Sunday Cinema: Phish Plays Exile On Main Street

When Phish returned from a breakup in 2009, they reinstated many traditions including the “musical costume.” Started on October 31, 1994; the band would cover an album by another artist as their second set at each Halloween show they played. The tradition kicked off with a cover of The Beatles’ White Album in 1994 and continued with takes on The Who’s Quadrophenia in 1995, Remain In Light by Talking Heads in 1996 and Loaded by The Velvet Underground in 1998.

For their “comeback year” of 2009, Phish brought back the Halloween tradition with a new wrinkle. This time they would play an album as part of a three-day festival. Dubbed “Festival 8,” Phish played the Polo Fields in Indio, CA – where Coachella is held each year – on October 30 – November 1.

The band created a website filled with album covers and as the festival came near would “kill off” covers of albums they wouldn’t be performing until there were only a few left. So it wasn’t a huge surprise when fans received Playbills on October 31, 2009 indicating Phish would perform The Rolling Stones’ legendary 1972 album Exile On Main Street.

The band did a fantastic job with the double-album and were augmented by a horn section and vocalists Sharon Jones and Saundra Williams. Incredible fan-shot video of the entire set is available on YouTube and we present it today as Sunday Cinema:

Set 2: Rocks Off, Rip This Joint, Shake Your Hips, Casino Boogie, Tumbling Dice, Sweet Virginia, Torn & Frayed, Sweet Black Angel, Loving Cup, Happy, Turd On The Run, Ventilator Blues, I Just Want To See His Face, Let It Loose, All Down The Line, Stop Breaking Down, Shine A Light, Soul Survivor