I'm not going to do a song by song, but I will speak my mind about this awesomely weird show. This was by far superior to the last time Phish was at the Hollywood Bowl.

I was hoping for a SOAM because the last boring Bowl melt and last years BGCA 2 meltwreck I caught were both pretty bad (2012 BGCA II's started out great, it just trainwrecked into the outro, sometimes I wish I'd never started djaying). Unfortunately they didn't play it this night. No Melt at Dick's last year so I'm guessing there'll be a BIG ONE there this year.

I agree that openers do set the tone positively and/or negatively for a set, show etc. DUH, but a bunk slow song at the wrong middle point to a set can do far worse imho (see BGCA II this year, peaks and valleys baby). This show had some mediocre opener song choices and super strong middle/end of set highlights.

Let me start by saying, "hello PERFECT WEATHER." SF was a needed cool down but I'm glad to be home.

Sparkle was fun in front of a stiff LA crowd and Wolfman's Bro had some interesting moments but Mule ruled the first set for me. The "drums" section with Fish HAMMERING Mike's bass is something I'll never forget. WMGGW was strong and had beautiful lights albeit a little slow for a closer (It was a Bowl style closer respecting the Beatles, I get it).

sand>DWD>MFMF>hOOD was great, (my caps showing my interpretation of what had the best energy for me) In fact, the way that shows are going I think if they'd opened set II with that segment instead of basically closing w/ it, this show would have a better rating as the LA crowd seemed to lose interest after MFMF's energy (See the higher rating of last years Long Beach show which I thought fell off post R&R > Ghost). I personally loved the energy switch up, kind of like Friday's unexpected PYITE>DWD set II opener in SF. Also, since I've been a little anti-Hood as of late, this was REFRESHING. This was my 14th and best Hood. I disagree with reviews that compare it to the Tahoeweezer. Tahoeweezer was an ultra happy (not dark at all) energetic guitar dominated mountain rock n roll style jam with spacey deconstructions intermingled. This Hood was of an almost all ambient, chill variety with a great uplifting Page piano section in the middle and some small rock segments that I think is where this comparison is being drawn-along with the happiness. Moving on, if Tahoeweezer can override a mediocre first set, this Hood can fill the voids here too. When the "you can feel good" section came back in 21 some minutes later it was magical. I'm so happy to have caught this Hood!

Character Zero isn't my favorite, but this one fit well as the energetic crowd "shout a long" of the night. I've seen Loving Cup WAY too many times, even prior to Festival 8's best version but again, it was fueled by the Hood. Yes there were LA douche's here, chatting it up for sure. I just moved closer to avoid them. My rating is of the band, not the bowl, not the crowd, not the glow stick wars, not the vibe, the BAND. All in all, a 5/5 for the best and most unexpected Hood I've seen. THE HOLLYHOOD overrode the shortcomings of this show. Oh and of course, the best lights I've ever seen at a Phish show which is factored into my rating as Kuroda is the 5th member Sound is more important to me however so PLEASE PLAY THE SPORTS ARENA NEXT TIME YOU COME TO LA PHISH!