Phish returned to Hampton, Virginia on Friday September 19 to begin the finale of their Summer 2025 tour.

Let’s check in for a progress report. It’s been 198 months since Phish came back for good at Hampton in 2009. At first heavy on nostalgia and vibes, the 2009 Hampton run was understandably tentative but still heartfelt. They knew what they had lost, and they were going to be careful with it this time. In the years since, they have had their ups and downs but if 2009 Trey could see what 2025 Trey was up to, he would have dove in headfirst and smiling.

Phish opened Hampton with “Fluffhead,” again, a nod from the past while looking ahead. On this night the first set felt like a second set. “46 Days” had a forward motion that let you know that they were going to lock in tonight. The first set had strong 2003 IT Festival vibes. The second half of it leaned heavily on some Round Room material, and it sounded like the band was getting out some angst, especially in a stellar version of “My Friend, My Friend” earlier in the set. Trey capped “Ya Mar” off with a beautiful solo, the set finished with a rocking “Walls of the Cave.”

Set two opened with a cover of The Apples in Stereo’s “Energy.” It was a nice little treat before the main course as the “Tweezer” that everyone was hungry for was served up next. “Tweezer” was beautiful, patient, a little scary, spacious, built up and peaked hard. “Ruby Waves” was next and they jumped right back into the incredible improvisation. “No Men in No Man’s Land” kept things moving until my favorite part of the night, the segue back into “Tweezer.” The band slipped into an incredibly thick, funk jam, a jam that would have made Parliament-Funkadelic proud. “Waste” cooled things down before an always welcomed The Velvet Underground’s “Rock & Roll” ended the set.

A “Prince Caspian,” “Bug” and “Tweezer Reprise” wrapped up the night as an encore. Phish plays two more shows at Hampton this weekend, September 20 and 21. If you can’t make it, you can always stream it at Live Phish.

The team at NYS Music has put together a map (with the help of Alex Grosby from the Phishsonian) that features every show Phish has played in NYS, including a link to reviews and articles on the various shows and festivals in New York State that Phish has played since 1986. Browse around the map, uncover a show you may not have heard before, or find a show you went to and check out the reviews and photos contained in the map info!

Setlist via phish.net

Phish – Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA – Friday, September 19, 2025

Set 1: Fluffhead, 46 Days, My Friend, My Friend > Rift, Gumbo, Pebbles and Marbles, Army of One > Ya Mar, The Wedge, Walls of the Cave

Set 2: Energy > Tweezer > Ruby Waves > No Men In No Man’s Land > Tweezer > Waste > Rock and Roll

Encore: Prince Caspian > Bug > Tweezer Reprise

Rumors were swirling around the room before the show on Saturday that Hampton Coliseum might be knocked down at some point. It’s not a crazy rumor when you look at the building, the exterior looks like a spaceship that just flew out of a 70’s Sci-Fi movie, but on the inside it’s a little archaic in design and could probably use a remodel (it could certainly use some more bathrooms). These types of rooms are a dying breed though. They are incredible for concerts, but they don’t quite work in 2025, since every little inch of the building is not maximized for corporate greed.

Not everything is clean and sterile, or blocked off. There are not 20 people that you have to show your ticket to if you want to go anywhere. There are no corporate boxes. I don’t think they even have VIP parking. Since it’s general admission, everyone is on the same level. There is no preferential treatment for rich guys with some extra zeros in their bank account. If they want a good seat, they better get in early like everyone else. This adds an extra dimension to the amount collective energy and love that can reverberate inside the room and was probably a strong reason that Phish has played some of the best shows of their career inside of it.

They started off their possibly last Saturday show at the Hampton Coliseum during the first set with an extended version of “Boogie on Reggae Woman” by Stevie Wonder. This is one of those covers that seems like the band is having at least as much fun as the audience during it. Next was more funk though a bit more decelerated, “Undermind” kept the crowd moving. “Bouncing Around the Room” was a nice breather before they played a smoking “Birds of a Feather.” Phish then decided it was time to play a song about a puppet drowning a girl, a well played “Esther” was next.

Next up a “Funky Bitch” and “It’s Ice” pairing had the room vibrating. “Ether Edge” Slowed things down a bit before going into one of the better jams of the weekend. It started off slow and contemplative but then built into a few vibey peaks, It’s one of those jams that shows you where their jamming style is at in 2025. Next up I finally got to see Phish cover a David Bowie song, “Moonage Daydream” was up to close the first set. They nailed the song and then Trey was just wailing on that outro section for five whole minutes. Trey don’t fake it baby.

If the songs from the first set were more to make you dance, the second set had more of a sit and stare vibe. “Everything’s Right” started set 2 off. They seemed to spend the jam searching for something that they couldn’t quite find. After a few minutes of this, Trey bounced in some “Simple” guitar lines, the room exploded and we were off. Once Trey was done with his dripping “Simple” solo, they all seemed to find themselves in a similar space that they just gave up on. After some more searching they finally linked back up on the back half and crushed the ending. This seemed to be a turning point in the set, as their improvisation seemed to have a more focused direction and purpose for the rest of the night. A Wave of Hope was next and I thought it was one of the more unique jams of the weekend. It gave me strong Woodlands Jam at Mondegreen vibes. There is a real looseness to it. It’s not a very long jam but it’s so patient that it seems like it’s twice as long (in a good way). They then go back into a sort of hard rock little “Simple” outro.

“Beneath a Sea of Stars,” was a perfect breather in the middle of a second set. Sometimes they just play the original composition, but watch out on this one when they keep it going. The song can bring on a style of jamming that is very weird but so unique. When they do it I’m not sure anyone has ever made music that sounded like it before. I don’t know, maybe there is some Japanese band from the 60’s or something that Trey heard one time that he’s borrowing from, but it’s alien to me! It’s almost like a freeform jazz type thing where no is ever repeating themselves and just constantly bouncing new ideas off of each other and just reacting to the other’s ideas, but never sticking with any one thing for long. It sounds very deconstructed, like the music is breaking apart and being put back together every 30 seconds. After 10 minutes of scrambling the brains of the people who were paying attention (and not talking), Trey started strumming the “Gotta Jibboo” intro and a certain percentage of the crowd absolutely sighed in relief.

“Gotta Jibboo” was a great version, Trey had a great liquid tone that is the hallmark of quality “Jibboo” in my opinion, he fluttered along this version like a butterfly. “Suzy Greenberg” and a extra rocking “Julius” ended the set.

Trey was still in the mood to rock so “Izabella” was first in the encore and “Possum” was last of the night and the band blew the roof off one more time before sending us out into the night.

Phish – Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA – Saturday, September 20, 2025

Set 1: Boogie On Reggae Woman, Undermind, Bouncing Around the Room > Birds of a Feather, Esther, Funky Bitch, It’s Ice > Ether Edge, Moonage Daydream

Set 2: Everything’s Right -> Simple > A Wave of Hope -> Simple > Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1 > Gotta Jibboo, Suzy Greenberg > Julius

Encore: Izabella > Possum