Phish Returns To Dayton’s Nutter Center: Night 1 Recap, Setlist & Skinny

Phish played the first of two shows at Dayton, Ohio’s Ervin J. Nutter Center on Tuesday night. Though the band has only played Wright State University’s basketball arena three times, the room has gained an outsized place in the band’s lore, thanks to two excellent ’90s shows that were good enough to earn official releases, and a third in 2017 which warmed the quartet up for their legendary Baker’s Dozen run.

The band’s first multi-night stand at the venue opened with another memorable show on Tuesday, featuring a handful of exceptional jams, a couple of long-lost Halloween album originals, and a healthy mix of old and new songs.

The festivities began with “Sigma Oasis,” whose jam cycled through a few key changes and some tasty guitar and piano licks before winding down.

It’s rare that the bust-out of an original Phish song is recognized by only a few audience members, but that was the case with “The 9th Cube,” which had been missing in action since its debut during the Sci-Fi Soldiers set on Halloween 2021. The brief instrumental song was played cleanly before an excellent “Theme from the Bottom” that featured some inspired shredding from guitarist Trey Anastasio.

Another Halloween album rarity followed: “Cool Amber and Mercury,” last seen in August 2021. The tune included a brief but very strong guitar-led jam. Bassist Mike Gordon took a turn on lead vocals in a snappy “555.”

The set’s improvisatory highlight was the “Bathtub Gin” that followed. The jam quickly went into a minor key, as the band found a hypnotic, patient groove that built, then twisted into a major key peak — a bit of Nutter butter, if you will — before returning to the song’s theme.

“Broken Into Pieces” had previously been played only once, at Madison Square Garden on August 1. The laid-back number was wedged between two giants: the “Gin” that preceded it, and the typically gorgeous “Reba” that followed. A standard, rocking “Chalk Dust Torture” closed the set.

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

The last time Phish played “Mike’s Song,” on August 4 at Madison Square Garden, they unleashed one of the longest and most ferocious versions of the song in its nearly four-decade history. Tuesday night’s second-set opener extended the streak to two consecutive must-hear versions: the 19-minute excursion took the western Ohio crowd to an ethereal space for several minutes before drummer Jon Fishman led his bandmates to a pulsing, robotic groove.

As the jam finally subsided, the band launched into “Prince Caspian.” A brief but beautiful run through the song preceded a quick turn into “No Men Into No Men’s Land.” That jam featured a gorgeous, soaring peak in a major key — which Trey steered right back into “Prince Caspian.” The transition was smooth, but the end of the “No Men” jam felt abrupt.

A somewhat rare second set “It’s Ice” surfaced, and was played skillfully. The third-ever performance of “Pillow Jets” came next, and descended into several minutes of evil beauty courtesy of Trey’s pedal work. “Weekapaug Groove” followed, finally closing the loop on the “Mike’s Song” that opened the set. Trey sprinkled saucy licks all over the subsequent “Twist,” before “Slave to the Traffic Light” brought the set to a lovely close.

As 11:30 p.m. approached, “Joy” seemed like it would be the only song in the encore. But it turned out the band was just getting started: they played a quick “Buffalo Bill” (last played in July 2022), after which Trey quoted the song’s namesake from Silence of the Lambs. They then gave the audience a couple final doses of adrenaline with the one-two punch of “Wilson” and “First Tube.”

Phish performs again tonight in Dayton. Watch the show and this weekend’s three-night run in Chicago via LivePhish.com livestreams.

Phish From The Road Photos

https://www.instagram.com/p/CyO9tLTJJWk

Posters

https://www.instagram.com/p/CyOWYlluaEQ/

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Source: JamBase.com