Photo by Rene Huemer

After kicking off their Riviera Maya event with a “Shake Your Coconuts” bust-out and a type-two “Free,” Phish continued to treat fans to rarities during night two in Mexico. The first set was highlighted by a cover of The Who’s “Sea and Sand,” Phish’s fourth-ever performance of the song. The band also weaved “Shafty” throughout the set, a song which hadn’t been played since Bonnaroo 2012.

The show began with “Turtle in the Clouds” from the band’s Kasvot Vaxt Halloween show. Next came “Shafty,” the first performance of the song in over 300 shows (played last on June 10, 2012, 302 show gap). However, the band didn’t simply play the song once; they instead weaved in and out of it throughout the set. After a “Plasma” and “Shafty” sandwich section, Phish performed fan-favorite “The Lizards.” Next came a type-two exploration during “Bathtub Gin” that saw the band arrive back into “Shafty.” After returning to “Gin,” the band moved into “Blaze On,” during which they changed the lyric from “we’ll be dancing in the field” to “you’ll be dancing on the beach.”

After “Gin,” Phish delivered a massive bust-out: a performance of The Who’s “Sea and Sand,” which had not been played since July 20, 1998 (670 show gap). The song was debuted on Halloween 1995 during Phish’s musical costume of The Who’s Quadrophenia. Considering the title, the bust-out was quite fitting.

The second set began with “Sigma Oasis,” which debuted this past fall in Charleston. Next, the band played “Also Sprach Zarathustra” in an unusual spot, which led to an interesting and somewhat dissonant jam. Next came “Drift While You’re Sleeping,” followed by another rare song, “Lifeboy.” (However, “Lifeboy” was played rather recently – this past summer in Charlotte.) The Page McConnell-penned “I Always Wanted It This Way” came next, beginning a slick three song sequence of “IAWITW” -> “No Men In No Men’s Land” -> “Piper.” During this sequence, rain began to fall, but that didn’t stop Phish.

After a raucous, set-closing “Good Times, Bad Times,” Phish took the stage and delivered an encore for the ages: “Sand” melted seamlessly into “Weekapaug Groove” (sans it’s usual partner “Mike’s Song”). The band then performed one final segue into “Shafty” before calling it a night.

Phish returns to the stage tonight for their third Riviera Maya show. Check out the setlist from Feb. 21 below, via our Box Scores section!

Phish
Feb. 21, 2020
Moon Palace, Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Set I: Turtle in the Clouds, Shafty -> Plasma -> Shafty -> Plasma > The Lizards, Bathtub Gin -> Shafty -> Bathtub Gin > Blaze On*, Sea and Sand, Possum

Set II: Sigma Oasis > Also Sprach Zarathustra > Drift While You’re Sleeping, Lifeboy, I Always Wanted It This Way -> No Men In No Man’s Land -> Piper > Good Times Bad Times

Enc: Sand -> Weekapaug Groove -> Shafty

*Lyrics changed to “you’ll be dancing on the beach.”