Phish Makes 'The Connection' At 3rd Show Of Summer Tour Opening Run In Mansfield (2024)

For Phish’s first-ever third consecutive night at the historic amphitheater affectionately known as Great Woods, the band collectively put on their Sunday best and dazzled with a show that featured rarities (including several bonafide bust-outs), classic Phish peak jamming, and a new strain of their textural improvisations that the band has been exploring since December 29, 2023.

It was Phish’s first Sunday show of the summer and their final night at “Great Woods” – the Mansfield, Massachusetts venue where, for their first two-night stand back in 1994, they brought out a complete retelling of Gamehendge.

Opening on Sunday with “Free,” bassist Mike Gordon took the first lead of the night, showing off one or more of his allegedly 10 new effect pedals to great effect before handing the baton to guitarist Trey Anastasio, who took the scripted but soaring “Free” lead, thereby reeling in any chances of blowing the night open right out the gate, instead harnessing the energy for an excellently executed hard open.

The band was locked-in from downbeat one and lighting designer Chris Kuroda also had a noticeably strong night right from the jump, as he showered the storied shed in lightness and transformed it into a place of elegance.

“A Wave Of Hope” took the two spot, and it was keyboardist Page McConnell’s turn to open the lead, using the instrumental break to play some piano before handing it off to Trey, who dug into a guitar solo in front of his speakers, which were no longer in a box offstage (as they were for the first two nights, making it a total of six shows – counting Sphere – without them). Somehow, just seeing them return felt good, as the physical presence of guitar amps are a visual signifier that informs your subconscious that yes, you are indeed at a live rock concert.

The first real jam of the night immediately showed its Summer ‘24 colors, as this tour’s fingerprints really begin to crystalize; it’s going to be a summer of darkness (and of light).

Perhaps feeling emboldened by the return of his speakers right behind him, Trey took Classic Trey licks out for a drive while the band coalesced behind him. But the drive turned out to be a dog walker, as it wasn’t too long before Trey returned to chunky rhythms, informing the band to sink into an improvised sonic tapestry — and it is that kind of textural fabric that is quickly becoming the Summer ‘24 signature, just three shows deep.

The band was fully in sync at the mind-reading level and was able to turn up the intensity dial without actually turning up the heat, instead letting it drip down into sonic gloop. Drummer Jon Fishman was the only one driving it forward, keeping the ball of sound rolling forward while the others all took whimsical glances at the landscape, using their instruments to make strokes over canvas. Trey found a way to pierce through the architecture, taking over the wheel while building to a glorious, sustained peak.

It wasn’t that the previous two nights were off, by any means – they were great. Especially opening night, which saw the band arrive in what previously might have been mid-tour stride. But day three is often where it all comes together and that’s what we saw here with the opening one-two punch.

Make that three-for-three with “Bathtub Gin.” Trey characteristically took the lead straight out of the signature lick, ensuring that each of the first three tunes had a different kickoff leader. Trey steered the jam into classic “Gin” territory for just a quick poke around before the band transitioned into more fabric jamming, where Mike’s pedals were featured in a starring role.

But first – back up: an unexpected and surprisingly offhand highlight of the entire night came right out of the “Gin” lick when Trey very distinctly teased the Grateful Dead’s “Scarlet Begonias.” And although it was almost certainly unpremeditated, brief, and perhaps a cheap thrill … it was a high-five moment nonetheless; one of many on this night.

From the “Scarlet Begonias” tease (4:40 into the track, for those who wish to fact-check or hear it for themselves, via LivePhish) Trey then wove a series of melodic leads together, fractals of longer statements which pierced through the bedrock and at one point even touched upon a “Sand” tease, which is significant because the band has previously teased “Bathtub Gin” in “Sand.” On a night like tonight, they let “Gin” return the favor.

Trey continued this melodic gallop while Fishman supported with encouraging fills to keep all the horses running right until Trey’s lead fingers led him seamlessly back into the “Bathtub Gin” lick. The band effortlessly fell in line behind, as – unified – they brought this one home.

The set may have peaked early with that “Gin,” but a brisk run through “Wilson” led to another surprise highlight, in the form of a bust-out: “The Connection.” Performing the Undermind track for just the sixth time ever live — they didn’t even bring it out for the Baker’s Dozen — this was the first “The Connection” played since December 7, 2019 (North Charleston, South Carolina), making it the most significant bust out of the three-day-old tour yet, after a 150 show gap. With a clean lead that stuck to the script, the novelty of Phish’s one-time bid for chart success was a pleasant first set sightseeing stop.

This paved the way for another rarity, “Thread,” which the band hadn’t played since September 1, 2021 in Mountain View, California, making it the tour’s second biggest bust out thus far, with a 122 song gap. Despite working on it during the opening night soundcheck, “Thread” got off to a shaky start, but then this song — the second part of an unfolding trilogy that also includes “Steam” — found its footing with a dark, rhythmic jam that bubbled to the surface in just the right spot, diving headfirst into the delightfully chaotic territory that “Thread” seems designed for.

During a pause in the program, Mike showed off some of his new arsenal while the band made Residents-friendly sounds that never actually synthesized into song but rather stood alone, a just-for-the-fun-of-it, post-“Thread” oddity.

A “Joy” breather contrasted “Thread’s” dark undertones with love and light, leading to a wild second quarter placement for “Runaway Jim.” Classic peak jamming gave this Phish classic a Classic Phish feel all around, its presence welcomed as always. Given some of the inverted song placements this tour, it was reasonable to think this once-upon-a-time quintessential first set opener was to be this first set’s closer.

Alas, perhaps its skinny showing (under eight minutes) afforded the band extra time for one more, as instead of going out with the old, they went in with the new, taking out their shiny “Life Saving Gun” for the night’s second track from Phish’s new album, Evolve.

Page moved up to his Clavinet, then to Wurlitzer and Moog during Trey’s blistering lead through the first part of the jam, before returning to piano, his favored instrument throughout the night, while Mike played synthy bass. The dark goo of the first two nights yielded here to a frenetic set-closing stomp.

Read on after The Skinny for the rest of the recap and more.

For the third night in a row, Phish chose a second-set closer as their second-set opener, this time with “The Squirming Coil,” giving Page an additional opportunity to focus on piano.

Placing “Tweezer” in the second-set two-spot leaves no room for questions of intent — it was a safe bet from the get-go that this would become the first song of the tour to cross the magical 20-minute marker, with a jet smooth ride that would launch us into orbit for the remainder of the set, perhaps even for the remainder of the night at large if they had chosen not to cap it with a “Tweezer Reprise.”

And likewise, this particular “Tweezer” got underway with Fishman making sure the train kept a rolling while Mike workshopped effects. Trey started a rhythmic pattern to identify the direction and Mike quickly picked up what Trey laid down, adding some bounce to the chunky chug-a-lug of the jam vehicle, allowing Trey to experiment with different single-note sentences until a melody emerged that was worth repeating.

Done with his musings, Trey tried to give Mike “the look,” but Mike was enveloped inside a tone clinic of his own, pressing Trey onwards, which led the band into a new sonicscape entirely, a lighter soundtrack with a slow march toward a place of uplift. This euphoric territory was anchored by full-band improvisation and moored by Fish, Trey’s soaring leads escaping from a dark and delightfully menacing sky.

Where Trey earlier appeared to maybe want to give up on this jam, here he showed commitment and presence, searching for the blissful lead until he found it. He then switched back to rhythm in order to weave the floating melody back down into the sonic cloth below. A perfect landing allowed the jam to continue, now having shape-shifted into the style of Summer ‘24 fabric jamming which, itself, shape-shifts as a defining trait. And as such, the jam continued to build in intensity, if not in speed or note-density, until the band flawlessly slow transitioned into transitional post-song music, which then segued into “Scents And Subtle Sounds.”

“Scents And Subtle Sounds” featured more Trey shredding and soaring before it transformed into another fabric jam, the peak jamming of just a minute earlier having given way to a more sinister soundscape. Once again, Fishman kept the train rolling when the jam was looking for its footing, then Trey discovered a nook to explore, as he took the whole band with him into an eerie space that crawled forward in mist, the beat having then turned less rhythmic, in fact, not a beat at all. Fishman nearly dropped out entirely at one point, while Trey explored new tones, supplemented by Page’s Moog complements, until the ambient ending opened up enough for Trey to segue into “Twist.”

And with “Twist” came with another inventive exploration at the first crack and the band stuck with it, allowing Trey to build upon some melodic themes while Page spent some time with the Rhodes. Trey then introduced a new intent through the use of some chordal riffing and, with the band locked in (and Page now back on piano), Trey unleashed some machine gun shred to lead the song over the peak and back into its form down below for a traditional ending.

A Sunday “Crosseyed and Painless” felt like the most natural thing ever, given the history, and yet this “C&P” still was nearly as surprising as the appearance of “Scents And Subtle Sounds” just two songs earlier. The Talking Heads have remained a steady influence on Phish ever since they covered Remain In Light as their musical costume at their 1996 Halloween show. But even some of Phish’s newest sonic developments and explorations can be traced back to that influence.

Trey wrapped the “Crosseyed” soloing back to its “still waiting” anchor, just as the sound was entering trance-rock territory, then he launched the jam to a new peak with frenetic fretwork that recalled some of his 1997 face melts.

Having peaked “Crosseyed,” the band continued onwards. A growling push forward that nearly sounded like a work up to “Llama” marched on in a dark pulse. Fishman’s “still waiting” vocalizations grounded it under Trey’s rhythmic chops, bringing the song to a near close. Its refusal for a neat ending allowed for some gurgling ambience to build a bridge into a set closing “Slave To The Traffic Light,” which then ended the night with a final release.

A standard issue, encore slot “Possum” featured Trey slightly extending the ending by inserting bluesy on-song leads that took “Possum” to a proper peak with a proper ending, and a proper slam into “Tweezer Reprise.” It’s a reliable grand finale that did the trick in punctuating the night with an exclamation mark, capping a thrilling three-of-a-kind tour opener at Great Woods.

Up next, Phish returns to Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, where once again they will be the one sure bet in the entire casino. Watch livestreams of Phish’s entire 2024 Summer Tour via LivePhish.com.

Photos by Jamie Soja

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