Phish kept fans on their toes by (seemingly) pulling one out of thin air

last night at their traditionally off-beat Halloween show. Continuing their

two-year tradition of covering an album in its entirety on Hallows Eve shows,

(1994, Beatles White Album, 1995 The Who Quadrophenia) the

band served up the Talking Heads landmark album Remain In Light at

their costume show at the Omni in Atlanta last night (Oct. 31).

Joined by

Santana percussionist Karl Perazzo and two horn players, old Phish Phriend Dave

Grippo on sax and Gary Gazaway on trumpet, the band surprised the sold-out

crowd by taking on the heavily-percussive New Wave album, best known to most

MTV watchers for its quirky video single, "Once In A Lifetime" during which the

sweaty, spindly David Byrne is set afloat in a sea of madness.

Everyone who

attended the concert was handed a very official-looking program that opened up

to an essay from Rolling Stone magazine contributor Parke Puterbaugh

entitled "My God...What Have I Done?" that laid out the historical significance

of the album, while on the other side, Phishead Trey Anastasio explained his

fascination with the album and why the band chose it for the show. Puterbaugh

described the album as representing either "the more ambitious musical

directions pursued in the Seventies or a starting point for a groundbreaking

new agenda in the Eighties." He called it both. "Talking Heads discarded the

rulebook and plunged headfirst into uncharted waters, emerging with a classic

album that merged the worlds of art-schooled pop minimalism and African

polyrhythms" according to Puterbaugh. Sounds like Phish fodder to me.

Anastasio portrayed...

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