Phish MPP Setlist and Recap: 8/16/15 Merriweather Post Columbia, MD

Posted by Pauly August 16, 2015

Phish MPP Setlist and Recap: 8/16/15 Merriweather Post Columbia, MD

Phish closed out their two-night run at Merriweather Post Pavilion. Saturday night was a throw down what would Sunday bring? You know the saying... never miss a Sunday show...

Tonight's MPP gig will be webcast via LivePhish.com.

Follow @CoventryMusic for updates. For half-baked, spunout memes, check us out on Instagram too (@coventrymusic).

Here's what went down at the OPP MPP...

Le Phish, 8/16/15 MPP, Columbia, MD

Set 1: Golgi, Undermind, Julius, 555, Nothing, No Man's Land, Stash, Bowie, Possum

Set 2: DWD > Slave > Light > Twist, Shine A Light, Fuego > Sneaking Sally, YEM

E: Backwards

* * * *

Quickie Couch Tour Recap: MPP2
by @taopauly

Never miss a Sunday yadda yadda yadaa... 7:34 lights down with raving fans screaming "Sleeping Monkey!" After a quick tease (and even quicker rejection from Gordo), we got Golgi as the real opener. (BTW, anyone else at that show in Texas when that insane girl screamed "Sleeping Monkey!" and Trey finally gave in and brought her on stage?)... The mascot for Undermind is the Giant Pacific Octopus because we get to hear a drum clinic from Fishman using his invisible (four) limbs... Julius filling in the funk-injection spot where Wolfman or Moma would typically pop up. Grown comfy with a formulaic Julius as the encore or as a set closer... I was bored with 555 so I used the time for a creative project. I took the time to compose a Haiku using real tweets from Japhan @sakuraYEM...

Please Fish sing heat up
Still sober Mike side keep calm
Seat moving away

I dig Nothing. It's no Access Me, but wish it got more playtime. 2.0 tunes in 3.0 feel weirdly fringe-acceptable like artisanal pudding... Almost on cue -- No Man's Land -- time for the rookie to step up to the plate... I like my Stash dark and dangerous and grimy, but this one was a little too angelic and mellow for my tastes... Bowie to save the milquetoast set? Strong effort, but short for a set closer... Alas, uppity Possum was up next, which closed out the 75-minute set... At setbreak, I composed another Haiku utilizing real tweets from Japhan @SakuraYEM...

Melodious Phish
Finally I became man
Balls Back, next guy stoned

Set 2 kicked off with DWD. Slop-city intro. Everyone in band laughed it off. Gordo looked pissed off though (ultra sensitive, prickly cactus could never take an inside joke) especially after Trey switched a lyric to "Dancing in Mike's head!" Gordo took out his frustrations with old-school roid-rage, muscle-head jamming. By the 10-min mark, DWD drenched by cascading multiple orgasms. Relentless undulating tidal waves. Slippery when wet diddling... Trey pulled out of DWD bliss for an unbelievable Slave in the rare two-hole spot. Typically reserved for late 4Q or the set closer... Gentle, yet powerful Slave. Heck of a 1-2 punch. Making up for a meh first set... Slave jam trickled down into a soothing pool of Light. Didn't take long before the jam got cooking with a few Twist teases.. Full-blown Twist. Never went too deep down the rabbit hole... Bustout with Shine A Light, which was on the shelf and only played once (2013 Chicago) since summer 2012. I go batshit for any non-Loving Cup track off Exile on Main Street. I've been chasing Torn and Frayed forever, but would gladly take Sweet Virginia or Let It Loose. Shit, I'd lose all my marbles for a Ventilator Blues bustout... Fuego up next. Not one Fuego or Joy song from the previous night. Fuego was on a short leash because they were saving up their energy for another bustout/tour debut...

We caught Sneaking Sally at Dick's and Miami, but it had been sneaking around all summer before someone found her... G-Rob called YEM earlier in the evening. YEM anchored a set filled with material I wanted to hear, just that they didn't really do anything special with some of the repeats (e.g. Twist and Light were shadows of their former selves from earlier in the tour)... Encore was a cheesed out Backwards.. You were psyched if you were one of those people who leave the show before the encore to beat the rush out of the lot... Overall, took a while before the boys finally got something going. The laid-back approach which paid off on Saturday night, sincerely fell short of the mark with mixed results on Sunday (although I think I was the only one who loved the Nothing debut in middle set one). Second set was highlighted by DWD, a pair of bustouts (Shine A Light and Sneaking Sally), plus a rare occurrence with an early-set Slave... MPP run is officially dunzo. This was the last stop before the circus migrates to middle of New York State for Magnaball next weekend.

* * * *