Jam Chart for the 2025 Late Summer Tour Tour (33 entries)
Legend:
Highly Recommended
Attended
JOTY
| Info | Notes |
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Wolfman's (12:51)
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Average-great version slowly builds and builds (and builds and builds) to become something special. The band's patience is perhaps more impressive than Trey's commanding, sun-splashed trilling .... And that's saying something. |
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Sand (13:42)
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This Set 2 opener is pretty standard "Sand" fare until after the return to the song proper. A dreamy outro jam breaks out after the song should have ostensibly finished. > into a 20 minute "CDT". |
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CDT (22:14)
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> from "Sand". The beginning of the jam sounds rather Allmans-esque, with Trey playing some fun, nifty licks. After that portion of the jam concludes, the band gives a fakeout that it might be over, but Fish emerges from the quiet with driving play that sends things upbeat. The jam slowly fades out and eventually > into "Light". |
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Carini (12:52)
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Relatively modest run time belies this aggressive and focused late second set jam that incorporates a healthy amount of crunchy synth and drippy effects into a heady swirl that turns bright and hints at melody but never quite peaks before > to "Everything's Right". |
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Cities (16:10)
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Birmingham proper finally got a "Cities" and it was one to remember. Coming as the second song of the night, the band shows they're ready to let loose. Mike leads the jam early and the slow funk gradually picks up tempo. The jam winds its way to a more contemplative space before > into "Sample". |
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Gin (23:16)
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This behemoth quickly takes on a slightly more agitated tone than your typical jam and then makes a clean break as the band spends several minutes pulling their respective strands together into a single stream and drilling down on a monolithic groove totally removed from "Gin". After pausing to take a breath around 13:00, the jam restarts in a more zen-like fashion and steadily builds until it swells to bursting and peaks in the 21st minute. |
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Runaway Jim (15:32)
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In from an amazing "Gin" (last paired 8/9/04, and definitely worth revisiting), the play here, if not an extension of the improvisation, is certainly a welcome complement. While "Jim" has been great of late, this is a signature version featuring, at first, an extended 'conversation' between Trey and Page (on his piano), before Fish interjects, and the discussion moves in a different direction. It's not long before all converse, with Trey driving the jam with "Lope"-like intensity, before a call to end the song and set. |
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Sigma Oasis (20:22)
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In the most exploratory version since Dick's 2024, "Sigma" kicks off a fluid second set segment of thematic jamming. Interwoven melodies from Page and Trey float above 8-armed magnetic drumming from Fish, where synths meet bright chords in weightless jamming that eventually rises around 14:20 into ethereal space. Building towards a thrilling peak from Trey, filled with unique riffing, the jamming bobs and weaves while staying rooted in Page's regal baby grand. One of those jams where every time you think they're finished they seem to find a new idea before they latch onto a sustained build -> into "DWD." |
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DwD (14:47)
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Out of the gates, the straightforward jam bristles with inspiration. Around the 7 minute mark, a shift towards softer textures builds towards a gorgeous, almost plaintive segment. As textural ambience seeps into the spaces between, the music then carefully builds back up to a sludgy, minor-key, wah-filled space rock-out to close, before a quick shift > "Life Saving Gun". |
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Life Saving Gun (18:01)
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In the midst of a stunning second set, we enter the "LSG" jam like a comet ripped apart by gravity, falling inwards towards the sun, before the band fully unifies around a Krautrock beat and driving chord progression from Trey. Fishman works against the established groove to expand the jam into a more spacious affair which allows Trey to move outside the initial ideas, pushing the band outwards once more. Listen for Page to move from the Rhodes to his synth around 9:15 which reinforces the expansive playing and kicks off a segment defined by a wall of effects and interwoven anti-melodies, reminiscent of the 10/10/23 "Ruby Waves." Chaos starts to dissipate around 16min as a clearing emerges in the jam. Marked by sprinkles of melody and interwoven riffs before a fade -> to "Pillow Jets," this is a clear peak moment in "Life Saving Gun's" young career as we hear what is fully possible with the budding jam vehicle. |
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Mike's (14:02)
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Strong, fairly forceful jam that, from the jump, bends, even if it doesn't quite break. Marked, fluid shift just before the seven-minute mark serves almost as a "second" jam, with Page really toying with the song's signature theme. Play does brighten, and considerably, but a familiar 'peak' is offset by some really cool and varied work from Trey before a return to "Mike's" signature riff and a > into "Ocelot." |
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WGTYM (17:41)
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> from a AWOH. Patient, rhythmic, and hypnotic; the band takes an approach here that, while it feels familiar, is interpreted through the fresh lens of the past handful of years' inventive play and that occupies a space halfway between aggression and ambience. Fans of peak free exploration will want to seek out this version. |
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Tube (11:07)
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Not even four minutes in and all four contribute to produce one of the finest jams of the year. Play does take a different direction, one particularly melodic in nature, while befitting a "unique, rock and roll dance band." Stupendously, what might have become patterned play is undone when Trey drives the jam to a near peak before the song's shift. |
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Reba (13:22)
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Maintains high intensity while taking a few extra swings at the ending with false peaks before the true conclusion. Not the most precise version as Trey hits a few off notes, but it packs a wallop nonetheless. |
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Oblivion (16:56)
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Breaks apart early on via a major mode shift, as a spacey loop from Trey creates an airy vibe on top of Fishman's strong foundation. The music shifts back to minor, with Mike's melodic basslines and Page's enveloping synths curating an introspective atmosphere. Optimism then begins to peek out of the haze, as Trey begins to tear off some delightfully spry leads, eventually driving this psychedelic affair towards a celebratory crescendo to close it all out. |
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Fuego (17:01)
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An initial jam segment defined by back-and-forth darkness and light spaces, Trey puts his foot down around 11:40 and pushes the jam into dark and layered chordal builds, which gives the listener a callback to the brilliant minimalism of the Mexico '17 version. After flirting with "Izabella" for a bit, a driving and darkly heroic segment builds before peaking and fading back into "Fuego" proper. The jam resolves itself in droning sirens before a fade > into "Leaves." While not the most outstanding take on "Fuego" in this 2023-25 peak period, it's yet another above average jam that gives 9/16 Set II some solid jamming to root itself in. |
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The Howling (12:47)
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> from "Sally". The longest version of "The Howling" to date and the band doesn't waste a second. Ebullient, soaring play from Trey leads the way as the jam rolls to a frenzied peak, featuring Page pounding his piano and Trey screaming "The Howling!" before > into "BDTNL". |
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Carini (26:35)
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Kicking off a killer set 2, this outsized juggernaut of a version glides smoothly through multiple sections with the utmost patience and confidence, including passages of majestic anthemic rock, spooky minor-key delay grooving, dimly-lit synth-filled ambience, and cosmic hose before finally shifting into a similarly expansive "Light". |
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Light (18:28)
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Segueing -> out of a phenomenal "Carini," Trey and Page waste no time getting the band back to jamming in one of the strongest second sets of the entire year. Around 6:30 the band breaks off via isolated playing which hears Trey and Page mimic each other with bright chords while Mike and Fish offer staccato beats to create space for the jam. Trey deepens the overall exploration around 11:20 via his expert use of the synth pedal. Moving through watery tones the band explores an uptempo zone before pushing towards a truly stunning and explosive peak full of sirens and heavy Fish playing before a -> back into "Carini." We're in a strong period for "Light," and this version is right there with some of the finest they've ever played. |
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Carini (1:43)
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A little extra dose of "Carini" plus mini-jam blasts out of a killer "Light" to wrap up a massive improvisational sandwich. |
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Sand (16:57)
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Stellar version that marries the Spirit of '99 with the earnestness and multi-faceted nature of modern Phish. Trey's expert loop-craft, Mike's perfectly-timed effect deployment/note choices, Page's pristinely tasteful keyboard textures, and Fishman's relentless swing combine as pieces to a puzzle only a band 40 years into their career could create. Fishman's "Yeah Baby" sample to end is an appropriate acknowledgment. |
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YEM (23:20)
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Yet another two-jam version, this one stays pretty close to "YEM" but is quality all the same as it builds to a second, incendiary peak. |
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Meatstick (12:33)
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With synths a plenty throughout, this all too rare treat of a jammed encore version goes minor and simmers threateningly, and then, perhaps in a nod to the song's '99 roots, springs to life with soaring major guitar leads to remarkably close out the show. |
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My Friend (16:34)
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Takes its time rumbling in the aftermath of the standard outro and then gradually winds up into a fairly intense vortex, then flips the tonality from minor to major in expectation of a peak but instead dwindles mysteriously > "Rift". |
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Gumbo (13:45)
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Cool lines and great vibes, the band embarks on a great, throwback version (one can almost hear "Another One Bites The Dust" working to surface). Trey strums after the six-minute mark, signaling a contemporary shift, and his solo follows suit - the tone, if not the mood of the jam, markedly different. Cool shades of "Norwegian Wood" - or play akinto - seem to flavor the jam's melodic texture, before Trey builds to a draw your own conclusion, conclusion. Almost. For Page, on his piano, takes over, working through a fine iteration of the song's classic coda. |
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Tweezer (27:56)
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More than anything, this jam is defined by the wall of loops Trey builds from around 11-16min wherein the band executes one of the most unique peaks of the year. It's dimly lit as Mike roots everything through ominous playing, but the combo of wild loops and synths on top gives the impression of contained madness akin to the HAL 9000 systematically betraying the Discovery One. Moving from the peak of the jam, the back half is fairly standard in nature but accentuated by each member giving it their all. Perhaps not the most transgressive music you've heard from The Phish From Vermont, but the A for Effort is real here. Closing with a shreddy, psychedelic, 2.0 style peak, we return to the "Tweezer" riff on a high before fading > into a perfectly placed "Ruby Waves." |
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Tweezer (5:07)
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Returns > from "NMINML" with plucky synth-funk which transitions to a more calming, upbeat vibe before concluding > "Waste". |
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Ether Edge (14:52)
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The improvisation here blossoms naturally and grows in a way that feels inevitable and which marks the late summer of 2025 as fertile ground and which gives rise to this melodic ascent of spontaneous beauty. The interplay between Trey's clean sound and Page's grand piano is particularly satisfying. |
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Simple (17:53)
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At a time when "Simple" seems more comfortable as a supportive piece of a set (7/27/24 notwithstanding) here it serves as the centerpiece of a Saturday Night Special in Hampton. A bubbly and bright exit from the song proper defined by Trey's use of chords and Page's cloud-like Rhodes playing, the jam rolls along in a dream-like space moving from hopeful melodies to creepy Phrygian tones. Coalescing around a snarling, effect-driven riff from Trey around 12min, Page's contrasting baby grand soon elevates the jam towards a more rock-driven peak that latches onto a sustained note from Trey before a choice fade > into a high-energy "A Wave of Hope." |
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Simple (1:45)
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-> from AWOH. More than a simple return, this coda caps off a thick 40 min of improv that gives way to a notable "Beneath a Sea of Stars part 1". |
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Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1 (11:44)
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One of the more interesting (possibly?) Fish-driven jams. If interested in following a different sort of percussion rinse - a riveting (albeit subdued) amalgamation of our favorite drummer's different styles and sounds - you can do much worse. While his play belies the suggestion the improvisation is in any way aimless, what's more: A true sense, here, that Trey is creeping closer, if not to outright (lowercase) space, than certainly surrendering to the air - his tone at times incredibly surprising, masterfully matching his introspective ideas. Or: Rather different from the other versions. |
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SOAMelt (14:14)
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A major version of the modern "Melt." Placement seems to be instrumental, as the jam, exploding from the middle of the first, seems unfettered by "role" or expectation. Note for note notable, play becomes particularly interesting after the ten-minute mark, when Page, following a slow, psychedelic, full-band build, blasts through somewhat familiar bleeps and bloops, unsettlingly smoothing the sound by alternating instruments, play almost breaking to become, of all things, serene (some must-hear Phish). More by way of general madness morphs to bleed into the song's conclusion. |
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Scents and Subtle Sounds (21:53)
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Serenity, now. This sublime version stays true to the tune's namesake as Trey's pure, melodious weaving guides the band's rhythmic center through intimate, dynamic, subtle transformations. Page's synth washes underpin an almost mystical vibe throughout, when around the 17 minute mark Trey plucks out a cosmic riff from the heavens. This motif is then repeated, looped, stacked, and soloed over to create a melodically gorgeous tapestry of catharsis, before quietly fading out > "Lonely Trip". |
Jam chart versions are selected because of improvisational and other characteristics that distinguish these from typical versions of the song.
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