Phish Fits Led Zeppelin Covers Into Halloween Eve Performance On This Date In 2010

Atlantic City legend Pinky Kravitz said that Phish would cover a Led Zeppelin album on Halloween in a Pinky’s Corner column that ran just before the band’s three-night stand at Boardwalk Hall in 2010. While Phish wound up covering Little Feat’s Waiting for Columbus on Halloween, they did work in parts of four Led Zeppelin songs into “Tweezer” on October 30, 2010.

The craziness started within the first set, when Phish worked one verse of “Whole Lotta Love” within “Chalk Dust Torture” to the capacity crowd’s delight. “Whole Lotta Love” was last played by the band on March 1, 1991 – a span of 1,033 shows. However, that was just the start. The second set began with “Tube” and “Possum.” Phish then lit into “Tweezer” and after jamming on the fan favorite for a bit, the foursome worked the “Tweezer” jam into Zeppelin’s “Heartbreaker.” While Phish returned to “Tweezer” for more improv, they soon took a detour through a bit of “Ramble On,” marking their first performance of the song since August 12, 1998 – a span of 305 shows. The impromptu Zeppelin madness continued after a little “Tweezer” jamming as the group hit upon “Thank You.” Yet more “Tweezer” laid ahead before the Phish debut of “Stairway To Heaven.” Trey Anastasio then told the crowd, “Happy Halloween! See you all next year!”

Phish fans in Atlantic City went absolutely nuts throughout the entire “Tweezer”/Zeppelin sequence. As Phish.net notes, “Ha Ha Ha,” “Bathtub Gin,” “Possum,” “Tweezer” and “Tweezer Reprise” all contained “Whole Lotta Love” teases and the “David Bowie” intro contained a “Whole Lotta Love” quote from Trey. The first set closer, “The Squirming Coil” featured “The Rain Song” and “Thank You” teases from Page McConnell. “Heartbreaker,” “Thank You” and “Stairway to Heaven” were all Phish debuts, though each were incomplete. In addition, Mike Gordon teased “The Lemon Song” before “Halley’s Comet.”

Watch the “Tweezer”/Led Zeppelin madness thanks to ghostdogou81tube: