5/2/26 Las Vegas, NV
The Sphere, #9
Set 1
The final night of this unbelivable 2026 run at the Sphere opens on an absolutely beautiful note with Farmhouse. Not the opener we wanted, but the one we needed! This one is played on acoustic and is just GORGEOUS. A truly wonderful little reading to ease us into the show. Im calling this must-hear. Its so perfectly emotional, dynamic and soul-stirring. Never saw the stars so bright indeed....
After a moment to collect ourselves and wipe the tears from our eyes, they launch into Undermind. Alright, let's get this party started, yo! Super high energy and uptempo, no dragging on this version. Check out the extended synth soloing from Page early on!!! Really fantastic stuff, using some squiggly sounds I don't recall hearing recently. Even better, the mixing is just fine. After a solid minute or so of key soloing, Trey then takes over for some perfect melodic soloing around the main theme. Great stuff. As usual with this run, Fishman is all over in the best way, taking charge with his interesting and energetic drum fills. "Yo Trey, I can keep up with you, baby!". Trey answers back with extended raging, using a cool, grindy kind of guitar tone. This version is just SMOKIN. It stays firmly type 1, but man does it just kick butt. Im giving it a must hear. 10/10.
Keeping the "easing into the show but still crushing" vibe going, we next get a lovely little Ocelot. Ocelot is Ocelot, but damn does it SMOKE!! I dont think its must hear like Undermind was, but it definitely packs a damn PUNCH like most versions. Hell yea. Great stuff!
Up next is the "with song selection like this, what else would you expect?" Back On the Train. Some songs all seem to be in the same sets together, I swear. At least the playing is A+
AND HOLY MOTHER OF GOD THEY DROP THE HYDROGEN BOMB. OH MY FREAKING GOD WHAT IS GOING ON LETS GO. OUTTA NOWHERE INTERGALACTIC DEVASTATION!!!!! Oh my freaking god - that was like 5000 nuclear missiles pointed right at your face all impacting at once. Some x factor on that incredible solo - MUST HEAR AT ALL COSTS WHAT THE CORN. No, seriously, where did they pull this from?!?!?Up next is a "this should be played more" 15 minute Ether Edge. Im still kind of amazed that this is such a successful jam vehicle - anyone else? Anyways, the song itself sounds fantastic. Listen to Page's immaculate piano soloing around the two minute mark. No seriously, DAMN what an interesting and gorgeous solo - its definitely something "different" to what you expect. Just killer. Maybe the very best version of the actual song played so far - this was immaculate!!
Around the 4:30 mark, the song gets quiet and the jam starts to emerge. They are floating in and out of the song, Trey reprising the Ether melody here and there. That hazy floatiness is appearing. Listen to Page gloriously answering Trey's soloing on the piano - terrific playing off of each other. Wow.
Around the 6 minute mark, things start to evolve. The jam takes on a much more "driving" feel and Trey jumps on the robo FX for some funky soloing. Around 7 minutes he returns to standard major key soloing while Fishman echoes him, increasing the tempo (or the drum beat, at least). This goes until the 9 minute mark, slowly and fluently building bit by bit until we reach an INCREDIBLE "wait a sec, how did we get here?!?!" peak section of EPIC proportions!!!!
HOLY MOTHER OF X FACTOR MAGIC THIS IS MIND BLOWING!!!!! Some screaming seagulls appear and it genuinely sounds like we are in some ethereal-yet-hazy 1999 era Phish jam!!! Just rocking the F onward, yet also far into the sky. Camden Chalkdust-esque or something. Holy moly
WE ARE SOARING THIS IS INCREDIBLE. HOLY CRAP GREATEST VERSION PLAYED YET BY A MILE (and there's been a few GREAT ones!!). This is what MAGIC sounds like!!!! THIS IS THE ALL TIMER. RIGHT HERE. WE WILL LOOK BACK IN YEARS TO COME AT THE GREAT AND MAGICAL SPHERE 2026 ETHER EDGE!!! OH MY FREAKING GOD WHAT IS GOING ON IM LOSING MY MIND!!!!!! AND IT JUST KEEPS GOING!!! THIS PEAK WONT STOP!!!!!
Guys, im done. Sphere 2026....the F.....
After just taking us off into the heavens and beyond, they smash us back to ground and rip into Fast Llama. Nothing must hear, but its excellent as ever, just ripping it up and keeping the energy going....followed by "Now my favorite part of the night - Mike will now invert!". This is followed by a very good Silent in the Morning. Silent is Silent. Good stuff. This song is not played enough!
Continuing the "ordinary" theme of most of this set in terms of song selection, the set closes with Taste and Julius. Taste is maybe not must hear but damn is it terrific regardless. Definitely put it in the "highlights" category for sure. They absolutely NAIL it and Trey's soloing is just soaring!!! A+ typical reading of the song. Can't recommend it enough!!! After that, the set then closes with the aforementioned Julius - and HOLY CRAP LETS FREAKING GO!!!! Julius is always hot but GAWD DAMN THIS IS NUCLEAR!!!! Trey is just shredding the ever living F out of this, maybe even moreso than Nashville 2023 (I think that's the one...). Holy crap, FLAMETHROWER TREY!!! This is genuinely spectacular enough for me to call it must-hear, seriously. My goodness.
All in all, on paper this set looks like it would be a letdown. You look at it and go "crap, THOSE songs all together in a first set?! How typical!". But thank god you can't judge a book by its cover!! The playing tonight is exceptional - everything tight as well with so much energy and enthusiasm across the board. The guys are on FIRE!!!!
Farmhouse, Undermind, BOTT and Julius are all STANDOUT versions, despite being "typical type 1" readings. But the Golden Crown award goes to that absolutely unbelievable, all-timer reading of Ether Edge that smacked us in the face and threw us into the sky. Oh my word.....
THIS WAS A GREAT SET. DONT LET LOOKS DECEIVE YOU!
Guys, im done. Sphere 2026....the F.....
After just taking us off into the heavens and beyond, they smash us back to ground and rip into Fast Llama. Nothing must hear, but its excellent as ever, just ripping it up and keeping the energy going....followed by "Now my favorite part of the night - Mike will now invert!". This is followed by a very good Silent in the Morning. Silent is Silent. Good stuff. This song is not played enough!
Continuing the "ordinary" theme of most of this set in terms of song selection, the set closes with Taste and Julius. Taste is maybe not must hear but damn is it terrific regardless. Definitely put it in the "highlights" category for sure. They absolutely NAIL it and Trey's soloing is just soaring!!! A+ typical reading of the song. Can't recommend it enough!!! After that, the set then closes with the aforementioned Julius - and HOLY CRAP LETS FREAKING GO!!!! Julius is always hot but GAWD DAMN THIS IS NUCLEAR!!!! Trey is just shredding the ever living F out of this, maybe even moreso than Nashville 2023 (I think that's the one...). Holy crap, FLAMETHROWER TREY!!! This is genuinely spectacular enough for me to call it must-hear, seriously. My goodness.
All in all, on paper this set looks like it would be a letdown. You look at it and go "crap, THOSE songs all together in a first set?! How typical!". But thank god you can't judge a book by its cover!! The playing tonight is exceptional - everything tight as well with so much energy and enthusiasm across the board. The guys are on FIRE!!!!
Farmhouse, Undermind, BOTT and Julius are all STANDOUT versions, despite being "typical type 1" readings. But the Golden Crown award goes to that absolutely unbelievable, all-timer reading of Ether Edge that smacked us in the face and threw us into the sky. Oh my word.....
THIS WAS A GREAT SET. DONT LET LOOKS DECEIVE YOU!
Set 2
The 2nd half of the final show of this magical gift of a run opens with a super-rare version of Frankenstein - oh how blessed was I to get one at my first ever show (12/6/19)!!! And they absolutely CRUSH this one!!! No joke, this is BY FAR the best version Ive heard played by modern Phish. Usually it sounds rather unrehearsed or downright flubby - apart from a few brief seconds, this sucker legitimately flawless tonight!!! And of course the fireball energy is bonkers. This thing DESTROYS. Absolutely must hear, this is just a 10/10 for me!
Keeping the energy high, we then move into a 15 minute Kill Devil Falls. The song rocks nice and hard but never fully explodes. Definitely a more patient "let's take our time and really milk it" reading. Around 5ish minutes, the jamming begins. It gets this kind of airy vibe to it, kinda playing with moving into that middle-ground type 1.5 area, if you will. Some background loops, some more floaty melodic soloing, but everyone still technically grounded. Around 6:30ish Trey turns on the Robo fx and some color emerges. Around the 7:30 mark, however, it legitimately and finally crosses that threshold into true type 2!!!!
The jam takes on this very driving yet melodic feel. Another of those 1999/2000ish, uptempo "floating in the sky" jams. Blissfully rocking out, floating above the clouds, things get pretty chill between Page and Trey. Lots of lovely melodic noodling from both, playing off each other superbly. All the while Fishman keeps the fast rock beat going. Around 9 minutes Page gives us some hints of synthesizer washing for added ethereal effect. Trey begins properly slow-burning a solo atop this. He's doing that "slowly ascending towards the sky, taking his time but you know its coming" kinda thing with his playing.
Around 10:20 he starts a circular up and down motif which the others briefly pick up on. In a blink and youll miss it realization, suddenly it dawns on you that the energy is increasing. Its subtle, but listen to Fishman echoing Trey's chirpy lead bursts at the 11 minute mark. This thing is DRIVING. Its NOT going all flamethrower - instead its taking its time soaring in the sky, absolutely relishing in the patient maturity and majestic significance of itself, lol. Around the 12 minute mark, that aforementioned building peak is slowly seeming to begin to coalesce. Trey starts really going up the neck, still holding on for dear life to that "mature" thing, refusing to just let it rip. Fishman and Page are right in step with him and everyone just syncs up perfectly.
This is a huge "here it comes! No, wait, not yet!" section where they are just, well....EDGING this mothereffer. They are teasing the crap outta us. By the 13:30 mark the jam has built up so much contained energy that the volcano is finally primed to erupt!!!! Returning to chord hits at 14 minutes, the peak is unfortunately averted, but instead, this descending chordal section becomes this massive, godzilla stomp slide backwards into KDF. Its really cool - acting like an "anti-peak" if you will. And with that its back into the song and out.
Dude, that was freaking amazing. THAT was full-band jamming of the patiently mature variety at its finest. The FLOW on that was so "1.0". Absolutely must hear, the lack of a true explosive typical peak was annoying but thats a minor quibble. This is amazing and the X Factor shone through brightly.
Quickly keeping momentum going, we move straight into a 21 minute Ruby Waves. The song itself sounds and feels like its continuing that more stately kind of reflective and mature feel of the KDF. Very nice reading of the song itself. Flowing right into the jam around 4:30, it begins with some uptempo rhythm work from Trey, the other guys laying back. No direction appears right away and not much is happenning at first. If you listen closely though, you can hear Gordo playing off of Page, which is really cool (I think I heard that).
The 2nd half of the final show of this magical gift of a run opens with a super-rare version of Frankenstein - oh how blessed was I to get one at my first ever show (12/6/19)!!! And they absolutely CRUSH this one!!! No joke, this is BY FAR the best version Ive heard played by modern Phish. Usually it sounds rather unrehearsed or downright flubby - apart from a few brief seconds, this sucker legitimately flawless tonight!!! And of course the fireball energy is bonkers. This thing DESTROYS. Absolutely must hear, this is just a 10/10 for me!
Keeping the energy high, we then move into a 15 minute Kill Devil Falls. The song rocks nice and hard but never fully explodes. Definitely a more patient "let's take our time and really milk it" reading. Around 5ish minutes, the jamming begins. It gets this kind of airy vibe to it, kinda playing with moving into that middle-ground type 1.5 area, if you will. Some background loops, some more floaty melodic soloing, but everyone still technically grounded. Around 6:30ish Trey turns on the Robo fx and some color emerges. Around the 7:30 mark, however, it legitimately and finally crosses that threshold into true type 2!!!!
The jam takes on this very driving yet melodic feel. Another of those 1999/2000ish, uptempo "floating in the sky" jams. Blissfully rocking out, floating above the clouds, things get pretty chill between Page and Trey. Lots of lovely melodic noodling from both, playing off each other superbly. All the while Fishman keeps the fast rock beat going. Around 9 minutes Page gives us some hints of synthesizer washing for added ethereal effect. Trey begins properly slow-burning a solo atop this. He's doing that "slowly ascending towards the sky, taking his time but you know its coming" kinda thing with his playing.
Around 10:20 he starts a circular up and down motif which the others briefly pick up on. In a blink and youll miss it realization, suddenly it dawns on you that the energy is increasing. Its subtle, but listen to Fishman echoing Trey's chirpy lead bursts at the 11 minute mark. This thing is DRIVING. Its NOT going all flamethrower - instead its taking its time soaring in the sky, absolutely relishing in the patient maturity and majestic significance of itself, lol. Around the 12 minute mark, that aforementioned building peak is slowly seeming to begin to coalesce. Trey starts really going up the neck, still holding on for dear life to that "mature" thing, refusing to just let it rip. Fishman and Page are right in step with him and everyone just syncs up perfectly.
This is a huge "here it comes! No, wait, not yet!" section where they are just, well....EDGING this mothereffer. They are teasing the crap outta us. By the 13:30 mark the jam has built up so much contained energy that the volcano is finally primed to erupt!!!! Returning to chord hits at 14 minutes, the peak is unfortunately averted, but instead, this descending chordal section becomes this massive, godzilla stomp slide backwards into KDF. Its really cool - acting like an "anti-peak" if you will. And with that its back into the song and out.
Dude, that was freaking amazing. THAT was full-band jamming of the patiently mature variety at its finest. The FLOW on that was so "1.0". Absolutely must hear, the lack of a true explosive typical peak was annoying but thats a minor quibble. This is amazing and the X Factor shone through brightly.
Quickly keeping momentum going, we move straight into a 21 minute Ruby Waves. The song itself sounds and feels like its continuing that more stately kind of reflective and mature feel of the KDF. Very nice reading of the song itself. Flowing right into the jam around 4:30, it begins with some uptempo rhythm work from Trey, the other guys laying back. No direction appears right away and not much is happenning at first. If you listen closely though, you can hear Gordo playing off of Page, which is really cool (I think I heard that).
Finally around 5:30, Trey decides to force something happen and jumps on the wah pedal. Everyone adjusts accordingly and suddenly out of nowhere the jam shifts completely dark. The storm clouds are on the horizon. But the jam still feels like its struggling to achieve liftoff. Its just...not there yet. Things arent really happenning. They kinda are, but they arent at the same time. Hard to explain.
By the 7 minute mark, Trey has set a loop of a sustained note and gives up on his uninspired wah playing. He returns to standard melodic playing and the rest of the guys sync up on a little upward motif with him for a bit. It sounds like Trey is really unsure of himself or something - it sounds like when im playing guitar and feel super "hesitant". Its very STIFF.
But then jsut as I say that, at the 8 minute mark, things start to open up at last. Trey jumps back onto the robo filter and starts the melodic soloing again but it finally feels like everything "clicks". At 8:30 the jam turns into a dark and hazy experience. The tempo is still fast, but Page is squiggling it up with dark keyboards/synths while Trey does wonderful accentuating melodic playing to counter it, playing around with the pitch shifting a little bit as well.
By 9:30, the jam has turned into a rapid fire, swirling vortex of dark, psychedelic whatever. Trey lays back again, Page turning his synths into the aural equivalent of rolling storm clouds looming ever closer. By 10:40, Trey regains some life and starts some heavy soloing, sounding much more confident than before in this jam.
By 9:30, the jam has turned into a rapid fire, swirling vortex of dark, psychedelic whatever. Trey lays back again, Page turning his synths into the aural equivalent of rolling storm clouds looming ever closer. By 10:40, Trey regains some life and starts some heavy soloing, sounding much more confident than before in this jam.
Some cool Leslie/Robo/whatever effect for a good while, he goes ham just unleashing. Listen to Fishman around 11:15 playing off of him, answering his soloing with perfectly timed cymbal crashes and Keith Moon type drum fills out the ass. Trey eventually lands on this cool "up and down" thing for a bit leading the jam to finally fully reach outer space.
By 12:00 or so, we have COMPLETELY gone full blown, dark outer space, swirling wormhole type 2. The drumming slows way down, a focus on cymbals and snare rolls. The synthesizers are awash, the power drill comes to play, and the robot pitch shifter is being loved by Trey real good, ya dig. At 13:15 the drums COMPLETELY stop and we are left in a swirling, bleep-bloop noisescape. Bleepybloopy synths swirl around the stereo spectrum, left to right.
At 14:00 the drums re-enter at a slower and heavier tempo. Trey is vamping away doing heavy, chordal robo work while Fishman has fully returned to a slower version of the Ruby Waves drum pattern, obviously preparing for a return to the theme. Thankfully its not to be and at 15:00 the jam turns into this effing SICK kind of hard rock area with some heavy chord type stuff. Trey sets a loop in the background and returns to his normal sound and the jam takes off again. Listen to Fishman playing along with Page's piano!!!! He is RIGHT in step with them!!!!
By 15:45, we are in full blown "slow burn, a peak is coming soon" territory. By now we are back on earth, synthesizers and robo FX gone, back into good, old fashioned, majestic and serious rock and roll peaking. By about 16:30 the jam does peak damn hard, still with that more girthy tempo and feel. Listen to Fishman just DESTROYING his kit - good lord, man!!!
By 15:45, we are in full blown "slow burn, a peak is coming soon" territory. By now we are back on earth, synthesizers and robo FX gone, back into good, old fashioned, majestic and serious rock and roll peaking. By about 16:30 the jam does peak damn hard, still with that more girthy tempo and feel. Listen to Fishman just DESTROYING his kit - good lord, man!!!
Trey goes for a long ass time just raging the F out melodically, at a more midtempo pace, giving this a very regal yet volcanic quality to it. THIS SUCKER IS UNBELIEVABLE. LISTEN TO THAT EFFING SKYHIGH PEAKAGE AT 17:45!!!!!!!!! LETS FREAKING GO!!!!! ALL HAIL OUR LORD AND SAVIOR X FACTOR MAGIC. WE ARE NOT WORTHY.
18:30 and the "to the sky" peak is STILL going and seems to get higher and higher with each passing second, refusing to let up!!!! Ive got goosebumps, this is one of the best peak sections in recent memory. My god this peak meltdown is just extraordinary. St. Louis 2024 Tweezer, anyone?! By 19 damn minutes it is STILL peaking!!! DUDE! LETS GO!!!
Finally at 19:30 the peak subsides and the jam hits upon some good chord based jamming, clearly heading back to the song. And at 20:00 we get a perfectly executed return back to the Ruby theme!!! Now THAT is how you flow back into a song - if youre going to do it, do it like that!! And just like that this monster comes to a close...
Oh my god, Sphere 2026....it just doesnt let up!!! That was an incredible Ruby. It felt like it took surprisingly long to click into gear, but once it did....HOLY MOTHER OF F. Oh. My. God. That was MAGICAL. Obviously must hear, up there with the best played this year....
The set construction mastery continues with a terrific set call of a 10 minute Meatstick. Man, the way this song slowly picks us back up out of the destruction of that Ruby....A+ on set flow once again!!! A really great jam follows. Quickly, Trey sets a loop of a repeated stoccato note going on and on. Soon after that the guitar and bass FX come out and it just becomes this gloriously funky beast for a good while before Trey eventually decides to let it rip and just start soloing like normal. Nothing special for a Meatstick, but its DAMN good while its here, thats for sure. Definitely an EXCELLENT reading, even if you dont need to rush to hear it.
Onwards out of Meatstick and into a 17 minute My Friend, My Friend.The jamming begins dark and heavy as usual. Excellently dark and gooey until the 8 minute mark. At that point the tempo increases and Page jumps on the organ keys. The jam takes on this driving and funky feel/sound. If they jammed this in 1997, this might be in the ballpark of what that might sound like. In the background, Trey has set a little loop of a sustained note that moves "in and out", giving some good atmospheric undercurrent to this oddball funky jam. This is a really cool jam - its definitely funky, but the playing is also very "stoccato".
Trey is doing sustained robo playing, layering more loops and things atop this driving funky beast. Page is slowly starting to amp things up on his end - Fishman picks up on this and reacts accordingly. Trey is taking his sweet ass time, just staying in "noodly robo land". This is one of those textural kind of jams. It rides that fine line between patient and meandering perfectly - they have sunk into the groove and are riding it out, dammit. Reminds me of the Manchester 2025 Wave of Hope, maybe, in that regard. Its not "doing much", staying in the same place, but they are just riding the crap out of that zone, milking it long and hard, content not to rush.
Finally at the 12 minute mark, everyone syncs up a bit more rhythmically. Trey's playing starts to get more abstract and deconstructive. You can tell he is pushing for some meltdown stuff! The other guys soon adjust and by about the 13 minute mark we are in this really unique zone that im calling "Bucketheadland" - if you know the guitar solo in the song "Jordan", this will make sense.
Oh my god, Sphere 2026....it just doesnt let up!!! That was an incredible Ruby. It felt like it took surprisingly long to click into gear, but once it did....HOLY MOTHER OF F. Oh. My. God. That was MAGICAL. Obviously must hear, up there with the best played this year....
The set construction mastery continues with a terrific set call of a 10 minute Meatstick. Man, the way this song slowly picks us back up out of the destruction of that Ruby....A+ on set flow once again!!! A really great jam follows. Quickly, Trey sets a loop of a repeated stoccato note going on and on. Soon after that the guitar and bass FX come out and it just becomes this gloriously funky beast for a good while before Trey eventually decides to let it rip and just start soloing like normal. Nothing special for a Meatstick, but its DAMN good while its here, thats for sure. Definitely an EXCELLENT reading, even if you dont need to rush to hear it.
Onwards out of Meatstick and into a 17 minute My Friend, My Friend.The jamming begins dark and heavy as usual. Excellently dark and gooey until the 8 minute mark. At that point the tempo increases and Page jumps on the organ keys. The jam takes on this driving and funky feel/sound. If they jammed this in 1997, this might be in the ballpark of what that might sound like. In the background, Trey has set a little loop of a sustained note that moves "in and out", giving some good atmospheric undercurrent to this oddball funky jam. This is a really cool jam - its definitely funky, but the playing is also very "stoccato".
Trey is doing sustained robo playing, layering more loops and things atop this driving funky beast. Page is slowly starting to amp things up on his end - Fishman picks up on this and reacts accordingly. Trey is taking his sweet ass time, just staying in "noodly robo land". This is one of those textural kind of jams. It rides that fine line between patient and meandering perfectly - they have sunk into the groove and are riding it out, dammit. Reminds me of the Manchester 2025 Wave of Hope, maybe, in that regard. Its not "doing much", staying in the same place, but they are just riding the crap out of that zone, milking it long and hard, content not to rush.
Finally at the 12 minute mark, everyone syncs up a bit more rhythmically. Trey's playing starts to get more abstract and deconstructive. You can tell he is pushing for some meltdown stuff! The other guys soon adjust and by about the 13 minute mark we are in this really unique zone that im calling "Bucketheadland" - if you know the guitar solo in the song "Jordan", this will make sense.
A really cool section where they all link up on a descending pattern like a giant cascading bout of rainfall. Slowly the volume lowers and they fade the jam without changing the playing or patterns - theyve just taken that volume fader down.....Ok, by this point at 14:30, the funk is long gone by about 2 minutes and the jam completely melts down like a robot shutting down because it ran out of power. WE ARE IN BLEEP BLOOP ROBOT LULLABY ZONE. LETS GO. Dude, they be crushing it with the type 2 this year....
Eventually Fishman completely drops out for a bit. After about a minute he comes back in, echoing the "1-2-3-4" descending playing pattern from Trey. Page adds in some washy keys for layering. Ok, we are in "Dark Puddle" or "Sphere 2026 Light" territory. I mean, complete and utter "in the 5th dimension" territory. Another "ya know that point 30 minutes into the Big Cypress Sand when it gets all quiet with the pitch shifter??". Yea think of a dark version of that. And by 17 minutes they have faded it to absolutely nothing.
Eventually Fishman completely drops out for a bit. After about a minute he comes back in, echoing the "1-2-3-4" descending playing pattern from Trey. Page adds in some washy keys for layering. Ok, we are in "Dark Puddle" or "Sphere 2026 Light" territory. I mean, complete and utter "in the 5th dimension" territory. Another "ya know that point 30 minutes into the Big Cypress Sand when it gets all quiet with the pitch shifter??". Yea think of a dark version of that. And by 17 minutes they have faded it to absolutely nothing.
My god. That jam was amazing. Driving and funky, resolving into a long and jarring robot fade to a finish. Super wacky and angular and just...weird. Never full blown Melt-style deconstruction as far as getting "messy", but still heading in that area. And really, that outro to the jam was truly amazing. They way it just ffffaaaaddddeeeeedddd out like that to silence....X Factor. X Factor friggin magic galor... MUST HEAR, DUH!!!
And the phenomenal set flow construction continues with A Life Beyond the Dream rising from the ashes of MyFe. IF YOU ARE GOING TO PLAY A LIFE, IT NEEDS TO BE PLACED PERFECTLY AND BE EMOTIONALLY RESONANT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE SET. THIS IS LIFE PLACEMENT DONE RIGHT. TAKE NOTE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE, PHISH!!!! Man, oh man Ive got chills. Seriously, the dynamic of the weird robo jam resolving into this beautiful ballad that feels like cool water slowly pouring over you after a day in the desert.....amazing. Listen for Page's piano on this once again. And golly, A Life is A Life, but this one is friggin POWERFUL.
And the phenomenal set flow construction continues with A Life Beyond the Dream rising from the ashes of MyFe. IF YOU ARE GOING TO PLAY A LIFE, IT NEEDS TO BE PLACED PERFECTLY AND BE EMOTIONALLY RESONANT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE SET. THIS IS LIFE PLACEMENT DONE RIGHT. TAKE NOTE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE, PHISH!!!! Man, oh man Ive got chills. Seriously, the dynamic of the weird robo jam resolving into this beautiful ballad that feels like cool water slowly pouring over you after a day in the desert.....amazing. Listen for Page's piano on this once again. And golly, A Life is A Life, but this one is friggin POWERFUL.
When Trey is soloing and then winds up doing the reprisal of the main theme in his playing....man, GOOSEBUMPS. GOOSEBUMPS EVERYWHERE. Ugh, the emotion. The feeling. This is beyond beautiful. MUST HEAR. KEEP THAT X FACTOR SHINING, BABY!!! I know there are other great ones, but DAMN put this one in the all-timer pile for my money. This is a DEFINITIVE "go-to" rendition, like the Clifford Ball Lizards or something, lets put it like that. My god this is outstanding. My head is in my damn hands.....
Three songs from the end of the run, the set proper concludes with an unbelievable reading of Character Zero. IF EVERY VERSION WAS THIS FANTASTIC YOU WOULD NEVER COMPLAIN. COME AT ME. This one is even more bonkers than that incredible Julius from set one - by about 5 miles!!!! LETS FREAKING GO!!!! Oh my god, just facemelting magic. HOW HAS TREY NOT BROKEN ALL OF HIS DAMN STRINGS YET!??!?!??!?!? If you are not HEADBANGING by the time this is over, then you are not listening to the same thing as me. MUST HEAR.
A nice cooldown after that nuclear bomb facemelter, Wading in the Velvet Sea resumes where A Life Beyond the Dream left off, punching us right in the emotional gut. Im not crying, you're crying!!! A fine reading, but Velvet Sea is Velvet Sea and it isnt particular incredible or anything. Its an excellent, normal reading that delivers the goods. Nothing wrong with that.
And so, the RUN TO END ALL RUNS, The Sphere 2026, concludes on a massive note with the one, the only, Mr. Fluffhead himself! LETS GO!!! And hot damn, again, they CRUSH it. Fluffhead has been on a great roll, playing wise, recently - see the absolutely note perfect Boulder 2025 rendition! And this one is no exception. Just bursting with energy and played so damn tightly.....perfection. Fluff is Fluff, and the ending finale of it is just spine tingling. Talk about saving the best for last. I dont know if its truly must hear - Fluff is Fluff - but this is so good and the emotional resonance is off the charts. Like a magical Harry Hood finishing a show or something . A+ ending....Actually, im full of crap - that ending is just unreal. Yea, this is must hear. All day. Good lord....
All in all, the ridiculous Sphere 2026 run comes to a close.....what to say that hasnt been shouted from the rooftops by me, and others, already? Where did THIS Phish come from? Where was THIS Phish during the 2024 run? Will THIS Phish continue into the summer tour? For set two, much of it was must-hear. Just top performances and inspired jamming all over, even if it was perfectly consistant
Frankenstein
Kill Devil Falls
Ruby Waves
A Life Beyond the Dream
Character Zero
Fluffhead
They dropped the bomb with this set. This show wasnt the greatest of the entire run, but its saying a LOT that I truly dont think there was a single show that was worthy of the "excellent" rating at a base level. Night 1 is the only night of the whole run that sticks out to me as not being amazing, but thats really just because the jamming was under wraps still. Online, the general consensus is that Weekend 3 of this year's run was the "weakest". But, like....any weeked that contains the likes of friggin 4/30, 5/1 and 5/2....?!?!?!??!??!?!? IN NO UNIVERSE DO THOSE COME ANYWHERE NEAR THE TERM "bad". LET ALONE FRIGGIN WEAK!!!!
Actually, this MIGHT have wound up being my favorite complete weekend of the three when all is said and done, if you can believe that!!! So, apply that statement to the supposed quality of the weekends....yea, words are not able to describe accurately the quality unleashed by these 9 shows. This will be a run to remember until the end of the ages. If the band ended right now, what a damn note it would be to finish with....
All hail Phish. Greatest jam band (besides the Dead, of course) to ever do it. Period. The Masters of the Universe. Masters of the CRAFT. Masters of the ages and of time and space and reality.....Praise be to Icculus, this band is a gift from the universe.....
Three songs from the end of the run, the set proper concludes with an unbelievable reading of Character Zero. IF EVERY VERSION WAS THIS FANTASTIC YOU WOULD NEVER COMPLAIN. COME AT ME. This one is even more bonkers than that incredible Julius from set one - by about 5 miles!!!! LETS FREAKING GO!!!! Oh my god, just facemelting magic. HOW HAS TREY NOT BROKEN ALL OF HIS DAMN STRINGS YET!??!?!??!?!? If you are not HEADBANGING by the time this is over, then you are not listening to the same thing as me. MUST HEAR.
A nice cooldown after that nuclear bomb facemelter, Wading in the Velvet Sea resumes where A Life Beyond the Dream left off, punching us right in the emotional gut. Im not crying, you're crying!!! A fine reading, but Velvet Sea is Velvet Sea and it isnt particular incredible or anything. Its an excellent, normal reading that delivers the goods. Nothing wrong with that.
And so, the RUN TO END ALL RUNS, The Sphere 2026, concludes on a massive note with the one, the only, Mr. Fluffhead himself! LETS GO!!! And hot damn, again, they CRUSH it. Fluffhead has been on a great roll, playing wise, recently - see the absolutely note perfect Boulder 2025 rendition! And this one is no exception. Just bursting with energy and played so damn tightly.....perfection. Fluff is Fluff, and the ending finale of it is just spine tingling. Talk about saving the best for last. I dont know if its truly must hear - Fluff is Fluff - but this is so good and the emotional resonance is off the charts. Like a magical Harry Hood finishing a show or something . A+ ending....Actually, im full of crap - that ending is just unreal. Yea, this is must hear. All day. Good lord....
All in all, the ridiculous Sphere 2026 run comes to a close.....what to say that hasnt been shouted from the rooftops by me, and others, already? Where did THIS Phish come from? Where was THIS Phish during the 2024 run? Will THIS Phish continue into the summer tour? For set two, much of it was must-hear. Just top performances and inspired jamming all over, even if it was perfectly consistant
Frankenstein
Kill Devil Falls
Ruby Waves
A Life Beyond the Dream
Character Zero
Fluffhead
They dropped the bomb with this set. This show wasnt the greatest of the entire run, but its saying a LOT that I truly dont think there was a single show that was worthy of the "excellent" rating at a base level. Night 1 is the only night of the whole run that sticks out to me as not being amazing, but thats really just because the jamming was under wraps still. Online, the general consensus is that Weekend 3 of this year's run was the "weakest". But, like....any weeked that contains the likes of friggin 4/30, 5/1 and 5/2....?!?!?!??!??!?!? IN NO UNIVERSE DO THOSE COME ANYWHERE NEAR THE TERM "bad". LET ALONE FRIGGIN WEAK!!!!
Actually, this MIGHT have wound up being my favorite complete weekend of the three when all is said and done, if you can believe that!!! So, apply that statement to the supposed quality of the weekends....yea, words are not able to describe accurately the quality unleashed by these 9 shows. This will be a run to remember until the end of the ages. If the band ended right now, what a damn note it would be to finish with....
All hail Phish. Greatest jam band (besides the Dead, of course) to ever do it. Period. The Masters of the Universe. Masters of the CRAFT. Masters of the ages and of time and space and reality.....Praise be to Icculus, this band is a gift from the universe.....
