitar hook that he and the others rode to highly impactful results.

The blissful jam disintegrated into dark ambience, and post-show discussions revealed I was not the only one in the arena who thought Page was steering his bandmates into Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter,” when instead they dove into “Sand.” A spicy improvised sequence emerged out of “Sand” through a series of well-constructed angular segments.

“Ruby Waves” was the penultimate song of the second set, and though it has significant history in the state of Wisconsin, Tuesday’s attempt was terrific, if not groundbreaking in length and scope. Building off previous improvisation throughout the evening, “Ruby Waves” maintained the all-as-one theme heard at various points in the tour opening show.

The Kohl Center went wild for “Suzy Greenberg,” another Phish classic drawing a huge response from the crowd. The stalwart rocker brought the set to a rawkus ending.

Another classic original was called upon for the start of the encore as “Slave to the Traffic Light” once again helped punctuate a Phish show. After the poignant “Slave,” the band squeezed in the not-to-be-taken-too-seriously “Say It to Me S.A.N.T.O.S.” for a fun final song of the night.

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Phish Summer Tour 2026 continues tonight with a second Kohl Center show. Livestreams of Phish Summer Tour 2026 shows are available with a LivePhish With subscription.

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