One week ago today, Phish presented their Kasvot Växt í rokk set on Halloween at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Phish shared pro-shot video of the opener, “Turtle In The Clouds.”
JamBase’s full recap of Phish’s Halloween concert explained this year’s musical costume:
The familiar saying of “trick or treat” should be revised as “trick and treat” for what Phish pulled off in Sin City. A Playbill was distributed to fans entering the venue heralding a musical costume of í rokk by a Scandinavian outfit called Kasvot Växt, which they claimed translated to “Faceplant Into Rock” in English. Phish created an intricate backstory for Kasvot Växt that included pages on All Music, Perfect Sound Forever and WFMU as well as an essay within the Playbill containing quotes from the members of Phish. While internet sleuths eventually pieced together the prank, few had any clue of what was in store for the second set. The resulting performance was an ambitious suite of original Phish music played in the style of an ’80s prog-rock band yet still had elements of the Vermont-birthed quartet’s distinctive sound. In addition, production elements included an all-white stage and incredibly cool cubes that hung above the stage and moved around the venue.
“Turtle In The Clouds” was the first of ten Kasvot Växt songs Phish played in Vegas. All four members of the band traded vocal duties as fans took in the wild production elements including an all-white stage. Guitarist Trey Anastasio and bassist Mike Gordon engaged in dance moves that were put together by Jon Rua, who took part in Phish’s Wingsuit set and starred in Hands On A Hardbody, a Broadway musical featuring songs co-written by Trey. Watch Phish perform “Turtle In The Clouds” on Halloween:
JamBase’s David Onigman and Andy Kahn discussed Phish’s musical costume for the latest episode of The JamBase Podcast. Listen to their chat below:
