On Saturday night, Phish returned to Southern New Hampshire University Arena for the second show of its 2025 summer tour. On the “longest” day of the year, the band leaned into the looseness of night two, offering another dose of summer heat.
Opening the show was a standard issue “Free”, albeit with a little extra oomph, which set the stage nicely for a *flawless* Reba with a killer jam, showing that it didn’t take long for the quartet to find its sea legs. Whistling, taboot.
Phish — “Reba” — 6/21/25 — Partial Video
[Video: Steve’s Concert Corner]
Page McConnell got the mic for the third offering of the night, a tidy pass through Fuego’s piano-driven “Halfway to the Moon”, before the band kept up the outer space motif by unleashing a ripping “Halley’s Comet” that charged full throttle for ten straight minutes. This “Halley’s” had the energy of a set closer just 30 minutes into the show.
“Stash”, the perennial mid-first set staple, followed. It meandered a bit before finding its footing, but once the band members locked in, they rode that flourish to a glorious major-key peak before snapping back to the form to close it out.
Mike Gordon stepped into the spotlight for “Meat”, and the band leaned into its lurching, start-stop groove with playful precision. Mike even snuck in what sounds like a Super Mario Bros. tease from the Underworld levels.
It’s been almost 22 years since “Down with Disease”, typically a big jam vehicle, closed a first set per Phish.net, but it felt nicely placed in the closer spot on Saturday. Jon Fishman was the star throughout this one, and the band rode the drummer’s momentum all the way to the end. This was a strong first set with high energy from both the band and the crowd. Phish set the tone early and never let up, with the “Halley’s” / “Stash” pairing standing out as the centerpiece.
Phish – “Stash” [Pro-Shot] – 6/21/25
The only fumble of the night came with a sloppy “Drift While You’re Sleeping”, making its first-ever appearance as a second set opener. But how do you recover from that? You throw down a nearly 24-minute “Carini” that resets the entire room. If “Tweezer” is king of the second set, then “Carini” is the dark prince, and in all of Phishdom, few notes hit harder than those opening chords.
Phish — “Drift While You’re Sleeping” [Pro-Shot] — 6/21/25
Phish — “Carini” — 6/21/25
[Video: Steve’s Concert Corner]
This one flipped from dark to light pretty quickly, and it was obvious Phish was going to dig in. Mike and Fish took the lead early, locking down the foundation while Trey Anastasio and Page floated above it. Before long, they all slipped into a deep, easy groove. For the bulk of the jam, Page layered in spacey synth pads while Trey built textures with delay and loops into a swirling, hypnotic haze until eventually bleeding into the new jam vehicle, “A Wave of Hope”.
When the energy from the composed section carries into the jam, sparks usually fly. But right out of the gate, the tone shifted, moving away from that 1950s rock vibe into something darker, more reminiscent of the “Carini” jam that preceded it, and “Twist” from the night prior. A clear sign that Trey was intent on going deeper in this second set.
In the fourth slot, out of the deep psychedelic murk, came “Billy Breathes”, one of the rare ballads that many fans chase. We all know how badly Trey wants to nail that solo (and how badly we want him to), and last night, he came damn close.
What can you say about “2001” that it doesn’t already say for itself? Everyone boogied, and this version included a fun “Let’s Go Blue” tease—the classic chant heard at University of Michigan games.
The dancing continued with “Meatstick”, always a welcome mid-set exhale after a relentless sonic onslaught. “About to Run” brought the heaviness back, with some quick run n’ gun playing from Trey before a raging “Possum”—right where it belongs—at the loudest, most explosive moment of the night, closing out the second set.
Phish still had plenty left in the tank, dropping a massive three-song encore where every tune could’ve been the closer, so each new one came as a surprise. The rare Jimi Hendrix cover “Bold As Love” kicked it off, followed by “David Bowie”, only to be topped off by the duke of lizards, “Wilson”.
First stops generally feel like warm-ups, but there’s been zero rust on the band so far. Setlists aside, what we’re really chasing are the shows where the energy never dips, where the band and audience are in sync, and where surprises lurk around every corner. So far in New Hampshire, that’s been happening. So far, everything is clicking: the song selection, the flow, the jams. Everything is landing.
Phish takes the stage again on Sunday night for the final night in Manchester. If you can’t attend, you can tune into a webcast of the performance (and the rest of Phish’s 2025 summer tour dates) via LivePhish webcasts. Order single-show webcasts, multi-show weekend bundles, or full-tour I Saw It Again webcast packages here.
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Click below to check out some photos from Phish in New Hampshire courtesy of photographer Dave Vann and videos by Steve’s Concert Corner. Find tickets and a full list of Phish 2025 summer tour dates here.
Setlist: Phish | SNHU Arena | Manchester, NH | 6/21/25
Set One: Free > Reba, Halfway to the Moon, Halley’s Comet > Stash, Meat, Down with Disease
Set Two: Drift While You’re Sleeping > Carini > A Wave of Hope > Billy Breathes, Also Sprach Zarathustra (Richard Strauss) > Meatstick > About to Run > Possum
Encore: Bold As Love (Jimi Hendrix) > David Bowie, Wilson
Stash had a Halfway to the Moon tease from Trey. Also Sprach Zarathustra had a Let’s Go Blue tease.
