Dear Phish: Halloween 2009

Many of you regularly bathing, upstanding citizens might not be aware of the magnitude of Phish's recently announced 3-Day Halloween Festival, which is all-but-confirmed to take place in Indio, California October 30-November 1.

Beginning in 1994, Phish began one of their greatest traditions by putting on their "musical costume" and covering someone else's album in it's entirety on Halloween. In 1994 they covered The Beatles' White Album, in 1995 The Who's Quadrophenia, in 1996 the Talking Heads' Remain in Light, and in 1998 the Velvet Underground's Loaded (with a surprise rendition of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon two nights later).

As to be expected with such a dedicated (mildly obsessed) fan-base, speculation is running rampant as to what album Phish will choose for their first Halloween show in over a decade. Here's my personal wish list, along with some honorable mentions.

1. Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced

All that I need to say is: "Purple Haze > Manic Depression > Hey Joe, The Wind Cries Mary > Fire > Third Stone From the Sun > Foxy Lady."

2. Led Zeppelin - II

"Heartbreaker > Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman) > Ramble On > Moby Dick." If they could swing the vocals on this one it could be incredible.

3. Grateful Dead - American Beauty

This would be so good that it will clearly never happen.

4. David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

Do I even need to list all of the ways this would be awesome? I'm skeptical as to whether Phish could pull this one off vocally though.

5. Frank Zappa - Joe's Garage

According to legend, Joe's Garage was initially selected for Halloween 1995, "but with insanely complex overdubs, potentially offensive lyrics, and several tunes (esp. Watermelon in Easter Hay) that Zappa had requested never be performed live again, the band (after learning a considerable amount of it) decided they just couldn't make it sound like it should and chose to instead play Quadrophenia."

While unlikely, I think the distinct possibility of Phish covering a double album over the span of two nights deserves mention:

Pink Floyd - The Wall

So what if Phish already covered Dark Side of the Moon? The Wall is one of the greatest albums ever made; "In the Flesh?" is one of my all-time favorite openers and songs like "Mother" "One of My Turns" "Comfortably Numb" and "Run Like Hell" are just begging to be played by this band.

Guns 'n' Roses - Use Your Illusion 1 & 2

While some of the songs off these albums could be outstanding, most forget that there are 30 tracks between the two albums, and, honestly, only about 10 worth covering. This would be a lot of new material to learn and I'm not sure if Phish can match off Axl Rose's vocals.

Finally, no list would be complete without mentioning Michael Jackson's Thriller. While I could see Phish pulling a fake-out and opening with "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin" - but beyond that playing the entire album might be beyond their vocal (and dancing) abilities.

3 Day Phish Halloween Festival

I could not be more excited.

Phish, the greatest band to ever grace this Earth, just announced a 3 day festival over Halloween weekend (10/30-11/01) at a location to be announced (Vegas?).

Having just returned from 4 awesome nights of Phish and gearing up for another run in August, I was just starting to wonder when Phish would make their Halloween plans. Considering Michael Jackson's recent death, it wouldn't be that surprising if Phish covered "Thriller" in it's entirety on Halloween - but that might be a little too predictable. Personally, I would kill to hear them attempt Frank Zappa's "Joe's Garage" - but I doubt that as well.

What will they play? Who knows. I'm sure I'll revisit this topic. I'm just ecstatic that they're playing.

Phish Live From Some Guy's iPhone

This might be the greatest thing to ever happen to me, especially considering my recent plea to Phish to broadcast their shows live on the internet:

Phish. Streaming. Live. Free.

I just watched the opening notes of "Squirming Coil." I didn't have to wait for Twitter to tell me what's playing, nor will I have to wait until tomorrow to hear the show (though the next day's recordings will undoubtedly be higher quality).

This guy might single-handedly be responsible for pushing Phish into giving us live broadcasts in the near-future. There are 3,825 people watching through this guy's iPhone right now. In mathematical terms - 3,825 people x $10 a person = $38,250 (equivalent of 765 tickets) Phish isn't making. Who could say no to this much extra money? Even if just to give it all to some Charity like the Mockingbird Foundation or the NADCP, Phish's management would have to be complete eediots to pass this opportunity up.

Dear Phish: Let Me Watch Live

I should preface this by stating for the record that I love Phish. For me, to say that Phish is merely the greatest band to come out of the 80s and 90s would be an understatement; they are probably the greatest single force to have ever graced this humble planet.

When Phish announced their imminent reunion last fall, I was beyond ecstatic. When my girlfriend scored tickets to all three reunion shows in Hampton through the Phish Ticketing Lottery, I started counting down the minutes. Fuck Christmas, is it March yet?

I knew that seeing every Phish show this Summer was probably not a realistic goal, considering my employment/educational/financial situations, not to mention tickets to Red Rocks and St. Louis being nearly impossible for less than $300 a pop.

It's nice and all that Phish is staying current with the latest techno-fads by posting live setlists on Twitter, but what I want to know is why I can't watch Phish streaming from Jones Beach right now. It's not as if the technology doesn't exist: Coventry was simulcast five years ago and The Allman Brothers recently raised the bar with Moogis.

I already have my tickets to all of next week's shows, but that's not enough for me. I want to see tonight's show right now. Over 13,000 people signed the petition for Phish to simulcast the Hampton shows, yet Phish has remained silent on the issue. It's not like simulcasting would hurt ticket sales: watching on the computer will always be second to the live experience.

If Phish cares enough about making Scotty B happy to bust out "Curtis Loew" at Fenway, then why can't they placate another couple thousand phans?

Not to mention that this would be a goldmine for the band. I would happily pay $10 to watch the show live on my computer; I would even be willing to pay more. In fact, Phish could potentially make more money from online simulcasts than from tickets for certain high-demand shows like Red Rocks and St. Louis, where ticket demand greatly exceeds supply.

Phish Releases Time Turns Elastic

From Phish.com:

"We're excited to announce the release of "Time Turns Elastic," a new track from Phish's forthcoming studio album, available now for download exclusively at iTunes. Recorded in New York City, the as-yet-untitled record is Phish's first studio album in five years and its second with producer Steve Lillywhite, who produced the band's 1996 album, Billy Breathes. The album is scheduled for release on July 28th.

To download the track, please click here."

PHISH "TIME TURNS ELASTIC" AVAILABLE AT iTUNES from Phish on Vimeo.

As made obvious by the short clip above, Time Turns Elastic has really come into its own. Honestly, after halfway listening to a poor recording from the first time this song was played in Nashville, I didn't think very much of it. Then again, it always seemed like this song would not reach its potential until it was added to Phish's repertoire.

While there will inevitably be those jaded individuals who flame on the new release for, basically, not being made in 1993, I think that TTE represents everything Phish fans could be hoping for in the new Phish 3.0.

At this point, I would easily sell all of my worldly possessions in order to pay scalper prices for Summer tour (if only my possessions were worth that much).