\n\tIt wasn\u2019t the technicolor morphing cars, or the giant robot shooting lights from its eyes into the crowd. It wasn\u2019t the lava-lamp-like oozes, or the stories-tall geometric patterns, or the hyper-detailed videography of misty mountain ranges and sun-drenched clouds. <\/p>\n
\n\tNo, the trippiest<\/em> part of Phish\u2019s Sphere visuals was the \u201cYou Enjoy Myself\u201d car wash \u2013 and what immediately followed. <\/p>\n \n\tOne of Phish\u2019s oldest and most commonly played songs \u2013 and a frequent launchpad for improvisation throughout the revered Vermont jam band\u2019s four-decade career \u2013 \u201cYou Enjoy Myself\u201d is strange enough in its audio-only form. An intricately composed instrumental passage builds to an all-out scream (which audiences usually join in on) before the tension gives way to famously inscrutable lyrics (a consensus best guess for the song\u2019s repeated line: \u201cWash Uffizi drive me to Firenze\u201d) and a jam section. During an instrumental breakdown, roadies produce trampolines for singer-guitarist Trey Anastasio and bassist Mike Gordon to jump on in tandem; the song often concludes with each member of the quartet participating in an a cappella \u201cvocal jam\u201d \u2013 described by fan site Phish.net<\/a> as \u201cfeaturing spontaneous vocal improvisation, from the merely strange to the auricularly traumatic.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tDuring its four-night residency at the cutting-edge Las Vegas venue, however, Phish paired most of \u201cYou Enjoy Myself\u201d with an animated visual on the venue\u2019s 160,000-square-foot LED screen that simulated going through a massive car wash \u2013 in a vehicle alongside the band and nearly 20,000 friends. The top of a steering wheel occupied the screen\u2019s lower left corner; suds and water streaked the screen as Phish methodically progressed through the song\u2019s stages. And as the car exited the wash and Anastasio, Gordon, keyboardist Page McConnell and drummer Jon Fishman finally arrived at the vocal jam \u2013 one of the strangest parts of its repertoire \u2013 footage of an enormous black dog appeared on the screen. <\/p>\n \n\tWith the audience positioned as if it was inside the camera itself, the canine started licking the lens. For several minutes, the crowd laughed hysterically as the moment\u2019s absurdity deepened. It was a perspective-shifting piece of immersive art that was funny, weird, and totally unique. <\/p>\n \n\tBefore Phish\u2019s Sphere shows, which took place April 18-21, Abigail Rosen Holmes, a longtime collaborator of the band and co-creative director of the run, told Billboard<\/em> of one of the creative team\u2019s guiding principles: \u201cIf you would do this for one of the other artists you work with, it\u2019s probably not unique enough to be for Phish.\u201d And while not every visual treatment across the band\u2019s four shows\u00a0felt quite<\/em> that unique, many did. Phish, alongside Holmes, multimedia studio Moment Factory and the rest of its team, approached its Sphere gigs with comprehensive, detail-oriented creativity. The result: a superb four-show run that continued Phish\u2019s career-long live inventiveness \u2013 and set the bar high for each artist preparing to play the Las Vegas venue going forward.<\/p>\n \n\tAcross four nights and eight sets of music \u2013 featuring 68 different songs, with nary a repeat \u2013 Phish cycled through a staggering range of immersive visuals that spanned trippy abstractions to real-life footage to playful illustrations. In a SiriusXM interview<\/a> during the run, Anastasio called Phish\u2019s Sphere shows \u201ca slight step forward in the psychedelic live jam music experience,\u201d and naturally, many of the band\u2019s visuals were vibrantly colored splotches, squiggles, and lines that supported its music.<\/p>\n \n\tBut the weekend\u2019s most memorable visuals took the medium\u2019s possibilities a step further. On the first night, Phish speckled Sphere\u2019s screen with a multitude of dots to score \u201cSand,\u201d and iterated that visual motif to great effect during other shows, for songs like \u201cWhat\u2019s The Use?\u201d and \u201cChalk Dust Torture.\u201d For the first night\u2019s encore, vivid video of a barn by night in a forest, aurora borealis overhead, soundtracked the rustic \u201cFarmhouse\u201d; on the run\u2019s final night, the crisply composed \u201cDivided Sky\u201d was paired with footage of billowing clouds, cast in the orangish-purple glow of the late afternoon sun \u2013 and, to accompany a mid-song change in tone, the image switched to grayscale.<\/p>\n \n\tSome of the visuals were just plain fun. For \u201cBathtub Gin,\u201d hundreds of miniature swimmers rotated back and forth on floaties on an ocean\u2019s surface. \u201cTwist\u201d began with a wall of dark-red loops that were quickly interspersed with an alphabet soup of letters; when the song\u2019s \u201cWoo!\u201d interjection arrived, characters spelling the word shot up from the bottom of the screen. During the final night\u2019s \u201cGhost,\u201d a robot-like figure peered up above the band from the screen\u2019s bottom \u2013 and spotlights shot from its eyes into the audience.<\/p>\n \n\tAnd while Anastasio remarked<\/a> to the Washington Post<\/em> prior to the Sphere shows that we was skeptical about his own image being \u201c800 feet high on the wall,\u201d like Bono and The Edge during U2\u2019s concerts at the venue, several Phish visuals were framed around the band \u2013 they just eschewed straight-ahead imagery in favor of designs that obscured, warped or refracted the musicians. During \u201cMaze,\u201d a tower of live video of the band split into tiny geometric shapes that repeatedly dispersed and reformed. \u201cMy Friend, My Friend\u201d began with Sphere\u2019s screen entirely off and a slowly rotating spotlight casting the band in silhouette against it; as the song intensified, the silhouette multiplied across the screen as the venue was drenched in eerie red lighting.<\/p>\n \n\tIn the same way the \u201cMy Friend, My Friend\u201d visual proved that Sphere visuals can be striking even in simplicity \u2013 especially when contrasted with other, more elaborate animations and designs \u2013 a new rig conceived by the band\u2019s esteemed designer Chris Kuroda in tandem with Moment Factory subtly added to the sensory effect. Kuroda has worked with the band since 1989, and has used his increasingly complex lighting rigs to \u201cjam\u201d with the band. <\/p>\n \n\tAt Sphere, his lighting setup was scaled back \u2013 relatively speaking \u2013 to six vertical beams and four horizontal strips running behind the band onstage. The lights assumed more of a supporting role than at normal Phish shows, but still accentuated the sensory experience \u2013 and were integral parts of it on songs like \u201cA Wave of Hope\u201d and \u201c2001.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tStill, as Holmes explained<\/a>, the Sphere run was designed to \u201cuse all of the opportunities of the building \u2013 the audio, the visuals \u2013 and do it while supporting Phish truly playing music the way Phish plays music.\u201d Phish\u2019s run was revelatory in terms of production,\u00a0but those bells and whistles only enhanced the music itself \u2013 which, as is often the case on Phish runs, deepened in scope and ambition with each show.<\/p>\n \n\tMusically, the band was at its exploratory best during the second sets of the final two shows. Phish appropriately made \u201cFuego,\u201d off the 2014 album of the same name, a centerpiece of its 4\/20 show, quickly abandoning the song\u2019s Zeppelin-y riff for soaring art-rock, contemplative ambience and, eventually, heavy funk across jam\u2019s 29-minute runtime. Later in the set, on reliable classic \u201cChalk Dust Torture,\u201d Phish demonstrated the mature efficiency it has developed over the years, compellingly cycling through more musical ideas than its 16-minute duration might suggest.<\/p>\n \n\tThe final night was even better. Sequenced in the same second-set two slot as \u201cFuego\u201d the previous night, \u201cDown With Disease,\u201d a beloved Phish jam vehicle that has cracked 20 minutes more than 40 times since its 1995 debut, received a record-long rendition, clocking in at 34 minutes. Colorful ridges shapeshifted behind Phish as Anastasio and McConnell\u2019s instruments panned across Sphere\u2019s speakers. (Sphere Immersive Sound allows for the targeted movement of audio; used throughout Phish\u2019s shows, some panning instances were additive, others disorienting.) As the jam unfolded, the quartet increasingly locked in, masterfully riding through peaks and grooves; after arriving in a krautrock-esque pocket, the band perfectly timed its return to the melodic reprise that ends the song. Inspired playing on \u201c2001,\u201d \u201cLight\u201d and \u201cPiper\u201d followed.<\/p>\n \n\tPeriodic issues with panning and mix \u2013 which were more common at the start of the run, as Phish\u2019s team learned Sphere\u2019s acoustic intricacies \u2013 notwithstanding, Sphere\u2019s audio significantly elevated even the slightest of songs. The high-end audio helped Gordon\u2019s propulsive bass lines shine throughout the run, especially on songs like \u201cSand\u201d and \u201cTube\u201d; each member of the band was distinguishable at nearly every point during the shows \u2013 far from a given at many of the arenas and amphitheaters Phish regularly frequents.<\/p>\n \n\tAnd for all the focus on visual surprises \u2013 and how Phish would navigate a show where, inherently, their jamming inclinations and setlist were more tethered to a plan than usual \u2013 the band still offered up plenty of unexpected selections. After forgoing the interstitial \u201cI Am Hydrogen\u201d (and replacing it with \u201cLifeboy\u201d) that typically sits between \u201cMike\u2019s Song\u201d and \u201cWeekapaug Groove\u201d on Thursday, the band played it Saturday \u2013 the first time that\u2019s happened without its usual bookends since 1987 and, freed from its normal structure, a worthy lead-in to that show\u2019s late highlight, \u201cChalk Dust Torture.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tMeanwhile, Phish played four unreleased songs that debuted in 2023 \u2013 which will ostensibly appear on their upcoming album Evolve<\/em>, due this July \u2013 along with \u201cEvolve\u201d and four other songs from Anastasio\u2019s pandemic-era solo albums which, like \u201cEvolve,\u201d may be reworked for Phish\u2019s new set. The band\u2019s treatment of this material was striking: \u201cPillow Jets\u201d was visually paired with a trip through a forest where multicolored bursts shot up trees like fireworks; chatter for the rest of the run was that it was the single best animation the band played in front of. \u201cMercy\u201d served a critical tonal link on Friday between \u201cAxilla (Part II)\u201d and \u201cBathtub Gin,\u201d and \u201cHey Stranger\u201d and \u201cOblivion\u201d both received sterling readings on Sunday that lived up to the opportunity cost of other classics that went unplayed. (Conspicuously, at Sphere, Phish steered clear entirely of all the tracks comprising Gamehendge, the fantasy song cycle it revisited in full<\/a> this past New Year\u2019s Eve.)<\/p>\n \n\tThe new music wasn\u2019t limited to Phish\u2019s Sphere performances proper. In the venue\u2019s lobby \u2013 adorned with suspended red donuts in keeping with the band\u2019s iconography \u2013 gentle guitar music played, composed of loops and layers that Anastasio recorded specially<\/a> for the occasion. In a sentiment shared by many Phish fans, one X user posted<\/a>, \u201cCan\u2019t wait for Trey to release \u2018Music For Lobbies.’\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThat thoughtful ethos \u2013 carefully considering every aspect of the run to deliver a quality experience for dedicated fans \u2013\u00a0extended to the overarching creative vision of the shows. In the wee hours of the morning of April 18, Sphere posted a video with Phish tagged and the message \u201cIt\u2019s only a matter of time\u2026\u201d Ahead of the Sphere run, Holmes had hinted the shows would have loose themes, and as the concerts took place, a matter-based nightly theme \u2013 progressing from solid to liquid to gas to plasma \u2013 became evident. <\/p>\n \n\tThe most cohesive and effective was liquid, on the run\u2019s second night. The band played several liquid-related songs across its two sets as visuals took fans from the water\u2019s surface (on \u201cMercy\u201d and \u201cBathtub Gin\u201d) to the deep sea (on \u201cTheme From The Bottom,\u201d where unnerving schools of humans \u2013\u00a0not fish \u2013 darted across the screen).<\/p>\n \n\tThe sequence was not only effective for the visuals, but for the playing\u2026 which despite setlist constraints, still breathed. When Phish\u2019s crew hoisted two large jellyfish mobiles during \u201cA Song I Heard The Ocean Sing,\u201d it felt monumental: Phish had married visuals on the screen, physical adornments, and outstanding jamming, and harnessed Sphere\u2019s potential in the process. <\/p>\n \n\tThe band had to sacrifice a degree of spontaneity to hit its marks, which surely frustrated some fans \u2013 but the magical payoff was worth it. Besides, the other night\u2019s themes were less pronounced; while Phish seemed a little boxed-in by its setlist choices \u2013 and opening night jitters \u2013 during the run\u2019s first show, it rarely felt musically constrained as its Sphere run progressed.<\/p>\n \n\tAt times, the shows felt like Phish\u2019s own miniature Eras Tour \u2013 an ambitious, career-spanning concert experience that recontextualized, and pushed forward, old material while capably integrating newer songs. Phish didn\u2019t dwell on the past, but tastefully nodded to it with the visuals for two songs that date back to the mid-\u201990s. <\/p>\n \n\tFor its Friday encore of the tear-jerker \u201cWading In The Velvet Sea\u201d (this was liquid night, after all), Phish programmed a slew of photos from throughout its history, which by the song\u2019s climax coalesced into a sprawling collage. On Saturday, longtime Phish artist Jim Pollock\u2019s etched illustrations for the first 20 volumes of the LivePhish<\/em> series (released from 2001 to 2003) were brought to life as concentric rotating bronze bands that stretched to Sphere\u2019s apex \u2013\u00a0amid so much artistic innovation, a savvy way of nodding to the creative whose visual style is most strongly associated with the band.<\/p>\n \n\tAnd the run\u2019s bookends tied it all together. As tentative fans settled into the seats at the new-to-most venue on Thursday, Phish launched into \u201cEverything\u2019s Right\u201d as geometric beams sprouted from the floor and ceiling behind them. For the closing song of its Sunday encore, the beams \u2013 now slightly rounded and colorized \u2013\u00a0reappeared for \u201cSlave To The Traffic Light.\u201d Gordon\u2019s loping bass line assumed a victory-lap quality: Phish had mastered Sphere in its own distinct way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Phish,](\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/phish-sphere-4-19-press-credit-alive-coverage-2024-billboard-3-1548.jpg?w=1024\")
![\"Phish,](\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/phish-sphere-4-19-press-credit-rene-heumer-2024-billboard-1-1548.jpg?w=1024\")
![\"Phish,](\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/phish-sphere-4-18-press-credit-alive-coverage-2024-billboard-2-1548.jpg?w=1024\")
![\"Phish,](\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/phish-sphere-4-18-press-credit-alive-coverage-2024-billboard-1-1548.jpg?w=1024\")
![\"Phish,](\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/phish-sphere-4-20-press-credit-alive-coverage-2024-billboard-2-1240.jpg?w=819\")
![\"Phish,](\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/phish-sphere-4-20-press-credit-alive-coverage-2024-billboard-1-1548.jpg?w=1024\")
![\"Phish,](\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/phish-sphere-4-19-press-credit-alive-coverage-2024-billboard-4-1548.jpg?w=1024\")
![\"Phish,](\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/phish-sphere-4-19-press-credit-rene-heumer-2024-billboard-2-1548.jpg?w=1024\")