photo by Peter Wallace

 

Phish returned to the stage in Riviera Maya, Mexico on Friday night for their second of three beach-side performances, and the band wasted no time in jumping back into their groove, surprising fans with a night-opening “You Enjoy Myself,” plus a rare Rolling Stones cover, a improv-heavy second set and more.

The group gave their fans something to talk about right out of the gate by opening set one with “YEM,” the first time the Phish favorite had been placed at the beginning of a show since July 2003 and just the fourth time since 1990 (per Scott Marks of Phish.net).

“YEM” was just the first of the solid song selection in set one last night, as the opener was followed up with new Kasvot Växt track “Turtle in the Clouds” and live staples “46 Days” and “No Men In No Man’s Land.” Phish then offered their rendition of The Rolling Stones’ “Emotional Rescue” marking its first appearance in a Phish set since August 2012 and only the sixth appearance overall. The set then rounded out with “Tube,” “Shade” and set closer “Saw It Again.”

The second set opened with a surprise of a different kind, as Phish delivered two straight songs that stretched past the 20-minute mark and offered some incredible collaborative improvisation. As opposed to the sometimes-shaky “YEM” opener, the second set’s “Set Your Soul Free” opener showed Phish at their best, using a newer tune (just debuted last year) to roll through multiple waves of improvisation and crescendoes. The band followed that up with a song not much older, taking “Mercury” to more musical heights.

The six-song second set rolled on with favorites “Slave to the Traffic Light” and “Possum” before the band ran through one of their very early tunes, “Sanity,” for  the first time since summer 2017, then closed out the set with “Walk Away,” later returning to wrap night two with a rousing “More” encore.

See the full setlist below, along with pro-shot footage of both set openers as shared from the Live Phish stream.

 

Phish
Barceló Maya Beach Riviera Maya, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Set I: You Enjoy Myself, Turtle in the Clouds, 46 Days, No Men In No Man’s Land, Emotional Rescue*, Tube, Shade, Saw It Again

Set II: Set Your Soul Free > Mercury > Slave to the Traffic Light > Possum > Sanity^ > Walk Away

Enc: More

Notes:
*Last time played 8/31/12
^Last time played 8/6/17

Source: Phish.net