Review by Shawn Perry
As I was getting on the freeway, en route to the Forum, it suddenly dawned on me that I’ve been following Phish for a good 20 years. The Billy Breathes album was my baptism, and I became fully engaged with Phishdom when 1998’s The Story Of The Ghost dropped, seeing two shows a week after its release — one at Shoreline with Neil Young and REM, and a few days later a show of their own at the Greek in LA. From there, I caught every concert they played in Southern California for the next five years.
Regular attendance has waned in the last decade or so, but after witnessing their performance at the Forum during the 2018 Summer tour, that may have to change. It was an evening, the second and final of their LA appearances, of two wiry sets, with extended jams launched at all entry points, bunches of glow sticks intermittently showering the floor as Phish’s infamous lights dance and dart within the confines of the Forum’s caustic catacombs.
The ascent to pandemonium began earnest as the band picked at “Julius” before it started to flow and flounder across the floor and into the upper seating area. Once “Suzy Greenberg” had everyone on their feet, bellowing the chorus, there was no turning back. “Kill Devil Falls” had everyone jumping, while esoteric detours like “Timber” and or the scathing, non-album scratcher “Your Pet Cat” couldn’t even derail the smooth ride filled with Phishy delights for the first set.
The second set was a little more structured, yet equally jam-filled. The groove of “Gotta Jibboo” shook the Forum to its very core. Then the engaging “Fuego” to it up a notch for another 17 minutes of frenetic swagger, howling and interplay. By this time, the audience was in a rhythm, synced and calibrated. Once they got to “Cavern,” arguably one of Phish’s best songs, I was back feeling the allure that first beckoned me to the band in the 90s.
The encore included “Character Zero” from Billy Breathes. This was the album that was supposed to take Phish to greater commercial heights. It did go Gold and briefly snuck inside the Top 10. In all seriousness though, Phish, much like the Grateful Dead, never set out to make hits.
There are great songs that never become hits, and Phish has a lot of them. You just never realize how great they can be until they get road-tested. That’s really where Phish are at. And with record sales tanking and live concerts thriving, would they really want to be anywhere else?
