Phish Tour 2022: Opening Night At Wharf Amphitheater – Setlist, Recap & The Skinny

Phish began what they billed as their Spring + Summer Tour 2022 with an opening night concert at The Wharf Amphitheater in Orange Beach, Alabama. The tour opener was the band’s first of three concerts at The Wharf, where they had performed once before, on August 1, 2014. Friday’s performance kicked off the brief spring portion of the tour that includes two shows in South Carolina and three in Indiana.

Phish’s most recent shows were the four nights in late April at Madison Square Garden in New York City that were make-up dates for their postponed New Year’s Eve run. The band’s Memorial Day Weekend in Alabama started with the first “Twist” first set opener since it entered their repertoire in 1997. The unexpected first song choice provided the band the opportunity to dive into improvisation without going too far from the source. Guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, keyboardist Page McConnell and drummer Jon Fishman felt their way through the 13-minute “Twist” jam and were seemingly fully warmed up by its end.

“Halley’s Comet” came next and saw McConnell and Anastasio have a little trouble with the lyrics. An abrupt segue into “Sand” – last played at MSG with drone dolphins and a whale flying over the crowd – brought about another concise jam, this time more forcefully steered by Trey’s aggressive playing.

“Thank you so much, everybody, thank you for having us!” Trey paused to tell the audience. “You guys good out there? Everybody good? Everybody good? Everybody good? Nice to see you. Nice to see you down there. Nice to see you. You all look so lovely and beautiful.”

He was then interrupted by Page, who came around his keyboards to ask Trey a question — possibly about what key the next song was in.

“That’s my friend Page McConnell coming over to give me a hug,” Trey joked, adding, “We’re going to try this one here.”

Mike then sang “The Old Home Place,” and struggled to recall some of the lyrics on the first attempt at the song since 2019 and the eighth since 2004. Page’s “Your trip is short!” samples ushered in a jubilant take on “Martian Monster.” The rarely played “Dog’s Stole Things” made its first setlist of the year, and just its seventh appearance since 2003. Page then took his first turn singing lead on his “Halfway To The Moon.”

Phish then collectively dug into “Stash.” The jam that developed out of the “Stash” was melodic and rich with complementary playing between Trey and Page. Fish’s drumming and Mike’s low end were equally engaged and supportive and help fuel the vigorous conclusion.

The pace slowed down for Trey to deliver the gentle “Shade” but quickly sparked back up with “I Never Needed You Like This Before.” The blustery rocker debuted last year was followed by the longtime favorite “Bathtub Gin.” Bookending the set much how they started, “Bathtub Gin” was another avenue into improvisation, again mostly staying within the confines of the song but still taking some exploratory steps as the foursome collectively developed the jam.

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

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“Llama” – in its slower, funkier alternate arrangement – was chosen to start off the second half of the show. “Soul Planet” was up next and the four musicians soon left its orbit and embarked on an expansive 17-minute improvisation. A few minutes into the jam, Trey and Page went heavy into otherworldly synth sounds, answered by Mike’s buoyant basslines and Fish’s kinetic drumming. The foursome passed through several distinct sections that traversed from light and inviting to more driven and dark with Fish repeatedly triggering sampled voices.

The sampled voices led to Trey pulling out “Quadrophonic Toppling,” a song from the band’s 1999 studio outtakes album, The Siket Disc. Phish had only played the obscure song once before, deep into the midnight to sunrise set at Big Cypress on New Year’s Eve 1999. The bust out came 604 shows after its debut and led back into the conclusion of “Soul Planet.”

Fish continued loading up the samples as the band slipped into “Ghost.” The group was soon settling into another passage of concentrated jamming, vibing through different motifs as each new section progressed. When the jam showed signs of dissolving, Trey initiated the opening riff to “Scents And Subtle Sounds.”

The subsequent “Scents” prompted a quick jam that had elements resembling “Manteca” and then segued into “Chalk Dust Torture.” More improv was in store as “Chalkdust” gave way to the second 17-minute jam of the set, a soundscape structured sequence built out of expressive playing and angular rushes of sound.

Page pounded out the opening piano line to The Rolling Stones’ “Loving Cup,” as the cover of the classic rocker brought a close to the second set.

“Thanks so much everybody, thanks for being with us tonight,” Trey told the audience. “We’ll see you very soon. Thank you.”

The quiet and reflective “Waste” was the first song of Friday’s encore. With time left on the clock, Phish added “Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.” and it served as the finale for the opening night of the tour.

Phish continues their three-night run at The Wharf Amphitheater in Orange Beach, Alabama tonight, Saturday, May 28. Watch a livestream via LivePhish.com.

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