Phish Deliver Record-Breaking “Down with Disease” at North Charleston Kickoff
Phish, photo by Dean Budnick
Last night, July 11, Phish touched down in North Charleston, S.C., for the first of three performances at their longtime launchpad of the North Charleston Coliseum. In the weeks leading up to their first shows in The Palmetto State since 2022, the legendary jam quartet’s current tour had been an uninterrupted stream of bar-raising stagings, bringing a slew of deep cuts and ambitious improvisation to stadiums across the country. Friday’s series kickoff was no exception, as a day off on Thursday and the indoor setting–both meaningful factors in the missile of a summer run–combined to bring out the band’s very best in a fistful of rarities and record-setting explorations, including a sprawling second set “Down with Disease.”
Phish stepped into the spotlight at the North Charleston Coliseum, which they’ve frequented since 1995, with a 10-minute take on “Free,” which set a radiant tone for the ensuing “Rift” and a cover of Little Feat’s “Spanish Moon,” performed for the first time since October 2023 and only the fourth time since its 2010 debut. “Reba” channelled this momentum into the first set’s jam centerpiece, which skipped the whistling to reach out to 12 minutes before the first appearance of Fuego deep cut “Devotion to a Dream” since October 2016 and another 12-minute foray into the oddball prog of “The Final Hurrah,” their Kasvot Växt holdover’s longest version to date.
To tee up their big swing into the set break, Phish brought out the bluegrass romp of “My Mind’s Got a Mind of Its Own,” continuing a marked tour trend of reviving more traditional Americana cuts in cities associated with the style, like Austin, Texas, and Boulder, Colo. The brooding retro funk of Evolve standout “Hey Stranger” built steam with its slow but intense funk, leading the group into a set-closing sprint through “Taste” and the breakthrough peaks of “Walls of the Cave.” For all the first frame’s curveballs, the evening’s best was still yet to come.
Refreshed from the set break, Phish waded into the second half of their performance with a focused warm-up “Llama” that fell somewhere between its former breakneck speeds and notable recent slow-motion arrangements. With a knowing glance, the band jumped into “Down with Disease,” a tried and true pick for the two-slot that’s hosted some of the band’s biggest Summer Tour jams.
From a shadowy, cryptic intro section led by terse interplay between Trey Anastasio and Page McConnell, the Hoist essential plunged into darkness before grabbing a rhythmic ledge and scaling back up to a bliss jam near its halfway point. As they cleared the 20-minute mark, the group cycled through a daze of contrasting but equally infectious dance grooves, morphing funk into boogie and a hard-rock lurch. An electrifying second peak dropped the group into one last riff before they merged into “Twist” after 34 minutes, edging out a memorable “Disease” from last year’s Sphere run to claim the classic’s longest performance yet.
After that exhilarating tour highlight, Phish turned in a well-rounded second set with substantial but never next-level versions of “The Well,” “Chalk Dust Torture,” “Suzy Greenberg” and a 17-minute exploration of Ghost of the Forest’s “Sightless Escape,” Phish’s fourth rendition so far and its third and final record-setting jam of the evening. The encore mixed Phish’s first cover of Los Lobos’ “When the Circus Comes” of 2025 and a grand finale of “First Tube.”
Phish will return to the North Charleston Coliseum tonight, then wrap up the series on Saturday. They’ll continue on the road through the end of the month with standout stagings like two nights at Queens, N.Y.’s beloved Forest Hills Stadium on July 22 and 23 and tour-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 Friday’s full setlist.
Phish
North Charleston Coliseum – North Charleston, S.C.
7/11/25
Set I: Free, Rift, Spanish Moon, Reba+, Devotion To a Dream, The Final Hurrah, My Mind’s Got a Mind of Its Own, Hey Stranger, Taste, Walls of the Cave
Set II: Llama* > Down with Disease > Twist, The Well, Sightless Escape -> Chalk Dust Torture, Suzy Greenberg
Encore: When the Circus Comes, First Tube
Notes:
+ No whistling.
* Performed in a slow, funky arrangement.
Setlist via phish.net.
