Last night, Phish returned to the Hampton Coliseum for the second night of their three-night weekend run. Following up Friday night’s show, which featured rarities and a monstrous, multi-faceted “Golden Age” jam, Phish delivered a noteworthy first set last night, and dusted off multiple songs that have stayed on the shelf since last summer’s 13-night Baker’s Dozen run.

Phish opened the first set with “Llama”, played in the slow funk style that the band originally unveiled in 2015, at Raleigh, NC’s Walnut Creek. Jon Fishman and Mike Gordon immediately locked in the rhythm section, with Gordon standing strong, showering the crowd with his meaty bass-bombs. Taking no time to get the party fired up, the band moved into “Fuego”, played for the first time in the first set since Phish’s summer 2016 peformance at Mansfield, MA’s Xfinity Center. “Fuego” featured some psychedlic interplay between Trey Anastasio and Page McConnell, as Trey dug deep into his dark and evil tone, a central theme of Friday night’s impressive second set.

Moving away from “Fuego”, Phish landed into “Runaway Jim”, taking their time as they moved through the opening segment. Anastasio incorporated a bubbly, popcorn sounding effect, before moving into a more aggressive riff. McConnell followed on the clavinet, as Anastasio’s roaring guitar solo peaked, bringing the band to “Bug”, an interesting placement for the song in the middle of a first set. “Bug” had some legs though, as Anastasio pushed the bar once again, leaving plenty of room for Gordon to drop more hearty bombs. Fishmans signature opening beat led way to “Mound”, with Gordon leading the way on vocals.

“Mound” was short and sweet, but it was nice seeing the quartet dust it off for the first time since the Baker’s Dozen. Another rarity followed, as Page led the band through “Tela”, played for only the fourth time since 2014. The band is evidently having fun delivering never before played Gamehenge tunes at Hampton, as the Coliseum saw Friday night with Phish’s “Lizards” encore. Picking up the pace, the four-piece jumped into “46 Days”, with Fishman laying down an intricate beat in the pocket. Gordon aligned himself with Fishman’s infectious groove, leaving room for Anastasio to hose down the explosive crowd with a solo that peaked multiple times. An extensive “Fluffhead” brought the first set to a close, bringing all the feels back to the same room that welcomed Phish’s illustrious return in 2009.

Following set break, the band returned to open the second set with “First Tube”. With Trey jumping up and down like a kid in a candy shop, Chris Kuroda plastered the venue with his mind-boggling lighting artistry and cosmic rainbow patterns. Following “First Tube’s” peak, Trey lifted his Languedoc above his head, the tune’s signature finale. Phish dove into “Tweezer” next, with Fishman and Gordon laying down the groundwork for Anastasio to propel the jam into type II territory. Last night’s “Tweezer” took an 18-minute ride, with Anastasio utilizing the watery effect through his Leslie speaker, that he seemed to favor over the entirety of Phish’s 2018 summer tour. Last night’s “Tweez” was an exploratory journey, as McConnell matched Trey’s guitar work with some splashy grooves on his Hammond organ.

“Dirt” gave the band a moment to collect themselves, before moving forward with “Backwards Down The Numberline”. “Numberline” featured some delicate guitar work from Anastasio, as McConnell followed along with some silky-smooth interplay on his grand piano. Phish pushed forward into a Gordon-driven “No Men In No Man’s Land”, quickly settling into a tenacious Anastasio guitar riff. Again, Anastasio leaned on his watery tone through his Leslie speaker, leaving room for Gordon to wow the crowd with more ground-shaking bass.

Phish smoothly segued into “Cavern”, before giving “Gotta Jibboo” some late second set treatment. Anastasio and McConnell fed off of each other’s intricate licks, as Gordon and Fishman found the space to continue pushing the jam higher. Phish packed a one-two punch with “The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony” freely flowing into “Suzy Greenberg”, bringing out the former for the first time since Phish’s “double chocolate” Baker’s Dozen show. McConnell took one last opportunity to dazzle the Hampton Coliseum crowd, as he stood up, hammering away on the grand piano. Following a minute or two off stage to catch their breaths, Phish returned to encore a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Shine A Light”.  Phish has offered up some tasty treats over the last two nights in Hampton, VA, and tonight’s finale should be nothing short of the band’s “A” game.

Phish returns to the Hampton Coliseum tonight for the third and final show of their highly anticipated three-night run. The band follows their Hampton run up with a two-night stand at Nashville, TN’s fan-favorite venue, Ascend Amphitheatre, a three-night stand at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL, and wrap up their fall tour with a four-night Halloween run at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Below, you can view a gallery of photos from Saturday night’s Hampton Coliseum show via photographer Dave DeCrescente.

Setlist: Phish | Hampton Coliseum | Hampton, VA | 10/20/2018

Set One: Llama[1], Fuego > Runaway Jim, Bug > Mound, Tela > 46 Days, Fluffhead

Set Two: First Tube > Tweezer > Dirt > Backwards Down the Number Line > No Men In No Man’s Land > Cavern > Gotta Jibboo > The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony > Suzy Greenberg

Encore: Shine a Light

[1] Performed in a slow funk style