Phish Packs Strong Alpharetta Finale With Big Jams & Classic Song Selections [Photos/Videos]

Phish returned to Alpharetta, GA on Wednesday for the band’s second and final midweek show at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre.

While unusually long lines and apparent hold-ups at security left hundreds of fans waiting in the parking lot as Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, Page McConnell, and Jon Fishman kicked things off with an extended “Wolfman’s Brother” (the second notable version of the tour following Bourbon & Beyond), a searing “Llama”, and a short trip through Chilling Thrilling Sounds favorite “Martian Monster”, most attendees seemed to find their places in the audience by the time the recently un-shelved “Devotion to a Dream” appeared to inform us what day it was.

With ingress issues now a distant memory, Phish’s first frame continued to ramp up with an always-welcome reading of “Divided Sky” (forever my favorite Phish song) and a double-shot of rock n’ roll espresso via “Axilla (Part II)” featuring a brief no-lights jam at the behest of Trey’s “don’t shine that thing in my face, man” lyric.

Next came newer grunge-funk groove “Hey Stranger”, which has worn its “Steam” DNA on its sleeve throughout its increasingly prevalent tenure in the Phish repertoire. For the first time ever, “Hey Stranger” moved directly into “Steam” itself (notably sans production smoke cues), which has now become something of a rarity (or, at the very least, more of a rarity than “Hey Stranger”). Funny how that goes.

With the clock winding down on the first frame, a spirited (if lyrically haphazard) “Wilson” appeared to signal the end of the set before a curveball of a “Taste” slid in as the first-set closer for the first time since Coventry back in 2004.

Lots to like in that first set, to be sure, but when fans talk about this show in the future—and we have a feeling they will—they’ll be talking about set two.

“Carini” got the call to open set two—one of a handful of songs on Wednesday night that also appeared last Friday in Kentucky—but this version quickly departed the song’s composed havoc and drifted toward the light. Over the course of its initial 27-minute runtime, this “Carini” wove airy, major-key motifs together with robotic flourishes and washes of ambient effects. As Gordon and Fishman locked into a rhythmic pattern deep in the odyssey, the “Carini” jam’s sunnier-than-usual disposition gradually darkened as bolts of sound and color rose from the stage to dramatic effect.

The “Light” that eventually peeked through the cracks in “Carini” followed a similar path, droning and bubbling through whale-filled seas of purples, blues, and greens en route to multiple hair-raising moments of release. On the last “Light” peak, the band found its way out of the white glow and back into the shadows of “Carini” to add an extra lump on the head of Wednesday’s mind-bending, 46-plus-minute opening “Carini” > “Light” > “Carini” segment.

Then, just in case anyone in Alpharetta was still unsatisfied with the improvisational meat of this second set, the band proceeded to serve up a regal, flowing, synth-forward “Sand” that blasted through bass bombs, major-key bliss, and amorphous ambiance for 17 minutes before landing in a brief but hard-hitting “Piper”.

Phish – “Carini” > “Light” > “Carini” > “Sand” [Pro-Shot] – 9/17/25

By the time Gamehendge gem “The Lizards” appeared late in set two, this show was already an exceedingly strong one (flubs be damned). When “You Enjoy Myself” followed in the final slot on the setlist, then bounced back out for its now-customary post-nonsense closing jam section, well… it doesn’t get much better than that.

So, how do you encore a set like this? How about the first standalone “Meatstick” curtain call in a decade, complete with an improv section that seemed to forget it was “Meatstick” and behave like a deep “Tweezer” jam instead. Whoa…

Long story short: That Phish band sure is sounding good right now. For those of you who are on to Virginia for the tour-closing run this weekend… you’re in for a great one.

Below, check out the full setlist, a selection of videos, and a gallery of photos via Christian Stewart from Wednesday’s Phish Alpharetta finale.

Phish heads to the storied Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, VA on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to round out the band’s September tour. Find tickets for upcoming Phish shows here or order your livestreams of the upcoming dates via LivePhish. [Editor’s note: Live For Live Music is a LivePhish affiliate. Ordering your Phish summer tour 2025 webcasts or audio downloads via the links on this page helps support our work covering the world of live music. Thanks for reading!]

In the meantime, revisit Live For Live Music‘s coverage of Phish’s September 2025 tour stops at Bourbon & Beyond on Friday, in Birmingham, AL on Saturday and Sunday, and in Alpharetta on Tuesday.

Setlist [via phish.net]: Phish | Ameris Bank Amphitheatre | Alpharetta, GA | 9/17/25
Set One: Wolfman’s Brother, Llama, Martian Monster, Devotion to a Dream, Divided Sky, Axilla (Part II) > Hey Stranger, Steam > Wilson > Taste
Set Two: Carini > Light > Carini > Sand > Piper > The Lizards, You Enjoy Myself
Encore: Meatstick

Phish | Ameris Bank Amphitheatre | Alpharetta, GA | 9/17/25 | Photos: Christian Stewart