Phish - October 31st, 2021
MGM Grand Garden Arena · Las Vegas · NV
1 Debut.
Song length in play order. Tap a point for that song. Swipe the chart to see the rest.
Tonight's unique songs by the era Phish first played them.
- '83-'892
- '90-'942
- '95-'005
- '09-'141
- '15-'193
- '20-now13
The studio home of each song, from phish.net. Covers count as one slice.
- Get More Down by Sci-Fi Soldier12
- Billy Breathes1
- Farmhouse1
- Hoist1
- Joy1
- Junta1
- The Story of the Ghost1
- Covers4
- No studio album4
Shows since each song's previous appearance. A big number is a bustout.
- 3-51
- 6-159
- 16-504
Whose songbook tonight drew from.
- Phish original22
- Trey Anastasio2
- Ghosts of the Forest1
- Ween1
A typical night, rotation-wise - nothing shelved more than 50 shows.
Gap = shows since the song was last played, at the moment it was played.
"Ghost" gets its almost-always-spot on Halloween night and it does not disappoint. At 10:30, the band locks in after searching around. Fish's play drives the jam and Trey's soloing leads the way. The upbeat jam slows considerably at 14:00, with the ensuing play sounding reminiscent of a "BASOS" jam. From that, emerges a murky, effects-laden jam. Mike's bass playing towards the end is a highlight in the longest version of the song since the IT Festival.
Trey's favorite delay signals this version will break the mold, and a fully-formed, feel-good jam quickly emerges. A bit of the 2021 "Sci-Fi Soldier" sound creeps in before the final lyrics and becomes more pronounced in the outro until > "Free".
Quite the version in that it keeps the intricacy and speed of the traditional "Bowie" jam but in a major tonality and then swerves back to wrap in normal fashion.
Religions could be founded around the eternal question, "shall thy lumpy head be happy or angry this evening?" This gracious offering promptly responds with fleet-footed and upbeat major key jamming that shows adept and confident peak building. A massive wash of heavenly synth tones blasts from the PA at the 8 minute mark; this pleases his lumpiness, who then gets angry at its departure and turns for darker pastures. After the many moods of the great drum tech is expressed, -> "Lonely Trip."
Deep in the third set of the Halloween show, the band still has enough creative juice for one more killer jam, as Fish kicks up the tempo and Page does some fine electric piano work, before a slower and more contemplative jam emerges. Fish picks the pace back up and the band enters anthemic mode, Trey's funky new filter adding extra spice, then things get darker and nastier almost out of nowhere with a stomping and powerful jam. -> into "Death Don't Hurt Very Long" out of the muck.
Versions phish.net's jam charts single out as noteworthy.
For the second set, the band's "musical costume" was all debuted originals, performed as the invented band Sci-Fi Soldier (a 14-page comic book distributed upon entry detailed the group's adventure to save the planet). For that set, the band performed in elaborate costumes (helmets and all), with alternate instruments (Trey on a BCR Mockingbird), each playing within a flashing/glowing shape (two circles and two squares), after descending (in the form of holograms) from the ceiling in cylinders of colored light. Knuckle Bone Broth Avenue included extended choreography by Trey and Mike. During Get More Down, matching upright geometric shapes danced around behind the band, reducing to the two circles overlapped by Egg in a Hole, which featured pyrotechnics. Before Clear Your Mind, Trey introduced the band as from the year 4680 (the total of the October 28, 2021 songs as noted during that night's encore-ending Grind). During The 9th Cube, there were projections of donuts and turtles on a cube above the band. Fireworks rained down on the stage during The Inner Reaches of Outer. For I Am in Miami, Trey switched to an acoustic guitar and the band stood together at stage front with the four-mic a cappella setup. After the set, the band departed as holograms back up the colored tubes. Trey teased the Theme from S.W.A.T. in Carini. Soul Planet contained Knuckle Bone Broth Avenue and Don't Doubt Me quotes. Mike quoted Thanksgiving in Death Don't Hurt Very Long. The start of Harry Hood included alternate lyrics (Holy Blankenstein).
Setlist, gaps, jam charts, and notes from phish.net, a project of the non-profit Mockingbird Foundation.