Phish Surprise Fans With Soundcheck Broadcast at Festival 8

Posted on Oct 30th 2009 10:30AM by Benjy Eisen
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On Thursday night, Phish unofficially kicked things off a day early at Festival 8, which they're hosting this weekend in Indio, Calif. As fans rolled into the campgrounds on the eve of the fest, they were greeted by the sounds of Phish coming across the concert field. While those gates remained closed, the set was broadcast live on "The Bunny," a temporary local radio station established for the duration of the festival. Featuring heavy jamming, the nearly hour-long surprise set was technically a working soundcheck for the band and crew, but it also afforded Phish a chance to warm up while treating fans to snippets of songs by Yes ('Starship Trooper'), MGMT ('Kids') and others.

The covers and teases sparked much debate among fans as to what will happen on Saturday evening when Phish will don a surprise "musical costume" by covering another band's album in its entirety. While speculation remains high and bets seem to favor the Rolling Stones as of late, eight of the campgrounds at Festival 8 are named after the Final 8 contenders: 'Hunky Dory' (David Bowie), 'Kid A' (Radiohead), 'Electric Ladyland' (Jimi Hendrix Experience), 'Purple Rain' (Prince), 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway' (Genesis), 'Exile on Main Street' (Rolling Stones), 'Larks' Tongues in Aspic' (King Crimson) and 'Oracular Spectacular' (MGMT).

As for Phish's original tunes, they touched up a few new ones during their soundcheck jam, including 'Gone' and 'Liquid Time,' both of which appear on the bonus disc in the collector's box-set edition of their new album 'Joy.' Do they count as debuts if tens of thousands heard it live but on the other side of the gates? We'll leave that answer up to the message boards and kids who are stuck at home this weekend but can't peel themselves away from their laptops -- in other words, every Phish fan not in Indio.