Halloween at Phish Festival 8 was truly a feast for the eyes. Although the desert heat was sweltering, fans enthusiastically touted costumes of all types, from robots to chickens to foam creatures to walking facebook pages. Phish took the stage for their first set at 3pm and rocked it out, despite the oppressive sun beating down on the stage. The set was packed full of fan favorites like "Divided Sky," "Squirming Coil" and "Run Like an Antelope."
After much anticipation, and outrageous rumors - such as David Bowie joining them on stage - the Halloween Costume Set had arrived. A four-minute video at the start of the set, beginning with "Thriller," offered a collage of clips from all the artists that had been announced as potentially up for covering. Finally Phish took the stage, and all the Bowie rumors were put to rest as they broke into the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street. Joining them on stage for an extra treat was Sharon Jones, accompanied by a handful of horn players. This combination gave us one of the best renditions of "Loving Cup" Phish has ever played! Major Rolling Stones fans probably enjoyed the fact that four songs from the album have never been played live by the Stones themselves.
By the third set that night, the crowd's energy was at its highest, and Phish played a mind-blowing set, including epic performances of "Fluffhead" and "YEM." The glowstick wars arrived during "Fluffhead" and kept going throughout the night, thousands of colors thrown into the air at pinnacle moments in the music. On top of that, a semi-circle of 30 foot tiki torch-like structures burst out flames in time to the music, engulfing the fans in the music and light experience from all sides.
Sharon Jones returned to the stage for encore "Suzy Greenburg," including a reprise of the same song - surely, this will go down in the Phish history books.
Set List:
Set I: Sample in a Jar, The Divided Sky, Lawn Boy, Kill Devil Falls, Bathtub Gin, The Squirming Coil, Runaway Jim> Possum, Run Like An Antelope
Set II: Rocks Off, Rip This Joint, Shake Your Hips, Casino Boogie, Tumbling Dice, Sweet Virginia, Torn and Frayed, Sweet Black Angel, Loving Cup, Happy Birthday, Turd On The Run, Ventilator Blues> I Just Want To See His Face, Let It Loose, All Down The Line, Stop Breaking Down, Shine A Light, Soul Survivor
Set III: Backwards Down The Number Line> Fluffhead, Ghost, When the Circus Comes to Town, You Enjoy Myself
Encore: Suzy Greenberg
