Phish Opens Alpharetta Run With 26-Minute ‘Ruby Waves’ & Another Song Debut

Phish’s 2023 Summer Tour arrived at its second city last night, opening a three-night run in Alpharetta, Georgia. The Ameris Bank Amphitheatre (formerly Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre) has hosted the Vermont quartet for 14 previous shows dating back to 2010, each packed with high-quality playing.

Coming off of two nights in Huntsville, Alabama to open the tour, Phish had dipped their toes into deeper improv with jams like the July 12th “Fuego,” but had yet to really drop the hammer – that all would change in short order.

The hot summer evening began with a fiery “Kill Devil Falls,” displaying guitarist Trey Anastasio’s confidence from the get-go as he opened up with quick runs on his Languedoc. Phish made up the bulk of the first set with songs perfectly suited to a hot summer evening, and a high-flying “Theme From the Bottom” was the first of those picks. Keyboardist Page McConnell led the way through a speedy “No Men in No Man’s Land” on his Hammond B3 organ as Anastasio laid down a variety of different synth tones and loops to create a cool atmospheric effect in the propulsive groove.

Anastasio shouted out the architect of the Alpharetta shed on its excellent design and noted that the next song was “dedicated to our fans,” gesturing to the large fans suspended from the roof of the venue. “Axilla (Part II),” complete with its short outro jam, led into the improvisational turning point of the night – “Tube.”

Drummer Jon Fishman sprinkled his signature samples across the mellow groove as Anastasio and McConnell shot riffs back and forth to each other. The keyboardist landed on some gentle Rhodes work as bassist Mike Gordon worked in circular licks. Anastasio toyed with riffs akin to “Your Pet Cat” and “Weekapaug Groove” as the jam modulated into an airy major-key space. An excellent peak had already run its course as the jam crossed the seven-minute mark, seemingly returning to “Tube” proper – but Anastasio was far from finished and dug into Fishman’s steady pocket, flirting with “Oye Como Va.” Another excellent peak and smooth transition into the blues ending had the Georgia crowd riled up.

“Roggae” acted as a beautiful cool-down, another song perfectly suited to a summer evening that saw beautiful melodies float through the air. A bouncy “Undermind” led into a set-closing “Prince Caspian,” the first time the song has been in the slot since the legendary version on July 19, 2017 in Pittsburgh. While often maligned by many long-time Phish fans, “Caspian” has recently been a vehicle for some serious exploration, generally getting to the good stuff in relatively short time frames.

Last night’s, clocking in at around 10 minutes, felt much longer. McConnell absolutely went to town on his Moog One synthesizer and Anastasio followed him right along, sprinkling in long stretches of trilling with infusions of Leslie speaker and delay. The psychedelic vibe only increased as Fishman threw in quotes of Pink Floyd’s “The Nile Song.” A return to the song proper at the apex of the peak closed the first frame in fine fashion.

Read on after The Skinny for the rest of the recap and more.

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“Ghost” was tapped as a second-set opener for the first time since 2019, Anastasio immediately making it clear that this set was going to mean business. An “Oye Como Va” theme popped up (from McConnell this time) as Fishman shifted into a steady driving beat. Anastasio emphasized a darker tone at first as the improv found its footing. The expected major modulation came around the nine-minute mark as Anastasio dove deep into his array of delay pedals.

The joyful vibe was not to last, however, as sharp guitar lines pushed the band into a minor key. McConnell hopped on clavinet as Gordon and Anastasio battled with duelling synth tones. The jam threatened to come apart at the seams before the guitarist executed a nice segue into “Ruby Waves.” Immediately on everybody’s minds was the legendary 38-minute version of the song played at Alpine Valley exactly four years earlier – could they match up to it in Alpharetta?

Friday’s “Ruby Waves” is undoubtedly one of the top jams of the year so far, acting as the first song of the tour to stretch past the 20-minute mark as it traversed a wide palette of musical styles. This was the moment that Phish felt like they were clicking on long-form improvisation, a pivotal point that often doesn’t happen until a few more shows into a tour. Anastasio and McConnell’s playing danced around each other with incredible aggression, the Moog One meshing perfectly with the weird guitar playing. Fishman especially shined in the first half of this jam, driving with his incredible fluidity that makes him one of the greatest drummers on the planet.

Flirting with a segue into “Soul Planet” that was quickly followed by a “San-Ho-Zay” tease by Anastasio, the momentum of the “Ruby Waves” continued to build up to the 15-minute mark. Quickly pivoting from the aggressive peak-driven jam into a spacier mode, the guitarist began unleashing machine-like delays as Gordon anchored it all with deep and heavy synth tones. Fishman refused to let a drop of momentum go as all four band members continued their work as pieces of the same musical brain.

Bringing the music back from the darkness, Anastasio and Fishman locked in on some motifs as McConnell laid down some dreamy Fender Rhodes. Blasting past the 20-minute mark like a comet in space, Phish executed a beautiful and crazed peak – you can hear the crowd’s exuberance on the LivePhish recording!

The Phish debut of “…And Flew Away” was chosen as the second set’s breather. The Lonely Trip cut has been a staple of Trey Anastasio Band setlists for the last couple of years and translated well to Phish – though notably missed the impeccable vocal harmonies of Jennifer Hartswick, Natalie Cressman, and James Casey. The song continued the trend of debuting a new Trey song in the second set of each show so far on summer tour. Much like “Oblivion” and “Ether Edge,” there is potential to be explored and I look forward to where this song will go in the future.

“My Friend, My Friend” appeared in the second set for the first time since 2018, and any thoughts of its strange placement were dispelled as Phish opted to fully jam out the song for just the second time ever. Sticking to the tone of the song itself, the dark and experimental jam highlighted Anastasio’s nimble guitar work and Fishman’s relentless drumming as the effects-laden darkness washed over the audience. The darkness of the longest “MFMF” ever was followed by an explosive “First Tube,” closing the five-song second set in perfect fashion.

“If I Could” made its first encore play ever ahead of a raucous “Possum” closer, doing what it does best.

Phish’s Alpharetta run continues tonight, Saturday, July 15. Watch livestreams of tonight’s show and the rest of Summer Tour 2023 via LivePhish.com.

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