Halloween Week: Day 3, Concerts

One of my ultimate favorite Halloween traditions is to go out and see live music. Seems to really embrace the ritualistic nature of the day, for me, harness it with the collective will of hundreds or thousands of fellow participants. A kind of mass ritual. With the trimmings and trappings of phantasmagoric costumes, the frequent presence of drugs and sex, (for those that are into that kind of thing,) and the volume and SWEAT that accompanies rock'n'roll/rave/wherever you happen to be, its no wonder that this is like my Pagan Christmas/New Years. The ultimate Release.
Not to mention the fact that most musical acts are moved by the ambience that hangs in the air, and a lot of the time, you get shows that are DARK and HEAVY as hell. My favorite.
Halloween is also a significant anniversary in my life, had a number of life altering events occuring on and around these days. So it tends to call up a lot of memories, along with the typical childhood nostalgia aspect, all of which makes for a heady brew that can be channeled into a magickal snowball and flung at whatever. Probably the most significant, as in life-altering, event of my life was when i got married in Las Vegas on 10.31.98, coming up on 12 years ago. The marriage itself didn't go well, but the wedding was a fucking blast. Seeing Phish play at the Thomas and Mack Arena was my honeymoon.
Almost as influential as my rapidfire descent into poverty and adulthood, and eventual divorce and all the other craziness that was to follow, was this was the auspicious day when i was to become a Velvet Underground devotee, the band wearing VU's 'Loaded' as their musical costume that night. I was blown away by the druggy/poppy atmosphere of the record, mixed with the dark magick of the night and the sensory overload of being in Las Vegas, hooked me immediately and left me a drooling, slavering convert, of which i remain to this day.
So my secret alterior motive for this post, which is one i've been harboring in my heart for a while, is to contend the fact that PHISH IS A GOOD BAND. A fucking great one, as a matter of fact. I will probably not win any converts on this contention, but i want this to be the kind of place that really embraces contradiction and paradox, that shuns posing and posturing and the popular opinion. I really and truly love a lot of fucking hippy music. They are great fucking musicians (though not perfect, and prone to excess and lack of discretion or self-editing or restraint.)
My years following and listening to Phish have probably been the most influential on my listening habits and musical taste, to date. One way or another, i ended up getting into, because of this band: Talking Heads, Frank Zappa, the Grateful Dead, My Bloody Valentine, Pavement, Tom Waits, and the universe of improvised music, such as jazz.
So today, i am posting all of Phish's musical costumes, over the years. The White Album, Quadrophenia, Remain in Light, Loaded, and Exile on Main Street. I think every one of these shows is utterly amazing, and well worth checking out. I was gonna post some other bands playing on Halloween, but i ran out of time.
A bit of a long shot, but if anyone reading this happens to have a copy of Spiritualized playing at the Metro in Chicago on 10.31.01 and cared to share, you would have my eternal gratitude. I do believe there are copies floating around, somewhere, and that was one of the most magickal Halloweens i've experienced so far.
This year, unfortunately, i don't think i'm getting into anything too wild and crazy. I'm pretty introspective, at the moment, and there's nothing too mind-blowing going on, and i've got some financial considerations to take care of, so it may be a contemplative one for me, this year.





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