Photos by Stevo Rood

Call it a summer tour closer, if you’d like. It certainly felt like one. Yes, Phish will still symbolically close out the season with a three-show, Labor Day weekend residency in Colorado. Yet, Saturday night’s finale- the last in a month-long U.S. trek, capped with this second of two shows at the Boston ballpark- had all the hallmarks of a culminating celebration.

Clearly, when Phish rolled into Beantown, the Vermont quartet was still riding rather high off of a five-show stand- marked by the group’s time-machine trip through its 1990s heyday- at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. So, after a Friday appearance at Fenway that resembled more the present state of the foursome, the contrasting follow-up was a throwback to the magic ‘90s in many ways, with just a bit of contemporary garnish. For Phish, and it’s faithful packed in at the Park, the majestic moments of classic rock regality seemed to resonate most.

Start with the opening “My Friend, My Friend,” left unfinished as, instead, guitarist and singer Trey Anastasio guided its departing chorus into the iconic riff signaling an unleashing of “Tweezer,” and a subsequent unbroken hour of music. Out of the jam, the four shifted into “Sigma Oasis,” and, while well-executed, served to build tension more than release it. As dusk turned darker, so too the band, steaming into a “Chalkdust Torture,” coinciding with the ensemble’s labyrinthian lightshow coming to life. As well, the capacity throng, echoing in approval.

It was, though, the almost illusionist-like transition to “Stash,” that served as a bona fide, first-set stunner, inspiring an undeniable grin from Anatsasio. The guitarist carved through the composed sections, complemented with clap-along breaks from the crowd, and led yet another jam that weaved its way back to “Tweezer.” And, even as the improvisations of Anastasio and his mates- keyboardist Page McConnell, bassist Mike Gordon, and drummer Jon Fishman- unfurled in uncalculating fashion, up to this point they felt more the click-click climb of a coaster. The real fun took hold on the descent, as the final jam of the set-closing “Sand,” earned, truly, the tag of epic.

The second-half played similarly, commencing on a “Mike’s Song”- with tandem trampoline from Gordon and Anastasio; the former taking his first lead vocal of the night- then, beginning with “Ruby Waves, a middle duo trio of tunes that had several flashes of brilliance. Anastasio’s move to his mini-percussion kit- itself another nod to the ‘90s- colored the jam on “No Men in No Man’s Land,” leaving space for Fishman and Gordon to indulge in angular funk. The sequence’s bookending “Weekapaug Groove,” tumbling out of a robust “Light,” held the energy steady, only to find the ensuing “Ghost” rise cathartically to the show’s summit. Garnering one of the night’s bigger ovations, the “Ghost” crescendo was simply sublime.

Its momentum carried onward. The four launched a set-closing “Possum” that, once again, beamed up the band to its classic rock best. Then, following a short slip away to the shadows, Phish returned for a three-song encore, including the reflective “Wading in a Velvet Sea,” raucous and bobbing “Character Zero,” and a lethal “Tweezer Reprise,” whose octave ascents were barely audible above the climactic din of Fenway’s Phishead nation.

Call it a summer tour closer. Call it a classic rock feast. Call it Phish at Fenway 2026.

**

Setlist via Phish.net

FENWAY PARK Boston, MA

SET 1: My Friend, My Friend[1] -> Tweezer -> Sigma Oasis[2] > Tweezer > Chalk Dust Torture[3] -> Stash[3] -> Tweezer > Sand

SET 2: Mike’s Song > Ruby Waves[3] > No Men In No Man’s Land[2] > Light > Weekapaug Groove, Ghost > Possum

ENCORE: Wading in the Velvet Sea, Character Zero > Tweezer Reprise
[1] No “Myfe” ending.
[2] Trey on mini drum kit.
[3] Unfinished.

My Friend, My Friend did not include the “Myfe” ending. Sigma Oasis and No Men In No Man’s Land featured Trey on mini drum kit. Chalk Dust Torture, Stash, and Ruby Waves were unfinished. Trey teased Melt the Guns in Light.