Phish and their musical costumes
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Musical costume is a term for the band Phish's elaborate Halloween concerts that involved the band performing an entire album by another artist and including it as the second of three sets. For the 1994 and 1995 Halloween shows, Phish "phans" were able to vote via newsletter for their choice in which album was to be played. [1]. Phans were invited to wear Halloween costumes and take part in costume contests and were given a "Phishbill" which identify the album and the band's relationship to it.[2]
Four official musical costumes have been played by Phish in their 21-year career plus one surprise performance of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon on November 2, 1998--just two days after the band performed the music of The Velvet Underground. The band played a total of nine times on Halloween night: 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1998, with costume contests being part of the 1990 and 1994 shows.
All four shows have been released in their entirety as Live Phish Volume 13, 14, 15 and 16.[3]
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[edit] Musical costume 1994: Phish play The Beatles
On Halloween 1994, Phish performed The Beatles' White Album. The band played every song on the double album except "Good Night", which was played over the P.A. at the end of the set ("Birthday" was covered as an instrumental, during which Fishman presented a birthday cake to Brad Sands, the band's road manager).
Before the band took the stage for their second set, the sound technician began playing "Speak to Me" over the PA, leading the audience to believe the band was about to play Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon. However, just at the moment "Breathe" would have begun, the recording immediately cut to a sample of Ed Sullivan introducing The Beatles from their famous February 9, 1964 appearance on his show. The band promptly leapt into "Back in the U.S.S.R."
The show included a Halloween costume contest of audience members and Jon Fishman playing on a vacuum cleaner and gracing the stage in the nude during "Revolution 9". The show reportedly ended past 3:30 a.m. on November 1, 1994. [4]
The show has been released in its entirety as Live Phish Volume 13.
[edit] Musical costume 1995: Phish play The Who
Although the band performed The Who's epic Quadrophenia for Halloween 1995, the voting reportedly ended differently. Frank Zappa's album Joe's Garage got the most votes, but with complex overdubs, potentially offensive lyrics, and several tunes (i.e. "Watermelon in Easter Hay") that Zappa had requested never be performed live again, caused the band to make a decision on Quadrophenia with a horn section instead (which reportedly came in second in the voting)[1]
Later in the night during the band's third set, "You Enjoy Myself" was performed for over forty minutes. The band ended the night with "My Generation", a song made famous by The Who but not included on their Quadrophenia album. The band destroyed their instruments at the end of the encore, just as The Who did decades before.
The show has been released in its entirety as Live Phish Volume 14.
[edit] Musical costume 1996: Phish play Talking Heads
For their third musical costume, Phish's rendition of the Talking Heads' Remain in Light lasted 62 minutes and 16 seconds (compared to the Talking Heads's original, at under 45 minutes; elsewhere reported as 54:12), and featured a horn section and Santana percussionist Karl Perazzo.
The show has been released in its entirety as Live Phish Volume 15.
[edit] Musical costume 1998: Phish play The Velvet Underground
On the second night of a two-night run in Las Vegas, including the previous night's celebration of the band's fifteenth anniversary, the band performed The Velvet Underground's Loaded.
Though many fans were unfamiliar with the album being that the album is not as influential as The Velvet Underground's earlier work, some songs including "Rock and Roll" became concert staples and fan favorites.
The show has been released in its entirety as Live Phish Volume 16.
[edit] Surprise musical costume: Phish play Pink Floyd
Possibly as a way to satisfy fans who were still confused with their choice of a musical costume for Halloween just two days before, fans in West Valley, Utah were treated to a surprise performance of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon sandwiched between the banter of "Harpua" on November 2, 1998.[5]
Unlike the Halloween extravaganzas, the performance has not been officially released but is currently being circulated through fan tape trading websites.
[edit] External links
- Phish's Official Website
- Livephish.com, the band's official download site
- The Phish.Net
- Phish's "Phishbill" from their 10/31/98 performance
- Phish Cover Velvet Underground Album At Halloween Gig
- Phish dress up for Halloween
[edit] References
- ^ a b Halloween vote.
- ^ "Phishbill".
- ^ Phish dress up for Halloween.
- ^ What happened for Halloween '94?
- ^ Phish setlist, November 2, 1998..
