Halloween 2014 Phishbill
Here is expanded take on David Steinberg’s overview of Phish Halloween costumes through the years, brining us up to the present…
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
Editor’s note: Here we share ZZYZX’s take on Halloween 2010, as drawn from his Jambands.com column which appeared two weeks later.
Little Feat is one of those bands that are of a certain time. When I was growing up, they had a lot of airplay on the classic rock station. Perhaps the 4-5 year age difference Phish’s members have on me is crucial here, as they never really spoke to me. “Fat Man in the Bathtub” and “Dixie Chicken” were songs that might not cause me to change the station when they came on the radio on a sunny day, but would never be music that I would actually seek out or anything. As a result I kept pushing back against the Waiting for Columbus rumor.
One thing kept me going as I got the Phishbill. I wasn’t a big fan of the idea of Exile on Main Street either but Phish did an interesting job with it, taking the songs and making them something that I would like. My main problem with Little Feat is that the vast majority of their material is way too slow for my tastes; one thing that Phish could do to make it better for me is to speed things up.
To make a memorable cover, the best approach is to create a synergy between the original band and yourselves. A reinterpretation can show a song (or an album) in a new light, showing what was great about it even for those of us who might not like the original for some reason. It could reveal a secret potential that had existed in the song, but needed a fresh set of ears to bring it forth. Unfortunately, we weren’t going to experience any of that in Atlantic City. The goal this year – with a few exceptions – was to try to reproduce the live Little Feat show as closely as possible. From all reports, that’s a deceptively hard task – and despite my lack of love for the album, none of my issues with the set came from their playing; they nailed the album as well as could be done – but it still does feel like a bit of a missed chance here, a way of seeing what Phish could do with Little Feat instead of hearing them just try to mimic the original.
This seventeen-song album can be roughly divided into thirds – “Join the Band” through “Time Loves a Hero,” “Day or Night through Rocket in My Pocket,” and “Willin’” through “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now.” One of the problems I had with this album is that almost all of my favorite sections were in the middle third. The first six songs, with the welcome break of “Oh Atlanta,” are all mid tempo. They’re competently played and any given one is inoffensive enough, but having them all grouped together is frustrating for people whose tastes don’t run to that style. By “Time Loves a Hero,” I was about as bored as I have ever been at a Phish show.
Fortunately, the set was about to pick up as we moved into the second third. It started out subtly, a little tempo pick up in “Day or Night,” an intense horn section at the end of “Mercenary Blues,” all leading to the three songs that I think most people agree are the peak of the album. “Spanish Moon,” while still slow, uses its tempo to its advantage. Melody rich with strong horn parts and an interesting story, there’s a reason why this is the most popular choice (according to Hidden Track at least) for a song to stick around in rotation. The momentum didn’t stop there either as the “Dixie Chicken> Tripe Face Boogie” combination just cooked. The jam towards the end of “Tripe” was especially hot; this was a time where it really felt like a merger between the two bands, not just one pretending to be the other. These three songs took up nearly a third of the set and were enough to impress a non-fan like me.
Alas that moment would be short lived. After the forgettable (but reasonably rocking) “Rocket in my Pocket,” things would be slowed down again. “Willin’” has a unique distinction for me as being the one song that fell short due to Phish’s performance instead of the material. With the instrument switching and Fishman on vocals, it came across as a novelty live. Only upon hearing the recording did the rather interesting lyrics and surprisingly good piano playing of Mike really shine through. Still though, the excitement that had built was starting to feel like a distant memory, especially when it was followed by three more songs that brought the pace way down. “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now” at least ended things on a high note, but it felt like a struggle getting there.
Having now listened to Waiting for Columbus a few times in an attempt to try to let it grow on me, an additional Achilles Heel becomes apparent: its lyrics. When compared to the other albums (well other than The White Album which is too all over the place to give a summary) Phish have covered, its weakness is glaring. Quadrophenia is about battles between British subcultures and the desire to feel true to the image that you have of yourself even if it forces you to make decisions for stupid reasons. Remain in Light is largely about the oppressive potential of government, the way that facts can be twisted to serve an ideology, and the confusion this creates; there’s even a song set from the point of view of a terrorist. Loaded is filled with slice of life stories of the down and out. Dark Side of the Moon may not have much to bring to the topics, but it addresses issues of aging and war and financial policy. Exile on Main Street falls victim to the rock star nature of the Rolling Stones. So trapped in their insular culture, they’re left to write about what it’s like to be a rock star, but they still manage to present it in such a way that lets outsiders to that world get a feel as to what it might be like.
In contrast, Little Feat’s collection is largely about doing drugs and trying to have sex. Sometimes it’s disguised a bit (“Fat Man in the Bathtub,” “Rocket in My Pocket” which is a ditty about having an erection), others not at all as in the banal “Don’t Bogart That Joint,” but that’s largely what Lowell George had to say [1]. What’s his concern about aging? You won’t be able to perform sexually as easily as you would when you were younger. Yes, that’s the 70s culture, but we’re not in the 70s anymore. It’s a party album about partying, giving few entrances for those who don’t live in that world. Obviously, sex and drugs are a major part of rock and roll, but my favorite albums were always about something more interesting and universal than that.
While I’ve done a lot of explaining how the album falls short for me, some perspective is in order. I know this is the Internet and everything has to be either the best thing ever or completely godawful, but Little Feat hits neither extreme for me. I created a subset of songs (“Join the Band,” “Oh Atlanta,” “Day or Night,” Mercenary Territory,” “Spanish Moon,” “Dixie Chicken,” “Tripe Face Boogie,” “Willin’,” and “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now”) for work and without the slow songs and the two worst lyric offenders, and suddenly it’s a decent showing. Live it’s hard to not notice the half hour that bores you, but on tape you can focus on the hour that you did enjoy.
The best analogy for me came in a flash early in the morning of November 1. It was about 2 AM and I wanted to get some juice to fight off tour ick. I figured also I was in a legendary casino town hours after Phish played a Halloween show. While I’m old and married now, I was curious as to what kind of trouble I could have gotten into if I were so inclined… Much to my surprise, the casino was pretty dead. Yeah there were a few people here milling about gambling, but hardly anyone was still in costume and the place was a quarter full. The most interesting thing that happened was encountering a person who I’m praying was acting in character with his costume (abusive asshole?) or something as he was being rather threatening to his girlfriend [2]. I’m not the biggest Vegas person, but I can promise you that if you went through a major casino late on a Halloween night, it would be exciting. This felt more like being at some random tribal casino on the side of I-5.
I have to admit that going into the trip, I was a little intimidated by Atlantic City. I had never been there before and all I heard about was burnt out shells of buildings and “Don’t even think about venturing off the Boardwalk!” Once you got to your room, the first thing that anyone should do is strip off the sheets and check it out for bedbugs, lest you bring them home. Fortunately, once you got to the Boardwalk, it actually was fun. The Tropicana had a little store that had some cool vegetarian options. The poker room there loved hosting the Phamily Poker Classic and the staff was a delight to work with. The hotel was close to the venue and while the Boardwalk was seedy, it was seedy in an amusing, authentic tourist trappy sort of way that gave a connection to the sketchiness that founded the city. You could easily walk from the venue to the beach and look out at the ocean if you needed a break from people with fingers in the air.
Ultimately for me, Waiting for Columbus was like Atlantic City. They both have fascinating and complex histories. Neither one was as bad as I feared they would be ahead of time; in fact they both had moments where they rather impressed me. However, after Asheville and the Gorge and Indio and Telluride, Atlantic City doesn’t quite stack up. It’s not so much that I hate Little Feat as much as I don’t feel that they rise to the ranks of The Beatles, The Who, Talking Heads, the Velvet Underground, Pink Floyd, or The Rolling Stones. If they do for you, that’s great; many others would say the same thing about the Underground for that matter. For me though, this set ranks as the least good one.
[1] I’m singling out George here because the songs that ventured afield from these two topics were largely not written by him. In his defense though, he had nothing to do with “Don’t Bogart That Joint.”
[2] In the list of overheard conversations that you wish you hadn’t heard, a joking reference of, “Keep that up and I might leave you,” followed by a furious, “Don’t say that. Don’t EVER say that!!!” is about as far from the silly gambling story fun I was hoping for.
2013: Atlantic City, NJ
ZZYZX’s look at the Halloween 2013 performance originally ran on Relix.com, the day after the show.
Halloween, along with New Year’s Eve, is one of the two big Phish holidays. What makes All Hallow’s Eve so special is that Phish put on a costume. For the second set of their show, they take on the mantle of another band. That – appropriately enough for the holiday – adds an element of risk to the night. Even if you ignore the whole ghouls aspect of the day, trick or treaters never knew what exactly they would get. Some people just went for the popular Hersheys or Milky Ways.Others would want to develop our palette and hand out weird things like Mary Janes. Each knock was a new mystery. Sometimes you got a religious tract or a toothbrush, others you might get a full sized candy bar. While it’s a bit churlish to complain about a free gift, let’s be honest here. Kids always warned about which house gave the candy corn. (Disclaimer: I always liked candy corn.)
So sure, everyone knew that the middle set was a present, an extra gift from the band to the fans, but that doesn’t stop any of us from having strong feelings about what they should play and how they should play it. We’re Phish fans after all. Going into the home stretch before the show, the rumor mill focused heavily on four albums. The Allman Brothers’ Eat A Peach and The Band’s Rock of Ages were favorites among those who claimed to have some sort of inside source who leaked a clue or two. Traffic’s On the Road and Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road were popular in the group that liked to look for clues in covers Phish had played or the style of the posters from the tour. Both approaches have given clues in the past. Would it be one of these or would Phish do the impossible and successfully keep a secret in the Internet age?
As we got closer and closer to show time, the rumors got more bizarre. Peter Gabriel was backstage and they would play The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Derek Trucks would join in on Eat a Peach. Radiohead! ZZ Top! Almost every band that existed was mentioned. But when the Phishbill came out it wasn’t any of them. The band that would be played would be Phish. Some brand new songs would be debuted for the album.
Before we could get to the cover set, we had the first set to play.Perhaps out of the desire to play their new material, this was largely forgettable. With no covers, no rare songs, no long jams or memorable moments, the set, while solid – Page’s solo in “Heavy Things,” for example, was a promising start – never really got beyond exceedingly standard Phish. That happens, but when it’s a big show, there’s extra disappointment.
Fortunately we had two sets to go, one of which would feature a lot of new material. That’s been the complaint about the past few years. The band feels sometimes like they might be stuck in a bit of a rut, playing the same old songs over and over again.Few new songs have come out since Joy was released. An entire new album would definitely be a good thing.
According to the Phishbill, the genesis of many of these songs came directly from listening to jams. Phish’s strength lately has been creating some amazing space, funk, and build jams spontaneously in the moment. Improvisation is their core skill. What if they could use the incredible sounds they make in the moment and use them to create something more permanent?
There are interesting contrasts in this material, soaring leads and dark space alternate with harmonies. It’s a different sound for the band; the songs sound like Phish but a different version of the band. There’s definitely a pinch of alt rock influence dropped into mix. That’s especially true for “Snow.” It sounds like Phish trying to cover The Fleet Foxes. This is Phish for the 21st century. There are different instrumentations used – “Monica” was acoustic with Mike on a stand up bass and Jon and Page on stripped down kits. “Snow” also has Trey on an acoustic.“ Amidst the Peals of Laughter” is Trey and Page only. This is a Phish that is trying new and interesting things.
New and interesting is intriguing, but is it good? The first few songs were especially popular. “Fuego” actually caused a spontaneous “Fuego” chant to start up after it ended. The acoustic but high energy “Monica,” the fun “Wombat,” in which a 92 year old Abe Vigoda (who is name checked in the song) came out to dance dressed in a wombat outfit all seem to be keepers that will be in rotation for a while. Perhaps the best song was the Mike led “555.” Even this first version showed where it would stretch out and become a monster. The jam is built into the structure of the song. Phish shows are a constant battle between the structure of the song and the chaos of jams; at its best, the Wingsuit material harnesses that battle, infusing the jams with some design and structure and giving the songs some of the energy of improvisation.
If there’s one problem with debuting an album in this way, it’s that it can be hard work maintaining the focus to digest the songs. There could be a chance that the crowd would be too burnt out from that to be able to enjoy the third set. How do you prevent that? You bring it! The “Ghost” had a jam that was both beautiful and extremely high energy. It came to a stop, there was a pause, and then the “Carini” that followed started off where the “Ghost” went and took it further.
This concert seemed to tell a narrative. The first set acted out the problem. Without new material or new styles of playing, the entire Phish experience could get stale. The second set pointed the way to a new path. It wasn’t just that there were novel songs, but the entire method of creating the material was different. Just as Hegel predicted, whenever there is thesis and antithesis, we can wind up with synthesis. The final set pointed to what could be the final result of Wingsuit. The energy from that creative process can infuse older material with newfound energy.
When I got back to my room and could see the reaction – cell reception is extremely spotty inside the hall – I was initially surprised to see just how negative some fans reacted. Upon reflection though, it does make sense. It’s the difference between being a fan and being in the band. They were perhaps a little too close to their excitement over their new material to see how it would come across. If you think you have a cool surprise, the goal is to try to keep the secret. So you let false rumors spread, maybe even spreading one or two of them yourself, to help hide the real plan. The problem though is that people can have so much fun speculating about what will be played that expectations can reach ridiculous standards. People were arguing for dream albums with dream guests, and starting to expect that as a given. If you love the cover album tradition (and a lot of people really do love it) and don’t know that it is gone for the year, disappointment makes sense.
From the fan perspective, if the departure is that radical, it’s perhaps best to drop a few more blatant hints. Then again past Halloweens have had the 1991 show where Phish playing a weird repetitive game (“Wait”) that infuriated the audience to the point where they started chanting “Fuck you!” back at them and the infamous 1998 “Ghost” where Trey walked off stage, aborting the entire third set just as the jam was starting. It’s Halloween and weird things happen. Sometimes you get the candy, sometimes you get the rock.
Still though, even if you were not thrilled in the moment, one thing that separates Halloween shows from other ones is that they’re as much about how they affect the other shows Phish play as the joy in the moment. Regardless of if you thought the variant cover was amazing or a cheat, there’s no denying after tonight’s show that the band has a new direction to explore. The lasting effects from this material will long surpass any frustration with the change in tradition. In terms of its lasting power, 2013 has the potential to have seen the most influential Halloween set since Remain in Light.
2014: Las vegas, NV
To complete our story, we break from Mr. Steinberg’s account for this overview, which appeared in our news section the following day.
Phish defied expectations across the board last night when they took the stage at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena for what was perhaps the most ambitious performance of the 3.0 era. Recent interviews had led many fans had to believe that the group intended to abandon its longstanding tradition of covering full LPs on Halloween—so the surprise was universal when the Phishbill revealed that they would be putting their spin on Walt Disney Studios’ 1964 record Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of The Haunted House during last night’s second set. Since the 10-track album is mostly composed of sound effects (punctuated by some spooky narration from Laura Osher), the highly theatrical set primarily consisted of original, instrumental material that incorporated samples from different parts of Chilling Thrilling.
While the musical costume set was truly a special treat, there was also plenty of old school Phish to go around. The first set got going with something of a Halloween theme (at least in terms of song titles) as “Buried Alive” kicked the show off before playing into a rocking “Ghost.” The well-executed “Scent of a Mule” that followed featured some top-notch interplay between guitarist Trey Anastasio and keyboardist Page McConnell, as well as an instrumental sword fight between Anastasio and bassist Mike Gordon. Solid takes on “Sample in a Jar,” “Reba” and “46 Days” then gave way to the first “Big Black Furry Creature from Mars” in 87 shows. Next, McConnell took his place at the front of the stage to belt out a “Lawn Boy” that also included a drum solo from Jon Fishman. A rare (though it was played earlier this year) “Saw It Again” then segued into “Tube,” with a powerful “Wolfman’s Brother” finally closing out the set.
In the time between the first and second sets, the stage was revamped to include a graveyard set, along with a spooky gate labeled “P” that appeared to be holding back a couple of zombies. The gate eventually opened and a large haunted house was pushed to the front of the stage as zombies danced around the structure. A zombie woman then emerged from a tomb that was labeled “ESTHER” to deliver Osher’s narration from Chilling Thrilling before the band went into their interpretation of the album’s first track, “The Haunted House” (the undead woman would also return to offer narration prior to each song). The next tune—titled “The Very Long Fuse”—ended with a literal bang, as the walls of the haunted house came crashing down to reveal the band inside. The quartet, who were all wearing white tuxedos and had their faces painted like zombies, then went into the heavy-hitting combo of “The Dogs” and “Timber.”
Phish also made good use of a screeching cat sample on the next track, “Your Pet Cat” before the undead dancers and their Thriller-esque moves returned during “Shipwreck.” The influence of Ennio Morricone could then be heard on “The Unsafe Bridge,” while the band added some serious psychedelia to the liquidy sounds of “The Chinese Water Torture.” Next came “The Birds,” which found the band effectively building a jam around a sample of the narrator shouting “we attack.” Finally, the bold experiment came to a close as the band blasted off into the set’s longest number, the delightfully trippy “Martin Monster.” A number of zombies made their way to front of the stage for the song, which ended with the band stepping out of the haunted house to join the ranks of the undead (and take a bow).
While the reaction to last year’s Wingsuit (aka Fuego, sort of) musical costume was decidedly mixed, last night’s effort left most in attendance yearning for more. Fortunately, there was still another full set of Phish left in the tank and the band did not disappoint. The third set got started with the year’s second “Punch You In The Eye,” which then gave way to a gorgeous “Golden Age” before the band launched into a crowd-pleasing “Tweezer.” Just when it seemed like the song was about veer into uncharted territory, the band switched gears by segueing seamlessly into “Heavy Things.” A fun “Guyute” kept things interesting before the night’s longest number, a supremely funky 18+ minute “Sand,” got the crowd grooving. Glowsticks galore then went flying across the arena, as the tune abruptly jammed into a rare non-encore “Tweezer Reprise” to put the exclamation point on the third set. Finally, Phish made their way back out to the stage to debut a somewhat reserved cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Is This What You Wanted” before McConnell took up the keytar to help the group cover Edgar Winter Group’s instrumental classic “Frankenstein” for the first time in 100 shows. The tune, which was the first song that Phish performed during their first musical costume show in 1994, was a fitting end to a spectacular night of music.
2016: Las Vegas, NV – 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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David Steinberg got his Masters Degree in mathematics from New Mexico State University in 1994. He first discovered the power of live music at the Capital Centre in 1988 and never has been the same. His Phish stats website is at http://www.ihoz.com/PhishStats.html and he’s on the board of directors for The Mockingbird Foundation. He now tweets and has a daily update on the Phish Stats Facebook page
His book This Has All Been Wonderful is available on Amazon, the Kindle Store, and his Create Space store.
