The Verdict:
After late fall 2010 saw the band get interesting for the first time since 2009 (minus a few small exceptions sprinkled throughout summer '10), the Halloween run is a true, long-awaited return to greatness that will hopefully continue throughout the NYE run in December. The 2010 Halloween show proper pales a bit in comparison to the 10/30 show, but that might just be because I'm not really a Little Feat fan.
The first set is a strong one, and features an obvious Halloween theme for its first half or so, including an early "Ghost" that makes a great transition into "Spooky." The highlight of the set is the "Stash," which departs into a bliss space reminiscent of a typical "Simple" jam for a few solid minutes before returning to its usual form.
Not being familiar with the cover album, I don't have a lot to say directly about the second set, but you can read some thoughts related to the evolution of Phish's Halloween tradition below in the original review.
Set three finished the run well, with a short-but-sweet "Disease," a jammed-out "Wilson," a delicate and gorgeous "Hood," and a typically strong "YEM," before the encore brings back some of the brass from set two to take on "Julius" for the encore.
Ultimately, this would have been one of the stronger, more consistent shows of fall even lacking a major centerpiece jam without the covers set, so that's just the icing on the cake.
The Live Review:
10/31/10: Opening with Frankenstein. Very thematically appropriate.
10/31/10: BBFCFM following.
10/31/10: And now, Ghost! Full-on Halloween theme, here.
10/31/10: Ghost has a surprisingly good momentum to it for the first set.
10/31/10: Staying Type I, but rolling along nicely.
10/31/10: Awesome Ghost -> Spooky transition.
10/31/10: Halloween-y segment followed by an uptempo Divided Sky.
10/31/10: Roses Are Free is next. Back on the Halloween theme? PUMPKINS
10/31/10: Roses > Funky Bitch.
10/31/10: Neat Funky Bitch > Boogie On combo is next.
10/31/10: Strong S1, here.
10/31/10: Stash comes up next, and pretty quickly departs on an interesting bliss jam. Sounds a bit like a Simple jam.
10/31/10: After about four minutes, moving slowly back into the typical Stash jam.
10/31/10: Unique version, for sure.
10/31/10: No end set yet, Character Zero next.
10/31/10: I should say before we get to S2 that I've never heard a Little Feat song and don't know this album at all.
10/31/10: So, basically, it's going to be really cool for me to hear the set, but my review is gonna suck :)
10/31/10: Okay, Zero ends the set.
10/31/10: So, rather than reviewing covers of a bunch of tracks I don't know at all, here are a few thoughts during S2.
10/31/10: These songs are really well played, and the horns are neat, and I'm definitely going to check out this Little Feat album...
10/31/10: ...after I'm done listening to this show.
10/31/10: On the other hand, I feel pretty much the same way about this set as I did about the Exile set, and I'm glad that the band has...
10/31/10: ...stopped doing Halloween covers as of the last two years.
10/31/10: What made the musical costumes one of the best parts of Phish lore for me was not just that they were cool sets/albums, but...
10/31/10: ...that later on in the year(s), you could see how learning and covering a particular album affected their sound going forward.
10/31/10: Maybe not so much with the White Album, but with Quadrophenia, Remain in Light, and Loaded, for sure.
10/31/10: The old Halloween shows sort of felt like we were getting a glimpse into the future.
10/31/10: More recent shows just seem like sort of a fun gimmick.
10/31/10: I mean, I don't hear elements of Exile seeping into the band's music post-'09 or Little Feat post-'10.
10/31/10: On the other hand, there are obvious connections to the band's evolution happening at the '13 and '14 Halloween shows.
10/31/10: So, yeah. 'Fun but not essential' is sort of how I'm feeling about this set, and that's why.
10/31/10: S3 kicks off with more songs I know :)
10/31/10: Major flub at the beginning of Disease. Restart required. Some funny banter between Trey and Fish results.
10/31/10: 'We're allowed to mess up someone else's album, but this is *our* album!'
10/31/10: Smooth transition into some space funk about seven minutes into the Disease.
10/31/10: Neat, loop-heavy section now.
10/31/10: Short but sweet jam peters out naturally. > BOTT.
10/31/10: This BOTT > Jibboo pairing is like the recent Moma > Cities or Wolfman's -> Undermind, only boring.
10/31/10: Okay, I'll admit that this Jibboo is slightly more interesting than most. Probably worth your ten minutes.
10/31/10: Fuzzed-out ending to a weird but good Jibboo, and now Camel Walk.
10/31/10: I like late-show Camel Walks, but they often seem to indicate a switch over to ye olde jukeboxe.
10/31/10: Suzy being next pretty much confirms my hypothesis.
10/31/10: So the Wilson that follows actually has an extended outro jam based on a descending guitar riff from Trey.
10/31/10: Hood.
10/31/10: Extra-delicate Hood jam beginning.
10/31/10: This Hood is staying super-mellow. Mike and Trey interplay now. I really dig this.
10/31/10: Kind of weird peak section, but hey it's about the journey, right?
10/31/10: THE HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORSE
10/31/10: Hey, this is The Horse with piano instead of guitar! Thought that was a '14 thing!
10/31/10: YEM for the set closer!
10/31/10: Julius encore with extra percussionist and horns. Drum solo and some neat horn lines so far.
10/31/10: Minimal sort of breakdown section now.
10/31/10: Well, that was an extremely strong conclusion to an extremely boring and sometimes shitty tour.
10/31/10: I'm excited to move on to the NYE run, though. And from there, knock out a little bit of '11 before summer starts!
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