2017-1-15 Barcelo Maya Beach - Riviera Maya, MEX

[anthrax]

1/15/17
Barcelo Maya Beach
Riviera Maya, Mexico

Set One:  Boogie On Reggae Woman > Simple -> Tweezer > Roggae, Nothing, Ghost > Ya Mar, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, Rift > Fluffhead

Set Two:. DWD > No Man in No Man's Land > Sneaking Sally* > Possum*> Carini*> Bowie*, Harry Hood

Encore:. Slave>Tweezer Reprise

* Shipwreck Quotes

[PIE-GUY]

Happy Bowie made an appearance for the first time since before Vegas.

[Guyute]

Forgetting the lyrics to start the first song was funny.  "somebody sing me the first line"

[WhatstheUse?]

 

[Hicks]

I'll take a second set where Possum is the only "breather" song any day of the week. 

[WhatstheUse?]

What a weekend. Easily the best 'vacation' of my life.

Pretty psyched they threw down the old skool set list for the last night. Other than stealing time, I love every song played - 'Nothing' was a treat. Tweezer/Ghost in the first set = always yes. (Although that should be a firm ~> into Tweezer)

It's funny though... even though on paper this night seems like the clear winner, it didn't necessarily stand high above the other two for me. It all was just a damn good time.

When they show the beach, there aren't that many people in the ocean.  I would totally be in the water during the show. - Anthrax

It's a trade off. I spent the majority of the first night knee deep in the ocean and it sure as hell was a once in a lifetime phish experience.... However, I found that I couldn't both fully focus on the music and be in the water at the same time. You could hear pretty well, but it kinda felt like you were outside of the show rather that in it. I kept finding myself splashing around and looking out at the moon/ocean and then would realize, wow, I haven't exactly been critically listening. So while It was surely a blast, in the end, I was more interested in being close to the stage.

I definitely made a mad dash for the ocean during Tweeprise though! That was a personal highlight of the weekend! Splash splashing everywhere!l

[Gumbo72203]

So, I don't know about you guys....  but I really think that was the best Trey has ever played in 3.0.  I felt like I saw real Trey for the first time, ever.  Everything he was playing was nimble, quick, and creative!  It was truly heart-warming to see him like that.  I don't know what the difference was, whether he was just very loose or confident or what, but that was the first time I can recall ever being excited by Trey's playing in 3.0.  Hell, he even played Rift correctly! 

He seemed to lose a bit of steam towards the end...  Carini didn't have anything terribly special about it, and Hood's jam was kind of rushed in my book, but the playing was still great.  I was very satisfied with Bowie as well.  Even the Possum was sick.  The transition from Sally into Possum was absolutely wonderful....   i loved how they just waited, and Page drew it out...  I totally thought that Sally could come back up to something but I ended up really captivated by that change. 


That Ghost though....  man!  What a groove!  That almost didn't need to peak for me because the groove they laid down was so fucking great.  My one big gripe about the first set though was that Tweezer needed another shot or 2 at the peak.  It felt like they left some on the table with that one, especially given how fucking wonderful the early parts of that jam were.  So relaxed, so unhurried. 

But yeah.... in summation, I don't think I ever had so many moments in 3.0 where I was like "Hell yeah Trey!" during his solos and everything.  I loved so much of what he played last night.  It was beautiful. 

Happy Bowie made an appearance for the first time since before Vegas.

Longest gap ever in it's history, 15 shows. 

[PIE-GUY]

I will say, I went to see live music on Friday and spent Saturday and Sunday nights watching football so I did not watch any of this, nor have I really listened to any of it yet, but I followed along on FB and I simply cannot say enough about how much fun it was reading the comments from the couch tour people about how bad the shows were. Big John Jensen, especially! If you're friends with him on FB you really must go back and read his posts. So much entertainment!

[GBL]

Haha

[Gumbo72203]

I will say, I went to see live music on Friday and spent Saturday and Sunday nights watching football so I did not watch any of this, nor have I really listened to any of it yet, but I followed along on FB and I simply cannot say enough about how much fun it was reading the comments from the couch tour people about how bad the shows were. Big John Jensen, especially! If you're friends with him on FB you really must go back and read his posts. So much entertainment!

lol what?  I am only just digging in to Friday and Saturday, but man..... honestly, Sunday was a fucking treat.  The band was playing so well.  Fishman and Trey were just spitting fire the whole night, it was really incredible to see.  I've never seen Trey play like this in 3.0.  The whole show, it was fast runs, quick licks....  none of that bullshit slow Blaze On-on-Jimmy-Fallon style soloing where he sounds like he has no fucking clue what to do.  Lots of speed picking, lots of lightning runs....  and lots of creativity in the phrasing. 

Never thought I'd see the fucking day.  100% sober.  We just ate some Thai food last night is all haha.  I'll never forget Trey's performance from this show.  Simple alone featured him throwing licks off all over the place. 

[WhatstheUse?]

I will say, I went to see live music on Friday and spent Saturday and Sunday nights watching football so I did not watch any of this, nor have I really listened to any of it yet, but I followed along on FB and I simply cannot say enough about how much fun it was reading the comments from the couch tour people about how bad the shows were. Big John Jensen, especially! If you're friends with him on FB you really must go back and read his posts. So much entertainment!

The Mexico melts all around are pretty hilarious.

All three shows were on par for 3.0 -- I'd say the playing was actually better than the majority of 2016. Nothing touched 12/30 level of awesomeness, but also, I've seen tons of worse shows.

People seem to have this entitled view that if phish doesn't play some crazy epic shows in Mexico it was all a let down. or that somehow these shows should have been 'different' than any other random shows... I don't really get that. Phish is gonna do phish. It's not like they can control whether they play well or not -- that just happens when it happens.

[mattstick]

Yo, that take is way to level-headed and rational for any post-show discussion thread.

[Buffalo Budd]

Yo, that take is way to level-headed and rational for any post-show discussion thread.

[anthrax]

dudes just went from playing one of the busiest cities in the world on the busiest night of the year in what must have been a very stressful show with all the timing, dancers, production, etc. to playing on the beach in the Caribbean.  expecting raging shows with bustouts left and right seems absurd.  i'm surprised the shows were as high energy as they were.

phishy grooves are phishy.  if you don't dig it.  don't go phishing.

[Hicks]

I'd say from what I've heard that these shows were better than last year's Mexico run. I haven't heard the first set of this one, but the second set featured outstanding playing and the Shipwreck samples gave it a unique feel. The first night the Fuego through Seven Below segment brought the jams and even though the middle night was pretty snoozey it at least had an exceptional Light. 

Last year it felt like they really couldn't get much going until the third night.