Phish hit the beach on Wednesday night to open the band’s 2024 Riviera Maya event in Cancún, Mexico. As is tradition, Phish began the four-night South of the Border run with a single “Welcome Set” performance.
While of course the “Welcome Set,” or most any single-set Phish show, has never had a reputation for being anything particularly awe-inspiring or cataclysmic, the Mexico single sets in particular always seem up to the task of easing weary travelers onto the white sand shores of the Moon Palace Resort. While those of us who didn’t make the trek sat and judged saltily from our couches, those lucky few who made the trip were greeted with a fun set of bouncy Phish featuring more than a few references to the weekend’s tropical paradise.
Amid all this joy, however, there was an element of sadness. Recently, two members of the Phish community suffered one of the greatest tragedies a person can experience when they suddenly lost their young daughter, Ellie, in an accident. Ellie loved Phish just like her parents, who both finally left their house for the first time in months to seek some catharsis in Mexico, and her favorite song was “The Mango Song”. Through the vibrant and resourceful Phish community, the message reached the band and when Phish came out for the encore, Trey dedicated “The Mango Song” to Ellie as blue lights cloaked the stage and knowledgeable fans from coast to coast wept for Ellie and her parents.
Phish – “The Mango Song” (For Ellie) – 1/21/24
But before any of that, “Back on the Train” opened the show and officially welcomed everyone to Phish: Riviera Maya 2024, with Trey immediately plunging into the adjoining Caribbean Sea with his low octave pedal. Between songs, Anastasio offered his personalized greeting to the crowd, gushing, “Welcome everybody, welcome. So nice to see you all back here again.”
The first of several oceanic references came with “The Moma Dance”, which caught the wind for a brief funky vamp before the tide rolled it into the jam highlight of the evening, “Down with Disease”. Though clocking in at only 13 minutes, the jam provided a preview of things to come as Phish made a brief foray into the deep end of improvisation before resurfacing for “If I Could”. The band even made “DWD” into a vacation-relevant song selection as Trey amended the lyrics to “A thousand barefoot children outside / Dancing on my beach.”
“Everything’s Right” pulled double duty in emphasizing the inherently jovial atmosphere of Mexico and flirting with adventurous improv. Drummer Jon Fishman kicked off a percussive breakdown that sent Trey, keyboardist Page McConnell, and bassist Mike Gordon down each of their own effects-laden rabbit holes. Unfortunately, Punxsutawney Trey poked his head out and didn’t see his shadow, which meant an early end to the jam. Instead, Page McConnell looked skyward for inspiration on “Halfway to the Moon” followed by another short but sweet jam in “Stash”.
Flipping the script on geo-specific songs, Trey Anastasio instead took audiences clear across North America to “Alaska” ahead of Mike Gordon’s former rarity “Destiny Unbound”, which is now trotted out at least once a year. “Ocelot” and “Julius” wound down the clock before the idyllic intersection of relevant song choice and jam potential arrived with “Sand”. By this point, the band was in its stride as Trey stretched out heavy-filtered notes and Page brooded on his grand piano.
Related: How To Livestream Phish: Riviera Maya, Mexico 2024
While the “Sand” jam touched on some dark and dirty places, it was the set-closing, fourth-ever “Life Saving Gun” that had the last word. One of Trey’s myriad additions to the songbook from last year, “Life Saving Gun” has proven itself a consistent hard rocker and on Wednesday it propelled the band into an unconventional, tension-building jam. Trey probed his vast array of pedals as he cast off cascading notes while Mike undulated the low end, eventually building to one final climax to carry the band over the finish line.
Trey, Mike, Jon, and Page returned to the stage for the emotionally wrought “The Mango Song” for Ellie, with Trey prefacing it, “So, this is for Ellie. Your family is in our hearts, and Ellie is in our hearts right now with all of us, so we’re gonna play this song.” The song’s inherently happy aura masked the weighty implications of the cover, hopefully providing some level of comfort to Ellie’s parents and all those close to them. Not wanting to end on a sad note, Phish loaded up the energetic slingshot to close the show with a brief but boisterous “Carini”. In all, the “Welcome Set” lasted over two hours plus a 15-minute encore, so you can probably feel good and greeted by now down in Mexico.
Phish returns to the beach tonight, February 22nd, for a two-set show beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. Tune into the band’s entire Riviera Maya run with streams on the band’s LivePhish service. Single-day passes and discounted multi-night packages are available here.
Setlist [via phish.net]: Phish | Moon Palace | Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico | 2/21/24
SET 1: Back on the Train, The Moma Dance > Down with Disease[1] > If I Could, Everything’s Right, Halfway to the Moon, Stash, Alaska, Destiny Unbound, Ocelot, Julius, Sand > Life Saving Gun
ENCORE: The Mango Song, Carini
[1] Unfinished. Lyrics changed to “dancing on my beach.”
Down with Disease was unfinished and its lyrics were changed to “dancing on my beach.” Trey dedicated The Mango Song to Ellie.
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