With Halloween just around the corner, Spafford fans are getting amped on what surprises the beloved holiday may hold this year. This year, the Arizona quartet will be hitting New Orleans on Halloween night for a special performance at Parish @ House of Blues along with friends and supporting act Southern Avenue. Spafford has become known for their legendary jam-fueled celebrations on the spooky holiday, with the group often debuting zany, out-of-left-field covers.

Spafford Announces Three-Night New Year’s Eve Run

To get excited about Spafford’s upcoming Halloween rager, let’s take a look at what special moments the band has put together during Halloweens past. You can swoop tickets to Spafford’s upcoming Halloween show here.

2016

Last year, Spafford debuted five new tunes during their 80’s-themed Halloween show (technically 10/29) at Last Exit Live in their hometown of Phoenix, Arizona. Opening the show with the Ghostbusters theme song, the group invited saxophonist Mike Cunningham to join the band on set-closing renditions of the Herbie Hancock’s “Cantaloupe Island” and Todd Rundgren’s “Bang On The Drum All Day.” The group also managed to work in covers of Green Day’s “Longview” and Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love” among more traditional numbers from their catalog during the night’s two sets, before fully closing out the night with an encore that saw “Leave The Light On” segue into a triumphant return to the show-opening Ghostbusters theme.

Setlist: Spafford | Last Exit Live | Phoenix, AZ | 10/29/2016

Set One: Ghostbusters [ 1 ] > Todd’s Tots, Ain’t That Wrong, Longview [ 2 ], Backdoor Funk, Cantaloupe Island [ 3 ]

Set Two: Tainted Love [ 4 ], The Reprise > Salamander Song, America > Galisteo Way > Dis Go In 5? > Galisteo Way, Bang The Drum All Day [ 5 ]

Encore: Leave The Light On > Ghostbusters

[ 1 ]: First Time Played; [ 2 ]: First Time Played; [ 3 ]: With: Mike Cunningham, First Time Played; [ 4 ]: First Time Played; [ 5 ]: With: Mike Cunningham, First Time Played

 

[Audio: Grout]

2015

In 2015, Spafford again debuted numerous tunes uncharacteristic for the band, opening the show with a string of three covers to get fans in the proper Halloween spirit. Starting off a hilarious crowd-pleasing rendition of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”, the band jammed the beloved tune made famous from Titanic into Primitive Radio Gods’ “Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand.” This cover then moved into a fairly quick rendition of Lou Reed’s “Walk On The Wild Side” before returning to the group returned to the Primitive Radio Gods’ cover, giving it the full treatment with an extended jam clocking in at over ten minutes. The night also saw an appearance of Stone Temple Pilots’ “Creep” during the second set as well as an encore of Motley Crüe’s “Home Sweet Home”, giving a nod to their triumphant return to their hometown.  

 

[Video: AZ Dead]

Setlist: Spafford | Last Exit Live | Phoenix, AZ | 10/31/2015

Set One: My Heart Will Go On [ 1 ] > Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand [ 2 ] > Walk On The Wild Side [ 3 ] > Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand > All My Friends > Bee Jam > Backdoor Funk, Seven, People

Set Two: Banana Boat Song > Jump In The Line, Weasel > Red’s Jam > Weasel, Creep [ 4 ] > All In > My Heart Will Go On > All In > My Heart Will Go On > All In

Encore: Home Sweet Home [ 5 ]

[ 1 ]: Celine Dion cover; [ 2 ]: Primitive Radio Gods cover; [ 3 ]: Lou Reed cover; [ 4 ]: Stone Temple Pilots cover; [ 5 ]: Motley Crüe cover

 

[Audio: Grout]

2014

While the past two years have seen Spafford performing at Phoenix’s Last Exit Live, in 2014, Spafford hit the Orpheum Theater in Flagstaff, Arizona, for a special Halloween show following a Halloween-less 2013. 2014’s Halloween performance saw six cover debuts during the particularly cover-heavy set—the band only played a handful of originals, with “Weasel” working its way across the set plus lone renditions of “Leave The Light On”, “Electric Taco Stand”, and the show-closing “Walls.” Opening up with John Carpenter’s “Halloween Theme”, the band then moved through Sneaker Pimps’ “Six Underground” before landing in the triumphant and ever-crowd pleasing Legend of Zelda theme. After rotating across the Zelda and Halloween theme plus “Weasel”, the group also dropped renditions of Emerson, Lake, & Palmer’s “Lucky Man”, Don Cheek’s “Spell Yourself”, and Harry Belafonte’s “Banna Boat Song” and “Jump In The Line” before returning with the encore opening cover of Phish’s “Ghost.”

Setlist: Spafford | Orpheum Theater| Flagstaff, AZ | 10/31/2014

Set: Halloween Theme($) > Six Underground($@) > Legend of Zelda($) > Weasel > Halloween Theme > Weasel > Legend of Zelda > Weasel, Leave The Light On, Lucky Man($#) > Electric Taco Stand, Spell Yourself($+), Banana Boat Song(!) > Jump In The Line(!)

Encore – Ghost($&) > Walls

$ – First Time Played
@ – Sneaker Pimps cover
# – Emerson, Lake & Palmer cover
+ – Don Cheek cover
! – Harry Belafonte cover
& – Phish cover

 

[Audio: Troy Mustachio]

2012

In 2013, the band skipped Halloween. However, 2014 and 2012 more than made up for the gap in spooky festivities. Looking back over the Halloween setlists from past years, even as Spafford was coming up and not the nationally recognized rising-star jam act they are today, the band was always attentive to give fans a special performance in honor of Halloween. In 2012, the group covered the Grateful Dead’s eerie disco hit “Feel Like A Stranger” and Harry Belafonte’s “Banana Boat Song” and “Jump In The Line” (a combo that also closed the set for Halloween of 2014) during the first set. An epic show-opening “Weasel” sandwich opened set two, which saw a cover of Doug Funnie’s “Bangin’ on a Trash Can” from Nickelodeon’s Doug, as well as covers of The Refreshments’ “Banditos”, Phish’s “Wolfman’s Brother” and “Waste”, and Men At Work’s “Down Under”, plus a rendition of “Funkadelic” housing teases of Phish’s “First Tube”,

“Weasel” featuring “Bangin’ On A Trash Can” from Doug

Setlist: Spafford | Lyzzard’s Lounge | Prescott, AZ | 10/27/2012

Set One: Electric Taco Stand, All My Friends > Bee Jam > Feel Like A Stranger*, Ain’t That Wrong, Walls, Banana Boat Song#, Jump In The Line#

Set Two: Weasel > Bangin’ on a Trash Can $ > Weasel, Funkadelic > In The Eyes Of Thieves, Banditos @, Wolfman’s Brother &> Down Under% > Waste &, Galisteo Way

* – Grateful Dead cover; # – Harry Belafonte cover; $ – Doug Funnie cover; @ – The Refreshments cover; % – Men At Work cover; & – Phish Cover

 

[Audio: Jordan Fairless]

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