Phish made their return to Hampton, VA’s infamous Hampton Coliseum, a venue that holds a special place in both the band and fans’ hearts for so many reasons. Following a well-received two-night run to open their fall tour in Albany, Phish delivered an impressive opening night in Hampton, perfectly placing rarities, and laying down a sizable amount of deep type II territory, which ignited the all-GA venue.
With the Mothership crowd roaring before the band took the stage, Phish came out and opened the first set with “Strawberry Letter 23”, played for only the second time ever, as it was only debuted on the second night of Phish’s 13-night Bakers Dozen run. Phish’s vocals sound particularly refined and in tune this tour, and the four-piece did a fantastic job harmonizing behind Trey Anastasio’s lead vocals on the beloved Shuggie Otis cover. Next up was “Blaze On”, which led way to aggressive type II territory out of the gates. After bringing the chorus back, the band continued to push further out, adding a touch of an extended outro.
A massive bust-out followed, as Phish dove into “Mock Song”, played for the first time since 2015’s Magnaball, and only the third time ever. The Mike Gordon-led tune off of 2002’s Round Room includes a difficult lyrical punch, so Gordon had an assist with lyrics written out on pieces of cardstock. The band sounded confident and driven with their ballsy song selection, with Gordon shining bright, no pun intended. Lighting designer extraordinaire, Chris Kuroda, turned Hampton into a fluorescent ocean of love the entire evening, as his rig dangled above the band.
“Divided Sky” followed up “Mock Song”, as the band took a brief pause before slowly drifting into the familiar theme of “Roggae”. With Jon Fishman and Gordon locking in the rhythm section, Anastasio took off, as Page McConnell followed his every move with extreme precision. The Hampton Coliseum exploded with applause as the band reeled “Roggae” back in, before taking a brief pause to catch their breaths.
Picking up the pace, Phish delivered a high-energy, yet standard “Sparkle”, as Kuroda illuminated the rowdy crowd with a solid-red pattern. Before the crowd completely laughed, and laughed, and fell apart, Phish quickly collected themselves, allowing Fishman enough time to lay down his signature “Undermind” beat. Towards the end of “Undermind”, Anastasio took the stage front and center, inviting the crowd to clap along with him. Gordon and McConnell quieted things down for Fishman, as the octopus-like drummer rolled through his toms and cymbals.
“Meat” was up next, as Gordon led his bandmates, dropping some thunderous “Mike-bombs” along the way. As Trey has done every show this tour, he slowly approached Mike, as they directly faced each other, with shit-eating grins from ear to ear. Hampton’s a place where Phish finds their comfort zone without hesitation, and the band’s interplay with each other tonight exemplified this notion. “Rift” followed, with McConnell whipping up a whirlwind of a solo on the grand piano, before Trey and Mike delivered the signature finale, tapping themselves on the throat as the last notes of “Rift” rung out. Phish closed out the first set with a cover of James Gang’s “Walk Away”, a tune that did not get any attention over Phish’s recent summer tour.
Phish opened the second set with “Carini”, immediately dropping into some dark and evil Phish, with Anastasio and Fishman howling, “Carini had a lumpy head.” With an apparent mid-show outfit change, Gordon hammered away on his Modulus bass, before Anastasio and McConnell quickly found their sweet spot together. Trey led the way into a psychedelic pocket, before the band slowly trickled away, bouncing harmoniously into “Sand”. Anastasio and Gordon threw in a “Strawberry Letter 23” tease as the band set the gearshift for takeoff. Following some piping hot interplay between Anastasio and McConnell, the band took a blissful stride before seguing into “Golden Age”.
“Golden Age” took a wild ride, with multiple segments delicately woven together. Midway through the jam, Fishman took charge and slowed things down, before McConnell quickly started playing with intergalactic spacey-noises, inviting Anastasio to set the bar for the remainder of the jam. McConnell tossed in a heavy dose of 2014’s Halloween teases, before the band fizzled out of “Golden Age” with a spooky, dark vibe. A tight-knit “Twist” continued in the second set’s theme of heavy improvisation, before the quartet took a breather to collect themselves.
“Mountains In The Mist” followed, as Trey delivered his lead vocal portion of the song with punctuality. McConnell led his bandmates into “Meatstick”, with Gordon holding it down as he glimmered in his sparkly-silver shirt. Phish brought their second set to a close with “Split Open and Melt”, taking the tune into some dark and gloomy space. Anastasio let it all hang out during the “Melt”, firing off an ever-evolving solo, until the band connected to bring the peaking jam to a close. Coming back out for their encore, Phish took no time to dive into “The Lizards”, played for the first time ever at Hampton Coliseum. If the first night of Phish’s Hampton run is any indicator of what the next two nights will bring, fans better buckle up for a wild ride!
Phish returns to the Hampton Coliseum tonight for their second show of the highly anticipated three-night run. The band follows their Hampton run up with a two-night stand at Nashville, TN’s fan-favorite venue, Ascend Amphitheatre, a three-night stand at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL, and wrap up their fall tour with a four-night Halloween run at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Setlist: Phish | Hampton Coliseum | Hampton, VA | 10/19/2018
Set One: Strawberry Letter 23, Blaze On> Mock Song, Divided Sky, Roggae, Sparkle, Undermind, Meat, Rift> Walk Away
Set Two: Carini> Sand> Golden Age, Twist, Mountains In The Mist, Meatstick, Split Open and Melt
Encore: The Lizards
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