Show Review - Phish 4/25/25 Los Angeles, CA
The Bowl Is Growing Brighter
Phish continued their spring tour last night with the first of three shows at LA’s Hollywood Bowl, breaking the no-repeats streak that continued through the first five shows of the tour but continuing the 100% rate of at least one 20-minute jam per show.
The show began in the crisp evening air with “46 Days,” opening a show for the second time this tour after the adventurous version in Portland last weekend. Guitarist Trey Anastasio flirted with a major-key modulation several times within the compact 8-minute runtime, leading the band through a solid opening peak before calling for “Rift.”
Continuing the trend of tight compositions that has been prevalent on this tour, Anastasio executed the twists and turns of the song close to perfectly ahead of a classic first-set pick of “The Moma Dance.”
Songs heard earlier in the tour continued to pop up again with a surprise early call for “Chalk Dust Torture,” breaking a streak of 14 consecutive second-set plays dating back to 10/14/23. With zero hesitation, the band moved into the post-chorus jam with immediate hints of “Let it Grow” from Anastasio atop drummer Jon Fishman’s steady hand on the ride cymbal.
Keyboardist Page McConnell laid down some chunky organ chords as bassist Mike Gordon got aggressive, playing loud and pushing Anastasio as the latter led a modulation into major-key Type II territory just before the 7-minute mark of the song.
McConnell continued to stick to soaring-yet-mellow organ work as Anastasio coloured over top, augmenting his tone with some octave-up Whammy work. Driving forward with the high-energy jam, the guitarist threw in a smooth “Norwegian Wood” tease as the band built toward a rocking peak.
Articulate melody after articulate melody spilled forth from the stage, the band hitting a first small peak before regrouping, McConnell switching from organ to piano as Anastasio blasted forward into amazing sustain work that had the crowd amped up. Gordon absolutely crushed this segment, thunderous tone and riffs anchoring the soaring and beautiful jam as Phish crashed back into one more chorus of “Chalk Dust” to bring the first set highlight to a close.
“Evolve” kept things moving ahead of “Stash,” whose relatively short jam journeyed into a buttery major-key space for a taste of exploration before coming home with a solid peak.
Gordon stepped out front early on the ensuing “Wolfman’s Brother,” utilizing a synth effect to deepen the funk, his space-age sounds contrasting nicely with the grounded tones of Anastasio’s melodies and McConnell’s bouncy Wurlitzer. Getting into a shuffling beat thanks to Fish, the band hit a rocking peak before leading into a gorgeous “Harry Hood” to close the first set.
Though the first set lacked the big tentpole jam that each of the first five nights of tour had in their opening frames, the “CDT” was no slouch and it had very good song selection and flow.
Beginning the second set with “What’s Going Through Your Mind,” it seemed as though we were poised for immediate liftoff, though the band had other plans and executed a seemingly planned segue into “Carini,” coming off the bench after just two shows.
The jam immediately unfolded with purpose, Anastasio and McConnell linking up on some shared riffs as the anthemic start to improv turned brooding for a brief period. Anastasio ripped into some delay-drenched leads from there, returning to a soaring rock mode. Continuing to match each other, this time on a descending riff, Anastasio and McConnell melded together and began to build off the repetitive melody.
Anastasio hinted at some “Dave’s Energy Guide”-like riffs as things began to come down from the initial peak, McConnell suggesting a new upbeat progression to build off of with some bright piano.
Gordon continued his all-out assault on the low end, rumbling and beginning to build a foundation of bass sounds as he and Fish went rock-solid underneath the uplifting piano and guitar work.
Sticking firmly to a major key, Phish did not lack in musical inspiration for even a second, each successive minute of “Carini” bringing a new and fresh idea as the momentum carried us closer to a massive peak. Anastasio ripped into that section with wild delay tones, his leads exploding into a beautiful cacophony of euphoria.
Coming down from the peak, the band hit into a low-key mode with gentle Wurlitzer work from McConnell as Anastasio toyed with some wild tones before joining the keyboardist in the soft and beautiful space. Fish’s stuttered beat gave things a cool feel as Gordon dug in on some synth effects, the jam fading out all too soon in favour of “Light.”
A stop/start motif developed early, Fish playing through the breaks with some smooth fills alongside McConnell’s piano as a few woos came from the crowd (listen to the soundboard and you will hear ONE guy doing it lol), the improv quickly turning moody as McConnell switched to Rhodes.
Laying into some psychedelic Yamaha CS60 synth tones, McConnell led the charge into a spacier zone with Anastasio circling him on some delayed riffs. Things developed into a groovier vibe as McConnell switched to Moog One, infusing some elastic synth work into the jam as the band pushed forward into a more propulsive groove. Anastasio seemed to hint at The Allman Brothers’ “One Way Out” in this section, Gordon’s deep bass taking on an otherworldly quality as the guitar followed with a switch into sharp synth-filter.
A percussive motif developed as Fish moved forward on insistent ride cymbal work, Anastasio’s softer attack giving the filter effect a cool dimension as he didn’t let it fully trigger on each note.
Gordon laid down some thick chordal bass for a bit to whip up some haze as Anastasio made a pivot into more rhythm-centric work, his delays filling the space along with the bass as McConnell continued on bright Moog.
A beautiful menagerie of sounds coalesced here atop Fish’s fluid beat, each of the three melodic players throwing in their own sounds and textures to create a hazy zone that threatened to fall apart into nothing at any moment, yet continuing to be buoyed by amazing inspiration from all members.
McConnell led the charge out of the murk with a switch to piano, immediately lifting things up with some major-key happiness, suggesting a new descending riff that Anastasio quickly picked up on as he began some gorgeous soloing.
Ramping up to full euphoric peak mode, Phish delivered a phenomenal peak that suited the cooler night air perfectly, hitting a quick apex before Anastasio began to emphasize some more chordal vamping to bring things back down.
Continuing a drive forward rather than stepping back to find a new vein of improv, Fish played with dynamics on his beat as Anastasio went full delay, creating clouds of sound along with Gordon as McConnell kept things grounded alongside Fish.
The keyboardist eventually abandoned that as the drummer pushed forward, clouds of synth and electric piano entering the fray as we were treated to full madness Phish, Fish eventually pivoting into a beat akin to “Golden Age.”
Disintegrating from there, the final minute of the “Light” jam was an incredibly cool minimalist zone with angular Wurlitzer chords from McConnell alongside a steady tap on toms from Fish while Anastasio and Gordon both threw effected tones out into the air.
“Mercury” was tapped next and opened up into another gorgeous space, Anastasio opting to really drench his leads in delay this time as opposed to the more clean and articulate playing that had dominated “Carini” and “Light.” This juxtaposition, along with Fish’s varied beat, made this relatively short jam a treat – especially given the 4.0 tendency to not really jam this song.
A blazing “Piper” led into a cool-down “A Life Beyond the Dream” before the second set was brought to a close with the second consecutive “Ghost” to serve in that slot, the band amping things up with some power-rock riffs and a mountainous peak.
Encoring with “Possum” and the “Tweezer Reprise” left out of Wednesday’s show in San Francisco, Phish walked off stage after delivering yet another successful entry into their spring 2025 record. While last night may have been the weakest overall in terms of full-show quality, it boasts one of the best jams of the tour in “Light” and is still a pretty damn good show – that just speaks to how incredibly good this run has been.
Two nights remain at Hollywood Bowl – and you’re not going to want to miss a note of what’s to come. Watch the final shows of spring tour via LivePhish.com.