On Friday night, just over a month after Phish wrapped its summer tour with a weather-prompted “long-ass set” at Dick’s, the band headed indoors in Music City to kick off a brief fall tour with its first-ever performance at Nashville, TN’s Bridgestone Arena.
Beyond the excitement of opening both the band’s brief 2023 fall run and a three-night run in Nashville, the show marked a meaningful milestone for Phish. As bassist Mike Gordon explained in an Instagram story earlier in the day, “We are starting the tour and to the best of our knowledge, closest we can account, it’s our 2000th show, so thanks for coming along that ride, and hopefully there will be another 2000. See everyone tonight.”
“Julius” got the call to open the show for the first time since 2021’s fall tour. The set chugged along with “Back On The Train” and a particularly psychedelic “The Moma Dance”, the latter infused with some new Blues Brothers samples from Jon Fishman‘s “troll button.” While Phish’s growing crop of new songs was among the most notable headlines to come out of summer tour, the first of six Nashville sets this weekend pulled exclusively from the older pages in the band’s playbook. “Moma” slithered into the arena rock of the original “Axilla”, a throwback of sorts following the band’s recent preference for “Part II” when singing about armpits. Despite opting for “Part I” over “Part II,” the band gave Nashville fans a taste of the sequel by tacking the “Part II” outro jam onto the end of the song (“Don’t shine that thing in my face, man,” Trey deadpanned. “It’s the best of both worlds. You know this one and the other one.”)
Related: Mike Gordon Covers Merle Haggard, Hank Williams Jr. At Nashville Honky Tonk [Watch]
The droning “Axilla” runway led into a quick-footed “Maze”, perhaps a tip of the hat to the many fans who have spent years following Phish down the winding tour corridors (Spoiler alert: You’ll never get out). The rasp in Trey Anastasio‘s voice may have caught more than a few ears here (stock up on Vitamin C, kids, cold season is coming), but the untethered aggression in his playing seemed to outweigh any struggles in the vocal department. A dense, peaking “Wolfman’s Brother” and a brief blast of “My Soul” set up the first 2023 rendition of always-welcome rarity “Destiny Unbound” before set one came to a close at a sprint with “Character Zero”.
The top of set two, a seamless pairing of live staple “Gotta Jibboo” and summer 2023 neophyte “Oblivion”, would prove to be the improvisational high point of the evening. From the pretty, patient build to a textured, major-key climax in “Jibboo” to the rhythmic shape-shifting and pulsing layers of melodic motifs that guided “Oblivion” through its consistently engaging 22-minute runtime, the Nashville “Jibblivion” served as a satisfying main course for the first of eight Phish shows this fall even as much of the rest of the night settled into “average-good” seating.
The Rolling Stones‘ “Torn and Frayed” was up next, making its first Phish appearance since summer 2021 at The Gorge, when it was played in honor of recently deceased Stones drummer Charlie Watts. The brief Stones interlude set up an energetic final lap for Trey, Mike, Fish, and keyboardist Page McConnell, who charged through “Light”, “Fuego”, and “Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.” without ever breaking stride to bring the second frame to a close as colors rained down like a dream-state mist from Chris Kuroda and Andrew Giffin‘s mammoth light rig.
With time for a few more, Phish returned to the stage to begin the tour’s first encore with “Bouncing Around The Room” red-hot rides through “46 Days” and “Run Like An Antelope” sealed the deal on night one.
Phish will return to Bridgestone Arena on Saturday and Sunday for two more nights of jams in Nashville. Here’s to the monster “2001” that’s sure to accompany the band at its 2001st show on Saturday night.
For a complete list of upcoming Phish tour dates, head here. Below, check out the setlist from the opening night of Phish tour at Nashville, TN’s Bridgestone Arena and scroll down to watch a selection of crowd-shot videos and a gallery of photos from the show via Keith Griner.
Fans at home can follow along with live video webcasts and audio replays of the 2023 Phish fall tour via the band’s streaming service LivePhish. Audio will be added to the LivePhish app promptly after each show, with audio available to stream exclusively using LivePhish+. LivePhish+ subscribers can save on the tour webcast pass, or any single night show. For information on how to order your Phish 2023 fall tour webcasts, head here.
Phish – “Julius” [Pro-Shot] – 10/6/23
Phish – “Maze” – 10/6/23
[Video: whereshaynes]
Setlist [via phish.net]: Phish | Bridgestone Arena | Nashville, TN | 10/6/23
Set One: Julius, Back on the Train, The Moma Dance > Axilla[1] > Maze, Wolfman’s Brother, My Soul, Destiny Unbound, Character Zero
Set Two: Gotta Jibboo -> Oblivion, Torn and Frayed, Light -> Fuego -> Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.
Encire: Bouncing Around the Room > 46 Days > Run Like an Antelope
[1] Contained Axilla II ending.
Notes: Axilla contained the Axilla II ending. Torn and Frayed was played for the first time since August 27, 2021 (105 shows), Dicks 2021 right after Charlie Watts died.
