Phish returned to Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday night to round out a two-night stand in Seattle, WA. The band’s first night in Seattle had been well-received by fans—more so than most tour openers in recent memory—and that momentum persisted on night two as the cool, collected, and communicatively creative quartet served up yet another strong performance.

Arena rocker “Axilla (Part II)” met the crowd as fans scrambled to their seats, then settled into the sticky funk groove of “The Moma Dance”. It’s hard to tell what shined more brightly as the vamp built to a lively release—a locked-in Page McConnell in a dapper yellow button-up or the wriggling new mass of lights and colors via Chris Kuroda, Andrew Giffin, and company looming above him—but the combination was enough to drop a few jaws just two songs into the set.

As long as we’re talking about the lights… Dude. New updates to the kinetic abilities of the lighting rig—from smoother automation transitions to spinning LED strips along the individual trusses and beyond—have unlocked the doors to some truly spectacular imagery, and you know they have only cracked the surface of what this evolved machine can do. However the band plays this year, #Phish40 is about to look fantastic.

Luckily for all, the playing sounds pretty fantastic so far, too. The patient, plodding “Wolfman’s Brother” that came next cycled through moments of meditative reflection, textural experimentation, and frenetic dissonance over the course of its 13-plus minutes before Trey Anastasio piloted a flawless transition into the increasingly common and always welcome “Izabella”. After a tight five minutes of fire and brimstone from the Bad Lieutenant, he gave a nod to the song’s originator: “Gotta play one from a local musician, little local musician there… Jimi Hendrix?” Trey laughed. Listen back to the recording right here and you can hear one thoroughly dumbfounded fan holler, “Holy shit, dude!” Holy shit, indeed, my man.

Phish – “Wolfman’s Brother” > “Izabella” (Jimi Hendrix) – 4/15/23

[Video: cdViking]

“Well, that was fun,” Trey joked. “Let’s just play that again.” While surely no one would have minded another, the band instead opted for a flowing “Leaves”, then a spotless, soaring “Reba”. A set-closing “Chalk Dust Torture” began as a joyride through the light before plunging into dark, shadowy depths, Jon Fishman and Mike Gordon relentless in their groove throughout the journey. Anastasio grabbed the ball as the jam passed the ten-minute mark and piloted an ascent into yet another new territory, and the others didn’t miss a step as they fell in behind him. Just three sets into the tour, these four musicians are already doing their whole “telepathy” thing on an extremely high level—the best of signs for the busy year ahead.

Set two had a satisfying flow thanks to a creative mix of tunes that wove together neatly both in sound and thematics. After floating in the blimp with a well-played “Free” opener, the band paddled out into “Ruby Waves”, which swelled and crested nicely as Fishman layered in an endless stream of rhythmic textures. Page and Trey’s low-end synth combo plunged the improvisation beneath the waterline before a clean segue into “Prince Caspian” drew the group to the surface to float upon the waves once again, Trey’s creative phrasings casting the grandiose number in unique light.

After pooling into “Piper” in a lovely transition, the band went pretty and spacious as the light rig sprawled high and wide, the LED panes creating a kinetic spectacle even as the trusses themselves stood still. “When The Circus Comes” was tastefully placed coming out of the set’s opening segment, and served to set up another highlight moment of the evening: the elusive jammed-out “Tube”, a murky, quick-footed vamp coated with reverb and delay that bubbled over into rock and roll catharsis before finding its way home.

A pretty “Wading In The Velvet Sea” breather gave way to a gorgeous “Harry Hood” closer, the kind of version that hits all the emotional marks that make it one of the band’s most treasured compositions. There are few more powerful single notes in the pantheon of music than Trey’s sustained sorcery at the peak of “Harry Hood”, and this one was as good as they come.

Phish – “Wading In The Velvet Sea” [Pro-Shot] – 4/15/23

Trey, Mike, Page, and Fish were clearly feeling good as they walked back on for the encore (see: that “Hood”), and chose to open their curtain call with a pair of feel-good “slow songs.” Following the first-ever encore rendition of “Train Song” and just the second “Brian and Robert” encore since the summer of 2000, Phish took a victory lap through the galaxy, past the Space Needle, and back to Climate Pledge Arena to say farewell with “Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.”.

Below, check out a gallery of photos from the Saturday night Phish show at Seattle, WA’s Climate Pledge Arena below via Bill McAlaine.

Phish will head to California this coming week for a three-night stand at Berkeley’s Greek Theatre, followed by three nights at Hollywood Bowl. Watch the remaining dates on the West Coast run live or on-demand, in HD or 4K, and get 48 hours of unlimited playback via LivePhish. Visit the band’s website for tickets.

Setlist [via Phish.net]: Phish | Climate Pledge Arena | Seattle, WA | 4/15/23

Set One: Axilla (Part II) > The Moma Dance, Wolfman’s Brother[1] -> Izabella, Leaves, Reba, Chalk Dust Torture

Set Two: Free > Ruby Waves > Prince Caspian > Piper > When the Circus Comes, Tube > Wading in the Velvet Sea > Harry Hood

Encore: Train Song, Brian and Robert, Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.

[1] Unfinished.

Wolfman’s Brother was unfinished. After Izabella, Trey said they had to play one by a local musician, Jimi Hendrix.