Phish just finished off the first night of the 2018 Halloween Run, this time back again in Las Vegas for four nights at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
SETLISTS: NIGHT ONE | NIGHT TWO | NIGHT THREE | NIGHT FOUR
The band announced via Playbill that they will be covering an album called íRokk by an obscure band called Kasvot Växt. However, there seems to be a bit of sleuthing going on uncovering that this might just be a clever front to a series of songs or jams that Phish wanted to try out in front of an audience and they disguised even the Playbill this time to help support their prank.
What other band do you know hands out a reading assignments before the show starts? pic.twitter.com/EkWi50itfY
— LIVE music blog (@livemusicblog) November 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/adamicculus/status/1057855368716525568
Scroll down to see my setlist from the show, it’s now available for download via LivePhish.com. Do NOT skip on that “First Tube” either, maybe the best one I’ve ever seen.
SETLIST: Phish @ MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas NV 10.31.18
Set I: Buried Alive, Ghost -> Crazy Sometimes, Free, More, Halley’s Comet, Ocelot, Theme From the Bottom, First Tube
As the final notes of First Tube rang out, a black curtain fell on the main stage area so production of the Halloween set setup is hidden.
Musical Costume / Set II: Turtle in the Clouds, Stray Dog, Everything Is Hollow, We Are Come To Outlive Our Brains, Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S., The Final Hurrah, Play By Play, Death Don’t Hurt Very Long, Cool Amber And Mercury, Passing Through
The set was a very unique incarnation of the band. Everyone had stripped down, all-white gear or had their gear covered in white. Trey played a Stratocaster. The music was well rehearsed and sounded like something the band would indeed write, albeit definitely a variance on some of the normal songwriting and audio sonics style that we would expect out of the band. While the new songs were played, Mike/Trey were way more animated than a normal set and left their stations constantly to just play to the crowd a bit. Page had some new samples and some new keyboards to play (I think). And Fishman was wearing a special white-ish dress.
The Page recorded vocals is a woman's voice saying "Faceplant into Rock" in an accent #Phish
— bebob (@bebob) November 1, 2018
The stage featured a unique lighting rig and the floor lit up. The band, originally obscured to start the set behind a curtain on stage, soon was revealed and the curtain raised over the band to form a pseudo ceiling which allowed colored effects, which made it feel more like an art piece to me. It definitely remind me of something David Byrne would do, clearly an inspiration for how the band came dressed and delivered the set on stage.
📸 Jake Silco pic.twitter.com/pKyEY7CCdW
— Phish: From The Road (@Phish_FTR) November 1, 2018
Meanwhile, Chris Kuroda had an extended light rig over the audience as well, which included 12 unique LED screens in the shape of square frames, each of which could be pulled up or down closer to the audience and set to move slowly with the band jamming. Each song tended to feature a color or theme somewhat prominently, although the images on the screens were somewhat generic and not related to the set itself but rather just adding color and visual stiumlation (ala Vegas style). Check out some of the views of how it looked:
📸 Jake Silco pic.twitter.com/MfD6gGqEEO
— Phish: From The Road (@Phish_FTR) November 1, 2018
📸 Jake Silco pic.twitter.com/2lmbDopDzj
— Phish: From The Road (@Phish_FTR) November 1, 2018
Oh my. #phish pic.twitter.com/TjIisGEhaW
— LIVE music blog (@livemusicblog) November 1, 2018
#Phish pic.twitter.com/JH0slEes7p
— LIVE music blog (@livemusicblog) November 1, 2018
#phish pic.twitter.com/xbOma1YPjF
— LIVE music blog (@livemusicblog) November 1, 2018
#phish pic.twitter.com/i9OprEBddd
— LIVE music blog (@livemusicblog) November 1, 2018
I don’t want to explain the music much more without actually re-listening to it, but it’s definitely an innovation of sound and writing that we’d very likely see come down the road with new jams forming out of these songs quickly. I wouldn’t be surprised if Trey wants to play another one of these by the time the run is over! What a night.
Set III: Set Your Soul Free > Tweezer > A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing > Backwards Down the Number Line > Meatstick, Bug > Run Like An Antelope*
Encore: Loving Cup > Tweezer Reprise
Notes:
* – with “faceplant into rock” mentioned as the song finished
I’m about to faceplant into my pillow. Viva Las Vegas and Kasvot Växt!!!
