It’s been a full 16 years since a Phish tour actually stopped in Texas, and the long streak ended with an all-out celebration at the newly constructed Austin360 Amphitheater. While Phish played at ACL Festival in 2010 and did a taping for Austin City Limits in 2000, the first Texas tour stop since 1999 was a memorable one, right from the “Party Time” opener. Party time, indeed.

“Free” came next, and the fan-favorite gave way into “Halley’s Comet”. The fun version smoothly switched into “Wolfman’s Brother”, perhaps the first big jam of the night. “Possum” is always a crowd pleaser, though it was “Lawn Boy” that allowed Page McConnell to ham it up with the crowd. “Bouncing Around The Room” and “Water In The Sky” came next, both enjoyable first set rockers.

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This show had the biggest bust-out of the tour, “Dirt”. The mellow number hadn’t been played in 58 shows, whereas the previously-largest bust-out was “Joy” (19 shows). Hopefully Phish continues to delve into their catalog throughout the remainder of this exciting summer tour.

“Devotion To A Dream”, “Sugar Shack” and “Run Like An Antelope” closed out the first set, giving fans a chance to breathe before some more musical madness in set two.

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The second set opener was possibly the highlight of the show, as a “46 Days” jam segued into “The Dogs”, an epic track from last year’s Halloween performance. While the band didn’t employ sound effects or vocal narration snippets, the music was very clearly from the Chilling, Thrilling set. Whether it was intentional is anyone’s guess. The song only lasted a minute or two, as Phish quickly made their way back to “46 Days” before jamming into “Piper”. The grooves were flowing through “Piper” and “Ghost”, only slowing down during the second performance of the new song, “Shade”.

After the mellow moment, Phish ran into “Gotta Jibboo” but took another slow-down for “Waiting All Night”. The song selection was puzzling, considering “Waiting All Night” was performed at the prior show, but “Blaze On” raised the energy levels with ease. After “Wading In The Velvet Sea”, the band jammed their way into the classic, “David Bowie”. While it was assumed that Trey Anastasio’s fast paced arpeggios would end the set, Phish broke into a frenzied “Suzy Greenberg”.

Not wanting to end things there, Anastasio quickly played the opening riff of “Tweezer Reprise”. The crowd erupted, as this set closer capped the performance of “Tweezer” from the Los Angeles, CA show three nights prior. It almost appeared as if Anastasio was surprising his bandmates with the song selection, but nevertheless the exciting tune capped off a great set of music.

With one final “Loving Cup”, Phish bid their fans a fond farewell. The band will play the second night of a two-night Texas run with a performance tonight, July 29th, at the Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie in Grand Prairie, TX. Check out the full setlist below:

Setlist: Phish at Austin360 Amphitheater, Del Valle, TX – 7/28/15

Set 1: Party Time, Free, Halley’s Comet > Wolfman’s Brother, Possum, Lawn Boy, Bouncing Around the Room, Water in the Sky, Dirt, Devotion To a Dream, Sugar Shack, Run Like an Antelope

Set 2: 46 Days -> The Dogs -> 46 Days > Piper > Ghost > Shade, Gotta Jibboo, Waiting All Night, Blaze On, Wading in the Velvet Sea > David Bowie, Suzy Greenberg > Tweezer Reprise

Encore: Loving Cup

Notes: This show was webcast via LivePhish.

[Photo via Phish From The Road]