Show Review - Phish 4/26/25 Los Angeles, CA
Vibes Night
Phish tour continued last night with the penultimate show of Spring Tour and the midpoint at the Hollywood Bowl, delivering a hugely energetic show with a distinct emphasis on shorter, dense jams as opposed to the longer explorations we’ve seen on the run so far.
Obviously, this calls into the age-old question of “jams guy” vs. “vibes guy,” and while we all know I fall into the former category, I can’t deny that last night did not lack for energy at any point. There’s nothing wrong with a Saturday Night Special, and if it was going to happen, a chatty Los Angeles crowd was the audience for it. However, I will stand by the fact that the shows with the highest vibes ALSO generally have a few massive jams.
Last night got underway nicely with “Runaway Jim” and “Blaze On,” guitarist Trey Anastasio warming things up with some solid play ahead of a “Martian Monster” that saw keyboardist Page McConnell go wild on his Chilling, Thrilling samples.
A quick wrong-key hiccup at the beginning of “Birds of a Feather” led to our first dose of extended jamming, Anastasio smoothly leading a buttery major modulation as McConnell matched him on uplifting Wurlitzer and Moog One textures. Drummer Jon Fishman kept up a steady and propulsive groove, his ride cymbal work especially shining through like on Friday.
Anastasio continued to push the jam forward through a series of gorgeous phrases, looping some uplifting sustain as the band worked through a gorgeous peak. Without losing a drop of momentum, Phish dropped back into “BOAF” proper on a dime to conclude the first-set highlight – a sub-10 minute jam packed with depth and excellent playing.
Bassist Mike Gordon fronted “555” next as the band threatened to take the song big – this deceptively short seven-minute song saw Anastasio get into some gritty rock work that would pop up again later in the set, a motif that was abandoned all too soon as the guitarist brought things home.
While the sun had mostly dipped below the horizon by this point, there is still no better place for “Divided Sky” than an outdoor first set – and Anastasio navigated the song with practiced ease, nailing the quintessential sustain leads with his classic Mar-Mar guitar.
“Ether Edge” seemed to be a cool-down after the euphoria of the “Divided Sky” ending, but the band burst the song wide open for its first truly huge Type II outing, delivering a surprise show highlight in an unexpected place.
Anastasio and McConnell began the jam in the song’s breezy progression, twirling around each other’s riffs and the vocal melody. After sitting in that zone for a while, the band dropped into a minor key in unison, Fish pushing forward into a fast-paced and spacious beat while guitar and piano continued to circle each other.
Things began to go in a more layered direction as Anastasio looped some subtle background phrases and McConnell moved to Wurlitzer, Gordon holding down the low end with some steady and rock-solid notes of his own.
McConnell hinted at a major-key modulation as Fish gradually increased the tempo, Gordon whipping up some space-haze underneath everything. Without the same feel as a full-band modulation, Anastasio began to pick out very decisive bright phrases over the thick bass textures, McConnell joining him in the high register with some silky electric piano.
Sparse Moog tones were introduced on the lower end of things as the beautiful jam continued to take shape, Anastasio confidently leading the band through a driving section that hinted quite strongly at a “Bathtub Gin” peak. Kicking into high gear, McConnell made the switch to piano as guitar trilled in circles, building a series of rolling peaks that very easily could have ended the jam – but Phish had other plans.
Before the peak even had time to fade, Anastasio hit some power minor chords to signal that they were going to keep going, getting into some low-end distorted chords and the band followed his lead, going from euphoric peak to gritty and dark in no time flat.
Fish matched the cadence of the guitar hits on cymbals, dropping back from the propulsion of the initial section yet remaining a driving force, lighting designer Chris Kuroda painting the inside of the Bowl with dizzying colours and patterns.
Anastasio dove back into the rocking guitar-god zone hinted at in “555,” utilizing several different phrases as launchpads for his own solo. As the energy of the band continued to ramp up, so did the crowd’s, and the motion of 17,000 people dancing became one fluid beast, getting down to the undeniable power and energy that is the Hollywood Bowl “Ether Edge.”
In a tour that has shown some of Anastasio’s best playing in years, the extended peak section of this jam is one of the best examples of pure shred – and it just kept going and going every time you thought they might be done.
McConnell hit into some powerful B3 organ as things got closer to the end, an absolute explosion of exhilarating peak Phish that faded into an absolutely perfect call of “The Squirming Coil” to end the set, the venue standing in rapture to McConnell’s outro solo as we headed into the break.
At a crossroads for the night, the solid first set could have yielded a second frame akin to Seattle N1 or San Francisco N1, but the band opted to play to their audience and combined some odd song selections with continuing high energy.
One of the best things about the last couple of years in Phish world is “AC/DC Bag” making a grand return to jam vehicle status after nearly 20 years of stagnation – and it was a statement to open the second set with it last night.
Holding the G and signalling that it was time to head out into improvisational territory, Anastasio stuck close to form at first while engaging in some back-and-forth with McConnell. Building an initial peak atop a repeated riff, the guitarist picked up right where “Ether Edge” left off with some straight-ahead shred, returning over and over again to that simple melody in a really cool way.
Gordon built underneath as the band hit a huge peak, launching from there into a driving and moody space with the bass at the forefront, busy fills going crazy underneath Anastasio’s choppy rhythm work.
Turning on the sharp synth filter, Anastasio continued his aggressive assault on his guitar as McConnell went to Moog, getting things right into outer space. Swirls of synthesizer filled the air as Anastasio hit into a rhythmic chord pattern, things teetering between dissonant free space and a more controlled upbeat mode.
Anastasio then turned to his toolkit of delays, warping his tone in a brief bout of wild sounds before taking the reins once again and driving into some chunky, distorted soloing. Fish’s beat continued to pick up momentum as it seemed we were poised for a massive “Bag,” but a sudden disintegration into echo-y space saw the band rip into “Life Saving Gun” instead.
Continuing his mastery of the night Anastasio led the rest of the band through an absolutely blistering 10-minute jam that was absolute nonstop energy, his powerful soloing driving to peak after peak as Fish rinsed us down.
The fun factor continued with “The Howling,” the crowd appropriately howling with delight (though maybe we should keep that to a response to the song’s lyrics and not during the entire jam?) before a call for “Oblivion” seemed to signal that it was time to head back into big jam territory, but Anastasio quickly found the opening riff to “Run Like an Antelope” instead.
Once again, credit where it’s due – Anastasio is so good at guitar right now, and he whipped the crowd into an absolute frenzy during a rare mid-set version of “Antelope” that even dipped its toes into some outside-the-box major key playing.
A beautiful cool-down of “Beneath a Sea of Stars Part I” led into a set-closing “Everything’s Right,” giving us one last extended guitar peak, glorious lines expanding into the cool California air with absolute joy radiating from the band and crowd as we all sang along to the chorus.
With lots of time left before the 11pm curfew, the band ran through a quick “Taste” before the guitar god himself tore into “About to Run” like he had something to prove. “Slave to the Traffic Light” did what it does best after that, closing the night on a high note with more great Anastasio work.
Phish closes their 2025 spring tour tonight with a Sunday show at the Hollywood Bowl, and the band will find out just before showtime whether they will be a part of the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of inductees. Whatever the outcome may be, we’re poised for a special night – because although last night didn’t have the huge tentpole jams of the tour so far, I’ve realized while listening back during this writing that there’s a lot more meat on the bone than I gave it credit for.
After all, a subpar Phish show is still better than pretty much any other live music experience!
Stream the tour closer tonight at ~6:30PM PT via LivePhish.com.