{"id":620963,"date":"2026-05-03T11:41:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T11:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/620963\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T11:41:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T11:41:14","slug":"phish-delivers-epic-show-on-night-8-of-sphere-las-vegas-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/620963\/","title":{"rendered":"Phish delivers epic show on Night 8 of Sphere Las Vegas run"},"content":{"rendered":"

Having moseyed around in a mostly mellow mood during Thursday\u2019s concert at The Sphere<\/a>, Phish<\/a> pulled off a massive 180 and went for broke on Friday (May 1) at the much-ballyhooed Las Vegas concert venue<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Phish<\/a> pretty much roared from start to finish, stopping only occasionally to catch its collective breath with a slower tune, during a marathon gig that ran well over 3\u00bd hours and boasted 21 songs performed over two sets and an encore.<\/p>\n

The concert \u2014 which was the eighth in the nine-night 2026 Phish Sphere residency<\/a> conducted over three consecutive weekends \u2014 got off to a great start as the group wheeled around to greet yet another capacity crowd with \u201cSample in a Jar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right as ace guitarist Trey Anastasio was bringing \u201cSample\u201d to a close with the first of a plethora of incendiary leads, Mike Gordon fired up the fat and funky basslines and brought us into a particularly groovy version of Stevie Wonder\u2019s \u201cBoogie on Reggae Woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s greatest jam band<\/a> \u2014 consisting of lead vocalist\/guitarist Anastasio, bassist Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman and keyboardist Page McConnell \u2014 kept the party going with \u201cHeavy Things,\u201d an oft-overlooked gem that showcases Phish at its most mainstream and includes one of Anastasio\u2019s most tuneful (and radio-friendly) guitar leads.<\/p>\n

The band was rocking along at such a high level that the Sphere\u2019s signature visual effects \u2014 shown on the incredibly vivid and clear 16K resolution wraparound LED screen that dominates the interior of this 366-foot-tall building \u2014 felt a bit overshadowed (which, really, isn\u2019t a bad thing, since the music should be more important than \u201cthe show\u201d). Yet, the Sphere really came through big time during \u201cHeavy Things,\u201d unleashing an awesome display of swirling colors \u2014 equal parts old-school psychedelic liquid-light display and Hollywood-inspired interstellar space voyage \u2014 which had the crowd oohing and aahing with joy.<\/p>\n

\"PhishPhish performs May 1 at The Sphere in Las Vegas (Jim Harrington, Bay Area News Group).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBouncing Around the Room,\u201d complete with giant projections of the musicians hovering over the real ones on the stage, had the crowd doing exactly that. Then it was time for the all-too-seldom-played \u201cMound,\u201d which these Phans embraced with much gusto.<\/p>\n

We then dove into the fabled Phish fantasyland known as \u201cGamehendge\u201d \u2014 a bizarre musical\/rock opera that Anastasio originally fashioned as his senior project while attending Goddard College in Vermont back in the \u201980s \u2014 for \u201cTela\u201d and \u201cMcGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters,\u201d the latter being the first number of the evening that the band would stretch beyond the 10-minute mark.<\/p>\n

\"PhishPhish performs May 1 at The Sphere in Las Vegas (Jim Harrington, Bay Area News Group).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Phish closed the 90-minute-plus first set \u2014 which was a good 20 minutes longer than Thursday\u2019s Set 1 \u2014 with a ferocious run through the mostly instrumental \u201cDavid Bowie.\u201d That 15-minute slice of jam\/prog-rock greatness alone was worth the price of admission. Actually, it was worth the price of admission \u2014 plus airfare, hotel room and a burger from one of those Guy Fieri places.<\/p>\n

Following the set break, Phish returned with the big crowd pleaser \u201cWilson,\u201d yet another \u201cGamehendge\u201d number,\u201d and then went into full-on exploratory jam sensation mode as it spent the next hour working its way through the foursome of \u201cSeven Below,\u201d \u201cPlasma,\u201d the Talking Heads\u2019 \u201cCrosseyed and Painless\u201d and \u201cPillow Jets\u201d \u2014 each of which lasted well over 10 minutes.<\/p>\n

A quick stop in the peaceful, relaxing \u201cShade\u201d \u2014 a real beauty from 2020\u2019s \u201cSigma Oasis\u201d \u2014 set the table nicely for the 15-minute run through \u201cSand\u201d that closed out the first set.<\/p>\n

\"PhishPhish performs May 1 at The Sphere in Las Vegas (Jim Harrington, Bay Area News Group).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Phish showcased its delightfully playful and downright goofy side during the encore, opening up in barbershop quartet style with a cappella number \u201cI Didn\u2019t Know\u201d that included a vacuum cleaner solo from Fishman. (Note to the uninitiated: Yes, you read that last sentence right.)<\/p>\n

And then we got a second vacuum cleaner solo \u2014 where Fishman makes bizarre noises by using the suction of the device on his face \u2014 during \u201cSaw It Again,\u201d which saw Anastasio take over on drums while Fishman had his spotlight.<\/p>\n

The encore closed in highly satisfying fashion with Phish\u2019s grand cover of the Velvet Underground\u2019s \u201cRock and Roll,\u201d sending these \u201cphans\u201d out into the Vegas late night with big smiles on their faces and in rapt anticipation of what Vermont\u2019s Finest would have in store for closing night of this Sphere run on Saturday (May 2).<\/p>\n

\"PhishPhish performs May 1 at The Sphere in Las Vegas (Jim Harrington, Bay Area News Group).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Setlist<\/p>\n

Set One
1. \u201cSample in a Jar\u201d
2. \u201cBoogie On Reggae Woman\u201d
3. \u201cHeavy Things\u201d
4. \u201cBouncing Around the Room\u201d
5. \u201cMound\u201d
6. \u201cMountains In The Mist\u201d
7. \u201cStealing Time From the Faulty Plan\u201d
8. \u201cTela\u201d
9. \u201cMcGrupp And The Watchful Hosemasters\u201d
10. \u201cWingsuit\u201d
11. \u201cDavid Bowie\u201d<\/p>\n

Set Two
12. \u201cWilson\u201d
13. \u201cSeven Below\u201d
14. \u201cPlasma\u201d
15. \u201cCrosseyed and Painless\u201d
16. \u201cPillow Jets\u201d
17. \u201cShade\u201d
18. \u201cSand\u201d<\/p>\n

Encore
19. \u201cI Didn\u2019t Know\u201d
20. \u201cSaw It Again\u201d
21. \u201cRock and Roll\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Having moseyed around in a mostly mellow mood during Thursday\u2019s concert at The Sphere, Phish pulled off a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620964,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[3805,2356,6547,88,3803,2114,269136,2558,216,23823,3804,17172,2156,248945,2628,18068],"class_list":["post-620963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-concerts","tag-entertainment","tag-keywee","tag-las-vegas","tag-las-vegas-travel","tag-latest-headlines","tag-music","tag-nightlife","tag-pm-report","tag-pop-music","tag-rock-music","tag-social-alert","tag-things-to-do","tag-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}