Halloween is arguably the most anticipated show Phish plays. The band always keeps fans guessing, and over the years their epic theatrics on this holy musical holiday have become nothing short of legendary. Last night Phish added to their legacy as the hint from their Jimmy Fallon soundcheck from earlier this summer came to full fruition. Handing out Phishbills with band members posing as David Bowie from his masterpiece “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars”, show goers caught the trick and prepared for the treat.
Set 1
It was a straightforward first set on Halloween framed by tight, fierce Type I music. Switching things up, the band strayed from another 2014 Halloween tune to open the set and instead wasted zero time in taking the stage and dropping a ferocious “Carini”. Looping back to the opener theme, “Your Pet Cat” followed before ten more tunes were offered to kick off the evening’s festivities. “Wolfman’s Brother” had an extra little pop to it, and “Petrichor” saw another live take, while an enjoyable “Antelope” capped the set. I wouldn’t say there was much of any risk taking during the first frame last night, but the 1.5 hours of music offered featured a strong song selection and wove together well.
Set II
Subjectively I had hoped the band had more Phishyness in store for the Halloween set, something that would speak to what went down in 2014. Instead they decided to honor one of their most beloved heroes, a musical icon so influential that “you can’t point to anyone else in rock who was relevant for so long”, according to keyboardist Page McConnell. Drummer Jon Fishman offered that there’s more David Bowie music in Phish than fans might think, with their performance of Bowie’s masterpiece on Monday supporting that claim in spades.
To cover the Ziggy Stardust album the quartet was joined by a vocal and string arrangement that added to the cover profoundly. Phish did an exceptional job with not only nailing the music, but the theatrical feeling that is elicited from this album. The vocal harmonization throughout, but especially during tunes like “Moonage Daydream” and “Starman” showed how much effort must have gone into practicing for this night. Last night was like a different Phish showing a more intricate side of them. “Ziggy Stardust” and “Suffragette City” brought the venue to the biggest collective pulse of the costume set, but truly this set must be viewed as a whole take in a sincerely complete manner. From the perspective of a fan who wasn’t necessarily super excited for the album, Phish knocked it out of the park, and once again showed why they are as unique of a band as there is in music today.
Set III
After a set of music that didn’t stray far from form in set one, followed by an impeccably offered cover of Ziggy Stardust, I think a lot of people were thinking two things: How deep will this set go, and how big is the “Bowie” jam gonna be? Well the third set had some moments, but in terms of exploratory music this set didn’t come close to where the previous three nights ventured. That said, halfway into “Sand” a groundswell of funky beats started to give way to a blazing bliss jam that was a clear prominent point for the night. The other major highlights of the set was some of the more interesting space explored during “2001” with “Fame” teases, as well as a beautiful peak to end “Slave”. Coming out for an acapella “ Space Oddity” was a another touching and poignant way to honor David Bowie. The crowd was as locked in here as at any point all evening, and as the band walked off the stage it almost seemed as though there would be another encore. As atypical as that would be Halloween would certainly be the night to break form, but alas the night was done.
In the end, Phish added another notch to their belt in Las Vegas last night, and really with this run as a whole. With last night, many were floored that the beloved Phish song “David Bowie” never saw the stage, but then again, Phish clearly felt though they didn’t need to throw that into the mix. While the previous three nights all had clear salient highlights last nights were mixed more so, being spread throughout each set in purely distinct ways. At the end of another fall tour there’s plenty of highlights to listen back on from Las Vegas while the band takes a break before their annual New Year’s run at MSG in New York City.
