EBS STAFF
On Friday, Oct. 25 at 8 p.m., the Arts Council of Big Sky will host its third annual Skull and Roses Ball as part of the Haunted Peaks Halloween Festival. The ball pays homage to Grateful Dead, centered around the band’s legendary skull and roses imagery, according to a press release from the arts council.
“This immersive event invites attendees to embrace both the spirit of Halloween and the colorful, free-spirited essence of the band,” the release stated.
The event will be held at The Waypoint, and tickets are available online. It will include a costume competition with prizes for categories, themed drinks and raffles, and music by DeadPhish Orchestra, a “well-established and well-loved” Colorado-based band that jams in tribute of Grateful Dead and Phish. DeadPhish Orchestra performed back-to-back summers at Music in the Mountains in 2016 and 2017.
“We’re excited to be bringing DeadPhish back to Big Sky,” Brian Hurlbut, arts council executive director, stated in the release. “These guys have a great following and the Skull and Roses Ball is the perfect event for them.”
At the ball, guests are encouraged to wear Halloween costumes with inspiration from Grateful Dead and Phish. Prizes will be awarded to creative categories like “Greatest Dead,” “Biggest Phish,” and the King and Queen of the ball.
The original members of DeadPhish Orchestra met in the summer of 2001, and toured for a handful of years as Phix, the first nationally-recognized Phish tribute band, according to the release. Aside from small gigs in Colorado, Phix had stopped touring by the time Phish made its 2009 comeback.
A few months later, the group was playing Grateful Dead covers at a Denver venue, “and a jam on the Grateful Dead’s ‘Here Comes Sunshine’ somehow organically morphed into a jam on Phish’s ‘Bathtub Gin.’” the release stated. “The crowd went wild, and a new band was born.” DeadPhish Orchestra played its first official concert on New Year’s Eve that year.
The band’s current lineup features guitarist Paul Murin, bassist Brian Adams and keyboard pianist Ted Tilton. In Big Sky, the band will welcome drummer Jake Wolf, a member of the Rocky Mountain Grateful Dead Revue and Pickin’ on the Dead.
The arts council encourages attendees to purchase tickets soon—the event sold out in 2023.
