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Introduction: The Phish Halloween Album Teaser (September 28th, 2009)
Today the Festival 8 site on Phish.com was updated with yet another teaser animation, only this time instead of teags sayg the location, they're teasing the Halloween cover album.
The new site features a haunted gallery of 99 albums, each a possibility for the musical costume, and each a possible victim of an unfortunate demise.
A handful of albums have already been killed off, and there should be a lot more killing over the next few weeks as the welcome card promises Phish will “play the last record left alive.”
Gotta admit I was pleased to see both of my top choices — Appetite for Destruction and Exile on Main Street — made the list. Figure Appetite is a long-shot but Exile could have a chance.
Though I doubt this will be quite as uproar-inducing as the Halloween map, it's sure to keep the Festival 8 buzz going strong. Plus it'll also give you a chance to study up on the remaining possibilities (rumor has it there will be 8 albums left when the fest begins) and get familiar with the material, whatever it may be.
WARNING: Spoilers & speculation below. Proceed at your own risk.
Update: The Grateful Living (September 29th @ 12:11 am)
I'm sure this means nothing, but one eagle-eyed fan has noticed that the Grateful Dead are listed as the “Grateful Living” in the xml config file that's driving the gallery. Hmmm… certainly wouldn't mind if American Beauty is “the last record left alive.”
Update: The Grateful Living Part 2 (September 29th @ 2:41 am)
There's a comment below about the Grateful Dead thing pointing out that the word “living” is used in the xml file to denote albums that are still in the mix. I realized that, but in this case it's not just the <stateofbeing> node that says living, but the <title> node as well.
That said, the reader's comment opened my mind up to a much more likely theory. Someone did a search and replace on that xml file, replacing all occurrences of “dead” with “living” — only they didn't select match case — and so the “Grateful Dead” became the “Grateful living.” Note also the lowercase “l” which I incorrectly noted as an uppercase “L” above.
So in effect, I'm still sure it means nothing… other than that speculating on Phish teaser animations is a great way to waste time.
Update: The Grateful Living Part 3 (September 29th @ 1:36 pm)
The Grateful Dead are now listed correctly in the .xml file. Case closed.
Update: Phish-themed Album Covers (October 6th @ 10:36 pm)
Strange things are afoot in the haunted gallery, as a number of album covers have started to get a Phish-themed makeover.
- Phish are in the sardine can on Hello Nasty
- The hot dog vendor on Pretzel Logic is sporting a viking hat
- The Boss is playing a Languedoc
- Trey and Page are moving a keyboard on Moving Pictures
- T-Rex is now T-rey
- Tom Petty is wearing a Phish shirt
- Mike Gordon has joined the Ramones (added 10/7)
- Rage Against the Machine is now Page Against the Machine (added 10/9)
- Fishman is on the cover of Exile on Main Street (added 10/10)
- Ghost in the Machine is now Story of the Ghost in the Machine (added 10/15)
- AC/DC Back in Black is now AC/DC Bag (added 10/15)
- Page is in the rearview mirror on the Minutemen album (added 10/16)
- Fishman's head has been added to one of the Electric Ladyland ladies (added 10/16)
Just as it was starting to feel really repetitive, this is a great twist to keep things interesting.
Update: Phish-themed Album Covers (October 6th @ 11:36 pm)
A commenter below just inquired if anyone noticed that a “new album” had been added to the gallery
Well it's a new album cover, but not a new album. That's the original cover image from Blind Faith's self-titled debut. Rumor has it the naked young girl is Ginger Baker's daughter, but whoever it is she didn't make the cut. The cover was banned in the USA where it was sold with the “bland, but shopper-friendly, band photo.”
Update: Album YouTube Links (October 7th @ 3:23 pm)
Well this is interesting. Some of the albums in the xml config file have been updated to include YouTube links.
I'll give you one guess how many albums got the special treatment…
- AC/DC, Hells Bells from Back in Black
- Aerosmith, Sweet Emotion from Toys In The Attic (by Gordon/Kottke)
- Arcade Fire, Wake Up from Funeral
- David Bowie, Oh You Pretty Things from Hunky Dory
- David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust from Five Years Live
- Led Zeppelin, Going to California from Zeppelin IV
- The Band, Up On Cripple Creek from The Band
- Clash, Clampdown from London Calling
I sure hope these aren't the finalist because they seem to have forgotten GNR :)
