Photo Credit: Dave Vann

Last night, July 19, Phish kicked off its long-awaited 2024 summer tour with a return to Mansfield, Mass.’s Xfinity Center. This show marked the first of 26 dates planned for the legendary jam outfit through September 1 and its first public appearance since its four-night residency at Las Vegas’ Sphere on April 18-21 that set a new standard for live performance. The band’s showing on Friday was just as triumphant as anyone could expect, delivering a masterful set that stayed true to the band’s canon and thoroughly honed live format, with just enough twists and turns to keep fans expecting the unexpected in the tour to come.

Nearly 32 years to the day after its first performance at the storied Massachusetts arena formerly known as Great Woods, Phish’s return to the venue this year expands on its tradition of two-night residencies by adding a third show. For the outset of its new trio, the band issued a serious straight-ahead showing, comprising two eight-track sets lined with classics and one encore offering.

The band exploded onto the stage with “Buried Alive,” ripping through the high-octane instrumental with a fervor that signaled an energetic set to follow. Effortlessly merging into an unusually early placement of the Billy Breathes rocker “Character Zero,” Trey Anastasio, Jon Fishman, Page McConnell and Mike Gordon made it clear that they had pent up some energy in three months away from the fans, and intended to let it fly once more.

Energy stayed high in a gripping, funky run through “Hey Stranger,” which celebrated the recent arrival of Phish’s 16th studio album Evolve as the first cut from the project to make it to the stage since its release. Next came the ever-involving “Down with Disease” which kept the motor running hot through the 1994 ripper with the first extended jam of the band’s new tour, unleashing a toothy, swirling, key-shifting odyssey that proved the band’s continuous development of its form.

Phish worked through “Roggae” and “NICU” before coming to another expansive jam with “Stash,” which steered into darker tones and harmonic tension with loops and dense synth haze before a major resolve and return to center. The quartet reined it in and focused its force for the first frame closer of “46 Days,” which burned away the last drops of funk-rocking fuel in the tank and brought the crowd to its feet, eagerly awaiting the next set.

Vermont’s finest assumed the spotlight again with “Suzy Greenberg,” then mixed up its routines again with a segue into a strikingly early “Run Like An Antelope.” The quartet’s second set was transitioned in its entirety, composing a mind-melting meld of new and old fan favorites alike. An early highlight came next with “Ghost,” which launched a 19-minute jam—the longest of the evening—that dove deep into darkness with some peddle meddling.

Then, “Light” shot through with a radiant chord, which found its footing on a propulsive, shuffling backbeat from Fishman and set up another jam. The group then sped ahead to “Pillow Jets,” the second and final Evolve entry from the evening, and followed up with “Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1,” sourced from Anastasio’s 2019 solo set Ghosts of the Forest.

After a truly wild ride, Phish summoned all its energy again for the electrifying show closer of “Split Open and Melt.” Freshly following Anastasio’s nod to the track as a springboard for otherworldly exploration on Marc Maron’s WTF, the band made good on the assurance with another daring jam that reached out to the furthest limits of the Lawn Boy essential that rooted it. When the lights finally fell, the band rallied for an exuberant encore of “Harry Hood” that closed the show on a positive note.

Phish will perform at Xfinity Center again tonight and close its run at the venue tomorrow, July 21. For tickets and more information on these shows and Phish’s full summer calendar, visit phish.com/tours. Fans can stream the band’s tour opener and further performances on the summer 2024 tour via LivePhish.

Read on for the full setlist from Friday night.

Phish
Xfinity Center – Mansfield, Mass.
7/19/24

Set I: Buried Alive > Character Zero, Hey Stranger, Down with Disease, Roggae > NICU, Stash, 46 Days

Set II: Suzy Greenberg > Run Like an Antelope > Ghost > Light > Pillow Jets > Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1 > Split Open and Melt

Encore: Harry Hood