It was truly a tale of two sets last night as Phish’s Labor Day Weekend run at Denver’s Dick’s Sporting Goods Park continued. The thirteen-song opening frame would not prove to be the quartet’s best, as “The Moma Dance” featured a hoarse-voiced Fishman struggling through the vocal section, “Rift” had trouble in its composed sections and the set-closing “Cavern” featured Anastasio turning the mic to the audience after he forgot the words.

“Halley’s Comet,” however, would serve as one of the few bright spots early on in the evening as it saw a brief extended solo from Anastasio. The guitarist’s “Wingsuit” solo later in the set also contained a bit more gusto than in previous attempts as well.

The highlights from this show were made in the second set, as the group came out firing with a 15-minute “Down with Disease” that descended into a blissful territory before dropping into “What’s the Use?,” the first of 2014 and first since 2012. The following “Carini” also included some extended jamming and more inspired playing from all four members before landing into “Light.” While the version didn’t quite live up to the famed Dick’s “Light” played in 2012, the group stretched out some of their finest improv on the evening as Anastasio once again led the charge through the 15-minute song that also included a return to the “woo” improv section started by fans in the audience.

The end of the set featured an odd mix of tunes including a standard “Fuego” that led into an anthemic and beautiful “Slave to the Traffic Light.” The band had some fun with “Meatstick” before closing the set with a rare cover in Hendrix’s “Bold As Love,” the first of this year.

As they did the previous night and bits last night, Phish was clearly in a humorous mood and it showed in the encore. “The Horse” made its first appearance since New Year’s 2012 to start the encore. After the tune, the band jokingly welcomed back the song to the rotation and pretended to end the show before transitioning into “Silent in the Morning.”

Following that performance, Anastasio stepped to the mic to tell a story about learning the song “In a Hole,” which was played eight times in 1989. The guitarist joked that they learned the song just to be able to sing the line “I’m an a-hole.” While Fishman offered to perform the tune, Anastasio remarked that he didn’t remember it. Instead, he sang a few lyrics from memory with accompaniments from Page McConnell. After bailing on that idea, the group launched into “Fluffhead” to close the show, surely a callback to the previous night’s “Lushington” gag.

Phish will wrap up their Dick’s run tonight.

Here’s a look at the setlist as it appears in our Box Scores section:

Phish
Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO

Set I: Free, The Moma Dance, Halley’s Comet, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, 555, Rift, Sample in a Jar, Devotion To a Dream, Yarmouth Road > Sparkle, Wingsuit, David Bowie, Cavern

Set II: Down with Disease* > What’s the Use?, Carini > Light > Fuego > Slave to the Traffic Light, Meatstick > Bold As Love

Enc: The Horse^, Silent in the Morning, Fluffhead

Notes:
*Unfinished
^Page played the guitar part of The Horse on piano while Trey sang. Following The Horse, the band acted as if the show was over before starting to play Silent in the Morning. Trey then explained that by pretending to not play Silent and end the show, they were making a joke, given they had not playing The Horse to precede Silent in recent versions. Having to explain this “joke” prompted Trey to tell the story of performing “In A Hole” (last played on 12/16/89 (1346 shows)) back in the 1980’s. Fish suggested they play In A Hole, but Trey said he could not remember it. He agreed to sing the chorus, however, and sang part of it briefly (emphasizing the pun on the “a hole” lyric) while Fish and Page played a small part of the music of the song’s chorus. “It’s just as funny as it was 30 years ago,” Page noted. “Thank you for laughing.”

Source: Phish.net