The trajectory of this summer tour has been a little different than it was at this point in 2015. Sure, after five shows this summer we have been treated to a bunch of cool things. The band has kicked down a batch of rarities and bust-outs (particularly enjoyable were “I Am The Walrus”, “Dear Prudence”, and “I Found a Reason”), debuted a remarkable cover in “Space Oddity” and graced us with new Phish songs in “Things People Do”, “Breath and Burning,” and “Miss You."

In addition, there have been a small handful of noteworthy or Jam Chart worthy songs so far (most notably the fantastic “Twist” from Wrigley) but they are coming at a far slower and more measured pace than in 2015. So while Summer 2015 came out of the gates fiercely and quickly, this summer has been a bit more subdued with solid shows yet nothing (yet) that has arisen to the greatness of last summer. Fortunately, Phish can and does turn on a dime and gave glimpses of 2015’s excellence last night in the “Breath and Burning” jam. Mann2 last year was most certainly one of highlights of the summer, and the band loves playing Philadelphia, so many fans of course had high hopes for a repeat of last year’s night 2 at this classic shed.

Photo by Rene Huemer. From @Phish_FTR.

It didn’t take long into the first set to have a couple of instant first-set highlights. After “Wolfman’s” opened the show followed by straight takes of “Your Pet Cat” and “Blaze On”, the band debuted a new Mike sung tune called “Walking Up Dead”. The song was as dark and macabre as the title would imply with the characteric zaniness of Mike. Though slightly disjointed, it showed quite a bit of potential and not hard to imagine that it could end up as a showstopper in the meat of a second set later in the summer. No sooner had fans begun to wipe the grin off their face with the waning notes of “Walking Up Dead”, the band launched (actually, the doesn’t seem to be the correct verb does it?) into the second straight molasses-slow take on the usually steroided and blazing “Llama”. For me, slow “Llama” is a good “Llama” as I’ve never been particularly fond of that song. A little slow-funk on that does more for me than the balls to the walls versions.

But, you can’t slow down every song to a beneficial effect. After “Devotion To A Dream”, the band decided to give “Reba” the slow-treatment. Unlike, the slow “Llama”, I can’t imagine terribly many people yearning for more slow “Rebas”. Trey was able to build to a fun little peak but had trouble playing the notes even at that turtle pace.

A quick joke from Trey about being able to play other songs slowly preceded “Mike’s Song” that was begun preposterously slowly as a joke. It did then get played at a more normal pace but was still subdued, a little flat and not much of a spark. Vegas wasn’t even taking odds on a “Second Mike’s Jam” as there would be nobody willing to bet that side of the book. Sure enough, rather than a second jam, the band played the first ever “Horn” following a Mike’s. In the slow, peaceful and reflective mood of the set, “Farmhouse” came next. Obviously a perfect summer song and in the slow vein of the set, the majesty of Trey’s solo actually did work quite nice in that spot. Again, a song, like Horn, that had never been sandwiched in a “Mike’s” before. The quintessential third song of the classic “Mike’s Groove” trio, “Weekapaug Groove” kicked the pace back up several notches . A fiery little “Weekapaug” got people dancing again and had a few “The Birds” quotes sprinkled in for fun. Oddly, despite the slow, meandering pace, the set flew by quite quickly and I’m sure many thought there’d be one more crushing rocker to close the set but that was that for this unique Set 1 at the Mann.

“Crosseyed and Painless” became a stalwart second set opener in 3.0 kicking off many memorable sets. Yet, despite a peak of second set openers for “Crosseyed” in 2011, it did not open any second sets in 2014 or 2015. So the second set launch of “Crosseyed” felt like having an old friend back. “Crosseyed” took a bit to get there but ultimately was brilliant with a nice groove that the band locked into peaking into a happy, blissful, major jam that was the band’s signature calling card last summer. The band deftly took the song to a slower, less dramatic place more reminiscent of their first set shenanigans before building into the ultimate peak. It was a brilliant yin and yang.

Another debut in the “punkish” Fishman led tune followed in “Friends” which was perfectly placed and a nice bridge before the monster “Down With Disease”. “Friends” unlike many “novelty” Fishman sung songs was most certainly not just a gag or throwaway in the set. Fishman did great with the vocals and it was a whole band effort. As “Disease” got into meat of the jam, for the first time, it felt like “Mann2 2016” could rival “Mann2 2015”. A contender for best jam of Summer, the “Disease” was thrilling with tons of ground covered and highlighted by precision drumming by Fishman who has definitely been the stand-out so far this summer. A brilliant segue into the majestic “What’s The Use” and the always soaring music kept the set moving in a great direction.

Rather than continue along the route started with the “Disease”, the band took a 180 degree turn in favor of the sing-and-dance along, “Meatstick”, a playful and fun song which can be a crowd pleaser for a lot of people in the right spot. Sadly, I am not sure this is the spot that even those that love this song would pick to stick it into a setlist.

“The Line”, a slow and melancholy song was played straight-laced as it always is. This preceded yet another Phish debut in “Tide Turns” which, like the other Trey led songs this summer, was a slow pop-rocker that would fit into a TAB set perfectly.

Another “Line” seemed destined to close the set in “Backwards Down The Number Line” which was a huge and explosive and longer than usual. Rather than walking off the stage though, the crowd was treated to the Phishy and hilarious “Dem Bones” which had only been performed on New Year’s in 2014. As far as barbershop tunes go, this has got to be one of Phish’s best and it was great to know that it is not a “one and done”.

In the encore slot, “Dear Prudence”, which made its glorious return just a week ago after an absence of over two decades was very well received. With plenty of time left before curfew, the band was able to stretch out “Harry Hood” a bit…..slow, steady and graceful and building into its typical crescendo that put an end to Mann2 2016.

So for the tale of the tape: Yes, we did have some flashes of the brilliance of last year’s Night 2 at the Mann in the early part of second set. We did have a great Mike song debut, a fun Fishman song debut, a quirky and interesting first set, and a handful of other highlights. But at the end of the night, it was clear that the band is still getting its show legs under them as we get deeper into the heart of this Summer’s tour. Sometimes Phish rolls it slow and that’s what we’ve had most of the summer. Up next: three nights at SPAC.

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