Photo by Rene Huemer

Last night, Phish returned to Jones Beach in Wantagh, N.Y., for their first swing at the barrier island venue since 2013. Completely settled into summer, Phish played a wide variety of jams from their discography during the show hitting newer material as well as oldies where they could find the space.

The evening started off with a fitting opener, “The Curtain” and quickly amassed energy with “Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.” The song flowed into “Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan” before morphing into “NICU” during which keyboardist Page McConelll was enouraged to “play it for Jones Beach, Leo!” by John Fishman during mooing cows and “yeah”s. The sun was reflecting off the still waters of Jones Beach as they shifted into the summer swing of “Roggae,” which stuck to it’s arrangmenet but also saw the band push it to its limits. Next came a grooving “Pebbles and Marbles” followed by a jam of “Bathtub Gin” into “Maze” show casing the most fleshed out exploration of improvisation of the night thus far. They closed the set with “Squirming Coil.”

The second set opened with a newer track, a 17-minute take on “I Never Needed You Like This Before” which hit both tender notes and more sonically dismal atmospheric spaces. The next track “Leaves” saw the quartet sway towards the latter, going heavy with their effects pedals, despite the songs usual airy nature. The jam conintuned as Phish moved into a fan favorite and improvisional vehicle, “Everything’s Right,” which allowed fans to cut loose and groove in the 15,000 person capacity venue. From there they moved into another song fit for the summer “The Mango Song.” McConnell then took the mic for “Most Events Aren’t Planned.” They followed up with the penultimate track of the evening “Chalk Dust Torture” returning to their roots, before closing the set with “Julius.”

Phish encored with “Harry Hood” marking the 39th time the blues rock psychedelic cut has settled into the encore slot since it’s creation 37 years ago.

Phish returns to the stage tonight, Wednesday, July 27, at Northwell Health at Jones Beach.

Phish
Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater – Wantagh, NY
July 26, 2022

Set I: The Curtain > Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S. > Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan -> NICU, Roggae, Pebbles and Marbles, Bathtub Gin > Maze, The Squirming Coil

Set II: I Never Needed You Like This Before > Leaves > Everything’s Right -> The Mango Song, Most Events Aren’t Planned > Chalk Dust Torture > Julius

Enc.: Harry Hood