On Tuesday, for the first time in six years, Phish took the stage at Dayton, OH’s Ervin J. Nutter Center, kicking off a two-night midweek run. The concerts on the campus of Wright State University serve as the midpoint of Phish’s brief 2023 fall tour, which began this past weekend with a three-night run in Nashville. The Ervin J. Nutter Center, of course, holds special significance to Phish and its fans as the site of a still-legendary show back in 1997.

The band darted out of the gate on Tuesday with a chugging “Sigma Oasis” that provided immediate gratification with a tension-and-release jam. Phish’s bust-out fever carried over from Nashville with the first take on the Sci-Fi Soldier instrumental “The 9th Cube” since its debut on Halloween 2021, as well as the first take on Kasvot Växt selection “Cool Amber and Mercury” since August 29th, 2021, a gap of 106 shows. These minor dust-offs were separated by a lengthier take on a “Theme From The Bottom” that pushed through the typical mundaneness of the first-set singalong with charged rapid-fire notes from guitarist Trey Anastasio.

Next came a mic check for bassist Mike Gordon as he took the band through a brisk “555” that let out the other side into “Bathtub Gin”. While certainly no longer the improvisational behemoth of its former days, this “Gin” opened up into a wonky midsection that confounded with swirling synthesizers from Page McConnell and disjointed, effects-laden notes from Trey as Jon Fishman rubberbanded the jam together with tight rhythms.

Coming out of what was to that point the deepest improv of the night, Trey brought the mood down with “Broken Into Pieces”, a debut from his June run of trio shows in Denver that Phish added to its repertoire during a seven-night run at Madison Square Garden over the summer. Juxtaposing the old with the new, Phish then dug into the classic “Reba” for a standard telling before finishing off the set with a quick take on another favorite of yesteryear, “Chalk Dust Torture”.

Related: Phish Destroyed Dayton’s Nutter Center 25 Years Ago Today [Full Audio]

Once again shooting straight out of a cannon energetically, Phish opened the second set in Dayton with “Mike’s Song”. The time-tested jam vehicle would prove the lengthiest instrumental excursion of the evening, charged by swelling McConnell organs that propped up Trey, allowing him to soar above the rhythmic churning of Fish and Gordo. The pressure finally built to a breaking point, opening up into an ambient, lofty space before a smooth transition into “Prince Caspian”. Floating upon the waves, Phish brought “Caspian” into a respectable “No Man In No Man’s Land” before a brief reprise of “Prince Caspian” turned the three-song movement into a sandwich.

With no sign of “Weekapug Groove” to be found, Phish continued the yin-yang of pairing time-tested classics with recent catalog additions by piecing together Rift favorite “It’s Ice” with the 2023 summer tour debut “Pillow Jets”, which finally flowed into the long-awaited “Weekapaug”. All told, four songs and nearly 40 minutes separated this “Mike’s” from its partner “Paug”, but in the end they finally found each other prior to the jagged” Twist” and cathartic “Slave To The Traffic Light” that closed the second set.

With time still left on the clock, Phish opted for a quantity over length approach for the encore, dishing out four quick hitters. A heartfelt “Joy” kicked things off, followed by the first “Buffalo Bill” of 2023. Though the tribute to New York’s Queen City wasn’t exactly geospecific, it was at least region-specific as this is the closest Phish will get to Buffalo on this Midwest stretch of fall tour.

Following the bouncy singalong, Trey called the song a “classic” and ruefully observed, “They don’t write ’em like that anymore.” Big Red was feeling himself, as he then quoted the character Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs, “It puts the lotion on its skin or it gets the hose again.” Back to live action, Phish finally closed out the show with back-to-back, straight-ahead rockers in “Wilson” and finally “First Tube”.

Below, check out a gallery of photos from Tuesday’s Phish show in Dayton via photographer Ron Valle. Phish returns to the Ervin J. Nutter Center in Dayton, OH tonight, October 11th, to finish off the two-night weekday run. For tickets and a complete list of upcoming Phish tour dates, head here.

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.

Revisit Live For Live Music‘s coverage of Phish’s Nashville run: Friday | Saturday | Sunday.

Setlist [via phish.net]: Phish | Ervin J. Nutter Center | Wright State University | Dayton, OH | 10/11/23

Set One: Sigma Oasis, The 9th Cube, Theme From the Bottom, Cool Amber and Mercury, 555 > Bathtub Gin, Broken Into Pieces, Reba > Chalk Dust Torture

Set Two: Mike’s Song > Prince Caspian > No Men In No Man’s Land -> Prince Caspian, It’s Ice > Pillow Jets -> Weekapaug Groove, Twist > Slave to the Traffic Light

Encore: Joy, Buffalo Bill, Wilson > First Tube

Notes: Cool Amber and Mercury was performed for the first time since August 29, 2021 (106 shows). Following Buffalo Bill, Trey remarked that the song is a classic and “they don’t write ’em like that anymore.” He then quoted Buffalo Bill from the film The Silence of the Lambs, saying “It puts the lotion on its skin.”