{"id":1096,"date":"2014-11-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-11-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.nysmusic.com\/2014\/2014\/11\/10\/the-sounds-of-fabulous-phish-in-chilling-thrilling-las-vegas\/"},"modified":"2014-11-10T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-11-10T00:00:00","slug":"the-sounds-of-fabulous-phish-in-chilling-thrilling-las-vegas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.nysmusic.com\/2014\/2014\/11\/10\/the-sounds-of-fabulous-phish-in-chilling-thrilling-las-vegas\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sounds of Fabulous Phish in Chilling Thrilling Las Vegas"},"content":{"rendered":"

The day of the dead saw the demise\u00a0of one Phish Halloween tradition and the birth of something completely different. Rather than play another band\u2019s album as a musical costume, Phish opted to interpret a rare cut from the Disney collection \u2013 Chilling Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House <\/em>(1964), turning a 25 minute sound effects album into a 65 minute demonstration in improvised interpretation.<\/p>\n

The result was one of the most talked about nights of Phish, not only for the performance that was experienced, but the potential of what was to come the next two nights and over their upcoming New Years run in Miami.<\/p>\n

\"chillingThe first of three sets was bookended with haunted numbers, an opening sequence of \u201cBuried Alive > Ghost\u201d and a funk filled \u201cWolfman\u2019s Brother\u201d to close it out, steadily building the anticipation for the grand mystery of what this Chilling Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House<\/em>\u00a0set would end up being.<\/p>\n

The stage and lighting were well done, per usual. The word in the casino was that the Cirque du Soleil show at MGM Grand,\u00a0K\u00c0<\/a>, was not in production that night, meaning the elaborate stage performances that Phish has become known for at their larger events would be accompanied by some of Vegas\u2019 best. Phish began their set with \u201cThe Haunted House\u201d inside of a haunted house that was pushed out onto a stage filled with smoke and a graveyard. An audio-visual highlight, \u201cThe Fuse\u201d showed a slow burning fuse across the front of the haunted house which built the audience to froth and a jam that is hopefully heard in Miami. When the fuse went out, the walls from the house blew down and it was game on \u2013 the band was dressed in white tuxedos with ghoulish makeup, playing on top of this haunted house. The cheers were defeaning.<\/p>\n

\"chilling
photo by Rene Huemer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During \u201cDogs\u201d the audience, naturally, howled along with the pre-recorded barks and screams and the band worked into a jam that could re-emerge in \u201cI Saw it Again.\u201d \u201cTimber\u201d was the first really spooky song of the night while \u201cYour Pet Cat\u201d, like all songs on the album, were introduced by Esther, a graveyard resident who kept the interpretation of the album true to the original by including the original narration.<\/p>\n

\"chilling
photo by Rene Huemer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The spaciest jam of the night, \u201cShipwreck\u201d, was full of weirdness and had the deepest jam, in the vein of \u201cSand\u201d, a looming threat in Set 3. \u201cThe Unsafe Bridge\u201d became a Pulp<\/em> Fiction<\/em>-esque surf rocker while both dark and foreboding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Chinese Water Torture\u201d ended up being the song that sounded most like an above-standard Phish-jam while \u201cThe Birds\u201d got deep and heavy and gave the crowd a gift in the form of Esther\u2019s pre-recorded \u201cThey Attack!\u201d serving as both a catalyst and bridge to the jams that developed. The set was ending on such a high note when \u201cMartian Monster\u201d followed “The Birds” with its own sound snipper with \u2018Your Trip is Short\u2019. Repeated over and over, the crowd caught on quickly during a 10 minute groove that never let up.<\/p>\n

\"chilling
photo by Dave Vann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I look forward to finding out how this album came to the band\u2019s attention and how their discussion of how to play this set developed, as well as how the night was produced and choreographed. Those who put the show together command respect for contributing such a major component to evening.<\/p>\n