Phish Summer Tour 2019: Mohegan Sun Night 2 – Setlist, Recap & The Skinny

Phish concluded the East Coast portion of tour on Wednesday with their second of two concerts at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The four-piece unearthed a handful of 2019 debuts, strung together a number of compact jams in the second set and ended the night with another lengthy and eventful encore.

“Buried Alive” continued its revival as the instrumental opened Wednesday’s concert, marking the first time the song was played twice in the same tour since Fall 1998. Another tune that was debuted in 1990, the old-school favorite “Cavern,” came next. Phish then dug deep into the repertoire for “Dogs Stole Things,” which was last played on August 6, 2017 – the final night of the “Baker’s Dozen” residency at Madison Square Garden. The 2019 debut of bassist Mike Gordon‘s “Sugar Shack” followed. While “Sugar Shack” has given guitarist Trey Anastasio problems in the past, he made it cleanly through the Joy track on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Phish played the third “Stash” of the summer and each version was among the highlights of the show. The take in Connecticut featured an inspired Middle Eastern/Arabic sounding jam filled with tension and release theatrics. After pulling off “Sugar Shack,” Trey seemed to hit another gear through the exploratory “Stash” and slightly extended renditions of “Wingsuit” and “Limb By Limb” that followed. Keyboardist Page McConnell‘s nimble piano and organ work were on display throughout “Gumbo” before the quartet dusted off Kasvot Växt tune “Stray Dog” for the first time in 2019. “Stray Dog” was the last of the 10 songs debuted last Halloween to see action this summer. Phish capped the set with a “Steam” that also had an extra dollop of mustard from Anastasio and a flawlessly-executed “David Bowie,” which featured riffs akin to the Grateful Dead’s “Slipknot!” and The Allman Brothers Band’s “In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed.”

One of the biggest controversies among setlist trackers of the past few years occurred on December 29, 2018 when Phish worked elements of “Party Time” within “Wolfman’s Brother” at MSG. There was debate about whether enough of the song was played to warrant inclusion in the setlist. Eventually, the “Pro-Party Time” contingent won. Phish had ignored the tune since until opening the second set in Uncasville with the full version of “Party Time.” Drummer Jon Fishman then starred in the first Type II “Chalk Dust Torture” of the year. Phish pulled off three key changes in the short but action-packed “Chalk Dust” improvisation before “Ruby Waves” emerged. The Ghosts Of The Forest jam vehicle barely got off the ground when the band revved into the 2019 debut of “Seven Below.”

“Chalk Dust,” “Ruby Waves” and “Seven Below” each featured compact jams that scored high on the quality scale despite their brevity. Phish LD Chris Kuroda put his moving trusses to work during “Seven Below,” which made for an exceptional visual. An oddly placed “Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan” led into a short and gorgeous bit of ambiance out of which “Piper” emerged. The four-piece satiated those hoping for a slow build start to “Piper” with an extended intro. The parade of microjams continued as a short “Piper” jam gave way to the conclusion of “Ruby Waves,” which in turn bled into McConnell’s foray with electronic music, “I Always Wanted It This Way.” For the finale, Anastasio led his mates through the multi-section Ghosts Of The Forest composition “Drift While You’re Sleeping.”

The encore started innocently enough with “Bouncing Around The Room.” Phish then launched into the first “Saw It Again” within the encore just one night after the same was true of “Foam.” However, this was not a typical “Saw It Again.” Instead, Trey and Fish inserted their “Kung” chant over the “Saw It Again” groove. The icing on the cake was “Slave To The Traffic Light.” Next up for Phish is a three-night stand at Alpine Valley in East Troy, Wisconsin this weekend. Live streams are available via LivePhish.com.

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