Phish Ring In Final Sphere Weekend with First-Ever “Sloth” Encore
Phish, photo by Alive Coverage
Phish returned to Las Vegas last night to kick off the third and final weekend in their second Sphere residency. With the seventh of nine shows at the technologically unexcelled arena, the band from Vermont continued to navigate the gleaming highlights and shadowy depths of their four-decade discography, happening on some electrifying improvisation and hypnotic visual sequences in the process.
Attendees at Thursday’s performance were once again greeted by an opening graphic of an interior at The Barn, Phish’s Vermont recording compound, which began to spin until coils of neon light that collapsed to the grooves of a vinyl record. A needle descended on the LP, stage lights rose, and the band coolly moved into the loping groove of “The Wedge.” As the quartet built out the Rift essential over a fluttering backbeat from Jon Fishman, the walls of the sphere brought characters created by Phish’s longtime poster artist Jim Pollock to life in a sequence paired with other entries from their 1993 album in the series’ first two weekends.
“NICU” ensued, and the buoyant quirky tone of the intro continued, then keyboardist Page McConnell took on lead vocals for his Fuego composition “Halfway to the Moon,” matched with visuals of architectural wonders of the world constructed from porta-johns; fans who made the pilgrimage to Lemonwheel in 1998 would pick up on the nod to the commode constructions at the band’s third signature festival. “Leaves” stretched out to a comfortable 15 minutes of extemporization before bassist Mike Gordon jumped into lead “555,” his Fuego cut, and the venue’s panoramic screen displayed a pulsing, tunneling grid of flashing bulbs.
“Dirt” gave the band a beat to cool down before lighting into “Punch You in the Eye,” which stretched to 14 minutes of patient, spacey elaboration under the imposing powerline robots visual sequence. For the rollicking frame-closer of “Golgi Apparatus,” the quartet was joined onstage by a cameraman, who cast close-up footage of the performers locked into their groove into a fractalized video collage across the walls of the Sphere.
After a brief intermission, Phish set sail on their second set with an expansive take on “A Song I Heard The Ocean Sing,” visually complemented by Chris Kuroda and a graphic emulation of his classic lighting rig. As is often the case with CK5’s contributions, the mesmerizingly simple, steady and intentional live lighting design seemed to urge the band on, participating in their sonic exploration by translating subtle twists into concrete thematic movements. This symbiosis persisted through an ascendant 24-minute run through “A Wave of Hope,” which in turn gave way to “Price Capsian” (accompanied by the fan-favorite car wash graphics) and a subtly stirring “Lonely Trip.”
Phish’s energy shot up again for the knee-slapping “Runaway Jim,” fittingly paired with the zany, Escher-esque “Phish Hotel” sequence. While New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival returned for its second weekend of citywide celebration, the band referenced The Big Easy’s musical tradition with a cover of the Allen Toussaint-penned “Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley,” then closed the main portion of their show with an easeful “Drift While You’re Sleeping.”
The evening’s biggest surprise arrived with “The Sloth,” appearing in an encore for the first time in its history and returning for its first staging since the band resurrected Gamehendge on New Year’s Eve of 2023. With that coveted classic, the band hit the trifecta of songs that reference a sliced nipple in their Sphere residency; frontman Trey Anastasio omitted the image from all three and alluded to the edits by changing Thursday’s lyric to “Make it a triple/ Fee, Sloth and Punch/ Won’t get our nipple.”
Phish capped off their seventh Sphere show with “The Squirming Coil,” which concluded with four cars corresponding to the band members pulling away from a drive-in theater as each performer exited the stage. The group will step into the spotlight again tonight, then finally cap off their 2026 residency with a grand finale on Saturday, May 2. Find tickets and more information at phish.com, and stream the shows at nugs.net.
