Phish Performs Sci-Fi Soldier Halloween Concert In Las Vegas: Setlist, Recap & The Skinny

Phish Fall Tour 2021 concluded with a memorable three-set Halloween concert in Las Vegas. The quartet took on the futuristic persona of Sci-Fi Soldier as their musical costume at MGM Grand Garden Arena for the evening’s second set, a performance of 12 new originals entitled Get More Down. If 2018’s Kasvot Växt was Phish channeling a Scandinavian synth-rock band from 1981, Sci-Fi Soldier saw Phish work original music through the lens of a band from another planet in the year 4680.

This tour has been an incredible run on nearly every level from jams where least expected, long and outstanding improvisation, humorous gags, bust outs and the live debut of one of Phish’s oldest songs (“And So To Bed”). However, one element missing was new material. Phish put an exclamation point on Fall Tour 2021 by unveiling a suite of 12 new originals that while presented as from the future, were highly collaborative compositions that may have been infused with new sounds but remained true to their own style. Thirty-eight years into their career, Phish continues to innovate and move forward. As such, it’s no surprise covering albums from other artists seems to be behind them.

Yet before the musical costume came a first set that began with “Buried Alive,” the same opener Phish went with in Las Vegas on Halloween 2014 and 2018. Phish then dusted off their cover of (Hallo)Ween’s “Roses Are Free” complete with its lyrics about pumpkins for the first time since December 1, 2019. Guitarist Trey Anastasio rolled up his sleeves in time for the start of “Ghost” to continue the run of spooky songs. “Ghost” gave the band a chance to stretch out and they delivered a monster 27-minute version.

Phish kicked off the jam by modulating to a major key for a blissful excursion featuring Page McConnell on Wurlitzer. Drummer Jon Fishman anchored the jam with a steady beat as Page, Trey and bassist Mike Gordon connected on an anthemic progression. The quartet was locked in for multiple modulations, including a brief trip to an evil soundscape, a euphoric “Drowned”-like jam and a dreamy exploration. Phish reached near silence before building a full head of steam with Page on synth as “Ghost” hit the vaunted 20-minute mark. The band wasn’t done yet as they methodically uncorked a driving and gorgeous progression filled with otherworldly contributions from all four members before returning to the theme. Fish’s drumming was relentless throughout showing why he’s the MVP of a tour among the band’s best since the 1990s.

An uplifting “Wolfman’s Brother” that saw the band continue to work off early-show energy followed the instant classic “Ghost.” Anastasio led the way on a big, crowd-pleasing finish to the Hoist classic. Next came the tour’s first “Kill Devil Falls” which spawned another upbeat and expressive round of improvisation. The ensuing “Free” featured a brief dip in funky waters and led into “David Bowie,” a song debuted by Phish 35 years prior on Halloween 1986 at Vermont’s Goddard College. Page wailed on piano during the tension-filled jam ahead of a climactic release to bring the set to a powerful conclusion.

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

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The stage was reset in an alternate configuration during setbreak with a plot that saw the band members’ rigs moved within circles and square cubes spread four-wide across while music from the likes of Kraftwerk, Stereolab and Air was played over the PA. Each rig was smaller than the typical setup. Smoke filled the stage as avatars of the foursome descended from atop the venue in tube-like structures. Then, curtains were lifted to find Phish dressed in spacesuits with helmets. Geometric shapes matching those on the stage plot moved the band as they performed. As the story goes, four aliens from “New Miami” took over the bodies of the members of Phish for the 97-minute set.

The Sci-Fi Soldier set got underway with “Knuckle Bone Broth Avenue,” the first of 12 futuristic new originals performed by Phish. Anastasio played an acrylic BC Rich guitar instead of his usual Languedoc and engaged with Gordon, on a new florescent yellow bass himself, in a choreographed dance through a groovy rocker not too far astray from Little Feat’s “Skin It Back” albeit with wild synth tones from McConnell. Trey then shredded a tasty solo as Page mirrored each melody. Next came the suite’s title track “Get More Down.” Fish employed the coughing sound effect he’s been using since summer tour started while the band sang about “bending time itself.” Apparently, it was a long gag since the sound was a key element of “Get More Down” and was echoed vocally by the drummer’s bandmates. Phish feasted on a deep groove propelled by Page’s sizzling electric piano work and another tasty guitar solo from Trey.

“Egg In A Hole” followed and featured pyro in the form of flames that burst up from behind the members of the band. The goofy lyrics included “Gotta get back to Chicago,” “I’m not sure I should’ve asked for this,” the title of the song and “It’s a stolen phrase.” As Amar Sastry noted, “‘Egg In A Hole’ sounds like Metallica and Spiritualized had an acid baby.”

Phish went on to debut “Thanksgiving,” which like the songs it followed featured the quartet sharing lead vocal duties. The lyrics included callbacks to “Sleeping Monkey,” “Guyute” and spending the “holiday in the Everglades” (Big Cypress) along with the chorus, “It’s a shame about the blood.” Trey then introduced funk workout “Clear Your Mind” by telling the crowd, “We are sci-fi soldiers from the year 4680. We’re happy to be with you humanoids tonight,” and adding, “This next song is very important to us on our planet. It carries a message. We hope you’ll heed the message.” This one had references to the lyrics from “Wombat” as well as Ralph Macchio, Oscar Peterson, Happy Days‘ Ralph Mauf and Holy Blankenstein, the latter of whom was mentioned by Trey during his “Harpua” narration the previous night. “Clear Your Mind” featured a pretty major key jam, had a much different sound than the first four songs of the set and has the potential to spawn lengthy improvisation.

The foursome then lit into the sprawling “The 9th Cube” as an LCD screen with a math equation was displayed behind Phish. Huge cheers rang out when the screen showed animated images of donuts and turtles. Smoke once again filled the stage as the band worked through the complex instrumental composition. The Sci-Fi Soldier performance continued with “The Inner Reaches Of Outer,” a delicate song reminiscent of “We Are Come To Outlive Our Brains.” More pyro came via fireworks that spouted above the stage. Next up was “Don’t Doubt Me,” based on a proggy riff from Anastasio and featuring the chorus, “Unhead the knee.” Trey wailed away over an intense groove as Page dropped one ferocious synth line after another. “Don’t Doubt Me” included a hearty bout of full-band improv, another Sci-Fi Soldier tune with potential as a future jam vehicle. The longest song in the set concluded with an anthemic ascending progression and a repeat of lyrics about a “genuine asshole.”

Phish went on to debut the mellow and heartfelt “The Unwinding,” about the closest Sci-Fi Soldier would come to a ballad. Lasers were spread across the stage as the quartet performed “The Unwinding,” which saw Anastasio expertly utilize a reverse delay effect for his tender solo. The high energy feel returned with “Something Living Here,” a tune featuring a groove not too far afield from “NICU.” A lyric “stuck in the waiting room” was fitting as one of the squares behind the band got stuck above Trey earlier in the set and didn’t move for the rest of the frame. Mike employed an auto-wah tone and propelled “Something Living Here” with a funky bassline as Page and Trey engaged in encouraging interplay. Anastasio, McConnell and Gordon sang variations of the “I twist humor” refrain in harmony towards the end of the song.

Penultimate number “The Howling” was Genesis-esque and featured sparks shooting up from behind the band. Page starred with bold synth and electric piano riffs as Mike slapped his bass on a song featuring its title as the only lyric for the bulk of the tune. The music brought to mind “Wombat” and “2001” and climaxed with funky, wah-laden rhythmic work and an angular solo from Trey. “Holy Blankstein that sounds cool,” Anastasio exclaimed as the crowd howled its approval before the band joined in the howling.

This year’s musical costume came to a close with “I Am In Miami.” All four members gathered around the acapella mic as Trey told the audience Sci-Fi Soldier would be returning to their home “New Miami” to “see our sweeties” and thanked the crowd for “unbending the knee and saving the world tonight.” The guitarist added, “We will leave the bodies and return you to your regularly scheduled band.” Anastasio grabbed an acoustic and Fish clapped along as the only other instrumentation on a vocal-heavy song featuring references to many different cities and states as well as Miami-based sports teams the Marlins and Dolphins. The band headed to their initial spots on stage as avatars were displayed lifting them away and back to “New Miami” in the reverse of what transpired at the beginning of the set.

“We are the Phish from the year 1-9-8-3, we’re happy to be here,” Anastasio quipped when Phish came back from setbreak. “Carini” got the call to open the final set of the night and tour. It didn’t take long for the quartet to break through the structure of the song and embark on a bliss-laden jam. “Carini” featured peaks upon peaks as Phish raged at full blast. Eventually, Page moved to Rhodes just before the band dropped into the gorgeous “Lonely Trip.” The title track from Trey’s 2020 quarantine album was followed by “Soul Planet” with its “screaming through space” refrain befitting on a night in which the quartet portrayed a group from another planet. Anastasio, and Fishman quoted lyrics from “Don’t Doubt Me,” “Knuckle Bone Broth Avenue” and “Clear Your Mind” in “Soul Planet” ahead of the jam.

And what a jam it was. “Soul Planet” saw the group slickly move from one key to another, darkness to light and pick up on a few different themes explored over the course of the tour. Fish switched up the beat from propulsive to a march to an atmospheric groove as his bandmates soared above the fray. “Death Don’t Hurt Very Long” emerged out of the madness at a slower more throbbing tempo than usual. Phish then swerved into “Twist” with Trey singing “Death Don’t Hurt Very Long” after ripcording into the Farmhouse classic. Trey led a subsequent move into major-key terrain as the band painted outside the lines once more. However, the jam wouldn’t last long with Phish quickly returning to the typical “Twist” progression. The multifaceted Ghosts Of The Forest gem “Drift While You’re Sleeping” followed to close the set. Phish would have been excused for a short encore after the marathon three-set concert. Yet the band turned in a standout “Harry Hood” featuring lyrics from multiple Sci-Fi Soldier songs to say farewell. “Hood” was highlighted by an exceptionally long note Anastasio let ring while Page reeled off barrelhouse piano rolls.

Phish are currently expected to return to the stage on December 29 at Madison Square Garden in New York City for the first show of a four-night New Year’s Run.

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