Relix favorites have long been known to show off their musical talent by tackling another artist’s song, and Halloween provides these bands with an opportunity to take the cover to a whole new level. Many bands cover an entire album from start to finish on All Hallow’s Eve while some opt to play songs that fit into a musical theme. It is a great opportunity to get creative, stretch the limits on the ‘jamband’ genre and give fans an unexpected treat. We have limited this list to only musical costumes performed on Halloween since 2000 and those shows with coherent musical themes.
1. Phish, Indio, California, Halloween 2009 The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street

Keeping with a much-loved Halloween tradition, Phish chose to the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street from a list of 99 potential albums as their Halloween “costume” at Festival 8 in 2009. Four of the album’s tracks were played onstage for the first time ever: “Soul Survivor,” “Casino Boogie,” “Turd on the Run,” and “Let it Loose.” Sharon Jones and three horn players (one of whom is a Dap King) backed the band, adding a large dose of swampy blues to the set. Both Anastasio and Gordon have noted that the Rolling Stones had a great influence on the band during its formative years.
2. The Disco Biscuits, Eugene, Oregon, Halloween 2001 Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland

While the Disco Biscuits haven’t donned a music costume, per se, Halloween 2001 gave the band the opportunity to perform a themed set. Albeit, it was a jammed out and highly improvised take on Walt Disney’s score from Alice in Wonderland, but it was an hour and fifteen minute tour down through the rabbit hole. The Biscuits also performed tracks from Disney’s Fantasia in Halloween 2007. Download here
3. Gov’t Mule, St. Paul, Minnesota, Halloween 2007 Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy

Led Zeppelin is an obvious influence on Gov’t Mule, and the band paid tribute to the British rock stars by performing the 1973 album Houses of the Holy from cover to cover. Following a set of Mule tunes, former Black Crowes guitarist Audley Freed joined Mule for the second Zeppelin set. Though Warren Haynes’ voice is deeper than Plant’s, the Caribbean-flavored “D’Yer Mak’er” and heavy blues riffs of “The Ocean” and “Over the Hills and Far Away” fit well into Mule’s sound.
4. moe., Nashville, Tennessee, Halloween 2004 A Salute to the Grand Ole Opry

In keeping with Halloween tribute shows (like 2003’s tribute to “Heavy moe.tal” ), moe. billed its Halloween show in Nashville “A Salute to the Grand Ole Opry.” The show included two sets of acoustic originals and covers, Nashville-style, and a third set that was straight up electric moe. The band covered artists like the Carter Family ( “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” ), Steve Earle ( “Seven Bridges Road” ), Gram Parsons ( “Six Days on the Road” ), Hank Williams, Sr. ( “Hey Good Lookin’” ), Johnny Cash ( “One Piece at a Time” ), Willie Nelson ( “On The Road Again” ), and a slew of other artists as well as traditional tunes. Download here

5. Perpetual Groove, Richmond, Virginia, Halloween 2009 A John Hughes Variety Show

The members of Perpetual Groove, who are all self-professed film buffs, use Halloween as an opportunity to celebrate a particular film each year. In 2009, as a tribute to filmmaker John Hughes who passed away several months prior, Perpetual Groove performed songs from the classic coming-of-age films. PGroove covered songs like “Music for a Found Harmonium” (from 1988’s She’s Having a Baby), “Oh Yeah” and “Twist and Shout” (from 1986’s Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) and “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” (from 1985’s The Breakfast Club), among others. This year, their Halloween show has been billed as “PERPle Rain,” so concert-goers can expect Prince songs and lots of glitter, according to the band. Download here
6. Deer Tick, New York, New York, Halloween 2009 Songs of the Sex Pistols

At the Brooklyn Bowl in 2009, Deer Tick turned in their folk-rock sound for punk rock, opting to play an entire set of music by the Sex Pistols, complete with the same style and attitude of the band. Deer Tick played the hits, including “My Way” and “Jonny Corndawg.” Dead Confederate, who opened for Deer Tick, covered the music of Sonic Youth.
7. String Cheese Incident, New York, New York, Halloween 2001 A Subway Tour of New York City on the A Train

String Cheese Incident’s Hulaween show in 2001 at Madison Square Garden had the band conducting a tour of New York City along the A Train, complete with narration by John Barlow as Walt Whitman. The band got creative and performed songs like the Harlem Globetrotter’s theme “Sweet Georgia Brown” (representing the Harlem/125th Street stop), John Lennon’s “Instant Karma” (representing The Dakota/72nd Street stop), Harry Belafonte’s “New York, New York” (representing the 42nd Street stop) and Beastie Boys’ “No Sleep ‘Till Brooklyn” (representing the Canal Street stop), among others. Download here
*8. Lotus, Baltimore, Maryland, Halloween 2009 “Protein Pills in the Labyrinth” *

Lotus has performed several themed shows ( “Live Fast Die Young: The 27 Conspiracy” in Halloween 2008, a robot theme on New Years 2008, Video Game themes in 2010) and Halloween 2009 was no different. The band got creative with their costumes, each dressing up as a different David Bowie character (including Ziggy Stardust, Thin White Duke and Jareth) and opened with Phish’s “David Bowie.” Lotus performed songs like “Under Pressure,” “Fame,” “I’m Afraid of Americans,” “Space Oddity,” “Let’s Dance” and others, interspersed with original material. Lotus brought out Mario D’Ambrosio on saxophone and had percussionist Chuck Morris on vocals for several of the Bowie tunes.
9. Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Denver, Colorado, Halloween 2010 A Heroic Halloween

Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe paid tribute to the heroes during their Halloween show in 2010 by both dressing as various superheroes as well as performing heroic-themed songs. The band teased themes from Batman and Spiderman but also played “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath, “Superhero” by Jane’s Addiction, “My Hero” by the Foo Fighters and “Heroes” by David Bowie, among others. While fans were probably surprised by the song choice, KDTU put their signature funk on the classic rock and alt-rock song choices. KDTU will be performing the Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers this Halloween.
10. The Motet, Boulder, Colorado, Halloween 2010 The Motet Plays Earth, Wind and Fire

After setting the bar high with Halloween shows billed as “A Tribute to Michael Jackson” and “A Tribute to Sly and the Family Stone,” the Motet continued with tradition and performed the music of the 1970s funk band Earth, Wind and Fire in 2010. As a 13-piece band, which featured three lead vocalists, four horns, two guitars and percussion, the Motet played songs like “Shining Star” and “Let’s Groove.” This year, the Motet will play the music of the Grateful Dead.