Phish finished up an absolutely thrilling Fall Tour with their final night here in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena last night. It’s been a fun run here in Vegas front to back, with last night’s show absolutely knocking it out of the park in terms of crowd/band energy. Quite the victory lap. What a fun show.
SETLISTS: NIGHT ONE | NIGHT TWO | NIGHT THREE | NIGHT FOUR
The band webcasted the show live via LivePhish.com so fans got to watch along at home.
The first set kicked off with a much-predicted “why hasn’t it appeared yet” version of “The Moma Dance”, the same song that kicked off the entire tour. “Kill Devil Falls” and “Roggae” got the energy moving in the room in a great way, and “Water in the Sky” always gets the “filter out the everglades” shouts. The ticketing situation got a little worse Night Four so I kept getting bounced from dancing with my friends (boo!), so a few of the first songs are a blur of mismanagement on my part trying to find a great spot to watch the show from. Finally I settled near the twirlers, and it was right on time for an absolutely MASSIVE “Tube”, one of the best versions I’ve ever seen no doubt. “Farmhouse” came next, and if I’m correct, you could actually hear a large audible gasp in the room when they started that song. Poor Trey, no love for the songs he holds dearest to his heart.
It’s all well, though, because the “Mike’s Song” sandwich began and led into “Lifeboy” which had people just floored emotionally. What an absolute beautiful song, and a perfect version, too. “Weekapaug Groove” sent everyone into the bathroom lines celebrating and wishing the set was still going. Only one more set left.
Set II kicked off with a dark and nasty “Carini” and really started to face-plant into rock pretty darn quickly. They even brought back the Kasvat Växt song “Death Don’t Hurt Very Long” as quotes in the jam. Trey was tossing in some Bob Weaver references from the night before, too. “46 Days” was a solid version for sure, I remember that being a highlight. The mix of crazy jams and beautiful tunes just kept showing itself through the night, as “Scents and Subtle Sounds” came without an intro and came right out of the space in “46 Days”, and man it was an awesome version for sure. Loved how they sensed the audience needed a pickup and dropped into “Crosseyed and Painless” next, then getting airy and bringing “2001” next.
2001 #Phish pic.twitter.com/SYLncfNE23
— LIVE music blog (@livemusicblog) November 4, 2018
“Possum” was a fun Gordo tune and “Split Open and Melt” was arguably the spaciest, wildest version I’ve ever laid eyes and ears on. Wow. Must. Listen. Stuff.
Everyone’s tired, and the band comes out and closes fittingly with a beautiful Page tune “Wading in the Velvet Sea” before letting Trey play guitar god and getting everyone rocking hard on “Character Zero”.
What a joy this band is. Even Trey ended the show “quoting Bob Weaver” and thanking the crowd “so f***ing much” before walking off stage and hopping on their bus.
Scroll down to see what the band played in setlist format as it happens and watch this space later for some better notes from the show.
SETLIST: Phish @ MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, NV 11.3.18
Set I: The Moma Dance, Kill Devil Falls > Roggae, Water in the Sky, 555 > Tube > Farmhouse, Mike’s Song > Lifeboy > Weekapaug Groove
Set II: Carini > 46 Days > Scents and Subtle Sounds > Crosseyed and Painless > Also Sprach Zarathustra > Possum > Split Open and Melt
Encore: Wading in the Velvet Sea, Character Zero
