Phish Tour 2022 – Setlist, Recap & The Skinny: The Wharf Amphitheater Night 3

Phish capped off their three-night Spring + Summer 2022 opening run at The Wharf Amphitheater in Orange Beach, Alabama on Sunday. The band offered an unusual opener to a show that featured a wild second set “Tweezer” and more.

Phish continued a trend of rare openers in Orange Beach with a “Character Zero” kickoff — the band opened with “Twist” for the first time on Friday. While “Character Zero” has opened a number of encores and closed out numerous sets, it has only opened a show once before on July 3, 2010 in Alpharetta, Georgia, as per Phish.net.

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The Vermont Quartet also took the Billy Breathes cut relatively deep as far as “Character Zero” goes at 13 and half minutes. Guitarist Trey Anastasio tore right into the jam with some raucous riffs. The band then pulled on the reins, dropping into a vibey funk sequence with keyboardist Page McConnell manning his Wurlitzer electric piano and Trey bottoming out on swampy licks over drummer Jon Fishman’s pocket groove and bassist Mike Gordon‘s bounding bass.

Page then switched to his washed-out Fender Rhodes while Trey chucked on some rhythmic work before the keyboardist went to work on the synthesizer. Trey fit in some echo as McConnell switched to piano and the band swung into a major key jam with Fish riding the cymbals and Mike bubbling underneath. Anastasio then began climbing, circling higher and higher as the jam built before dropping his clavinet-like tone he established in 2021 and quickly toggled back to rocking riffage ahead of the song’s triumphant coda, tearing it up once again as the band backed him up on vocals.

Anastasio then plucked out the familiar opening riff to “Mike’s Song.” Page began the jam on his Hohner clavinet as Trey focused on the middle of his fretboard with some circular licks and found his way into some echoing rhythm before McConnell came in on the organ. Anastasio then found some ascending lines that led the band into a major key as Page landed on the piano and Mike bounced on the bass over some well-placed fills from Fish. The band then switched back to the minor and Trey laid into some licks and linked up with Page on piano. Anastasio then cued Fishman into the final big power chords.

Next, Fish hit the rim shots as Mike thumped out the bassline for “Bouncing Around The Room.” The brief “Bouncing” gave way to the twangy intro of “Kill Devil Falls,” which the band stretched their legs on. “Winterqueen” came next ahead of Anastasio wailing into “Funky Bitch.” Following the short but sweet lone cover of the evening came “NICU,” “a day at the shore” indeed.

Phish then jumped right into the deliciously dark favorite “Carini.” Page worked some mad scientist synth on the buildup before the quartet came in hot on the jam and then waxed major. Anastasio played with the melody high up on the fret. Trey then proceeded to rip into “Carini” with Page on piano as the pot came to boil before cooling down just a bit with Anastasio simmering under the surface and the band showing off their dynamic mastery.

Trey then swerved into “Weekapuag Groove” and Fishman didn’t miss a beat, signaling the end of a relatively short “Carini” at just over eight minutes. McConnell tapped on the clav in a funky but understated groove. The band then began an upward trajectory with Page’s piano twinkling under Anastasio’s riffage as Gordo slathered some slap back in before the band shared in the groove once again to close out the first frame.

Read on after The Skinny for the rest of the recap and more.

Trey and Mike did some dancing as they opened the second set with “The Landlady.” The song, often nestled inside “Punch You In The Eye,” last opened a second set on October 16, 1994. The band then stepped right into “Tweezer,” the song continuing Fish’s Leave It To Beaver sampling. The beginning of the “Tweezer” jam was highlighted with Trey, Mike and Page all riffing off each other. Trey dropped a crunchy auto-wah tone as Page returned to the synth. Fish punctuated a head-bobbing jam with some ferocious fills. The synth came strong as the band headed into an otherworldly sequence with Mike dropping some bass effects.

The band then pulled things back a bit, with Trey working some staccato notes laced with effects. The jam took a major turn soaked in synth from McConnell. Gordon rolled out some beastly bass stuff as Anastasio slid up and down the neck of the Languedoc. A driving jam ensued with Page buzzing on the synth and Trey getting into his clav-like tone in an unreal segment. Then Mike busted out the drill and the band descended into weirdness. Page hopped on an arpeggiator as Trey looped some notes and the cacophony continued ahead of another Beaver sample to cap off a wicked “Tweezer.”

“Plasma” emerged from the madness followed by “Wolfman’s Brother,” the latter complete with an extended funky romp laced with clav and slap bass with Anastasio delving into his industrial tone ahead of some auto-wah in a delicious herky-jerky jam with more Beaver quotes. The quartet then went major as “Wolfman” themes began trickling back in and Trey caught on a tasty lick to wrap up. The poignant “Miss You” emerged from “Wolfman’s.” Trey led the band through his beautiful tribute to his sister Kristy, who sadly passed away in 2009. Fish then hit the hi-hat and counted Mike into “Maze.”

Following a somewhat rocky rendition of the Rift cut, the quartet dropped into the reggae of “Harry Hood,” with Trey tinging the intro with swampy auto-wah and Fish dropping a “yeah” ahead of the lyrics and classic composition, which the band delivered tightly. Trey built the jam slowly, working flighty notes and rocking ones as well before waxing dark over booming fills from Fish. Anastasio then headed back to major and hit some soaring notes as the band coalesced behind him for the final “feel good” to close the second set.

“A Life Beyond The Dream” ushered in the encore like a lamb before it went out like a lion with “Tweezer Reprise.” Phish’s Spring + Summer Tour 2022 continues on Tuesday in Charleston, South Carolina. A livestream is available via LivePhish.com.

Phish From The Road Photos

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Posters

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Source: JamBase.com