Photos by Peter Wallace

 

Phish kicked off their third Mexican getaway on Thursday night, shocking fans with the revival of three long dormant tunes.

The show began with “Spock’s Brain,” a mid-’90s/early-’00s original that hasn’t been heard since July 2003, with a show gap of 429.

From there, the band played regular favorites “Twist” and “Free,” but continued the shocking setlist tactics with their second-ever version of “Who Loves the Sun?” (show gap: 602).

The only other time Phish played the Velvet Underground song was Halloween 1998, when they covered the band’s entire Loaded LP as their musical costume.

Set one in Mexico closed out with a pair of newer originals (“Everything’s Right,” “We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains”) as well as TAB original “Rise/Come Together,” and longtime favorites “Funky Bitch” and the very appropriate “Sand.”

The second half kicked off with Phish’s 2017 anthem “Soul Planet,” and bled into the final bust out of the night, Little Feat’s “Spanish Moon.”

Like the aforementioned “Who Loves the Sun?,” “Spanish Moon” was last played as part of Phish’s Halloween programming. The only other time Phans were treated to the Little Feat classic was on 10/31/10, as the band recreated Waiting For Columbus (show gap: 306).

Set two continued on with Page McConnell’s “I Always Wanted It This Way,” which gave way to the Kasvot Växt cut “Death Don’t Hurt Very Long.”

And while there was a quick gap between “Death Don’t Hurt Very Long” and “Also Sprach Zarathustra” a.k.a. “2001,” a visibly excited Trey Anastasio teased the preceding Kasvot Växt tune through “2001”‘s extended intro.

Set two crescendoed with “Bathtub Gin” (where the traditional “Love to take a bath” lyric elicited splashes from those wading into the adjacent Mexican shoreline), and an emotive version of “The Squirming Coil.”

The band encored with their own “Waste” and, finally, Jimi Hendrix’s “Bold As Love.”

Phish’s Riviera Maya event continues through this weekend, with its final show on Saturday, Feb. 23.

Check out the band’s full Thursday setlist, as well as photos from the evening below.

Also – since the band encountered issues with their paid livestream, the entire second set is available now via YouTube (also embedded below).

Phish
Thursday, Feb. 21 
Barceló Maya Beach Riviera Maya, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Set I: Spock’s Brain*, Twist, Free, Who Loves the Sun?^, Everything’s Right, We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains, Rise/Come Together, Funky Bitch, Sand

Set II: Soul Planet > Spanish Moon%, I Always Wanted It This Way > Death Don’t Hurt Very Long, Also Sprach Zarathustra, Bathtub Gin, The Squirming Coil

Enc: Waste, Bold As Love

Notes:
*Last time played 7/30/03
^Last time played 10/31/98
%Last time played 10/31/10

Source: Phish.net