EDITOR’s NOTE: Jam in the Stream was at all three Hollywood Bowl shows. This is the first of three reviews, and we’re starting with the writer’s favorite first, though he absolutely loved all three.
There was definitely electricity in the air when Phish cranked up their third of three shows at Hollywood Bowl.
It lit up my brain.
We were gathered for the eighth and last show of the band’s spring West Coast tour, and it was a Sunday.
For Phans, this “was religion,” as a friend’s sort-of aunt had commented in a pre-show dinner. She did not attend, but inquired about this band that we all have seen so many times. We did our best to explain, and she, Serbian but now living in Los Angeles, concluded our dedication “to do something for yourself, but this religiously, is very unusual.”
So “Birds of a Feather" felt like an appropriate opener, a nod to all of us “flocking outside.”
The bluesy “Roggae" in the two-spot was a comforting choice as we anticipated the unfolding of this show.
“If life were easy”
And then "Divided Sky” as daylight turned to night in the Hollywood Hills divided the sky just about right.
The good feels were flowing between Phish and its fanbase, and Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon hopped (up and down) on stage playing their guitars, sans trampolines, before Trey hit the early peaks of the composition.
When the pause came in, Trey stood at the crowd and gazed, as the electricity poured in from all directions, the phans showered the band with love for a solid 61 seconds before the band picked it back up.
The electricity was on even when the amplification wasn’t being used.
And Chris Kuroda’s incredible light rig started to pop even more inside the Hollywood Bowl dome as the night sky darkened in the dusk.
If you didn’t know it was on by now, a lit version of the Talking Heads’ cover “Cities” was the next indicator on a night the band just kept reminding us all why we love them.
Trey hit the one effect pedal that I most associate with the Jedi imagery that some of us like to associate with him even before the band embarked on the ensuing jam.
It’s a very psychedelic, almost brassy, effect and his phrasing briefly rolled up and down a few times in some funky yet melancholy phrasing. Trey’s playing was stellar throughout the jam.
All members were contributing in unique ways on this jam, which is always the case when Phish is at their improvisational best. Mike moving up and down with buttery bass lines, Page McConnell’s keyboard play on point, delivering funk throughout, and drummer Jon Fishman keeping things tight, loose and punctual. Trey kept exploring ideas in and around the funk.
At around the 13-minute mark, Trey slowed things down and seemed to be heading for the exit. But, no, the band extended the jam on a deep space mission and got the track just shy of the 19-minute mark. He opted for another guitar pedal, a high-pitched one that clearly is used to communicate with the aliens, and Kuroda turned Trey green while the bowl itself had a blue background. Perfect for the galactic quest Trey led.
A lot of ground was covered in the jam, and by that, I don’t mean the electricity was grounded.
“Tube” brought more funk, and it was delivered by everyone once the song’s lyrics had been versed out, especially by Mike and Page throughout.
The funk that broke in “Tube,” delivered by all four, not the least of which by Mike and Page, was something to behold.
I had already been dancing like a maniac during Cities, thankfully in the comfort of a terrace box with my friend in front and in the aisle, and this deliberate funk that kept escalating as the band resumed their space quest, kept taking us all to new places.
“On a freeway in Los Angeles
Once the spraying had been done”
Trey was being clever in his delivery of that verse, but the love Phish sprayed the crowd with had only just begun.
Next was “Taste,” and it kept the cosmic theme going.
“Step into space
Alter my place”
Phish timed “About to Run,” perfectly to end the set.
“In flight, I can turn away
Exhale, the memories are a little bit lighter
The wounds, the fever
The wrong was long ago,
The wrong was long ago
Liar, Liar!”
The fans gave back between passages, and Fishman gave a big bop of his bass drum.
Trey casually ripped the guitar solo later in this song, and Kuroda flashed the blue-red, almost purple strobes, before blowing out the dome with the white strobes and then twisting his new rig to some of the prettiest arrangements that it’s never been capable of before this tour.
The “Mr. Completely,” second set opener was another solid choice in the opening slot.
Trey telegraphed early in this song that he intended to keep the electricity on, and the rest of the band followed through. Trey’s guitar tone hinted at the seriousness of this mission. There was beauty and there was urgency in it all, and Page’s work on the boards backed up those assertions.
For the second time, Divided Sky being the first, LivePhish clocked a song at 18:48 with Mr. Completely. This was the deeper exploration given the amount of actual jam time compared to the more-composed version of Divided Sky.
The improvisation in this Mr. Completely is the stuff that brings great joy to phans. It took us places, and defeated demons, walked triumphantly and joyously through enchanted forests, and had us swimming up to the rush of waterfalls.
Most of all, it had the ingredients that heal souls.
The whole band was on fire in this jam, and Jon Fishman brought intent as Kuroda’s blue-reds splashed the band.
An up-tempo “A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing” felt like a nod to the nearby Pacific.
And Trey’s Jedi tone was in full effect as the band launched back into the jam, Mike’s bass dropping buttery bombs.
This one was shorter, and maybe overshadowed in a second set with several highlights but here I am talking about it.
It packed some serious heat, and Kuroda did some of his best work of the night on this one, hovering a blinky, blue spaceship inside the Bowl as the band worked up a cosmic jam.
Then Phish, doing what it loves to do, brought back “Mr Completely” for what was clocked at 57 seconds, according to LivePhish.
“Comes in completely in,
Comes in completely in”
“Wolfman’s Brother” was one of a few consecutive choices, I think, to comfort and prepare the assembled pham well in advance of the outright chilling, thrilling and dirty ending that was in store. This jam had its funk, the band syncopated at times, led by Trey bringing a plinky vibe as Mike bounced his bass lines around Fish’s beat.
The electricity was still on.
Phish never let up in this show, and as this Wolfman’s got the band well past the halfway mark of the second set, Trey kept the ideas flowing even as he took things to a serene place, the song taking nearly 14 minutes. There were “Super Bad” quotes in this version, according to the setlist wizzes at Phish.net.
“Ruby Waves,” and its lyricism offered more comfort.
“When I die I’ll turn into a tiny ball of energy”
Trey took the song’s idea for an urgent, almost mournful ride before ripping it good and taking it on several spacey passages.
Phish next played a “Giboo” that saw Trey deploy spacey effects, leading to joyful playing before getting dirty, with Page really stepping it up here.
The show was nearing completion, this memorable Phish show, and yet some of its best moments were still to come.
A few of my friends called the ensuing “No Quarter,” within two notes, and this was my favorite moment of the night.
Page had us all.
Fully psychedelic in effects, both on his keys and on his vocals.
Fishman released some of the tension with his opening volley on the kit.
“Close the door, put out the light
You know they won’t be home tonight
Snow falls hard and don’t ya know?
The winds of Thor are blowing cold”
Trey’s effect pedal and the ensuing guitar riffs blasted us all through the next realm.
It was a moment we all were waiting for, whether we knew it or not.
“Walking side by side with death
The devil mocks their every step
Snow drives back the foot that’s low
The dogs of doom are howling more”
Page’s delivery was simply magnificent. Every key, every line, given with a level of animation an entertainer cannot fake.
The rest of the band, including Kuroda, did not miss a cue.
The “Possum” that closed out the set was a feel-good exclamation point, one last chance to let out any remaining energy, and it turned out there was enough left in the Bowl, in the band and their elated phans, to fry a transformer.
But Phish saved a little bit more.
“Wilson,” the first of two encores was short but quite welcome, and not a single person in attendance did not participate howling the song’s namesake.
We were thick as thieves, as they say.
“Inasfar as fiefdom, I think you bad crook”
A 9-minute “Slave to the Traffic Light” sent us all back to our homes peacefully and gracefully. One, friend said it, along with the Cities, Mr. Completely and No Quarter, would be enough to sustain him for the next six months.
He was not wrong.
I know this was one show that will keep my brain lit up for some time.