Last night Phish closed out the penultimate run of its summer tour with fitting theatrics at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, putting on a show featuring the debut of Jerry Reed‘s “Broken Heart Attack”, a trip behind the drum kit for Trey Anastasio, and more in East Troy, WI on Sunday night.
A solid run through “The Landlady” got things started before Trey steered the band into “Runaway Jim”. It felt like Phish might stretch out on this one, but while strong, it stayed rather short. Perennial first-setter and one of the pillars of Phish canon, “Divided Sky”, showed up next. Increasingly rare since the mid-2010s, this marked the fifth performance of the song in 2022. The last time the band played it five times or more in a year was in 2016. Glad to see this one getting some more action.
Phish – “The Landlady” [Pro-Shot] – 8/14/22
“46 Days” landed in the fourth spot. The band cruised for a bit on this one while keyboardist Page McConnell hung on the Wurlitzer, but the tide changed quickly when he moved to the grand piano. At that moment, the band members locked into the motif they’d been patiently waiting for. The jam really started to soar from there, slowly building to a big Type I crescendo before settling into a dark, spacey, synth-heavy outro that bled into “Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan”. Trey was especially lively with this compact version, and even though I wouldn’t have expected it to be paired with “46 Days” since both songs have a similar vibe, I thought it worked well in this spot.
A shaky pass through the 2022 debut of the quirky but challenging Mike Gordon composition “Sugar Shack” preceded the Sigma Oasis ballad, “Shade”. Page McConnell’s “Halfway To The Moon” followed. While Page and Trey generally charge to some extent on the back half of this one, “Halfway” has always felt like it has more room to run than its brief appearances tend to utilize. This one followed the same trend, quickly giving way to “Everything’s Right”. A blast of straight-forward, in-the-box, guitar hero rock n’ roll, this “Everything’s Right” had all the energy you’d want and expect from a set closer and gave the audience a nice taste of what to expect from the second half of the night. Lighting director Chris Kuroda stayed in lockstep with the jam’s multiple tension and release moments before the band surged into a “Hey Jude”-like outro—a phenomenal showing to send the concert to its intermission.
Related: Chris Kuroda & Andrew Giffin: Mobilizing The Phish Lighting Operation [Interview]
Never has a cover sounded more like a Phish song than The Apples In Stereo‘s “Energy”. It just feels like a song 3.0 Trey could’ve written. Of its nine performances, five opened the second set just as the upbeat tune did on Sunday. Once through the song’s form, the band quickly went into a deep, charging, Type II jam. Though it didn’t build and peak, it was strong and consistent. You could tell the band wanted to improvise and the comrades were locked in from the start.
Phish – “Energy” (The Apples In Stereo) [Pro-Shot] – 8/14/22
“Energy” would prove the theme for the rest of the night, as what followed was one of those seamless, unrelenting sets of Phish music. Each song felt like it took the torch from the previous one and passed it on as the group was flying for the rest of the night.
After about ten minutes, Phish segued into a really fun “Gotta Jiboo”. As the jam started, Trey leaned on the whale sound loops, a real throwback to the “Jiboo”s of the late ’90s. Drummer Jon Fishman pushed the pace here and allowed the rest of the band to rip a little more than usual. After some solid, straight ahead shred—and with the pedal still firmly pressed to the floor—Phish transitioned into “Soul Planet”. By this point, the group was on cruise control with no regard for the speed limit. With this journey, the band resisted the temptation to explore new sections or fall into the ambient murk and absolutely soared instead. Every time it seemed as though the energy might dip, Trey took it up another notch.
Without hesitation, the band moved into “Rift”. Nearly flawless, this “Rift” stayed in high gear throughout. After 40 minutes of non-stop music, the band took some brief applause before starting “Reba”, marking just the third time in seven years the Lawn Boy composition has appeared in the second set. “Reba” did what “Reba” does, and it was glorious. It will always be welcome at any point in the show, but I think we all benefit when this one pops up late.
The Phishy funk of “Martian Monster” followed. Trey took a longer trip than usual on this rendition, taking off his guitar and moving behind the drums to seamlessly sub in for Fishman. The drummer, in turn, strolled out to center stage to claim the mic and the spotlight for the Phish debut of the 1968 Jerry Reed song, “Broken Heart Attack”. After landing on the only appropriate runway for Henrietta shenanigans, “Hold Your Head Up”, Fish took his customary lap around the stage (and on top of the piano) before moving to the Marimba Lumina for a “Martian Monster” callback. After the antics, a ripping “Possum” set up a sublime “Slave To The Traffic Light” closer to wrap one of the best sets of the summer.
Phish – “Broken Heart Attack” (Jerry Reed) – 8/14/22
[Video: Gregory Marcus]
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The “Waste” encore could have easily been the cherry on top of a terrific tour, but the band had one more left, and “First Tube” sent everyone home after a wonderful Sunday night in Wisconsin. By now, we all know never to miss a Sunday show. But when the Sunday show is the Eastern U.S. tour closer at Alpine Valley …well…that’s really not one to miss. Revisit Live For Live Music‘s coverage of Phish at Alpine Valley on night 1 and night 2.
For a full list of upcoming Phish tour dates, head here. To order your LivePhish webcast for any of the band’s upcoming summer shows, head here. To sign up for a free trial membership to LivePhish+ and listen to the whole summer 2022 tour and more, head here.
Following Phish’s tour-closing Sunday show at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on September 4th, an all-star ensemble of funk players will keep the party going at Denver, CO’s Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom with The Phunk Sessions featuring members of John Mayer/D’Angelo‘s bands, Lettuce, Dumpstaphunk, and more. Get tickets here.
Setlist [via Phish.net]: Phish | Alpine Valley Music Theatre | East Troy, WI | 8/14/22
SET 1: The Landlady, Runaway Jim > Divided Sky, 46 Days > Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, Sugar Shack, Shade, Halfway to the Moon, Everything’s Right
SET 2: Energy (The Apples In Stereo) > Gotta Jibboo[1] > Soul Planet > Rift, Reba[2], Martian Monster[3] > Broken Heart Attack (Jerry Reed)[4] > Hold Your Head Up (Argent) -> Martian Monster[5], Possum[6] > Slave to the Traffic Light
ENCORE: Waste, First Tube
[1] Unfinished.
[2] No whistling ending.
[3] Trey whistled in the intro and later joined Fish on drums.
[4] Phish debut.
[5] Trey on drums and Fish on Marimba Lumina.
[6] Fish played the drums with one drumstick with the other in the air in the intro.
Gotta Jibboo was unfinished. Reba did not contain the whistling ending. Trey whistled in the intro to the first Martian Monster and eventually joined Fish on drums. This show marked the Phish debut of Broken Heart Attack. The second Martian Monster featured Trey on drums and Fish on Marimba Lumina. The Possum intro featured Fish playing the drums with one hand with his other drumstick in the air and Trey quoting Broken Heart Attack
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