Phish Riviera Maya Night 2: Bust Out Opener, Waves & Jams Aplenty – Recap, Setlist & The Skinny

Phish continued their four-night Riviera Maya run at the Moon Palace in Cancún, Mexico on Friday. Night two featured a bust out opener, three tunes with “wave(s)” in the title and six 15-minute-plus songs.

Phish began Friday by dusting off “Dinner And A Movie.” The Vermont quartet last played the Junta cut on August 4, 2017 at Madison Square Garden during the Baker’s Dozen. The band then hopped right into a first set, second song “Loving Cup.” The Rolling Stones classic counted as the second cover of the run. Guitarist Trey Anastasio began laying down some rocking riffage as the band surged into the jam with keyboardist Page McConnell twinkling on the piano along with him ahead of a big white light moment. “What a beautiful buzz.”

Next, “A Wave Of Hope” made its Mexico debut — an apropos song with its wavey title and watery lyrics. The tune off Anastasio’s pandemic album Lonely Trip hosted the first big jam of the evening. After flying through the number, drummer Jon Fishman began circling the band downward with cyclical fills. Bassist Mike Gordon bubbled as Anastasio hit some funky right hand work and Page moved to his Wurlitzer electric piano, steering things in a vibey direction.

Gordon then corralled the band into a groove with Trey switching over to a flanged effect followed by McConnell wizardry on the Moog synthesizer. Fishman’s steady shuffle let Trey, Page and Mike’s effects-laden melodic work wash over the Moon Palace. Anastasio then took a slightly more sinister turn with Mike percolating underneath. Trey began to cook, whipping up rowdy licks and sustained notes leading back into “A Wave Of Hope.”

“Stash” followed. Anastasio led the band through the composed classic before leaping around on the Languedoc with Mike following with some fall down basslines. The jam waxed weird with Page hopping on the Hohner clavinet and Trey going full industrial as Mike laid down some nasty envelope lines. Fish kept everything together as an excellent “all in” jam emerged. All four members began masterfully painting shades of “Stash” back in before finally returning with a tight peak and conclusion.

Next, the band shuffled, a little shakily, into “Heavy Things,” but quickly found the groove. Page shined on the Hammond organ as always with Trey beaming big smiles out into the audience. Fish and Mike then dropped the band into “555.” Gordo led the way through his Fuego cut and Page had some more organ in store. Trey came in on the coda with some wailing notes. Another bit of a foible followed, this time getting into “Axilla (Part II).” Trey and Fish grinned it off and the band was off and rocking. Anastasio had some Hendrix-like licks up his sleeve for the recently revived and now seemingly standard “Part II.”

Mike played with some mad scientist bass before Trey swerved into “Joy” with Page following suit. Trey had some soaring notes queued up for a short solo segment ahead of a blissful conclusion. From happy to evil, “Spilt Open And Melt” followed. The band floated down to the bottom of the ocean with an amorphous jam “among the seaweed and the slime.” Fish started laying on his crash and Trey worked some swampy right hand work as the band began toggling between major and minor in a lumbering jam bursting with weird sounds. Trey then reeled off some rocking riffage as the jam began to ascend from the deep and back into “SOAM” to seal the first set.

Read on after The Skinny for the rest of the recap and more.

A second set opening first “First Tube” was on the agenda to get the Moon Palace grooving in the sand once again. Trey did his usual grooving on the song that has seen far more action as a closer than an opener. Anastasio had some blissful riffage ready to roll leading to his Languedoc conjurings. An apt “Waves” fell in the second song slot. The quartet flowed through “clouds and sunken caves” as lighting designer Chris Kuroda washed the stage in blues and greens.

After the final lyrics, Phish eased into a vibey sequence with the band sailing on Fish’s steady cymbal work. Anastasio began to escalate with Page working his Wurli then swells on the Yamaha synth laced with buoyant basslines from Mike. Fish then utilized th full kit with Trey peeling off cyclical licks that led into “Ruby Waves,” the first to lap the beaches on the Riviera Maya and the final wave song of the evening.

The jam saw the band drop into another groove that waxed funky over a shuffling beat from Fish and a pattern line from Mike. Page hopped on the Hohner and Trey got into his own clav-like effect as the jam coalesced into major territory with Anastasio looping layered effects in a herky-jerky segment that saw a fantastically funky counterpoint line from Gordo and McConnell manning glitchy lines on the Sequential and Yamaha synths. Trey then absolutely torched the Moon Palace and triumphantly dropped back into the “Ruby Waves” riff.

Next, “Shade” provided a much-needed cool down, “south of the border and over the moon.” Things escalated quickly however as Trey roared into “Chalkdust Torture” — “​​no peace for Jezmund tonight.” Anastasio immediately caught up on a slightly sinister riff as the quartet surged into the jam. Trey then reeled off some loopy licks as the band danced around him. The quartet then swerved into a segment that never quite landed on major or minor until Trey went full bliss mode with descending lines that swirled the band down into a vibey vortex which bottomed out beautifully into “Bathtub Gin.”

The “Gin” jam got going with a dark, funky motif. Page worked the Wurli and Anastasio followed him before the guitarist reeled off some rhythmic right hand work with Mike bounding on the bass and Fish hammering on the hi-hat, coalescing into a sticky groove. Trey then began to cook, toggling between riff and rhythm. The groove went major with rounded rapid-fire riffs from Anastasio which gave way to “Gin’s” conclusion to cap the second set.

Phish kicked off the encore with the classic “Golgi Apparatus.” A particularly rowdy “Character Zero” put an exclamation point on night two.

Phish: Riviera Maya 2023 continues tonight and on Sunday. The finale has an early 5 p.m. ET start time. Watch the action from Mexico by purchasing a livestream via LivePhish.com. After Mexico, the band is set to embark on a brief West Coast run in April and their recently announced 2023 Summer Tour. Registration for a Phish Ticketing lottery closes on Monday, February 27 at 12 p.m. ET. General on-sales begin on Friday, March 3 through Ticketmaster and other outlets.

Phish From The Road Photos

https://www.instagram.com/p/CpEZ96HOo5y/
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Posters

https://www.instagram.com/p/CpBmZTBp68J/?hl=en
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Source: JamBase.com