Phish crossed off another track from its new album Evolve on Saturday with the live debut of “Human Nature” in Mansfield, MA. Until last night’s second of three concerts at Xfinity Center, “Human Nature” had only been performed by bassist Mike Gordon‘s solo band.
Following a by-the-books tour opener on Friday, Phish charged out of the gate on Saturday in mid-tour form. Guitarist Trey Anastasio soared from the starting gun of “Theme From the Bottom”, as the band stitched together cogent groupings of Theme > “Back on the Train” and “Sand” > “Bouncing Around the Room” to open the show. An emotional “Backwards Down the Number Line” that sounded like it had Trey a little choked up burst open into a twinkling, jubilant jam ahead of the “Human Nature” debut.
Phish — “Theme From The Bottom” [Pro-Shot] — 7/20/24
Mike Gordon’s bubbling bass announced his brooding number, debuted by his eponymous solo band last month while on a West Coast tour. Following the somewhat crowded all-in vocals, the song’s inherent churn broke into a funky jam as Mike took control with deep bassline leads while Page propped him up with his Clavinet and Trey offered sparing chord chops in the spaces between. Though Saturday’s debut clocked in at a modest seven minutes, “Human Nature” shows potential to open into some serious extended funk pockets down the line.
Phish — “Human Nature” > “It’s Ice” — 7/20/24
[Video: digidigit]
After doling out two Evolve songs on Friday, Phish upped the ante to three cuts from the new disc on Saturday. The next two selections came in the second set, following the eyebrow-raising “You Enjoy Myself” which has not opened a second set since June 4th, 2022 in Noblesville, IN. Phish last performed its trademark composition at the NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C. last week, complete with mini trampolines crammed into the home of the Tiny Desk Concert series. Saturday’s performance was a bit freer and led into the second Evolve cut, “Oblivion”, a proven contender in the live arena making its 11th appearance in just over a year.
Phish — “You Enjoy Myself” [Pro-Shot] — 7/20/24
After digging deep into “No Men in No Man’s Land” for an improvisational highlight of set two, Phish gave one last nod to the new disc with “Monsters”. Another menacing number, Trey’s lament on the monsters under his bed and in his head made its third-ever live appearance and queued up a blistering arena rock guitar solo that conjured images of Anastasio alongside Slash in the desert in the “November Rain” music video. From there on out, it was classics through the end of the show with the beautifully cathartic “2001” intergalactic dance party and an exploratory upbeat “Chalk Dust Torture” to close a conspicuously brief 75-minute second set (approximately four minutes shorter than the first set).
As the band took its places for the encore, Trey engaged in a bit of friendly banter by introducing drummer Jon Fishman as “The Orange Whip.” The Orange Whip’s sidekick Big Red still wasn’t done with his dad jokes, as Anastasio confessed that—given the predictability of knowing the band will come out for an encore—he has thought about just leaving after the second set and not coming back.
“Just once, but now I’m not gonna do it because I said it,” he said before jokingly gesturing, “Thank you, goodnight. There will be no encore.”
Phish fans still got their money’s worth, as the band delivered a three-song encore beginning with “When the Circus Comes”. The Los Lobos cover fostered a reflective mood that was then quickly dashed by the improvisational springboard “David Bowie”, kept here to a lean ten minutes, followed by the go-to rocking closer “Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.” which did what Kasvot Växt intended it to do and finished off the show.
Phish returns to the Xfinity Center tonight, July 21st, to finish off the weekend run. Find tickets and a full list of tour dates on Phish’s website. Subscribe to LivePhish+ to listen to every show on the tour and browse an archive of live Phish recordings. To order your LivePhish webcasts for any of the band’s upcoming summer shows, head here. [Note: Live For Live Music is a LivePhish. Ordering your subscription or purchasing an audio download via the links on this page helps support our work covering Phish and the world of live music as a whole. Thanks for reading!]
Phish — “Monsters” — 7/20/24
[Video: digidigit]
Phish — “Chalk Dust Torture” — 7/20/24
[Video: Chad Sclove]
Setlist [via Phish.net]: Phish | Xfinity Center | Mansfield, MA | 7/20/24
SET 1: Theme From the Bottom > Back on the Train, Sand > Bouncing Around the Room, Backwards Down the Number Line, Human Nature[1] > It’s Ice > Wolfman’s Brother, Drift While You’re Sleeping
SET 2: You Enjoy Myself > Oblivion > No Men In No Man’s Land > Monsters, Also Sprach Zarathustra > Chalk Dust Torture
ENCORE: When the Circus Comes (Los Lobos), David Bowie > Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.,
[1] Phish debut.
This show featured the Phish debut of Human Nature. Trey teased San-Ho-Zay in Back on the Train.
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