May 2026 Recap

Nights 2 and 3 of Phish at Sphere, Greyboy Allstars, Built To Spill, and more!

Jun 05, 2026

5.1 Phish at Sphere

The awe-inspiring graphics continued on this penultimate show of the run. It was the second of three nights for me and the eighth of nine shows for Page, Trey, Mike, and Jon. The show started out in a cathedral type structure wtih bright sun beams streaming through ornate stained glass windows as the band started with the live staple “Sample In A Jar”. As the song drew to a close it was revealed that the structure was actually a reimagined City Hall building from 2024’s Mondegreen Festival in Delaware. The real life one was constructed of nothing but cardboard and packing tape, and had to be destroyed prior to it’s planned demolition due to thunderstorms weakening the integrity of it. The Sphere version came crashing down just as the song finished.

Next was a cover of Stevie Wonder’s funky “Boogie On Reggae Woman” with Mike’s thundering bass driving the tempo alongside some giant, bouncing columns in Rasta colors.

“Mound” was played for the first time in 113 shows before we went on a journey through the mythical land of Gamehendge during “Tela”, played for the first time in exactly 100 shows, and the rarity “McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters”. Both were written for The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday, Trey’s 1988 senior thesis and featured elaborate animations from the tale and many of its characters.

The first set ended with a riveting, 15 minute “Davd Bowie” that was perhaps the visual highlight of the whole weekend for me. Arriving at exactly the middle of the weekend, you might say it served as the visual centerpiece as well. It included a giant portal made of a dazzling, unending stream of rainbow glitter. The song drew perhaps the strongest and most audible reactions from the crowd of the weekend as we cheered in disbelief, absolutely gobsmacked.

After second set opened with a brief return to Gamehendge with “Wilson”, we were treated to deep dives into “Plasma” and Talking Heads’ “Crosseyed and Painless”. Both featured CK5 in control of the sprawling virtual light rig.

To the sheer delight of the crowd, Fishman got out his vacuum for a moment of levity during the encore’s “I Didn’t Know“. Then it was time for a little Evil (and silly) Phish with a heavy “Saw It Again” before the night wrapped up with Page singing a lively version of The Velvet Undergorund’s “Rock and Roll”. Two down and one more exciting night of music at Sphere to go!

Full set list:

Set I: Sample in a Jar, Boogie on Reggae Woman, Heavy Things, Bouncing Around the Room, Mound, Mountains in the Mist, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, Tela, McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters), Wingsuit, David Bowie

Set II: Wilson, Seven Below > Plasma > Crosseyed and Painless > Pillow Jets, Shade, Sand

Encore: I Didn’t Know, Saw it Again, Rock and Roll

The Helping Friendly Book:

“Tela”:

“David Bowie”:

“Plasma”:

“Crosseyed and Painless”:

“Sand”:

The vacuum solo:

5.2 Phish at Sphere

The finale of the nine show run was at hand and there were still dozens of options for them to play to complete it with no song repeats. Much of the speculation centered around if and when we would hear “Fluffhead”, one of the band’s most sought after tunes. Many were calling for it to open the show, but instead they opted to begin the last night of this thrilling weekend with one of their least thrilling songs, “Farmhouse”. We all should have seen it coming, as the pre-show graphics each night were of the inside of the barn, aka the farmhouse that was the inspiration for the title track of their 2000 album. Getting ‘Farmhoused’ right off the bat was a bit of a letdown, and immediately elicited more than a few chuckles and groans. At least this version had something rare - Trey on acoustic guitar, and a vibrant display of Northern Lights bouncing above the virtual Farmhouse to coincide with the song’s lyrics.

”Ocelot” had some old school Space Invaders type graphics, and avatars of each band member, including Page with a keytar for a fun bit of foreshadowing, and Fishman with his beloved, vintage electrolux that we’d seen in action the previous night.

Second set began with Page venturing to the front of the stage adorned with his trusty keytar for the Edgar Winters Band classic “Frankenstein”. The lovely “Ruby Waves” was another highlight, clocking in at around 21 minutes. “Meatstick” included the Japanese lyrics, flying doughnuts, and ketchup and mustard propelled hot dogs soaring through popcorn space and onto some strange hot dog planet. Kill Devil Falls had some astounding visuals courtesy of CK5 before there was a retrospective of some of the weekend’s most memorable graphics.

During the encore’s “Wading in the Velvet Sea”, photos of members of the audience were shown on the display in a loving and emotional tribute to the fans who make crazy things like this possible.

Over the course of the nine show residency, they played 161 songs, and saved what is perhaps their most quintessesntial song for last. Yes, they did indeed deliver a “Fluffhead”to wrap up the encore, and it was accompanied by a massive, celebratory display of virtual fireworks as the song reached its crescendo, ending the Sphere experience on a high note.

Phish definitely upped their game for their second run at Sphere, with creative and memorable visuals throughout. The enormous and immersive display was pretty seamlessly incorporated, and was used like a fifth instrument being played by The Moment Factory and/or Chris Kuroda, aka CK5, Phish’s lighting director. I look forward to seeing what they come up with next time! In the meantime, Trey is performing a show in downtown Minneapolis this month, followed by another at Big Top Chautauqua along the south shore of Lake Superior. Then next month, it’s back to Wisonsin for my 85th and 86th Phish shows.

SET I Farmhouse, Undermind, Ocelot, Back on the Train, Ether Edge > Llama, The Horse > Silent in the Morning, Taste, Julius

SET II Frankenstein, Kill Devil Falls, Ruby Waves, Meatstick, My Friend, My Friend > A Life Beyond The Dream, Character Zero

ENCORE Wading in the Velvet Sea, Fluffhead

Leaves from the Wizard of Oz showing earlier in the day. I went to see it the night before Phish and it was tremendous!

The Barn aka The Farmhouse:

“Ocelot”:

“Frankenstein”:

“Kill Devil Falls”:

“Ruby Waves”:

“My Friend, My Friend”:

The “Fluffhead” Fireworks Finale:

5.5 Greyboy Allstars at Amsterdam

A dynamite show from this elite troupe who got started backing DJ Greyboy in San Diego in the 90’s! Saxophonist Denson, aka Big Diesel, has been a touring member of the Rolling Stones for years now, and more or less fronts Greyboy Allstars. On keys is Robert Walter - he currently plays B3 organ with Pink Floyd co-founder (and major dipshit) Roger Waters. Also in the band are Elgin Park, aka Michael Andrews, an esteemed composer of scores for movies and TV (he had a massive, #1 in the UK hit with that cover of “Mad World” for the Donnie Darko soundtrack!?). Bassist Chris Stillwell and drummer Aaron Redfield are both accomplished session musicains with really impressive resumes including The Dewey Cox Movie and appearing on albums by arttists like Kelly Clarkson, Hozier and more.

5.14 Built To Spill at First Ave

Doug Martsch has been the creative force and leader of BTS since they got started in 1992. These days, the power trio is Martsch along with the dynamite rythm section of Teresa Esguerra on drums and Melanie Radford on bass. Martsch has been intentional about changing up the lineup every so often, so the only constants are him and his distinctive voice and fuzzy yet sharp guitar stylings. I’d seen BTS just once before - maybe 10 years ago, also at First Ave and thoroughly enjoyed that show as well.

5.16 Obi Original at Baus Haus

One last big event at the NorthEast brewery that recently announced its immenent closure. I’ll mis that place, especially for their reliabley excellent Art-A-Whirl happenings. It was an outstanding set as always from Obi Original and his high energy Highlife band!

5.16 Jon Sullivan Band at Shaw’s

Late night Art-A-Whirl show for JSB, who have really been gaining steam and have a number of festival appeatances set for this summer.

5.17 Mikkel Bee and Jim Walsh at 331 Club

It’s always fun to see who Mikkel will have join him for his Sunday afternoon series. Singer songwriter and rock and roll writer Jim Walsh was on hand for this occasion and shared a number of his earnest and rabble rousing originals and covers from Price, Elvis, and Buddy Holly. Set list featured:

Purple Rain crowd singalong
Prodigal Pub
That's Alright Mama
Rave On

5.23 About To Run at Remote Wisonsin Location

Phish tribute band About To Run gathered along with a few dozen friends and family in a secluded Wisconsin small town for a fun two set throwdown that featured classics such as “Stash”, “2001”, and “Down With Disease”.

5.29 New Primitives at Tuttle’s

Surprisingly, this was The Prims’ debut show at Tuttle’s, though both the band and the bowling alley have been around a couple decades. Drummer Stan Kipper, who along with percussionist Chico Perez was in the seminal yet virtually unknown St Loius band Gypsy, is bandleader and lead singer. They play a fantastic combination of reggae, jazz, and funk and covered Bob Marley’s “Wake Up and Live”, a reggae version of Tom Petty’s “You Don't Know How It Feels” in their first set and Ray Charles’ “I Got A Woman” and The Stones’ ”Miss You” in the second.