On the first Sunday night of Fall Tour 2018, Phish wrapped up a high-energy weekend at the historic Hampton Coliseum. The monstrous first set in “The Mothership” led to a second act full of peaks and valleys–giving way to a double encore to the delight of those that didn’t rush out to beat traffic.

“Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan” opened the show in standard fashion, giving way to the far more uncommon Little Feat cover, “Skin It Back,” which traces its Phish roots back to the band’s infancy. Played for just the fourth time in the 3.0 era (last played 8/11/15), this twangy rocker allowed Mike Gordon to sing the all-too-appropriate lyrics, “City to city, town to town, runnin’ around with the shoes of a clown,” which could also describe his exciting wardrobe from tour to tour. One of the most sought-after songs in the massive repertoire saw Trey Anastasio skinning it back more than usual on the guitar for a raunchy beginning to the special set.

“Brian and Robert” cooled things down as Anastasio nodded to Page McConnell to extend the pleasant-sounding piano solo–a beautiful moment for the short and sweet Story of the Ghost ballad. “Timber (Jerry The Mule)” served as the second cover of the evening and gave the rowdy audience tickets to the Gordon gun show, both through his bass throbbing and sleeveless t-shirt. The eerie territory explored by the foursome was simply foreshadowing what was to come in the “Simple” that followed.

Diving into the abyss almost immediately, Gordon nailed some gnarly riffs and earned his votes as the first set MVP up until that point, while Anastasio forged a funky reverb path via the effects pedal. McConnell used various synth soundscapes to recreate the noises found in a 1980’s arcade during the first section of the Type II monster and the entire band sunk into an almost silent space. Jon Fishman patiently brought the jam to a boil, locking in with Page on the Clav as Gordon took it up another notch. Nearly halfway through the dankness, Anastasio changed the mood from a bubbling cauldron of sound to an airy sunshine daydream, finishing off the masterpiece balls to the wall. Traditionally, Phish knocks this song out of the park in Hampton, and Sunday night did not disappoint. “Simple” made its way back to the spaceship-like venue for the first time in 15 years (first of the 3.0 era) and found a gratefully abducted fanbase.

After a must-hear version of a Phish classic, “Mexican Cousin” was the perfect plug for the band to remind fans about Riviera Maya, their all-inclusive Caribbean holiday which takes place in February. From the beaches of Mexico to the pyramids of Egypt came another funky Phish classic from yesteryear in the form of “Camel Walk.” Gordon teased “Skin It Back” before going off and playing with serious confidence–leading the pack and turning the four-headed monster into an eight-limbed octopus, reminiscent of the one found wrapping its tentacles around the Coliseum in 2009’s official artwork.

Anastasio stepped in with more haunting sounds to stir the sauce around Gordon’s meatballs before launching into “Back on the Train.” The rambunctious Fishman kept the locomotion tempo chugging along while the other members had themselves a Sunday Funday. Similar to the Baker’s Dozen rendition (7/23/17), Anastasio found a happy-go-lucky groove complete with a “Street of Cairo” tease only to return to the dark and demonic theme that ruled over Set 1 with “I Saw It Again.” The perfectly-placed pre-Halloween nightmare found Fishman screeching louder than usual and influencing Anastasio and McConnell to join in the debauchery. Samples from Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House were used to frighten the children before the band killed “I Saw It Again,” ending the first set.

Anastasio started the second set with a lyrical flub that was quickly brushed off by even the most critical fans in “Waves.” Once again drawing attention to the official artwork of the weekend, the Coliseum was dialed-in and immersed themselves in the sonic waves that surrounded the arena. Gordon continued to hover as he did in the previous set while Anastasio worked a fuzzy, fluid section into the almost-15 minute voyage. McConnell layered the jam with a heavy hand on the Hohner and the entire team meticulously segued into “Rise/Come Together” for the fifth time in its short life. Lyrically and compositionally, the combination seemed to make perfect sense and for a moment it was difficult to tell the two songs apart. This was the Phish that the crowd came to see.

“Light” took the role as the second set standout vehicle, as Trey fluttered along for the first section of the jam displaying confidence with a buttery-smooth delivery. Ever since Gordon installed the Dance Dance Revolution platform panel on stage, he has been playing like a man possessed. During “Light” he collaborated with McConnell to develop an interstellar groove as Fishman fueled the spacey expedition with an up-tempo beat to keep the audience on their toes. Focused and forward moving, the peaking Anastasio officially blew the roof off of the building, stomping all over the guitar rig and bringing the fiery “Light” to a halt.

A mellower than normal start for “The Line” contained elements of a reggae tune. While not as pleasantly surprising as the “Slow Llama” from Saturday Night, it is promising to find the band willing to try new things, even with ballads that are typically used to break up the mega-jams. An oddly-placed “Wingsuit” followed by “Your Pet Cat” reminded fans of Halloween musical costumes of 3.0’s past celebrations, but didn’t do much for the show at hand. The funked-out feline ditty has not abided by the laws of physics since its debut, and continues to take many different forms from show to show while keeping its danceability. McConnell strives to evolve the ridiculous meowing samples with each performance and apparently has a damn good time doing it.

Another slowdown in “What’s The Use” transformed into a ferocious “Possum”, that saw Chris Kuroda blast his blue lights over the frenzied crowd. Fishman provided Anastasio with just enough time to tease the recognizable, “William Tell Overture” before embarking on one of Phish’s most-played tunes. The “Possum” was uniquely spacey and nearly dipped into a peaceful realm, but the fearless guitarist picked up the speed and tore this roadkill apart to end the show.

The arena was on their feet in anticipation for any song, followed by the always energetic “Tweezer Reprise” but instead they received a “More” encore followed by the band walking off stage much earlier than they had the previous two nights. A confused audience couldn’t figure out whether to beat the traffic and leave or scream for more music. Those that remained were in for a treat. For the first time since 12/29/2003, the band returned to the stage for a second encore to play yet another classic in “You Enjoy Myself.” After cueing the trampolines, Gordon made “it” happen once again around Anastasio’s bluesy axe work. Interstellar light play by Kuroda during the vocal jam brought “The Mothership” back down to Earth and completed the band’s 21st show at the iconic venue.

On Sunday night, fans once again noted that not all sets are created equally. There are just 10 more days until another musical costume is revealed, and we can’t wait to see what happens along the way. Tour continues on Tuesday in Nashville, TN.

Setlist: Phish | Hampton Coliseum | Hampton, VA | 10/21/18

SET 1: Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, Skin It Back, Brian and Robert, Timber (Jerry The Mule) > Simple, Mexican Cousin, Camel Walk > Back on the Train > Saw It Again

SET 2: Waves -> Rise/Come Together > Light > The Line, Wingsuit > Your Pet Cat, What’s the Use? > Possum

ENCORE: More
ENCORE 2: You Enjoy Myself