Phish brought their 2025 spring tour to a close last night with their third and final show at the Hollywood Bowl, highlighted by one of the most improvisational encores of their career plus an elite segment at the heart of the second set.
Taking the stage just after the reveal that they did not make the cut for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the band opted to not even acknowledge that occurrence and instead focus on giving their fans an amazing show – because we all know who is really the greatest band of all time.
The show began with the first rendition of “The Landlady” since August 14, 2022, an auspicious start given the overall lack of bustouts on this tour so far. “Cavern” picked up the energy as a light rain fell on the crowd, giving way to a slightly sloppy beginning to “Llama.”
Stabilizing by the time the solos hit, keyboardist Page McConnell ripped through a hot turn on his Hammond B3 organ before handing the reins over to guitarist Trey Anastasio. For the first time that I can recall, the reverse-delay madness of the guitar solo saw the band hang on one chord and explode into under a minute of Type 1.5 hose-style jamming, the beautiful leads buoyed by McConnell’s insistent piano playing.
“Sand” kept things grooving with some stank-inducing funk, Anastasio utilizing some gritty wah tones early on, matching bassist Mike Gordon’s thick lines before initiating a somewhat rocky major-key modulation.
An airy motif developed, drummer Jon Fishman’s easygoing pocket letting the band stretch out overtop as they hit a relatively restrained peak, bringing things back home to “Sand” after just around ten minutes.
The first “The Lizards” of the year was an excellent mid-set treat before slinky funk returned with “Hey Stranger,” a song still waiting for its big jamming break that will hopefully come sometime soon.
“Timber” is easily one of the most consistently-delivering 10-minute jam vehicles in the band’s catalog, as its short composed section allowing Phish to get out into improvisational waters with incredible speed.
Anastasio set some loops at the outset of the jam as McConnell took to thoughtful Wurlitzer electric piano, the soft tones seeming to be in perfect sync with the swirling guitar. The two musicians traded some melodies akin to “Birds of a Feather” as Gordon whipped up some haze, Fish colouring with his own washes of cymbal.
Utilizing a rotary-infused tone, Anastasio pushed the band into a laid-back major key, the serene soundscape perfectly fitting the chilly California evening weather. The guitarist continued to weave phrases together, unhurriedly leading into a new section where he linked up with McConnell.
Fish upped the intensity while still leaning heavily into cymbal work, his fluid playing breaking from the flow occasionally to mirror a lick of Anastasio’s on the toms. The bliss continued to unfold from there, never quite hitting a full peak but transitioning into a darker zone, Anastasio’s looped and delayed synth effects getting things into a brooding space.
Continuing to expand on that, the band layered texture upon texture before smoothly returning home to “Timber” proper, as always making it feel like we had been on a much longer journey than eleven minutes.
“Joy” acted as a nice late-set breather before McConnell helmed “Most Events Aren’t Planned” to close things out, moving from keyboard to keyboard as the band tore through an extended peak section.
One my favourite tricks of the 4.0 Phish era – at least setlist-wise – is the tactic of opening set two with a short, rocking song before dropping the hammer with a big jam vehicle. In last night’s case, an exuberant “More” filled the opening slot before the band kicked into a surprise call for “You Enjoy Myself,” proceeding to unleash the longest version of the quintessential Phish song since 1998 and a distinct highlight of the tour.
Navigating the composed section and typical trampoline jam well, the vocal jam had barely begun when Fish kicked back into a funk beat on his hi-hat, driving us into a slick groove with the band re-joining one by one, Anastasio getting back on the guitar by finishing a vocal phrase. The whole band coalesced around this descending melody, much to the delight of the crowd, before slipping smoothly into laid-back funk.
Anastasio flipped on a gritty octave effect, exploring that zone for a bit before Fish initiated a repeating hit motif and upped the intensity of his beat. Anastasio began to build from there, Gordon using synth tones of his own to add texture.
Continuing to pile on to the same riff, McConnell switched to elastic Moog One synth for some vibrant texture, getting things a little bit weird as the jam continued to chug along. A cacophonous mode developed, though very much still grounded, as all four musicians played aggressively and around each other.
Pushing into a higher-intensity peak zone, Anastasio and Fish ripped forward as the former continued to build off the riff developed earlier, then getting into some gorgeous blasts of sustain as McConnell returned to piano and an uplifting mode developed.
Hitting a quick peak, Anastasio let loose some aggressive rhythm vamping to lead into the next section, flirting with minor key but landing in a floaty space with a stuttered beat from Fish, Gordon using his power drill for haunting tones that contrasted nicely with the otherwise joyous motif.
Picking into a driving upbeat jam from there, the band coalesced on a repeated rhythmic riff with Fish at the helm as McConnell made a switch to thick Rhodes texture, augmenting Anastasio’s rapid-fire melodies with sweeping Yamaha CS60 synth as well.
Moving up to his Prophet Rev2, McConnell went in on some gorgeous chords, bringing in a beautiful texture underneath Anastasio’s continued busy loops and play. Gordon swooped into the opening with active play of his own, upping the ante with cool bass melodies.
Returning to a more grounded mode from there, Phish continued to push forward in the same upbeat zone, Anastasio seamlessly finding the opening riff to “Twist” out of the jam.
It was clear that we weren’t getting an average 8-minute version of the song as we see in second sets a lot of the time – riding the high from the massive “YEM” that came before, Anastasio wasted no time before beginning to push at the seams of the jam with some ring-mod tones.
Sweeping delays continued “Twist” as Fish threw in head-spinning fills and meter changes, Anastasio threatening a layered major modulation that eventually stuck.
Fish continued to lead from there, going through a series of pseudo-drum breaks as Anastasio and McConnell re-engaged on a gorgeous progression, synth and clean guitar blending together to cultivate a motif akin to the 2/22/24 “A Wave of Hope” or 4/22/25 “Ruby Waves.”
Spending some time in this gorgeous zone, Fish eventually worked his way back to the drumbeat of “Twist,” though Anastasio was far from done and continued to build a gorgeous emotional peak with an incredible amount of layering from McConnell.
Returning home at last, the band kicked into “Kill Devil Falls” and proceeded to play one of the best jams of the night, though it spanned a mere eleven minutes.
Beginning with a stop/start motif, Anastasio used some dive-bomb delays in the breaks for some cool effect before heading directly into a darker mode. Fish insistently tapped the ride cymbal as McConnell took to his Moog once again, things getting weird and dissonant almost immediately.
Controlled chaos emerged in full force, loops and synth tones from all three melodic members swirling against each other, all driven by Fish’s aggressive playing that switched between double-time and half-time constantly.
This insane jam was beautifully followed by “Lifeboy,” leading into a high-energy pairing of “2001” and “Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.” to close out the second set.
Coming back out for the encore, I had full expectation of a high energy song or two to bring a rocking end to the tour, but instead the band opted for “Fuego,” opening things up for the ultra-rare Type II encore.
The jam began with some upbeat soloing from Anastasio, who soon turned to some loops as things began to drift into uncharted territory. McConnell doubled Wurlitzer and piano as Fish pushed the pace, keeping things upbeat and funky – a glimpse at the groove-centric jamming that was so prevalent just a few months ago for Phish.
The highly danceable space continued to unfold, Anastasio and Gordon linking up on some repeated hooks, the guitarist flipping back on his gritty octave sound as bass went into some colourful and spacey effects.
Smoothly moving into a major key from there, Anastasio began to glide through some easygoing soloing, the centrepiece of the jam remaining Fish’s absolutely perfect funk beat.
Soft synth tones creeped in courtesy of McConnell’s Moog as Anastasio upped the intensity of his soloing, emphasizing some chordal hits. Gordon augmented his tone to stick out to the front more as things got closer to the 4.0 industrial funk motif, swagger absolutely bursting from every aspect of the improvisation.
McConnell hinted at the opening piano riff to “Fuego” as the flow continued perfectly, the funk eventually dropping away into a lower-key space driven by Anastasio, the band taking a second to decide where to go next before alighting on a slightly moodier space with more amazing interplay between guitar and piano.
Anastasio began to hint at a return to “Fuego” here as he looped some quiet sustain, getting back into a more anthemic zone and dancing around the song’s melody. Sneaking just past the 20-minute mark, Phish ended the jam with a singalong reprise of the “Fuego” chorus before one final suspended note brought us to the close of the show and spring tour.
Over the course of eight shows, Phish’s first proper tour of 2025 showed a band that still has no plans to slow down in their 42nd year, some of the best guitar playing in the modern era, and a commitment to fresh improv that is just another reason why these guys are the greatest band ever – and hopefully this momentum continues when summer tour begins in June.
I continue to feel incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to attend so many amazing shows by my favourite band and can’t wait for what’s in store the rest of the year!