Phish Riviera Maya 2019 Continues In Mexico: Setlist & Recap

Phish continued their Phish Riviera Maya destination event with their second of three shows at Barceló Maya in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Friday night’s concert featured another substantial bust out in the first set that followed an unexpected choice to open the show. The second half came packed with a pair of big jams, old-school staples and “More.”

“You Enjoy Myself,” the most-played song in the band’s history, had not been performed during the previous two Riviera Maya events and had not opened a show since the summer of 2003. Both of those streaks were broken as guitarist Trey Anastasio counted off the classic to start Friday’s first set. The unexpected choice (it was just the 12th known “YEM” first set opener) had some rough edges and bassist Mike Gordon boarded his trampoline a few measures early, laughing off his faux pas, soon properly linking up with Anastasio on their synchronized bouncing routine. Trey followed the tramps with a bluesy, cutting solo that charged toward the song’s drums/bass breakdown and vocal jam ending.

One of the oldest originals in Phish’s repertoire preceded one of their newest numbers, “Turtles In The Clouds,” from last Halloween’s Kasvot Vaxt set. Trey and Mike once again were called upon for some choreographed moves on the tightly delivered rendition. A sharp run through “46 Days” came with bluesy licks out of Trey’s guitar and matching swirly organ runs from Page McConnell. The band stretched “No Men In No Man’s Land” into a few minutes of concentrated jamming, propelled by drummer Jon Fishman’s even pace setting and Trey’s echoing layers.

Picking up on a trend from the first night, Mike showed off his higher range on a bust out cover of “Emotional Rescue.” The band’s sixth-ever rendition of The Rolling Stones song was the first by Phish since 2012 – breaking a lapse of 233 shows. Page summoned otherworldly sounds within “Tube,” which produced a modest, well-executed jam sequence before rearing back to its ending section. “Shade” and its “south of the border” lyrics drew cheers from those watching on the beach. Fish became particularly animated during “I Saw It Again,” adding some rowdiness to the song that brought an end to the set.

Phish resumed after setbreak with “Set Your Soul Free.” A dark and angular jam was quickly concocted out of the song introduced last summer. The texture of the improvisation shifted as Fish altered tempos and Page went from Fender Rhodes to organ. Shifts, twists and turns continued as the foursome continuously locked into varying patterns, producing some start-stop, call-and-response action and woos from the people watching on the sand. Trey ultimately lifted the 25+ minute jam to a soaring and emphatically climatic conclusion. “Mercury,” Last played in the final moments of 2018, came next. They worked through the multi-part original added in 2015 on a path to an ethereal jam steered by Trey’s assertive soloing and Page’s countering piano work and bolstered by Mike and Fish’s responsive grooves. The exploration continued as the set crossed the 45-minute mark.

The pair of newer songs that opened the set were trailed by a couple of classics dating back to the band’s mid-1980s formation. First up was a passionate rendering of “Slave To The Traffic Light,” followed by a funny and lively bop through “Possum.” Absent for all of 2018, another favorite from the ‘80s, “Sanity” got things properly weird and goofy. Out of the weird emerged the James Gang’s “Walk Away” which rocked into the end of the set. The band ended the evening on a positive note, encoring with the uplifting “More.”

Phish performs again at Barceló Maya on Saturday night. A live webcast is available via LivePhish.com.

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