As the main leg of Phish’s summer tour begins to wind down, one might think that the band would be saving all of their tricks for their summer festival, Magnaball. Never content to cruise on auto pilot, Phish dropped a handful of surprises into what was an all-out barn burner at the Walnut Creek Amphitheatre in Raleigh, NC.
Interestingly enough, perhaps the biggest surprises came in the very first and very last songs of the day. To open the show, not only did “Llama” make its tour debut, but the version was played in a “slow funk” style. While it’s no llama chase video synchronized to the version of “Llama” with Bela Fleck, this will surely go down as a unique moment in Phishtory.
The other big surprise was in the encore, as the band brought out Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire” to close out the show for the first time in 86 shows. It may not seem like that many shows, but the last “Fire” was two years ago. Definitely an unexpected treat to end this performance.
Of course, the songs between “Llama” and “Fire” were quite spectacular as well. The first set kept thing rocking with stand-out versions of “Chalk Dust Torture”, “Maze”, “Lawn Boy”, “Wolfman’s Brother” and “Suzy Greenberg”. Meanwhile, the second set had more of a flowing feel, with “Golden Age” segueing into “Reba” before dropping into a “Mike’s Groove” that included “Ghost” and Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter” sandwiched between “Mike’s Song” and “Weekapaug Groove”.
Phish will wrap up their pre-Magnaball summer touring with two nights at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland, tonight and tomorrow. Check out the setlist and a full gallery from Daniel Ojeda!
Setlist: Phish at Walnut Creek Amphitheatre, Raleigh, NC – 8/14/15
Set 1: Llama[1], Chalk Dust Torture, The Moma Dance, Yarmouth Road, Tube > Bouncing Around the Room, Maze, Waiting All Night, Lawn Boy, Devotion To a Dream, Wolfman’s Brother, Suzy Greenberg
Set 2: The Wedge, Golden Age > Reba > Mike’s Song > Ghost > No Quarter > Weekapaug Groove > First Tube
Encore: Farmhouse, Fire
[1] Performed in a slow funk style.
Notes: Llama was performed in a slow funk style. Weekapaug included No Quarter teases from Trey.
[Setlist via Phish.net]
[Full gallery below via Daniel Ojeda Photography]
