Billboard was on the scene as the jam titans became the second band to perform at the cutting-edge Sin City venue.
On Thursday night (April 18), for the first time, a band not named U2 performed at the Las Vegas Sphere. Phish shares some traits with the Irish group – both are quartets with decades-long histories of concert production experimentation who remain major live draws – but the revered Vermont jam band still had something to prove as it kicked off a four-night run at the cutting-edge Sin City venue: How would an act known for its exploratory improvisation navigate a daunting visual space that on its face might seem more suited for tightly planned productions like U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere, which remained relatively static throughout its 40-show run?
The answer was straightforward. Phish was Phish. Across three-and-a-half hours and two sets of music, singer-guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, keyboardist Page McConnell, and drummer Jon Fishman seemed relatively unphased by the eye-popping animations darting across the 160,000-square-foot Sphere screen above them – at least, other than when Anastasio remarked to the crowd halfway through Phish’s first set that they “should see it this way, it’s pretty cool!” – and instead focused on delivering quality versions of jam vehicles old (“Tweezer”) and new (“Life Saving Gun”).
Of course, fans in attendance had much more to process than at a normal Phish show. Each of the setlist’s 18 songs featured a different animation, ranging from kooky graphics to abstract patterns, and Sphere Immersive Sound rendered the band’s audio in new, novel ways. An audio recording might sound like another present-day Phish show; the sensory experience in the room was anything but.
Still, as Abigail Rosen Holmes, the co-creative director for Phish’s Sphere shows, told Billboard earlier this week, “We’re going to use all of the opportunities of this building – the audio, the visuals – and do it while supporting Phish truly playing music the way Phish plays music.” Phish’s first Sphere show largely accomplished that, pushing boundaries without letting that interfere with the music-making at hand.
Billboard was on the scene, and we’ve rounded up the best moments below.
Phish Assures Fans That "Everything's Right"
Since Phish announced its Sphere shows last November, fans had wondered how the band – known to sometimes nod to key dates and places when it performs – would kick off the run. Would it cheekily acknowledge the space with a song like “Bouncing Around The Room” or, even more fittingly, the title track of its 2002 album Round Room?
Instead, Phish opened the night with “Everything’s Right,” an uplifting tune about taking it one day at a time that’s become a staple and reliable jam vehicle for the band since its 2017 debut. It was a savvy thematic pick. Phish has played many of the same venues regularly since the ’90s, and fans feel comfortable at them; a slight uneasiness hung in the air before showtime Thursday, as attendees figured out where Sphere’s bathrooms were and which beer lines were quickest. With “Everything’s Right,” the band assured them that – even as towering rectangular prisms sprouted on the screen behind them – this was a normal Phish show.
Chris Kuroda's Economical Lighting Rig
Phish lighting designer Chris Kuroda has worked with the band since 1989. His elaborate lighting rig – and the improvisational way he uses it to “jam” with the band – is the stuff of Phish legend. But, as Holmes told Billboard, “the amazing rig that he has on tour was not a good fit into this building.” With the help of Moment Factory, the Montreal-based multimedia studio that helped conceive Phish’s Sphere shows, Kuroda scaled back his lighting setup to six pillars (three on either side of the band) and four horizontal strips running across the back of the stage behind the band.
By nature, Kuroda’s lights occupied more of a supporting role at the Sphere show than a typical Phish gig. But they usefully framed the band itself and ratcheted up the drama during the climaxes of “Life Saving Gun” and “Tweezer,” two of the show’s best jams.
The Balloons Take Flight
Occassionally, physical elements feature prominently in Phish shows. Moment Factory worked with the band to deploy drone-powered whales and dolphins in Madison Square Garden on Earth Day 2022, and this past New Year’s Eve, Phish brought its song cycle about the mythical realm of Gamehendge to life with Broadway-caliber stagecraft. The sole such example Thursday night came during “Leaves,” a ballad the band performed midway through the first set. As Sphere’s screen shifting to a starry night sky, Phish’s crew released more than a dozen massive, lantern-like balloons that floated upward – and were retracted by the song’s end. Beyond their momentary beauty, the balloons suggested that more physical props might make appearances as Phish’s Sphere run progresses.
"Sand" Sparks a Titanic Second Set
Phish took little time to get back into its groove following set break, launching immediately into a 19-minute version of the brooding “Sand,” powered as always by Gordon’s chugging bass line. As the song’s jam blossomed, rich band interplay wasn’t the only highlight – countless tiny pinpoints of light dotted Sphere’s screen, oozing together and apart, evoking the track’s titular substance. Well into the jam, Fishman switched up his drumming and Kuroda’s rig twinkled with orange lights. While the visual design was less flashy than other parts of the show, it perfectly meshed with the music and lights, forming the sort of holistic audio-visual experience the Phish – and its audience – wanted.
Sphere Immersive Sound Steals The Show
While the sound Thursday night wasn’t flawless –during set break, some fans groused on the concourse that the audio early in the first set was imbalanced – it was largely a revelation. Throughout the show, every instrument had remarkable clarity: Gordon’s bass easily sliced through the mix, while McConnell’s keyboard flourishes danced around the venue’s periphery. And when the band got particularly cacophonous – as it did during the climax of first-set closer “Carini” – Sphere’s advanced soundsystem conveyed the audio with clear precision. The result: One of the best-sounding Phish shows ever (a distinction that may well be surpassed each of the next three nights, as the band and its team become even more familiar with the technology).
"My Friend," Simplicity
Thursday night’s greatest visual trick just might’ve been its simplest. Three hours after first taking the stage, as a 25-minute “Tweezer” trailed off into abstraction, Phish began playing the ominous early ’90s cut “My Friend, My Friend” – and cut the visuals completely. In their place, a single, rotating spotlight cast each band member in silhouette. Then, a duplicate of the silhoutte appeared on the screen above the semi-circular stage. And then, with little warning, the silhouette was replicated dozens of times as menacing wallpaper across Sphere’s screen, just as the venue was bathed in blood-red lighting. It was a lesson in contrast and scale – and a way of inverting one of Sphere’s strongest technical assets for powerful artistic effect.
Sphere Becomes A Farmhouse
Anastasio busted out an acoustic guitar so Phish could encore with “Farmhouse,” the decidedly rustic title track of its 2000 studio album. Gone were the abstract illustrations on Sphere’s screen, replaced with a starry night sky, forest treeline, wood cabin, and twinkling northern lights. (“I never ever saw the northern lights,” the song’s chorus goes.) In an instant, the most advanced concert venue on the planet transported its attendees from Sin City to rural Vermont and the great outdoors.
Full Setlist
SET 1:
Everything’s Right
Back on the Train
Wolfman’s Brother
Maze
Leaves
Life Saving Gun
Dirt
CariniSET 2:
Sand
Tweezer
My Friend, My Friend
Mike’s Song
Lifeboy
Weekapaug Groove
Blaze On
FluffheadENCORE:
Farmhouse
Run Like an Antelope
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