Phish Keeps The Jams Flowing To Close 2nd Weekend At Las Vegas Sphere

By Ben Greenfield Apr 26, 2026 • 7:06 am PDT

Closing out the second of three three-night runs at Las Vegas’ Sphere on Saturday, Phish put an exclamation point on a weekend that included an abundance of high-quality jamming. Both sets featured standout improvisational tentpoles, as well as setlists that expertly mixed newer and older songs, along with a few covers.

The first set started with one of the oldest songs in Phish’s repertoire. First up was the 1930s-era “Timber (Jerry the Mule),” which the band played in front of a swirling forest that opened into a blue circle of sky near the top of the Sphere. The song included a brief major-key jam before returning to the final verse.

“Moma Dance” featured a dazzling array of morphing neon patterns, from dots and shapes evoking a psychedelic casino, to a rushing river of rainbow dots, to a line-art dragon. Next, the quartet dusted off “The Final Hurrah,” as dozens of videos of each band member appeared above the stage, forming different swirling patterns. “Hurrah” was stretched out a bit, with a nice danceable jam.

But the improvisational centerpiece of the set was the one-two punch of “Axilla (Part II)” and “Cities.” The former began with the hot-dog-in-outerspace visual from last weekend. Trey Anastasio changed the final lyrics to “get that hot dog out of my face, man.” From there, the lights cut out, and Chris Kuroda’s multidimensional lights took over the screen as the jam became dark and swampy, with Page McConnell on synths, Mike Gordon laying down eerie bass lines and Jon Fishman making excellent use of his toms.

The “Cities” that followed was just as thrilling. Once again, Chris Kuroda ran the visuals, as the band dipped into a filthy funk segment, before a soaring bliss jam that called to mind “Gotta Jibboo.”

The set closed with well-played versions of three less jammy songs: “Horn,” “The Well,” and Clifton Chenier’s “My Soul.” As the final song unfolded, the room appeared to be shooting toward a polygonal vortex.

“Halley’s Comet” kicked off the second set in front of an assemblage of shiny pseudo-metallic rings that shapeshifted, eventually becoming a series of cylindrical tubes that danced about, as the song’s jam dwindled to nothing.

Next up was “Blaze On,” which repeated one of last weekend’s more memorable visuals: a bizarro Las Vegas, with a Sphere and a Phish Hotel into which we went. Inside the hotel, toilets and hands flew around the atrium. before an elevator took us to different floors: one where a river flowed seemingly into us; one with a cat’s watchful eye; another, with live video of Mike playing bass. The song itself included a solid, funky jam before yielding the stage to “Chalk Dust Torture.”

“Chalk Dust” began with a gorgeous, delicate jam, with Fishman leading the band with a low gallop, as Page provided the atmosphere and Trey adorned the groove with light touches on his Whammy pedal and envelope filter. Gradually, the band turned up the volume, culminating in a massive, multi-minute peak that seemed to scream, “This is why we do this.”

The huge “Chalk Dust” was a tough act to follow, but “Mercury” handled the challenge excellently. After a gentle sequence, it wove into an arena rock section that lit up the crowd once again.

After the preceding couple songs featured only Chris Kuroda’s accompaniment, “Waves” included a return to animated visuals, with a forest illuminated by thousands of tiny multicolored lights. Next, “About to Run” included the previous weekend’s beehive visual, in which we were transported through honeycomb tubes to a giant pool of honey, into which the sweet substance dripped from the ceiling.

Over “Ghost,” another repeat visual followed: the robots, which initially appeared in the 2024 Sphere rendition of “Ghost,” and returned last week during “Oblivion.” As the robots became towers holding up power lines, it seemed to inject some high voltage into the jam, as the set came crashing to a close.

The encore began with “Bug,” in which a dome of interlocking grass triangles appeared, with thousands of balloons floating up into the air. Eventually, the glass came crashing down, leaving us with just the balloons. The night concluded with “First Tube,” in which streamers and fireworks lit up the screen as the band shredded one last time.

Phish returns to Sphere on Thursday, April 30. Livestreams of all nine Phish Sphere shows are available to purchase through nugs and LivePhish.

Buy Phish Sphere 2026 Livestreams

Posters