Phish hit the beach bright and early on Saturday to close out the band’s four-night 2024 Riviera Maya event in Mexico. Capping off the weekend, the band revisited the monster “Chalk Dust Torture” from Friday’s show by dusting off the first “Chalk Dust Torture Reprise” since before the pandemic.
Saturday’s show started early at 5 p.m. ET to take full advantage of the final day at the Moon Palace Resort, and Phish certainly had no time to waste with an opening 18-minute “Simple”. The probing expedition was formed by Page McConnell‘s textural synths as bassist Mike Gordon undulated around Trey Anastasio‘s melodic guitar leads. Phish then lost its mind with “Sanity” before fans lost their minds with the first “Chalk Dust Torture Reprise” (the actual song, not a literal reprisal of “Chalk Dust”) since December 28th, 2019. As Trey ripped into the “Chalk Dust” opening riff, he jovially quipped “That’s what happens when you don’t have a setlist,” quickly pivoting to the reprise and bellowing, “Here comes. Another. Forty-minute-long Torture!”
Phish – “Simple” [Pro-Shot] – 2/24/24
Trey dedicated the next song to the full moon, though cautioned the audience to save their howling for later and instead went into “Wolfman’s Brother”. The groove-oriented jam heard the Chairman of the Boards take his clavinet for a walk while Trey occupied himself with a minimalist funk vamp, Jon Fishman ultimately egging on the slow build into a gradual peak after a solid 15 minutes. As the sun came down, a relevant “mercy” served as a cooldown (“I am water / Dancing in the light / Shimmering by the sweeping shore / Moving in darkness with the setting sun”) for its third-ever performance, followed by the technical mastery of “Rift”.
Rather than going exceptionally deep on any one jam like Phish did the past couple nights on “Chalk Dust” and “A Wave of Hope“, the band instead spread the love around on Saturday with a first set that was arguably more improv-heavy than the second. The opening 18-minute “Simple”, a 15-minute “Wolfman’s” in the middle, and a 20-minute “Bathtub Gin” at the tail-end made for a well-rounded frame.
“Gin” rode out past the break wall into some dark territory, as Page probed the murky depths by the light of his Moog synthesizer. The undersea pressure continued to build, plunging into some gloriously distorted chaos—held together with spit and Jon Fishman’s interminable rhythms—as Trey did more with less by way of his echo pedal. The star of this jam truly was the band’s various effects panels. Finally, the penultimate set of the weekend closed out with a quick “Cavern” to remind the beachgoers to take care of those shoes.
For the final set of the weekend, Phish took the stage to howls from the audience as the full moon showed onscreen, forcing the band—if it wasn’t already planning on it—to drop into an opening “The Howling”. The howling beasts made room for the man of no land with “No Man In No Man’s Land”, kicking off a continuous run of songs that constituted the improvisational centerpiece of a fairly brisk second set.
Phish – “The Howling” [Pro-Shot] – 2/24/24
The “No Men’s” provided the inertia of the four-song movement of three solid jams. Like a shopper who knows exactly what they need navigating a crowded department store, Trey moved with purpose and his bandmates similarly weren’t distracted by any eye-catching standees or on-sale items.
Fish kept the tempo up as Trey dove in for a dip among the “Ruby Waves” and Phish checked off one last relevant song selection for its beachside concert series. A twinkly jam followed before Trey and the team kicked up some wake by getting rip-roaring and ultimately push-pulling ahead of some ambient wanderings. Out of the ether, Phish found its way to TV on the Radio‘s “Golden Age”, only the third cover of the weekend (though not the final one of the night). The dark current of Trey’s low octave pedal met its match with Mike’s bass rumblings, the undersea punchout ultimately rupturing the current to bring about a reprise of “Ruby Waves” which flowed straight into “Ether Edge”.
After more than 45 minutes of continuous music, Phish finally took its first stoppage in play for the second set. “Twist” followed for one of the last solid jams of the weekend, the dark, dirty, minimalist improv finding power in the space between notes and all the things left unsaid. Eventually, however, Trey grew weary of the whisper and turned back up into a roar, charging through the end of the jam before “A Life Beyond The Dream” brought on a somber tone and finally a roaring “Possum” closed out the set.
Returning for the encore, there was certainly “More” in store, though the modest telling made room for the final cover of the weekend, “Also Sprach Zarathustra”, and lastly “Slave To The Traffic Light” put a wrap on Phish: Riviera Maya 2024.
With Mexico off the docket, Phish and its individual members have nothing scheduled until they become the second-ever act to play Las Vegas’ Sphere with a four-night run in April. For full Phish tour information visit the band’s website, and replay all four nights on LivePhish. Revisit Live For Live Music‘s full coverage of Phish: Riviera Maya 2024: Wednesday | Thursday | Friday. Check out some photos from Saturday courtesy of photographer Peter Wallace.
Setlist [via Phish.net]: Phish | Moon Palace | Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico | 2/24/24
SET 1: Simple -> Sanity, Chalk Dust Torture Reprise, Wolfman’s Brother, mercy, Rift, Bathtub Gin -> Cavern
SET 2: The Howling > No Men In No Man’s Land > Ruby Waves > Golden Age (TV On The Radio) > Ruby Waves > Ether Edge, Twist, A Life Beyond The Dream, Possum
ENCORE: More > Also Sprach Zarathustra > Slave to the Traffic Light
Chalk Dust Torture Reprise was performed for the first time since December 28, 2019 (142 shows). Mike teased Sundown in Bathtub Gin.
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