Phish Celebrate Independence Day with Top-Tier Shows in Boulder, Colo.
Phish, photo by Dean Budnick
Over the holiday weekend, Phish returned to Colorado with a three-night series that turned from an old tradition to triumphantly inaugurate a new one. In place of their beloved Labor Day celebration at Commerce City, Colo.’s Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, where they’ve welcomed fans from far and wide for annual summer send-offs since 2011, the foundational jam quartet took the stage for an Independence Day run at the University of Colorado’s historic Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo. from July 3-5. Each show of the three-night run was packed with surprises and expert performances that went above and beyond high expectations.
On Thursday, July 3, Phish took the stage for their first show at Folsom Field, and their first show in Boulder since 1998, with the high-spirited opener of “Wolfman’s Brother,” which sent a feeling of true elation through the 50,000-capacity arena as fevered anticipation melted away into a soft boogie. After moving into the jangly funk of “Tube,” the band tossed out the weekend’s first curveball with a bust-out of Ween’s “Roses Are Free” for the first time since July 2022, which landed as a powerful tribute to the duo as their indefinite touring hiatus continues. Ween’s Chocolate and Cheese classic gave way to a masterful “Maze” shortly before the first “Nellie Kane” since Billy Strings’ sit-in last August, which established a theme of bluegrass homages that continued throughout the run. To close out the evening’s first frame, the group raced through a combined 25-minute medley of fan favorites “Stash” and “Fluffhead.”
Phish stormed the spotlight for their second set with a fiery “Carini,” featuring a sneaky tease of “Dueling Banjos” from Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon, which fused into a bright and curious 20-minute “You Enjoy Myself” and a festive 17-minute return to Lee Dorsey’s NOLA funk classic “Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley,” which emerged for the first time since their August 2023 MSG series. With a beat to breathe following these early highlights, the quartet packed brief treatments of other standards into the set before closing with a segued sprint through “Pillow Jets,” “Also Sprach Zarathustra” and “Possum.” To cap off night one, Phish presented an encore of “Stash” and another bluegrass cut of “Rocky Top,” which made it to the stage for the first time since December 2019.
On July 4, Phish got the ball rolling with the tongue-in-cheek Americana of “Bathtub Gin,” which romped for 12 minutes and gave way to the fluid grooves of “The Moma Dance.” Yet another tribute to the traditional string bands close to the heart of Colorado’s musical culture arrived with a cover of the Del McCoury Band’s “Beauty of My Dreams,” which too had been left out of setlists since the Vermont foursome’s crossover with BMFS last summer. At the set’s midpoint, Phish set into its first ferocious jam of night two with a 14-minute “Oblivion,” which emulated the inky depths of its lyrics with a turn from the intro’s lighthearted tone to a deeper, darker impulse that sat beneath their improvisation for much of the remaining show. As they wrapped the set with a shadowy, bluesy take on Vida Blue’s “Most Events Aren’t Planned,” led by Page McConnell’s slick organ lines, it was clear that the outfit had something up their sleeves for the second set.
Phish’s fourth frame of the weekend rolled in with “Simple,” which stretched out for 13 minutes as tense harmonies and shadowy jabs from all four instrumentalists worked up a seamless transition into “What’s Going through Your Mind?” This moody impulse came to an apex with the first “Tweezer” since “Tweezer-Fest,” which let the band pour out all its bent, minor and ultimately blistering inspirations into a familiar, but always brand new classic. In the wake of its late but well-earned last peak, the murky, sinister trance of Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter” crept in for the first time since October 2023, leading the band to finally break free from the gloom with a powerful set-closing arc of “Down with Disease” and “Ghost.” Friday’s encore brought on a cathartically loose “Character Zero” and the looming grand finale of “Tweezer Reprise.”
After two nights of bar-raising performances from the storied four-decade jamband, the final Boulder show began with the cluttered, hectic headrush of “Buried Alive,” which tore off into an anthemic “46 Days” for a hot-blooded introduction. That intensity endured as the group moved through “Birds of a Feather” to the blissed-out relief of “Sigma Oasis” and a tight, percussive “David Bowie,” both of which reached 11 minutes. The first frame’s improvisational highlight was a high-spirited 16-minute “Blaze On,” in which the band found a deep instrumental communication that spirited them through “The Lizards” to an epic set-closing cover of The Beatles’ “A Day in the Life,” which graced the stage for the first time since last August and gave the band a chance to exhaust its chaotic spirit into the signature dissonant section before pulling into intermission.
The sixth and final set of Phish’s Independence Day series began with a quick and energetic “Wilson,” which primed the band and fans alike for a set that utilized the full extent of their instrumental prowess to deftly weave between disparate entries. This cascade commenced with 15 minutes of “Fuego,” which tore off into an abbreviated six-minute treatment of “My Friend, My Friend” in its bridge, then mind-bendingly returned to its source for another 11 minutes. In the subsequent cover of Talking Heads’ “Crosseyed and Painless,” the band embedded a few lines of “Happy Birthday” as a salute to Wu-Tang Clan’s legendary founder RZA, who spent his birthday in attendance and joined the band backstage before the show. Jon Fishman announced “Happy Birthday, Rizz,” from the stage, and Anasatasio echoed “Wu-Tang forever.”
On the tail end of a series that thrived in its darkest and moodiest moments, Phish planted one last blast of positivity with a wide-eyed sequence of “Everything’s Right” and “More” before finally concluding the set with a heartwarming sing-along on “Slave to the Traffic Light.” For the weekend’s last note, the band dove into a quick “Buffalo Bill” for the first time since October 2023–referencing the Old West legend’s nearby burial site and University of Colorado Boulder’s mascot–and sent the crowd off into the warm mountain night with a 14-minute “Harry Hood.”
Phish’s plans for next year are at least as difficult to pin down as their next setlist, but their skillful, inventive performances and visible delight from the stage suggest that Folsom Field would be as good a place as any for future summer holidays.
The group will return to the stage on Wednesday, July 9, for a one-off set at Columbus, Ohio’s Schottensetein Center, then continue on the road through late July with standout stagings like two nights at Queens, N.Y.’s beloved Forest Hills Stadium on July 22 and 23 and a series-closing three-night return to Saratoga Springs’ Broadview Stage at SPAC from July 25-27. Following their Summer Tour, the band will embark on a seven-stop fall series from Sept. 13-21. Find tickets and more information here.
Read on for the weekend’s full setlists.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
Phish
Folsom Field – Boulder, Colo.
7/3/25
Set I: Wolfman’s Brother, Tube, Roses Are Free > Maze, Bouncing Around the Room, Nellie Kane, Kill Devil Falls, Sand > Fluffhead
Set II: Carini > You Enjoy Myself > Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley, Light > What’s the Use?, Pillow Jets > Also Sprach Zarathustra > Possum
Encore: Stash, Rocky Top
Notes:
Trey teased The Secret of Life (The Dead Milkmen) in Tube. Roses Are Free was played for the first time since July 16, 2022 (136 shows). Trey teased Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan in Sand. Trey and Mike teased Dueling Banjos during Carini. Trey teased Chameleon in Sneakin’ Sally. Mike teased Plasma during Light. Rocky Top was played for the first time since December 28, 2019 (198 shows).
Phish
Folsom Field – Boulder, Colo.
7/4/25
Set I: Bathtub Gin, The Moma Dance, Beauty of My Dreams, Theme From the Bottom, Rift, Oblivion, Timber (Jerry the Mule), Guyute, Back on the Train, Most Events Aren’t Planned
Set II: Simple -> What’s Going Through Your Mind > Tweezer > No Quarter > Down with Disease > Ghost
Encore: Character Zero > Tweezer Reprise
Notes:
Trey teased Sand in Oblivion and Rainy Day Women #12 and #35 in Back on the Train.
Phish
Folsom Field – Boulder, Colo.
7/5/25
Set I: Buried Alive > 46 Days, Birds of a Feather, Sigma Oasis, David Bowie, Evolve, Blaze On, The Lizards, A Day in the Life
Set II: Wilson, Fuego -> My Friend, My Friend -> Fuego > Crosseyed and Painless > Everything’s Right, More, Slave to the Traffic Light
Encore: Buffalo Bill, Harry Hood
Notes:
My Friend, My Friend did not include the “Myfe” ending. Trey quoted My Friend, My Friend in the second Fuego. Fish wished RZA (who was in attendance) happy birthday in Crosseyed and Painless which subsequently contained Happy Birthday and Fuego teases from Trey and a Three Blind Mice quote from Fish. After Trey’s Happy Birthday tease in Crosseyed, he said “Wu-Tang Forever.” Trey teased Norwegian Wood in Everything’s Right. Harry Hood contained “Buffalo Harry” quotes.
Setlists via phish.net.
