Never. Miss. A. Sunday.

Phish closed out their Chicago run with an absolute heater. From the moment Cars Trucks Buses kicked off the show, the energy never dipped. The song choices? Next level. Reba (minus the whistling) was a beautiful surprise, and the Mike’s Song > Horn > Reba sequence was vintage fire. Izabella to close Set 1? Unreal.

Set 2 launched with a silky Gotta Jibboo and only got deeper from there. The Fuego > Sparkle > Scents and Subtle Sounds segment (with that Ohio Players “Fire” tease!) was pure magic. And just when you thought they might go mellow, Twist > Lizards > Shine a Light lifted the whole room.

The encore sealed it. Fee with Trey on megaphone was cheeky and heartfelt. Weekapaug > S.A.N.T.O.S. sent us flying out into the night.

There’s something about Sunday shows. The band knows it. We know it. And last night? They delivered. Again.

Great show! Deserving of a higher rating, in my opinion. But lacking any major bustouts or super long jams, I get that it wasn't top tier. But damn: Great setlist if you love 1.0 tunes as much as I do, and just all around tight playing.

Loved the transition from Bag to Funky Bitch. Excellent minor jam outta Mike's, even if it was short. Wasn't expecting Horn, so that was fun. And an Izabella set 1 closer? BANGER.

As for the second set, the Fuego jam was exactly that – fire – while Jibboo and Twist brought some fun noodling. I wasn't a huge fan of Kill Devil Falls until last night. Following Shine a Light, it was a rockin close to the second set.

Fun to see Trey pull out the bullhorn for Fee. And while Weekpaug was predictable after Mike's was orphaned in the first set, I'll never turn down a Weekapaug.

4.5 in my opinion. Super solid show.

This is the 2nd time I’ve traveled from my home in Alaska and got an Alaska! Haha, always fun, always get shout outs from my friends, like, yeah, Alaska, they played it for just me!!! 😂 Shout out to anybody else from AK in Chicago for our Alaska! Cheers!

N3 on the floor, halfway between sound board and stage, sometimes having the close spot really is the icing on the cake. I love United Center. Easy access, great city, and brilliant sound. Might be my favorite indoor venue I’ve attended.

So much to unpack but I will only highlight one: Twist. After a short standard start, they went right into bliss, and this is the kind of bliss I love. A jam that stays in your head long after the show has ended. A jam that becomes a part of the soundtrack to my life. A jam that becomes an instant classic in the moment, bliss, joy, happiness, all the feels. Because life is not bliss, joy, and happiness all the time. I’ve had to live in the opposite of that for some time now, but being able to hold the hard things in life, and at the same time being able to hold on to the good vibe and energy of this beautiful Twist jam, well, for me, that’s what life is all about. It’s the kind of moment that attaches to the soul at that time and travels on as a part of the fabric of who you are. I love it. I needed it. It’s mine now. Thank you Phish.

I was able to go to the 3 Chicago shows and the following 2 Forest Hills, there were many magnificent moments, but for me, this brief time of Twist was the bliss I needed more then you will ever know.

Sunday night at the United Center oh my gosh what can I say except double tough.
for me a super show from start to finish I had the most fun stayed till the last chord.
Set one was a gift. AC/DC bag is my theme song for this administration, funky bitch was just my favorite dance tune. I was jonesing for Alaska and Horn was on my wish list and Izabella just knocked me over.
Set two was exquisite, the band sang well played well the jams were out of this world. Good sound good company.
Sense and Subtle Sounds—wow. Twist into lizards?
Jeepers. shine a light so beautiful so perfect and kill devil Falls another song I was jonesing for.
Absolutely loved fee in the encore and I’m starting to like say it to me, Santos more and more.
Thank you, Phish.

Page McConnell was carrying the band all weekend, but it was this 3rd night that things really clicked for the whole band. Don't get me wrong! Friday and Saturday had great moments, but Sunday night just flowed wonderfully from start to finish. Songs were well-placed and played each set. Sure there were no DEEP jams, but that did not matter this night. It seems to matter to a lot of fans who reviewed this show poorly, but I guess you just had to be there.

A bluesy start to the show in CTB, Bag, Funky Bitch, and Alaska got the Sunday night energy right from the get-go. Then came a nicely done Mikes > Horn > Reba segment. Leaves as a cool down song worked well in this spot and was a well done version. A solid Taste and then Izabella raged to close it out. Just a lovely Set 1.

Set 2 was simply a masterpiece of energy, flow, and locked-in jamming from the band. Jibboo always welcome as a set opener. Fuego turned up the energy, got weird and then all of sudden Sparkle started finally giving us a bluegrassy tune missing from the previous 2 nights. From here it was just pure magic. Scents got into a really nice synth-driven space by Page with Trey and Mike complementing wonderfully together. Fishman's ever-present groove kept it tight. The always crowd-favorite Twist came up next and had a unexpectedly heavy, rocking climax. The Lizards cooled us down and was beautifully played. Shine a Light, which has been an encore song typically worked so well here. I just love this cover. It was placed perfectly and played so well, I damn near cried. A rocking Kill Devil Falls closed out the set wonderfully.

Knowing Weekapaug would be coming in the encore left me curious as to what else they would play. Fee with the megaphone - Classic! Loved hearing this song in the encore slot. Weekapaug has been a struggle for this band in 4.0, but they delivered it quite well on this night. They could have ended it then and there, but gave us one more rocker in S.A.N.T.O.S. to send us home.

An excellent night all around. Everything worked so well. No train wrecks or weirdly placed songs like nights 1 and 2. The band was on fire as a unit the whole way. It was my favorite night of the 3 and was an easy reminder of how special it is for this band to be playing at this level. 4.5/5.

The Groove I Asked For

– United Center, Chicago | July 18–20, 2025

A birthday weekend filled with funk, intention, and a band that heard me.

I came to Chicago for one thing:
The funk.

It was my birthday weekend, and I came in with a short list of hopes:
– A Tube jam
– A 2001
– And whatever other deep-pocket groove they had in store.

I had floor tickets all three nights and showed up ready to move.

⸻

Night 1 – The Signal

Friday starts strong — then Bathtub Gin hits.
Midway through the jam… a “Tequila” tease.
That rhythm has been locked in me since Pee-wee Herman.
It felt like a toast from the band.

Then they drop On Your Way Down — a 588-show bustout I’d quietly been chasing.
Swampy, bluesy, slow-funk perfection.

That’s when I started thinking: They’re tuned in.

⸻

Night 2 – The Ask

Saturday afternoon, I just happened to run into Mike Gordon on the lot.
No scene — just a quiet moment. I looked at him and said:

“Let’s get funky tonight, Mike.”

He looked over and said:

“Ok, thanks.”

That night delivered exactly what I hoped for:
– Ya Mar in the first set — clean, playful, perfectly Mike
– Tube to open the second set
– 2001 right after — bingo.

I was on the floor thinking: This isn’t random. This is real.

⸻

Night 3 – The Groove Delivered

They opened with:
– Cars Trucks Buses
– AC/DC Bag
– Funky Bitch
– Mike’s Song (Page absolutely torching the clav)

Then Weekapaug Groove in the encore — tying it all together.

⸻

Final Thought:

Phish didn’t just play Chicago.
They played my Chicago.
And they played it funky.

Thought this was a bar setting show- Better energy than N1 of the UC run, and fantastic song selection (minus leaves - I just don't like it, what else can I say). First set was all about the boys locking in on chemistry. Second set was spreading their wings-- Gotta jibbo was played so well, and Fuego was nice and exploratory, but i think the SaSS->Twist was the centerpiece of the night... maybe even the weekend. So spacy and finding a peak filled mountain top and chilling there for quite a bit was just what the dr ordered. Where the songs lacked exploration, they made up for in energy- Bag>FB was awesome. Reba was lovely. Taste, Izabella, Lizards were all well played. KDF was a great set closer. Finally seeing my first Fee, and ending things off with the anthemic SANTOS after finally giving us the grove to their mikes.... a bit surprised this is anything less than a 4.3