By Saturday morning, we had all heard the news. During Friday night’s Phish show in Hampton, VA, one person was fatally stabbed and two others were injured in the unofficial “Shakedown Street” row of vendors outside the Hampton Coliseum. While details are still scant as of this publication early Sunday afternoon, Hampton police said that a person of interest who fled the scene is currently in custody, though they have not confirmed whether this is the suspect for the deadly altercation.

Hampton police said that at around 9:30 p.m. on Friday, a large, violent altercation began behind one of the vendor booths. Three people were injured, with one later dying of their injuries at the hospital, another taken to the hospital, and a third walking into the hospital with a laceration. The police said that this was an “isolated incident.” As a result, there was a noticeably increased police presence around Saturday’s concert, with the “Shakedown Street” bazaar largely closed down once the show concluded.

In a statement posted to social media on Saturday, Phish stated it does not have any additional information than what the police have shared, but that “We are deeply saddened by this and our hearts go out to all of those affected.”

After Friday’s show with plenty of evil Phish in the first set—plus a nod to Hampton’s history with a “Fluffhead” opener—the band appeared actively intent on dispelling the lingering darkness that hung in the air. If the band wanted to immediately establish a jovial tone, a “Boogie On Reggae Woman” opener was the way to do it. This marked the Stevie Wonder cover’s second time opening a show in 38 years, and the first time it’s happened on U.S. soil (“Boogie” previously opened Phish’s January 15th, 2017 show at the band’s second-annual Riviera Maya, Mexico event, per Phish.net).

Phish — “Boogie On Reggae Woman” (Stevie Wonder) — 9/20/25

Replacing some of Friday’s sinister tones, Phish cultivated a fun, danceable mood during Saturday’s first set with choices like “Undermind”, “Bouncing Around the Room”, and “Birds of a Feather”, many—along with the opener—highlighted by standout organ and grand piano work by keyboardist Page McConnell. The show’s tempo was like that of the yellow, smiley-faced balloon that passed over my head on the floor: light, happy, and non-confrontational. Somewhere, though, somebody had to have a pin to pop it.

Amid the jubilation, in wandered “Esther” to bring a haunted carnival element to an otherwise jubilant first set. Amid more stellar grand and organ work on “Esther” and bassist Mike Gordon‘s reading of Son Seals‘ “Funky Bitch”, it was a good night to be Page’n and rage’n on his side of the audience. Perhaps feeling left out, guitarist Trey Anastasio made his presence known on “Funky Bitch”, darting out in front of the pack with an incendiary solo that elicited a roar of approval from the crowd.

With “It’s Ice” came technical precision from the band’s ambitious ’90s compositions, and in “Ether Edge” from 2024 disc Evolve came the most adventurous jamming of the night thus far. The band locked into a state of bliss, all the parts clicking together improvisationally for the first time that evening, as Page galloped along on grand piano, adding rolling synth waves. Meanwhile, Trey dotted the jam with quick notes, and Jon Fishman throttled the tempo with simple snare and cymbal beats for instrumentation so blissful and serene it made you forget about their evil ways of the night prior—only for some of those devilish red lights to reappear in the set-closing, hard-hitting prog-rock outro of David Bowie‘s “Moonage Daydream”, a cover this writer had been chasing.

Phish — “Moonage Daydream” (David Bowie) — 9/20/25

[Video: Kembra Allen]

In the second set, Phish showed just how much it’s capable of accomplishing without indulging in some of its more villainous tones. The second set-opening “Everything’s Right” was the pinnacle of what, at times, felt like effusive positivity. But luckily, as is often the case with Trey’s more recent songs, vague generic optimism gave way to impressive improv, as Chris Kuroda and Andrew Griffin hit the baby blue lights and the band dropped into a cool, calm jam. With Page on his Rhodes and Trey opting for long, sustained notes, the band struck a psychedelic, almost Floydian tone that highlighted its understated ability to do more with less.

Phish — “Everything’s Right” — 9/20/25

While Friday’s show certainly had its share of seamless second-set jamming, the smoothest segue of all this weekend currently belongs to “Everything’s Right” -> “Simple” for a flawless entry. Rather than overindulgent cheerfulness like “Everything’s Right”, “Simple” delivered some of that effortlessly goofy Phish before opening up into dreamlike improv, colored by Page’s Wurlitzer as Trey added dots of shimmering notes. As we awoke from our slumber to the rocking of Trey’s wah-wah pedal, the guitarist held a single, sustained note for an impressive 31 seconds.

In the afterglow of applause from Trey’s long note, the band pulled off another smooth segue into “A Wave of Hope” that provided a type I warm-up, eventually winding its way to “Simple” teases and a full-blown reprise. The non-stop set trudged on into “Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1”. While this could have been construed as a cool-down song, the ensuing jam proved anything but as Phish ventured out into its most daring playing of the evening.

As CK5 and Andrew Griffin turned the stage lights off completely—exposing a sea of glow stick stars—Phish navigated eerie, haunted house tones defined by Page’s synths and heavy effects all around, at times reminiscent of Mondegreen‘s secret set. Soon cloaked in spooky green lights, Phish waded into wonky, avant-garde playing whose only tether to reality was Fishman’s steady rhythm. And if Jon Fishman is the only thing keeping you in this dimension, then you know you’re pretty far out. If you’re a fan who likes weird-sounding Phish, this jam is for you.

Out of the strange waters, Phish returned to the first set’s danceable mood with “Gotta Jibboo”. Though the deepest jams of the evening were in the rearview mirror, Trey recalled vintage Phish memories with some of his guitar whale noises from the old days. While the following “Suzy Greenberg” felt like the set’s natural conclusion, Trey still had plenty more squealing bendy notes in the tank and ran them out on “Julius”.

The fourth and final cover of the evening, Jimi Hendrix‘s “Izabella”, brought out in full force the heavy wah-wah Jimi tones Trey had employed all night long. Finally, closing out with “Possum”, Page McConnell made a cyclical statement of his own by bookending the evening with more stellar piano work.

Phish — “Izabella” (Jimi Hendrix) — 9/20/25

[Video: Kembra Allen]

Phish returns to Hampton Coliseum tonight, September 21st, to close out its summer tour. By proclamation of Mayor Jimmy Gray, Sunday is “Phish Day” in Hampton, VA. Get out and enjoy it if you’re here, and if you’re not, tune in to the finale on 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!]

Check out some photos from Saturday’s show courtesy of photographer Maggie Miles. Revisit Live For Live Music‘s coverage of Phish’s September 2025 tour stops at Bourbon & Beyond; Birmingham, AL on Saturday and Sunday; Alpharetta, GA on Tuesday and Wednesday; and Hampton on Friday.

Setlist: Phish | Hampton Coliseum | Hampton, VA | 9/20/25

Set One: Boogie On Reggae Woman (Stevie Wonder), Undermind, Bouncing Around the Room > Birds of a Feather, Esther, Funky Bitch (Son Seals), It’s Ice > Ether Edge, Moonage Daydream (David Bowie)
Set Two: Everything’s Right -> Simple > A Wave of Hope -> Simple > Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1 > Gotta Jibboo, Suzy Greenberg > Julius
Encore: Izabella (Jimi Hendrix) > Possum