As per annual tradition, Phish returned to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center for three nights of pure jamming. Now a few shows into their summer tour, a return to SPAC over July 4th weekend signaled a homecoming of sorts for area fans. 

How would Phish fare for their return to SPAC? Through the first notes of “Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan,” the band never relented, bringing some nonstop energy throughout their jams.

Whether it was the attacking Halloween instrumental “The Birds” or the classic “NICU,” the band has been locked and loaded for this first set. After those two, it was the tour debut of Talking Heads’ “Cities” and “David Bowie” that kept the crowd moving and grooving. 

The “Free” next in the setlist was some great rock, before Mike Gordon took the reigns on a bluegrassy “Uncle Pen.” The standard Americana piece was busted out on the tour opener, and brought a lighthearted moment before the band broke into “Halfway To The Moon.” They took their time, as the Page McConnell original was nicely developed with some great guitar work.

The set continued with a new song debut, a lighthearted funky number called “Let’s Go,” marking the 7th debut of tour. The Gordon-led vocal track was catchy an even featured some rapping from the bassist.

After a cool down moment in “Waiting All Night,” the group kept the set going with classic Phish tune “Bathtub Gin.” The nicely stretched out version brought the set to a frenzy before bringing out a raging “Golgi Apparatus.” Trey Anastasio proclaimed the set over before being convinced into one more song: “The Squirming Coil.” 

Set two raged on with some of the best jamming that this summer has offered. Phish opened up their second half with “Sand,” kicking into some funk before taking things up a notch with “Carini.” They took the darker jam into lighter places before segueing into “Chalk Dust Torture.” This was probably the improvisational highlight of the night – and possibly the tour – as the 20+ minute version saw the band move seamlessly through ideas before finding a groove. Locked in, it was Anastasio who put down his guitar and jammed on the marimba lumina. Gordon then abandoned his bass for some low end workings on the piano, joining McConnell behind his rig. The instrument swapping finished after one piercing bass bomb.

Once the jam had ended, the band broke into “Prince Caspian.” Some melodic soloing found the band working into “Bug.” The slower song rocked the crowd before the band broke out into The Rolling Stones classic, “Shine a Light” and bluegrassy Phish tune, “My Sweet One,” courtesy of a fan’s sign request. Instead of ending the song with its traditional “name” lyric, the band played the opening notes to “Sleeping Monkey.” Within the introductory bars, the band began making jokes on the word name, even referencing Destiny’s Child’s hit song “Say My Name.” Full of jokes, the band kept things lighthearted.

The rest of the show truly rocked, with the set ending run featuring “2001” and the classic Jimi Hendrix tune, “Fire.” With one more song, Phish brought out “Character Zero.” What a show! Fortunately there are still two more nights to come.

Full Show Video

Check out the full Phish.net setlist below, as well as a full gallery from Andrew Scott Blackstein Photography.

Setlist: Phish at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY – 7/1/16

Set 1: Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, The Birds > NICU, Cities, David Bowie, Free, Uncle Pen, Halfway to the Moon, Let’s Go[1], Waiting All Night > Bathtub Gin > Golgi Apparatus, The Squirming Coil

Set 2: Sand > Carini > Chalk Dust Torture[2] > Prince Caspian > Bug, Shine a Light, My Sweet One, Sleeping Monkey > Also Sprach Zarathustra > Fire

Encore: Character Zero

[1] Debut
[2] Trey on Marimba Lumina and Mike on keys.
Notes: This show was webcast via Live Phish. This show featured the debut of Let’s Go. Chalk Dust Torture featured Trey on Marimba Lumina and Mike on keys.