Phish has a long history of playing Halloween shows. While most fans might think that that starts on 10/31/94, Glens Falls was actually Phish’s 6th show on that date. Perhaps the most infamous of the early concerts was the 1991 show in Colorado Springs, as the band chose that night to debut the pseudo-song joke known as “Wait.”
The structure of “Wait” is simple enough. The band would play a riff – in this case the intro to the then brand new “It’s Ice” – and then say, “Wait,” as though they messed it up, and then would repeat it. Then they would act as though they made another mistake, say, “Wait,” and then repeat the riff again. This repetition could go on for some time when they were in the mood. Phish played this joke at the beginning of “Llama,” and then again between “Fee” and “My Sweet One,” and then yet again before “David Bowie.” As funny as that joke may have been for the band, it was a lot less enjoyable for the crowd. By the final “Wait,” the crowd screamed obscenities back at them in a twisted sort of call and response. Good times.
Running jokes, macaroni and cheese box jams, and rumors of Fishman wearing an elephant costume that shouldn’t be described in a family paper, that’s what the early years of Halloween were made of. Still though, it was in a radio interview in the summer of 1994 when Phish decided to turn Halloween into an event. Not only did Trey say that there would be a Halloween show but he announced that the band would be covering an album to be voted on upon the fans. A new tradition was born!
1994: Glens Falls, NY – the year of excitement
Befitting Halloween, this was a weird night. Tickets were exceedingly tight which led to rumors that people were smashing through the roof to try to get in. Security decided to do their bit by seemingly confiscating any prop that people might have had for their costume. It wasn’t all tricks mind you. Phish were inspired by the Halloween spirit to provide chocolate coins with the Phish logo stamped into them; these were handed out at the door as you entered.
The show started up with the apropos “Frankenstein” and continued the theme through the mid set “Harpua.” In this version, Jimmy accidentally played a copy of Barney’s Greatest Hits backwards, and heard Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.” The story purported to tell the story of the first Halloween, one where Harpua’s owner encountered a strange vibration which mixed with the Satanic Halloween spirits to become The Vibration of Death. Regardless of the costume, they were going to run with the Halloween theme.
This night was all about the novelty and excitement over being able to pull off such a stunt. As the lights went out for the second set, people were thrilled to hear the opening sound effects of “Speak to Me.” However, right as the cries that lead into “Breathe” were played over the PA, the track suddenly switched. We were now listening to Ed Sullivan introduce The Beatles and as the girls screamed in the recording, Phish started up “Back in the U.S.S.R.” It would be the Beatles’ White Album.
While the extreme length of the album meant that Phish had to play this fairly close to the studio version, they still managed to put their imprint upon the work in some subtle ways. “Glass Onion” references “The Fool on the Hill” in the lyrics. Phish changed that to a “Guyute” reference and then made sure that everyone knew that the walrus was actually their soundman Paul Languedoc. “Rocky Raccoon” had the surreal gender swap of, “But everyone knew him as Nancy,” referencing Richard Wright, the friend of the band who wrote “I Didn’t Know” and “Halley’s Comet” and who was saddled with that nickname. In addition to that, “Don’t Pass Me By” was rearranged to have a bluegrass feel (Note for those who only know this set through the Live Phish release: After the line, “You were in a car crash and you lost your hair,” Fish screams, “Lost your hair?! OH NO!” Somehow this didn’t make this onto the soundboard.) However, the one lasting memory of the night came at the end of the set. Fishman just couldn’t resist the call of “Revolution 9,” and followed the advice of, “If you become naked,” and doffed his clothes. Nudity is a costume too right?
This year might have been an experiment, but if you asked anyone who was filing out of the venue at 3:20 AM, they would have called it a success. It’s not surprising then that this would become a tradition.
The Phishbill debuted in 1996
1995: Rosemont, IL – the year of the rest of the show
Sure enough, 1995 brought with it another Halloween show and another fan vote. Despite the repeat of the idea, the first set made it abundantly clear that this was not going to be Phish going through the motions, as it was bookended by bizarre stories. The opening “Icculus” was Halloween-themed as the usually omnipotent Helping Friendly Book was having some difficulties. In fact, as Trey memorably screamed, “The book is getting its ass kicked!”
Perhaps it was these evil book destroying spirits that led to the story in the “Harpua.” Instead of the usual cat vs. dog fight, Mike, as is his wont, told a story about a dream. He was in his parents’ house, which was being besieged by raccoons. Mike’s strategy was to push the multitudes of ring tailed mammals into the bedroom but he is ultimately freaked out when he discovers that they’re, “Tiny raccoons! BABY RACOONS!” As befitting a Mike story, this narrative is both surreal and highly quotable.
The band costume this year was Quadrophenia. This cover was the one closest to the studio album. Perhaps that was necessary due to the complex nature of the album with its interlacing themes. That doesn’t mean that there were no interesting details, perhaps the coolest of which is that Phish made a recording of “The Kids Are Alright” to play over the PA at the end of “Helpless Dancer” to match the studio version. In addition to being an impressive feat and providing Phish with “Drowned” to jam on in the future, this set might have had ramifications for The Who. In 1996, The Who reunited to perform Quadrophenia. While they never came out and said that the reunion was in response to Phish’s performance, the timing was awfully coincidental.
How do you top covering an album that many thought could not be performed, not even by the original band? How about with a 40 minute “You Enjoy Myself?” This version is a fan favorite and – like the “Icculus” or the “Harpua” would probably have been a highlight of the tour if it were just played on some random night.
The encore drove home the difference between Phish and The Who. After performing a bluegrass-tinged arrangement of “My Generation,” the band destroyed their instruments in tribute. When Townshend destroyed his guitars, it was a violent act. He would smash it against the microphone stand or the floor of the stage. Phish’s rampage channeled the spirit of suburbia. They were quite meticulous. Fishman used a hammer to do his destruction, making it seem like he was consulting a manual the whole time. The act concluded with a giant cartoony plunger being produced in order to dynamite the drum kit. Same results, but a much different image.
1996: Atlanta, GA – the year of rearrangement
The first two Halloween shows created a pattern. Phish would take a vote from the fans, figure out an album, drop hints that it would be a completely different album, and then switch off at the last second. All of the selections – even the rejected Joe’s Garage – were double albums to help fill out a set. 1996 broke all of the rules. The band chose the album themselves and – rather than play some misdirection game – handed out Phishbills to explain why exactly they chose Remain in Light. At first, people thought it was an elaborate prank. When Trey referenced David Byrne’s “Once in a Lifetime” dance during “Fly Famous Mockingbird,” that seemed akin to the claim to the previous year’s “Harpua,” where Jimmy was allegedly listening to the album that Phish was going to play that year – Thriller.
Sometimes when you’re a prankster, the best trick is to be straightforward. No one will believe you anyway. Sure enough, lights went down for the second set, and they counted down to “Born Under Punches,” much to the surprise of the people who were told multiple times that this was what was going to happen.
Since Remain in Light is a single album, Phish had to rework the album to make it fit a set. Instead of the strict costume that the White Album and Quadrophenia were, this set was a melding. The first 25 minutes of the set (“Born Under Punches,” “Crosseyed and Painless,” “The Great Curve”) are the highlight of the set, and arguably one of the best moments of Phish’s career. The songs are both lengthened and sped up, to the point where the actual Talking Heads album can sound passive once you get used to Phish’s versions.
After “Once in a Lifetime” (which was surprisingly not one of the more popular songs of the set, despite being the only one that most people knew going into it), the album became more mellow to the point where Mike actually sat in an armchair for “Seen and Not Seen.” The set ended on a surreal note with random phrases being repeated through a bullhorn and Colonel Bruce Hampton, Ret.) operating a jackhammer on stage and televisions being tuned to static-filled pictures. Talking Heads’ desire for visual stunts met Phish’s wackiness and that was the result.
The lesson of 1996 was that Phish could range a little further in their choices of covers. They could choose a more obscure band and could use the freedom of obscurity to expand and redefine the songs. Both of those trends would be extended in Las Vegas.
1998: Las Vegas, NV – the year of confusion
If Remain in Light was an obscure album, at least most fans knew of Talking Heads and there was a hit off of the album. The Velvet Underground were a cult band, beloved by those who knew them but completely unknown to most of the rest of the world. Loaded might be their most accessible album, but the closest thing to a hit on it is probably the Cowboy Junkies cover of “Sweet Jane,” and even that is largely known for being on the Natural Born Killers soundtrack.
Freed from any expectation about what the album should or must sound like, Phish really opened things up. While the original Loaded clocks in at under 40 minutes, the cover set was nearly twice that length. Both “Rock and Roll” and “Lonesome Cowboy Bill” cracked the 10 minute barrier, tripling the length of those songs. Loaded went to where Remain in Light pointed; Phish didn’t just cover the album, they made it their own.
Phish love buying into the concept of evil Halloween spirits changing the nature of their songs. 1994 had the “Vibration of Death,” 95 corrupted “Icculus,” and in 1996 the evil Halloween version of the Famous Mockingbird pecked out Colonel Forbin’s eyes and left The Helping Friendly Book sitting in Wilson’s castle. At the Thomas and Mack Center, it wasn’t enough just to say that a song became evil; they actually demonstrated it.
It all started out innocently enough in the third set with an appropriately titled “Wolfman’s Brother.” However, the set would soon be detoured into an incredibly dark jam. The fanbase is divided on this 30 minute version. Some think it’s one of the best things Phish have ever played while others have been known to endlessly attack it; Phish seem to be in the former camp as a clip from this jam was used as the background music for the Save the Date animation. “Piper” distilled the darkness for a moment, but the real weirdness happened in “Ghost.” After a brief attempt at a jam, Trey suddenly put down his guitar and walked off stage, ending the set. People were left bewildered. Ghostus Interuptus aka, “I feel I never told you the story of Ghost… and I still haven’t!”
The confusion that night was only compounded three days later in Utah. Apparently the contrast between playing a show with an impossible ticket in Vegas followed by a half sold Salt Lake City event, led to a desire to return to the old, “You Snooze, You Lose,” rule of summer 1994. Not only did the E Center attendees get the “Harpua” that usually was a Halloween treat, but they got an album performance of their own, the far more well known Dark Side of the Moon. While this was a much more straightforward rendition – Phish: The Biography confirms they learned the entire album that afternoon – the contrast between the popularity of the selections led to anger in some sections of the Phish fandom. Over time Loaded probably stands as the better set of music, but a lot of people were bewildered at the time.
2009: Indio, CA – the year of the festival
2009 went big. There was plenty of eye candy – mountains and palm trees by day, Burbles and fiery oil rigs and lit up palm trees at night – along with the art installation. Joshua Tree National Park was close enough for some exciting day trips.
Festival 8 was the second time that Phish combined a festival with a holiday tradition. While Big Cypress felt more like a festival than a New Year’s show – the midnight fireworks and “Auld Lang Syne” were long forgotten by the time the sun came up – Indio was more of a Halloween show than a festival. Maybe it was due to the number of people staying in hotels instead of on site or because both of the three set shows had a special set, but the main focus of Indio was on the unique sets, the surprisingly good acoustic noon Sunday performance and the cover of Exile on Main Street.
The one thing that made Exile different from the other albums was the use of guests for vocals. They have had horn sections and percussionists before but Sharon Jones and Saunda Williams added a new element. In addition to being amazing during the second half of the album – “All Down the Line” and “I Just Want to See His Face” would not have worked nearly as well without them, they also helped solve the one problem with making this the Halloween treat.
While Loaded had “Lonesome Cowboy Blues” and “Sweet Jane” played a handful of times before the costume set, Exile on Main Street contains a song that actually is in rotation. What would Phish do with “Loving Cup” to make it special? Instead of the usual mid song build to a peak, we had the repeated refrain of “Give a little drink” with a horn arrangement below it. Instead of being an argument against performing Exile, it turned out to be one of the strongest songs in the set.
Not content to lend their vocal talents to the Stones, Jones and Williams returned for the encore, giving “Suzy Greenberg” a call and response segment. That’s the advantage of having guests for your Halloween albums. If they’re just sitting around, they’re likely to get used. Even if the Exile set were horrible, it would have been worth it just for the encore.
2010: Atlantic City, NJ – the year of ???
Speculating about the album is a lot of fun, but now it is almost at an end. Will Mike be right that this is the best one that Phish have played? What about these random clues that have been dropped – red herrings or things that will make sense later?
Regardless of the answer, if there’s one lesson that the previous years have taught, it’s that it’s almost irrelevant what the actual album is. Rooting for one’s preference is fun, but the more obscure album sets have become more popular than the obvious ones. Enjoy the arguments but remember that the vast majority of the songs played in the cover set will never again be played by Phish. Don’t get so caught up in your desires that you don’t actually enjoy the moment.
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Author’s Note: This article could not have been nearly as accurate without the help of the new Phish.net. Thanks is due to the volunteers for all of their hard work to make Phish research much easier.
