Photo credit: Dave Vann

After finding their groove and extemporizing select songs in the Pacific Northwest with the onset of Spring Tour, on Friday and Saturday, April 18-19, at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena, and the first Portland, Ore., appearance since 1999, on Sunday, April 20, Phish was seasoned and ready for the third location of their four city jaunt. 

Last night, April 22, represented the first in a two-evening staging at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Whereas the concerts leading up to Phish’s Bay Area arrival leaned into teases, instrumental spontaneity interspersed with choice numbers, the band, Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, Page McConnell, and Jon Fishman kept the add-ons to a minimum, preserving their offerings to a relatively standard two-set delivery. 

By the time Phish’s San Francisco concert arrived, there was enough material in the Spring Tour bank to perform repeats, yet, with nearly four decades under their belt and a history of flattering their audience with unforeseen arrivals, they positioned the first “Buried Alive” and “Axilla (Part II)” of this calendar year. 

They followed with “Mike’s Song,” during which Anastasio positioned “Manteca,” the jazz standard, which was folded into the Slip Stitch and Pass inclusion. Had it arrived in full, it would have represented a bust-out, last played in its entirety on Feb. 22, 2020. Instead, it mingled with “Mike’s Song” before the aforementioned composition enveloped “I Am Hydrogen,” and converged once more into “Weekapaug Groove” sans pause. 

Phish nodded to Clifton Chenier’s original, turned longtime cover, “My Soul,” before running out the clock on “Halley’s Comet,” followed by a “Roggae,” “Maze,” combo, and the final movement of set one, “Split Open and Melt.” The latter half of the night picked up with “Carini,” preluding a nonstop run through “No Men In No Man’s Land” and “Ruby Waves.” The latter was marked by improvisation and guitar-drenched psychedelia, representing an instrumental high point. 

From the depths of night, they pulled out “Waste” and merged it with “What’s The Use?” before ultimately finding an exit point for their second frame after “Down with Disease.” For Tuesday’s final offering, Phish landed on “Fluffhead” as their official encore. 

Phish returns to the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco this evening, Wednesday, April 23. Tickets are sold out. Stream the concert from home via nugs.net.  

Phish 

Bill Graham Civic Auditorium – San Francisco 

April 22, 2025

Set I: Buried Alive, Axilla (Part II) > Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, My Soul, Halley’s Comet, Roggae > Maze, Split Open and Melt

Set II: Carini, No Men In No Man’s Land > Ruby Waves, Waste > What’s the Use? > Down with Disease

Enc.: Fluffhead

Setlist via phish.net.