Photo by by Rich Fury/Sphere Entertainment via Phish’s Facebook page

Phish closed out the second weekend of their nine-show run at Las Vegas’ Sphere last night. With no repeats during the extended run all but guaranteed, the Vermont Quartet continued to dig deep into their catalog, offering an interesting mix of material spanning most eras of their extensive catalog.

The night kicked off unexpectedly with Phish’s arrangement of “Timber (Jerry the Mule),” marking the first time the group has opened a show with the Josh White/Sam Gary original since July 29, 2014, and only the second-known time they have commenced a show with the tune, which was originally penned in the 1930s, since it entered their rotation in the 1980s. For the Sphere version, the visuals seemed to snake through a tunnel in the forest while Phish charged forward. From there, the band moved into “The Moma Dance,” which featured more amorphous patterns and visuals, and “The Final Hurrah,” a throwback to their 2018 Vegas Halloween Kasvot Växt musical costume, which utilized the venue’s larger-than-life video screens to display closeups of the band members—a new visual trick that has allowed the band a little more flexibility during this year’s Sphere run.

For many, the show’s first-set highlight was a 17-plus minute take on “Axilla (Part II)” that segued into a 16:43-minute version of Talking Heads’ “Cities.” The former tune reprised the space-themed hot dog sequence from Phish’s first 2026 weekend at Sphere, with Trey Anastasio the tweaking lyrics to fit the visual—”Don’t shine that hot dog in my face… grind it, grind it…” (Though Phish has repeated a few visual gags from their two previous weekends at Sphere–last weekend’s three-show run and their 2024 appearances at the arena-sized space–the repeated visuals have contained slight variations that have made them feel more like thematic continuations.) More carefully defined versions of the Rift favorite “Horn,” the sparingly played Evolve bonus track “The Well” and Zydeco king Clifton Chenier’s “My Soul,” all of which made use of lighting designer Chris Kuroda’s increased involvement this year, closed the first set.

For their second set, Phish showed off their improvisational prowess, with almost every song stretching past the 10-minute mark and some pushing far longer. They launched off with a 10-minute “Halley’s Comet” that moved along with the rings and cylinders displayed on the screen and then dropped seamlessly into an almost 15-minute “Blaze On” that revisited the Vegas backdrop from the opening weekend of Sphere, emphasizing a new, fun, elevator sequence.

Clocking in at 26:35, the unfinished “Chalk Dust Torture” that came next was even more exploratory, with Kuroda illuminating the screens with his rig, before the group paused briefly and then moved into a 16:58-take on “Mercury.” From there, Phish segued into a 10:49 “Waves,” which showcased a colorful forest backdrop, and then inched into a compact version of the bluesy Ghosts of the Forest staple “About to Run,” which revisited the honey-soaked bee sequence from weekend one and, after a quick full stop, a 13:33-minute “Ghost” closer which reused the robots cues from both the song’s 2024 Sphere play and the previous weekend.

Phish slowed things down at the start of their encore, with a take on “Bug” that boasted imagery of grass triangles that evolved into balloons which eventually lifted off into the sky. Then, the night capped off with another tune off Farmhouse, a rocking “First Tube,” that displayed animated fireworks recalling the actual fireworks Anastasio has jammed along to when he’s played the same tune to close festivals like Bonnaroo in the past. Of note, given Sphere’s specific rig and technical requirements, the guitarist did not lift the instrument over his head “Jedi style” to bring on a wave of feedback as he traditionally does.

The concert capped off a busy few days for the band members. Late Friday night, drummer Jon Fishman made his way over to the Bonfire to sit in with Frank Zappa tribute project Stinkfoot Orchestra for “Peaches en Regalia,” an instrumental classic Phish has covered on and off for decades. Friday’s Phish show also contained some unexpected moments, including the opening movement of “The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday”> “The Lizards”–the beginning sequence of  “Gamehendge”–which contained numerous visual nods to that narrative rock opera. During “Martian Monster,” which reused visuals from last weekend’s graveyard sequence, Phish also placed some fun Easter eggs on the tombstones, including a reference to the wigs bassist Mike Gordon used to wear onstage to elevate his hair

Phish will return to Sphere Thursday,

Here’s a look at last night’s setlist via Phish.net

Saturday April 25, Las Vegas, NV

SET 1: Timber (Jerry the Mule), The Moma Dance, The Final Hurrah, Axilla (Part II)[1] > Cities, Horn, The Well, My Soul

SET 2: Halley’s Comet > Blaze On, Chalk Dust Torture[2], Mercury > Waves > About to Run, Ghost

ENCORE: Bug > First Tube

[1] Alternate lyrics referencing Sphere visuals during the song.

[2] Unfinished.

For Timber (Jerry the Mule), the view became a tunnel made of forest, with the sky as the light at the end. Trey used alternate lyrics during Axilla (Part II) that referenced the visuals, saying, “Don’t shine that hot dog in my face…grind it, grind it…” Chalk Dust Torture was unfinished. For First Tube, the scene was a virtual fireworks display.