Phish Invades LA Forum For High-Energy Show (Review)

They opened with “Martian Monster.” They closed with “You Enjoy Myself.”

For many a Phish fan, not much else needs to be said to know that the band’s latest trek through Los Angeles was a treat.

But sandwiched between the raucous intergalactic first-time opener (only the third time the band has ever played “Martian Monster” after its Halloween 2014 debut) and the iconic – yet rare closer (“YEM” has been the encore only 16 times out of 569 live performances over the years) was a two-set, three-hour high-energy Saturday night rock show at the revered Forum, loaded with musical precision and free-flowing funk , and it all made for a whole lot of fun for the crowd and the band alike.

As soon as keyboardist Page McConnell launched the inaugural lyrical sample from “Martian Monster,” with the female narrator letting the crowd know that “Your spaceship is about to blast off… your trip is short,” the packed house erupted in a roar, instantly igniting the night’s nearly three-hour dance party.

Fresh off his “Fare Thee Well” run with the remaining members of the Grateful Dead prior to Phish’s summer tour kickoff, Trey Anastasio’s guitar was especially crisp throughout, whether navigating an extended solo or exploring the intricacies of playing off of bassist Mike Gordon as Mike’s booming riffs echoed through the hallowed venue.

The third stop – and fourth show – on the Vermont quartet’s summer tour seamlessly blended perennial fan favorites (“Down With Disease”; “Carini”; “My Friend, My Friend”; “Limb by Limb”; “Tweezer” albeit sans reprise; “Slave to the Traffic Light”) with newer staples like “555,” “Waiting All Night,” “Fuego” and the fresh-out-of-the-box “No Men In No Man’s Land.”

While the nearly 18,000 phans in attendance – including some famous faces like Regina Spektor, Metallica’s Robert Trujillo and the world’s tallest jam band fan Bill Walton – beamed and bounced throughout the show, Trey, Mike, Page and drummer Jon Fishman were clearly equally enjoying their latest LA tour stop.

Trey bopped around the stage with a childlike giddiness beginning to end, and the band took several opportunities to goof off during the show, whether it was Mike and Trey lying on their backs pedaling their feet in the air during “Ya Mar,” a spirited trampoline session or an expertly executed instrument swap between Mike and Trey during the “YEM” encore, the band put their signature stamp on their latest Forum gig (they played the same stage just 10 months earlier, in October 2014).

The end result was a show that, top to bottom, set itself apart in the band’s extensive road catalogue — or at least, in my own modest collection of Phish ticket stubs, if not solely on musicality, unarguably in energy and enthusiasm.

Phish will next head to Texas for back-to-back nights in Austin and Grand Prairie on July 28-29 and then head east before circling back west to conclude their summer tour with three straight nights in Commerce City, Colo., on Labor Day weekend.

— Eric Anderson