Photo by Rene Huemer via Phish’s Facebook Page

Phish made their debut at Chicago’s United Center last night. The performance kicks off a three-night run at the Bulls arena, closing the Vermont Quartet’s brief eight-show fall run. 

Since the show fell on Friday, Oct. 13, the group used audio from the Friday the 13th film as their pre and post-show house music. 

The concert kicked off with a high-energy “Carini,” before moving onto “Rift” and “Halley’s Comet.” The latter song segued into “Ghost,” a thematically appropriate choice for the set given the time of year and the fact that it was Friday the 13th. However, it also marked the run’s first repeat, meaning that the group would not try to go the entire tour without repeating a song, like they did during their similarly short 2019 fall run.

From there, Phish moved into the night’s first bust out, a cover of Neil Young’s “Albuquerque” that segued into “Saw It Again.” Phish had not performed “Albuquerque” since June 11, 2011. A segue from “Blaze On” into another Ghost nugget, “Meat” and “Drift While You’re Sleeping” closed the set.

Phish began their second set with another tour repeat, “Sand” and then launched into a run from “Waves” into “Tweezer, “Crosseyed and Painless,” “Light” and “Mountains in the Mist” that served as the night’s musical highlight. The “Tweezer” jam, in particular, was an improvisational peak. After “Golgi Apparatus,” Phish closed their second set with a take on “Harry Hood” that moved into the Billy Breathes rarity “Talk” and then the end of “Harry Hood.” “Talk” had not been played since Phish’s acoustic set at Festival 8 on Nov. 1, 2009 and marked only the song’s third appearance in total since 1998. The recently revived Jimi Hendrix cut “Izabella” closed the night. 

Phish will return to the United Center tonight. 

Here’s a look at last night’s setlist via Phish.net

Friday, October 13, 2023, United Center, Chicago 

Set 1: Carini, Rift, Halley’s Comet -> Ghost, Albuquerque > Saw It Again, Foam, Blaze On > Meat, Drift While You’re Sleeping

Set 2: Sand, Waves > Tweezer > Crosseyed and Painless -> Light > Mountains in the Mist, Golgi Apparatus, Harry Hood -> Talk -> Harry Hood

E: Izabella

The band walked out to audio from Friday the 13th (this was also the postshow music). Albuquerque was performed for the first time since June 11, 2011 (458 shows). Trey and Mike teased A Love Supreme in Light. Talk was last played in November 01, 2009 (536 shows).