On Friday night, Phish returned to The Gorge, kicking off a three-night stand at the legendary outdoor amphitheater and marking the group’s 17th appearance at the West Coast fan-favorite venue. Coming off of their two-night tour opener at Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harvey’s earlier in the week, the band celebrated their first weekend performance of the summer, offering up the band’s debut of “Set Your Soul Free” and standout jams during set one’s “Simple” and set two’s well-segued opening run of “Chalk Dust Torture”, “My Friend, My Friend”, “Fuego”, and “Sparkle”.

Starting the show around 8:20 p.m. local time, the quartet of Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, Page McConnell, and Jon Fishman took the stage, opening with Phish’s debut of “Set Your Soul Free”, a tune with lyrics and music written by Trey that Trey Anastasio Band debuted at Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas during their Halloween run last year. While slightly rough around the edges, the anthemic tune stands out from other recently debuted Trey tunes for its future jamming potential, which the band briefly took advantage of during the standalone set-opening rendition.

“Set Your Soul Free”

[Video: Music Video Platform]

From there, Phish moved into fan-favorite “Wolfman’s Brother”, reenergizing the crowd after the somewhat lackluster opener (though the fairly tame fan reception from “Set Your Soul Free” is due in part to the song’s unfamiliarity). With the rhythm section dialed in and keeping the jam grounded, the band moved through a rhythmic, funk-fueled improvisation section chock full of woodblock, though the jam was kept short and sweet.

Up next, the group moved into a patient and tight take on “Roggae”, reminding fans of the extended, standout version of the tune from the Gorge on August 5th, 2011, which has widely been heralded as one of the band’s greater renditions. The band quickly launched into a rapid-fire take on “Poor Heart” highlighting Page, detouring through the bluegrass-inspired track before moving into a bounding and impassioned “Undermind”, which saw Page once again step forward and shine on the keys before Trey took the lead on the song’s jam.

With the band settled into the set and firing on all cylinders, the band deftly moved into another fan-favorite “Simple”—making for the most notable highlight of set one. After the jubilant opening verses, the group moved into a darker, psychedelic jam, with Trey experimenting with new tones and effects on his fresh setup, getting more confident in his use of the Leslie speaker. With the band relaxed yet adventurous, Phish savored the “Simple” jam, expertly building the song to its explosive peak as Chris Kuroda perfectly complimented the song with his jaw-dropping light rig before slowly returning to the song’s main theme.

With the stellar “Simple” wrapped up, Phish transitioned into their feel-good cover of Cyril Ferguson‘s “Ya Mar”. With Trey saying “Play it, Cactus”, Mike Gordon stepped forward to take an extended funky bass solo to lead to the close of the number, with Trey eventually joining in and the two in unison to close out the jubilant tune. Yet another fan-favorite followed, with Phish moving into the grinding and slinky “Sand”. Trey led in the “Sand” jam, starting things off with a cascading solo with occasional end-of-phrase ornaments from Page and Mike deftly weaving around the melody, building the tune into a soaring crescendo before taking a bow and closing set one in full.

To kick off set two, the band launched into a fiery, 23-minute “Chalk Dust Torture”, with Page laying heavily into the keys early on during the song, clearly playing off the crowd’s energized response. Using the set-opening “Chalk Dust Torture” as the vehicle for the beginnings of a spacey jam, the group settled into a psychedelic space, with Mike Gordon leading the charge as the improv steadily became more propulsive. With plenty of experimental tones from Trey, the jam found its major-key resolution with an initially quiet yet bounding segment that grew to become blissful and triumphant.

“Chalk Dust Torture” [Pro-Shot]

[Video: LivePhish]

After the peak, Phish landed into the spacious, percussive jam, rife with bubbly and billowing synthy additions locked down by the jam’s rumbling rhythm. After a dramatic pause following the otherworldly jam, the group petered out, making for a silky transition into the cascading opening portion of “My Friend, My Friend”. With the song amping the crowd up, the band deftly dissolved the tune into a quiet break, picking back up into “Fuego” and marking yet another interesting, standout transition in set two.

With the crowd cheering along and echoing “Vlad The Impaler,” it was clear the band and the audience were locked into the energy of the show, with the band detouring through a quick yet fiery jam before landing the song’s towering chorus—during the chorus, it was clear that Trey was feeling the set thus far, with the guitarist grinning as he scanned the crowd at The Gorge—then picking back up into the high-flying jam highlighted by Trey’s pristine and dialed-in solo.

Fishman and Mike led their own portion of the jam, slowing it down and welcoming in an ambient, effect-laden section. With the jam slowed, the band again flexed their song-transition skills, welcoming in the start of “Sparkle”. The song accelerated to its high-speed ending, highlighted by Page’s furious performance, with the group bringing the rapid-fire song to its close.

Ending the second frame’s non-stop set-opening streak, from there, Phish offered up “Halley’s Comet”. With Trey flubbing the start of the song, the mistakes forced the group to compensate by quickly moving into the song’s jam portion where they attempted to recover, though Trey and the rest of the band bailed on the song after six minutes.

Moving on to “Light”, Phish regrouped after the less-than-inspired “Halley’s Comet”. Again, the band offered a darker-tinged jam, with Mike standing out with his powerful bass. With the first peak seemingly leading out of the dark jam, the group quickly returned to and doubled down on the jam’s darker tone. Rather than building out the jam once again, the band forwent another climax, giving the improv section a rhythmic, unison close.

A well-placed “Waste” followed, with the heartfelt standalone song serving as a breather with a fine solo from Trey to close out the song before launching into Phish’s cover of The Velvet Underground‘s “Rock And Roll”. Again, some of the lyrics were flubbed in the beginning, making for a sloppy start before the group landed in a high-octane jam that re-engaged the crowd to close out the second set.

Returning for their encore, Phish first offered up “Tube”, marking the sixth time the song has been played for an encore out of the song’s 145 plays. Mike stood out during the band’s take, leading the charge across the group’s groove-heavy jam. The band’s rendition of “Tube” was short, coming in around the six-minute mark. With Trey consulting with his bandmates on stage, the group decided to perform “Golgi Apparatus” to bring the show to a close in full.

Setlist: Phish | The Gorge | George, WA | 7/20/2018

Set One: Set Your Soul Free, Wolfman’s Brother, Roggae, Poor Heart, Undermind, Simple, Ya Mar, Sand

Set Two: Chalk Dust Torture > My Friend My Friend > Fuego > Sparkle, Halley’s Comet, Light, Waste, Rock And Roll

Encore: Tube, Golgi Apparatus