The “Save the Date” teases are over, folks! Phish just updated their home page with the final animation showing a map getting planted in California, which then reveals the banner you see above and full details on the first Phish festival since their “final” shows at Coventry and the first time that the Halloween costume idea is getting mixed with the standard Phish festival experience. In a word, UN-FUCKING-BELIEVABLE. Yep, I said it.
Some key pieces of info to take away from the announcement:
- Festival 8 = 8 sets total
- Musical costume concept is confirmed; let the guessing begin
- Hotels are unnecessary; on-site camping, numerous attractions and art installations are going to be a major part of this festival, not to mention the likely-to-happen secret set(s)
- Did we mention it’s in California, which is like, where I live? Just making sure I made that part clear.
Read on for the full announcement from the band and make sure you head over to the official Festival 8 site and read the FAQ’s right away. Lots of LOLs and ROFLs are in your future. READ MORE
I was told we were getting the announcement tomorrow, but in the meantime it looks like the map on Phish.com is confirming it — the Phish “Save the Date” Halloween Festival will be held in California! Kangfirmed! All rumors and half-confirmations are saying that the festival will be held at the site that Coachella is hosted every year in Indio, CA. I’m sure we’ll see some more official details emerge shortly.
We’ll be there.
For all the heads that have been on the internet all weekend, this may be old news. But for most of us getting to work on our Monday morning, you may be excited to hear that Phish threw fans for another loop on the Save the Date Halloween Festival that they have planned by eliminating three states from the map AND adding back Washington state to the map. This event basically triggered a slew of predictions like “that means California is going to get added back, too!” I’m not sure I’m convinced of anything yet, but I am predicting that we’ll get an announcement on this officially sometime this week or early next week before the Red Rocks four-night run. They need to get the infrastructure piece of this moving to get the event locked down. Mail-orders need to be submitted. Travel plans need to be made. Veggie burrito recipes need to be perfected.
Come on, Phish — stop leaving us hanging!
Phish put up another update to their “Save the Date” Halloween Festival map in the style of a pinball machine, with the pinball knocking out five more states in the quest to the truth on where this festival is going to take place. There was some discussion around how the California animation was spent hovering over the United States just waiting to come down again, but I’m not sure that was ever true and really called out as bullshit as quickly as it needed to be. The flash animation had actually stopped, and now that “hovering” California is completely gone from the map. Knowing just a little about how Flash works, I’m not surprised by this at all.
So where’s this festival going to be? Some are saying it’s still Indio, CA, some are calling Dateland, AZ the would-be spot, and others are now calling for Big Cypress and Texas as other would-be spots, all of which are not yet eliminated from the map (except for California). What do you guys think?
Just for fun, I thought I’d upload some tunes in the pinball spirit. Here’s something to listen to while you drop a comment on what you think about this whole process.
Disco Biscuits – “Pinball Wizard” (Live with Scott Metzger) [mp3]
I feel that fans are like, pissed about this now or something. I tend to think this is “classic” Phish and I’m loving every second of it. Which camp are you in?
I was up and off to a doctor’s appointment today when my crew started texting me that “California had been removed from the map.” Color me surprised, but it definitely appears that the Phish Halloween Festival will not be in California despite weeks of rumors and research that suggest otherwise. I’m not writing it off yet, especially considering Phish has to be watching the community reaction and reacting accordingly in the way that only they know how. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had their developer write some new flash animations on this long-ass timeline that the band has set to slowly release the news. I love the buildup and excitement, but fans are getting antsy and want to book their travel plans already.
