After closing out 2024 by conjuring some EDM “thunder” at Madison Square GardenPhish hit the stage on Wednesday night amid much mellower atmospheric conditions to begin its 2025 touring schedule with its first of four nights of Phish: Riviera Maya at Moon Palace in Quintana Roo, Cancún, Mexico.

Quickly taking note of the terrain below the crowd’s feet, the band dove into 2025 with a “Sand” that swirled and churned like the Caribbean beside them. As the opening number breezed past the ten-minute mark, keyboardist Page McConnell pushed the jam toward a breezy, major-key melody that guitarist Trey Anastasio eventually hammered with a climactic closing solo. A strong start.

The beach motif continued through “Theme From The Bottom” and “Free”, both well-played if relatively predictable. While “Mull”, the Mike Gordon original that followed, tends to be a cookie-cutter affair, the one that arrived on Wednesday was among the best the band has played thanks to the propulsive percussion of Jon Fishman and some powerful rock piano from the Chairman of the Boards and.

“Kill Devil Falls”, which enjoyed a banner year as a Phish improv vehicle in 2024, made a solid opening entry in its 2025 log next, throbbing through textured, bass-heavy grooves as Chris Kuroda‘s towering stack of colored spots and LEDs illuminated the scenic palm fronds behind the band. After leading the group through some patient but purposeful tension and release, Anastasio employed ethereal ambience and echoing effects to ease the set into a gloomy “Ghost”. Alongside the opening “Sand”, this “Ghost” stood out as the high point of Wednesday’s first frame—as much for its satisfying sonic arc (from gloomy to grungey to angry to explosive) as for its multiple webcast shots of a grinning Page McConnell cloaked in colored lights with a sea breeze in his sparing hair. Following a token take on “Evolve”, the title track from Phish’s 2024 album, the band set the beach’s laid-back gear shift to high for some “Run Like An Antelope” shred-rock pandemonium to round out set one.

“Set Your Soul Free” opened the second set, with Trey notably changing the lyrics “roll with the funk now” to “roll with the punches”—a much less cringe-y turn of phrase to the ears of this longtime “SYSF” skeptic. Quickly dispensing with the song’s composed framework, the band ventured into a passage of pensive percolation that eventually fizzled into Talking Heads‘ “Cities”.

Related: Phish Goes EDM For 2024 NYE Gag, Calls Back To 2023’s ‘Gamehendge’ With “Icculus” [Photos/Videos]

The meat of this second set was as good as anyone could have hoped for the first Phish show of the year. “Cities”, perhaps the jam of the night, dove deep into a number of distinct segments over the course of its nearly 18-minute runtime, often highlighted by particularly agile Anastasio leads. After letting the dust settle just slightly the band moved into “Light”, with the front half of the jam going the way of persistent melody from Trey’s corner and the back half bubbling on moody synths from Page’s. A classic “Mike’s Song” > “I Am Hydrogen” > “Weekapaug Groove” kept the momentum high during the chunk of set two dedicated to “the slow song,” with “Weekapaug” in particular unleashing some high-end, white-light theatrics. The “Twist” that came next delivered still more cathartic Anastasio sustain as it contorted through peaks and valleys, and a happy, happy “Backwards Down The Number Line” felt like a fittingly grateful way to cap night one of music and fun on the beach (or, if you’re like me, streaming and FOMO on the couch).

While there was plenty to like during Wednesday’s show, it certainly did feel like a “night one.” We’re just bobbing on the surface of the latest edition of Phish: Riviera Maya—happy to be here, but still dipping our toes (proverbial) in the water (literal). Over the next three nights, you can look for Phish to dive all the way in.

The Wednesday night encore seemed to wink at that duality: After opening the curtain call with a dose of love and affection with “My Sweet One”, Phish rounded out the show with a deranged sprint through “Carini”—and had some fun with homonyms, lacing the lumpy-headed rocker with shouted lyrics from the much mellower “Corrina” by Taj Mahal.

A little bit sunny and smiley. A little bit unhinged. A lot left to go. Bienvenidos a Mexico. Bienvenidos a 2025… Scroll down to check out the setlist and a selection of photos and video clips from the first night of Phish: Riviera Maya 2025.

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Phish continues its Riviera Maya event on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. You can stream the remaining three nights of Phish’s 2025 Riviera Maya getaway via LivePhish. Purchase your livestream here. [Editor’s note: Live For Live Music is a LivePhish affiliate. Ordering a webcast or purchasing a LivePhish+ subscription via the links on this page helps support our work covering Phish and the live music world as a whole. Thanks for reading!]

After Mexico, Trey Anastasio will head out on a lengthy solo acoustic spring tour before linking back up with Fishman, Gordon, and McConnell for Phish’s eight-date West Coast spring tour.

Setlist [via phish.net]: Phish | Moon Palace | Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico | 1/29/25
Set One: Sand, Theme From the Bottom, Free, Mull, Kill Devil Falls, Ghost, Evolve, Run Like an Antelope
Set Two: Set Your Soul Free > Cities > Light > Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Twist > Backwards Down the Number Line
Encore: My Sweet One > Carini [1]

Notes: [1] Trey quoted lyrics from Corinna (Taj Mahal)

Phish – “Twist” > “Backwards Down The Number Line” – 1/29/25

[Video: lauren’s videos]

 

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