Inside the hardcore Hollywood following for jam band Phish as it opens Vegas residency at The Sphere

Just as CinemaCon was starting to wrap up in Las Vegas, planes carrying some of Hollywood’s most diehard Phish Heads were touching down at Harry Reid International Airport.

Marveled one showbiz insider and music lover to us on Thursday: “Tonight starts The Sphere run for Phish in Vegas. It hits up against CinemaCon… Also, Sunday is WrestleMania,” bringing out, “a bunch of crazy Phish Phans and wrestling geeks.”

At CinemaCon, Tom Hanks joked during his “Toy Story 5” presentation, “I just drove into town to catch Phish at the Sphere!” while Mel Brooks said in a video to promote his “Spaceballs” sequel for Amazon MGM, “I wish I were there with you, but I’m seeing Phish at the Sphere tonight!”

Before the Burlington, Vermont, jam band with a freakishly fervent following hit Sin City, the act was practicing, spies told us, at a “mini-Sphere” in Los Angeles to rehearse for the bigger Sphere shows.

The band has always had a cult following, but it seems that the $2.3 billion Sphere’s 168,000 speakers and mind-melting 160,000-square-foot LED screen with 16K imagery has put their legendary live shows over the top. I’d reported that at one of the band’s 2024 Sphere gigs, comic Drew Carey posted on social media: “I swear I just talked to God . . . I would give you all my money, stick my d–k in a blender and swear off p—y for the rest of my life in exchange for this. Bro I met God tonight for real. I feel like I just got saved by Jesus, no lie.”

Last night, the group played a 90-minute set before taking a 25-minute break before hitting the stage again for 90 more — then came back for an encore. Graphics included a giant dog licking the Sphere’s screen that wowed fans in 2024, plus enormous elevator opening to reveal gigantic Venus flytraps.

Former Warner Bros Motion Picture Group COO Carolyn Blackwood, now head of Sphere Studios, has said of the mini-Sphere space in Burbank for rehearsals: “We call it ‘Big Dome,’ which I actually lovingly call, ‘Thunderdome.’ And it’s right next to our offices, so our studio is there in Los Angeles near the Burbank airport… people see this large dome structure, that’s our testing facility.” The space is about a quarter scale of the real thing.

While the band was workshopping its latest show in Burbank — with sets that never repeat — hardcore Hollywood fans were also at a benefit last week for Phish lead singer Trey Anastasio‘s Divided Sky, the residential recovery center he founded after battling opioid addiction himself. His solo show at LA’s Largo at the Coronet was hosted by Marc Maron and featured comedians and fans Sarah Silverman, Nick Kroll and John Mulaney.

At the band’s 2024 shows, notable names included director Ron Howard, “High School Musical” star Vanessa Hudgens, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Jon Batiste and “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening, among others. We hear that industry Phish Heads include UTA’s Matt Rice, WME agents Ryan Draizin and Brent Morley, Lionsgate’s Scott Herbst and Vampire Weekend rocker Ezra Koenig. MSNBC anchor Katy Tur is such a Phish lover, she frequently sneaks the band’s lyrics into her news segments for in-the-know aficionados. Other massive fans include Amazon’s Head of US Sports Programming Jeffrey Kaiser and NBC News political analyst and Punchbowl News co-founder Jake Sherman.

Phish has all the characteristics necessary for a Sphere residency: a fiercely loyal following of mature, affluent audience members who can afford to travel and buy tickets that can climb into the thousands. “They’re carrying on a tradition that ended with the Dead — but it’s a completely different audience than Dead Heads,” said one music industry insider, and a newer Phish convert.

“It’s a very different experience than a Dead & Co. show. The thing about Phish is it’s the same crew, the same dudes, it’s a family — I have found the whole thing to be so enchanting.”

Sources tell P6H that there are some solid business reasons why the band is blowing up more than ever 40 years into its career, namely due to the Sphere’s tech that can amp up the band’s trippy shows, and that their bread-and-butter has been touring, long before the sales market fell through for albums.

“I have a whole theory,” said one Hollywood Phish Head who’s been to 200 shows and was boarding a plane to Vegas. “Musically they’d been so advanced. They’d curated and built their shows with no set set-lists and story-telling behind their style. The Sphere residency in 2024 was a major moment. They were so far ahead that the technology finally caught up to the band.”

Added the fan: “And if you think about the music business, and live touring — for a long time, it was about album sales and not about touring. But Phish has been around for 40 years always touring — the music business caught up to them as well. They are also authentic, they have the four original members, Trey is sober and out there doing his thing. You have to respect the authenticity, the intellectual power and the value. That is a unique experience.”

Newbies can listen to the band’s Vegas gigs on SiriusXM’s Phish Radio. The Sphere has 17,500 seats and 2,500 spots for standing on the floor. Phish did four nights in 2024, and now they’re back for nine.

Back in 2012, Phish’s lightning designer Chris Kuroda (known as “CK5” as fans view him as the de facto “fifth member” of Phish) was poached by Justin Bieber for a tour after a member of Bieber’s band took the “Peaches” singer to see a show.

And while I am not a Phish fan, I am an ally to your experience.