Friday, Oct. 31, 2003 | 8:23 a.m.
Four times during the 1990s, Phish spent Halloween night donning what it termed a musical "costume."
For Vermont's beloved jam band, that meant performing an entire album by another band: all the songs, in order, live.
The Beatles' "White Album" was the first attempted in 1994, followed by the Who's "Quadrophenia," Talking Heads' "Remain in Light" and the Velvet Underground's "Loaded."
From the start, Phish's concept fascinated me. Not just their willingness to tackle another group's work that way, but their notion that covering someone else's material was akin to putting on a costume.
The more I thought about it, the more I liked that idea, that a cover version should involve a sort of temporary channeling of the original band's essence. And that a good cover also requires the band wearing the costume to fill it out with some of its own musical interpretations and flavors.
So in honor of Phish's one-time Halloween tradition, I spent Wednesday night making a CD mix of some of my all-time favorite covers. Call it my 2003 Costume Mix. And I didn't have to visit a party store to get it.
Here's the tracklisting:
1. Red Hot Chili Peppers -- "Havana Affair" (The Ramones): The Peppers funk up the punk classic on this year's Ramones tribute project.
2. Nirvana -- "The Man Who Sold the World" (David Bowie): A rare case in which the cover -- performed on Nirvana's "Unplugged in New York" CD -- trumps the original, largely on the strength of Kurt Cobain's sinister vocal.
3. Sonic Youth -- "I Wanna Be Your Dog" (The Stooges): A ferocious rocker gets even tougher, as the Youth's Kim Gordon tears up her voice belting out Iggy Pop's lyrics. On the "Confusion is Sex" album.
4. The Byrds -- "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" (Bob Dylan): Yet another superb Dylan reading from a band that made its name covering Mr. Zimmerman's work early on. Find it on the countrified "Sweetheart of the Rodeo."
5. R.E.M. -- "Toys in the Attic" (Aerosmith): The hard-rock-meets-punk confection gets a modern treatment from the boys from Athens, Ga. Find it on rarities compilation "Dead Letter Office."
6. Phish -- "New Age" (The Velvet Underground): One of the least familiar tracks on the V.U.'s "Loaded" album slowly builds into an anthemic show-stopper. Performed just once, at the Thomas & Mack Center on Oct. 31, 1998 (and available on "Live Phish 16").
7. Cake -- "I Will Survive" (Gloria Gaynor): Cake singer John McCrea turns the tables on this 1970s tale of female empowerment with his biting rendition from "Fashion Nugget."
8. Jimi Hendrix -- "All Along the Watchtower" (Bob Dylan): Perhaps the most famous cover version in rock 'n' roll is still among the best. This one sounds fresh as the day Jimi recorded it for "Electric Ladyland."
9. Yo La Tengo -- "Speeding Motorcycle" (Daniel Johnston): A great band in their own right, this indie rock trio may also be America's best cover group. Once a year they even perform requests live on a New Jersey radio station. Fittingly, this one comes from "Fakebook," an album consisting almost entirely of cover tunes.
10. Bruce Springsteen -- "Jersey Girl" (Tom Waits): Was ever a song more appropriate for another musician to hijack? The Boss has made generations of women swoon with this little ditty, from Disc 3 of his "Live 1975-85" boxed set.
11. Luna -- "Indian Summer" (Beat Happening): The indie-scene veterans turn a strange, semi-obscure bit of psychedelia into a majestic soundscape, and a staple of Luna's live performances. From the "Slide" EP.
12. The Grateful Dead -- "Werewolves of London" (Warren Zevon): The Dead's nod to the late, great Zevon was an occasional Halloween concert treat. Worth having just for Jerry Garcia's hilarious howls of "ah-ooo" in the chorus. Long circulating on many bootlegs, the Dead's version is now officially available on "Dick's Picks Vol. 25."
Music notes
Post-Cheese doodles: Jam band fans hungry for more music following this weekend's String Cheese Incident shows, take heed. Two experimental outfits are in town to feed your late-night appetite.
Zilla, a percussive quartet whose lineup includes String Cheese drummer Michael Travis, plays the Boston Bar & Grill (1030 E. Flamingo Road) Saturday at 12:30 a.m. Tickets are $15.
World-groove ensemble Hamsa Lila brings its rhythms to Moose's Beach House (4770 Maryland Pkwy.) tonight and to the Boston Saturday night. Both shows begin at midnight. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door.
Franky goes to Barbary: Local singer/songwriter-made-good Franky Perez plays the next three Thursday nights at the Barbary Coast, with sets starting at 9 p.m. Admission is free.
Quick hits
A look at a few of the shows scheduled to hit Southern Nevada in the next week:
Costumed metalheads Mudvayne return to town for an 8 p.m. show Saturday at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel. Tickets are $25.
The band, known for its outrageous stage attire and its members' strange pseudonyms, released its second album for Epic/Sony Records, "The End of All Things to Come," last November.
British college rock veterans Echo & the Bunnymen perform at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay at 7 p.m. Wednesday. One of the band's many disciples, the Stills, opens the show. Tickets are $20 and $25.
Generally regarded as one of the top post-punk bands of the early 1980s, Echo & the Bunnymen have announced the upcoming re-release of their first five albums, all remastered with bonus tracks. The Rhino Records project is expected to kick off in December.
It's a youth movement at The Joint Wednesday night at 8, when modern bluesman Jonny Lang, 22, shares a bill with singer/songwriter Jason Mraz, 26.
Lang, who hails from Fargo, N.D., released his fourth album, "Long Time Coming," last month. The Virginia-born Mraz is still touring on the strength of last year's debut, "Waiting for My Rocket to Come." Tickets are $43.
German electronica DJ Paul Van Dyk holds court at Ra at Luxor beginning at 10 p.m. Wednesday.
The 31-year-old, sound-mixing wiz is celebrating the October release of his latest CD, "Reflections." Tickets are $30 in advance and $40 the day of the show.
Seattle indie rockers Modest Mouse play the House of Blues at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, with support from Albuquerque buzz band the Shins. Tickets are $15 in advance and $17 the day of the show.
More than three years have passed since Modest Mouse released its last album, Sony/Epic label debut "The Moon and Antarctica." Originally slated for 2003, its follow-up, "Good News for People Who Love Bad News," has reportedly been pushed back to spring 2004.
On sale
Korn and Limp Bizkit pair for a Nov. 10 show at The Joint. Tickets are $40 and go on sale Saturday at noon at the Hard Rock box office, at TicketMaster outlets, by phone at 474-4000 and at www.ticketmaster.com.
Tickets for the Dec. 10 "2003 Billboard Music Awards" show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. Tickets are $45, $75 and $175 and will be available through the MGM box office and TicketMaster.
Puddle of Mudd plays The Joint on Nov. 16. Tickets are $22 and go on sale Saturday at noon at the Hard Rock box office, at TicketMaster outlets, by phone at 474-4000 and at www.ticketmaster.com.
The Mavericks stop by the House of Blues on Dec. 18. Tickets are $20 and $25 and go on sale Saturday at noon at the House of Blues box office, by phone at 632-7600, at www.hob.com and through TicketMaster.
Pepper performs at Crossroads at the House of Blues on Nov. 22. Tickets are $10 and are on sale now through the House of Blues box office and TicketMaster.
Tickets are on sale now for two acts in the House of Blues "Live at Juice" late-night DJ series: Dwele and Slum Village on Dec. 7 ($20) and M.O.P. with Scratch and the Ranjahz on Nov. 16 ($20). Tickets are available through the House of Blues box office and TicketMaster.com
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