Phish heads to Boulder’s Folsom Field, ending 42-show run at Dick’s in Commerce City
Phish will play three nights at Boulder’s Folsom Field over the July 4 weekend, ending a 13-year, 42-show run of Labor Day weekend shows at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
The 41-year-old Vermont quartet on Monday teased its first-ever shows at the football stadium (capacity: 50,183) with a photo of guitarist Trey Anastasio looking up at drummer Jon Fishman on the field’s goalposts in a toss back to the opening credits for the Boulder-based TV sitcom “Mork & Mindy.” Phish fans, who regularly roam the country chasing their favorite band, had known of the Folsom Field shows for more than a month. Just about every vacation rental home near the CU Boulder field was booked for the July 4th weekend well before Tuesday’s announcement.
Phish is taking ticket orders at its own site before public on-sale next week. Three-day passes run $375. The tickets are being sold first by the band and then likely AXS, marking a brief break from Ticketmaster, which does not list the Folsom Field tickets for sale among the rest of Phish’s 23-stop summer tour.
Phish earlier this month was nominated for the first time for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame alongside Bad Company, The Black Crowes, Mariah Carey, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Billy Idol, Joy Division, Cindi Lauper, Maná, Oasis and Soundgarden. Reflecting the avid fan base of Phish, the fan ballot voting shows Phish leading with nearly 94,000 votes, ahead of the next-up Billy Idol’s 56,000 votes.
Phish last played Boulder in March 1993 with a packed show at the Balch Fieldhouse at CU. By shifting to the big stadium next door, Phish joins the Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones, Van Halen, The Who, Fleetwood Mac and other major artists who have played at Folsom Field since the late 1960s.
In an announcement, Phish said the July 3, 4 and 5 Folsom shows mark “a break” from the band’s four-night Labor Day weekend run on the soccer pitch at Dick’s at Commerce City. Each year since 2011 — with a year off during the 2020 pandemic — Phish has played three-night or four-night runs at Dick’s, which has a capacity of around 24,000. The band has played more than 100 shows in Colorado since 1988.