Have you ever heard of Walt Disney’s 1964 album, Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House? Me neither. Apparently it was THE album of Halloween for many people growing up. It inspired the ride at Disney World, and I assume the movie as well.
A trip to Mars, a shipwreck, a bridge – not exactly the spooky subjects we typically think of for Halloween. But the narration and sounds in the 28-minute long record are indeed chilling and invoke the fun fear that comes along with the holiday.
This Halloween, Phish took the album – and their concert, and Halloween traditions – to a new level. The band has a tradition of covering another band’s entire album during set two when they play a three-set Halloween show. Last year, Whit and I got to experience the first time they covered “an album from the future,” where they debuted twelve songs they had yet to record from their next album.
With wind and howls, a haunted house was rolled onto the stage, with zombies dancing in a faux graveyard all around it. It wasn’t until the end of the second song that the top walls of the haunted house fell down and the band was revealed to be playing within the house, dressed in white tuxes with zombie face paint. The sounds of the Disney album echoed through the MGM Grand, with Phish astounding the crowd and home viewers with ten brand-new original instrumentals to accompany the creepy soundtrack.
This is one of my favorites….
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