Image via YouTube.

Today, after four years of anticipation and months of fervent hype-building, Phish’s 16th studio album Evolve has finally arrived. The exciting new 12-track project is the culmination of a prolific stint for the four-decade jam frontrunners, treating cuts that fans have previously encountered in solo ventures and live sets to a coat of top-tier studio sheen, courtesy of longtime producers Vance Powell and Bryce Goggin. To celebrate the landmark offering, the legendary Vermont quartet made one last stop on its breakneck press run last night, stopping by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for a music guest appearance and its signature antics.

In the band’s first slot on The Tonight Show since 2016, when the band was promoting its 14th studio release Big Boat, Phish made an impression early with a distinctly oddball cold open. In the show’s first moments on air, Trey Anastasio, Jon Fishman, Mike Gordon and Page McConnell saunter into an elevator with Fallon and Questlove and Black Thought of house band The Roots. Suddenly, the band of entertainers become an impromptu a capella ensemble for a spoof of Aerosmith’s “Love in an Elevator,” enthusiastically calling out “Phish in an Elevator!” and waving wide-eyed to the song’s “woahs!” and “yeahs!” 40 years into an iconic career, the band is just as lovably fun-first as ever.

In the show proper, Phish gave the first-ever televised performance of “Evolve,” the new project’s title track. While hardly a record for the jam giants, Phish’s gently grooving treatment stretched on for six minutes, marking a notable left turn for late-night television. Fans that missed the live show can catch the cold open and musical booking in the YouTube videos below. The band’s Tonight Show set follows a packed press run, including Anastasio’s appearances with Billy Joel and at the Songwriters Hall of Fame and a set on NPR’s Tiny Desk series, among others.

Evolve is available on all streaming platforms–as well as vinyl and CD, with a special bonus track–now. For more information on the album and Phish’s touring plans, visit