Phish returned to the MGM Grand’s Garden Arena last night for the second show of their Las Vegas Halloween run. The band followed up the previous night’s stellar performance with a top-notch first set that featured a few bust outs and other tour debuts, as well as some solid jams during the second set. The quartet also continued the weekend’s Halloween theme by performing a number of tracks from their 1998 album _Story of the Ghost,” along with a couple of tunes that they had debuted at past Halloween shows.
While Phish managed to avoid performing any tracks from their new record Fuego during their October 31 show, last night’s first set kicked off with a solid rendition of the record’s title track. Clifton Chenier’s “My Soul” and funky takes on “Back On The Train” and “555” followed before the band moved on to a series of relative bust outs. The first to appear was a quick “Dog Face Boy” that contrasted with the typically aggressive “Fuck You Face” that came next (“Dog Face Boy” had not been played since June 6, 2011, while “Fuck Your Face” had been absent since the last New Year’s eve show). A brief “Horn” then gave way to the first “Frankie Says” in 87 shows (August 28, 2012) before the song morphed into an utterly explosive “My Friend, My Friend” that sent the crowd into a frenzy. That number ended up preceding 2014’s first rendition of Ween’s “Roses Are Free” before a well-played “Roggae” gave the crowd time to calm down. The “Birds of a Feather” that followed saw the band incorporate some “they attack!” quotes from Friday night’s Thrilling, Chilling Sounds of the Haunted House track “The Birds” before the set closed out with a powerful “Wingsuit.”
Phish got the second set going with a decent “Possum,” though the set break itself was not without its own moments (the house lights went down after those in the seats successfully executed “the wave,” only to go back on shortly afterward in something of a concert lighting joke). “Possum” was followed by a well-executed take on Talking Heads’ “Crosseyed & Painless” before the night’s biggest jam—a 14+ minute “Light”—appeared. The ever-psychedelic tune then seamlessly transitioned into the year’s first “Lengthwise,” which transformed into a “Twist” that included quotes from the previous song, as well as quotes from “Manteca.” A mellow “Wading In The Velvet Sea” then turned into a decent “Harry Hood” that shifted gears into “Golgi Apparatus” before the set wrapped up with an unremarkable “Backward Down the Number Line.” A few minutes later, Phish returned for a low-key encore that saw the group flesh out the Fuego numbers “Waiting All Night” and “Sing Monica,” as well as treat fans to their four-person a capella rendition of “The StarSpangled Banner. “
Phish will return to the MGM Grand’s Garden Arena tonight to close out their fall tour with the final show of their three-night run at the Las Vegas venue.
Here’s a look at last night’s setlist as it appears via Phish.net:
Saturday, November 1, 2014, Phish, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV
Set I: Fuego, My Soul, Back on the Train, 555, Dog Faced Boy, Fuck Your Face, Horn, Frankie Says >My Friend, My Friend, Roses Are Free, Roggae, Birds of a Feather, Wingsuit
Set II: Possum, Crosseyed and Painless > Light -> Lengthwise > Twist > Wading in the Velvet Sea >Harry Hood > Golgi Apparatus > Backwards Down the Number Line
Enc: Waiting All Night, Sing Monica, The Star Spangled Banner
Notes: Dog Faced Boy was played for the first time since June 8, 2011 (144 shows). Birds of a Feather contained “They Attack!” quotes from The Birds. Light contained a Dogs jam, including howling from Trey and Fishman. Twist contained Lengthwise quotes, Manteca teases and quotes, and a Smoke on the Water tease by Trey.
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