With the doors to the MGM Grand Garden Arena now open, word is out that Phish will honor the late David Bowie with a cover of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars tonight during the second set of their three-set finale in Las Vegas. 

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Word leaked via social media shortly after doors opening that Phish would be covering the 1972 effort from Bowie, who passed away in January shortly after his 69th birthday. Phish honored Bowie this summer with an acapella cover of “Space Oddity” as well. 

For tonight’s performance, the band will be joined by a vocal and string section comprised of Jennifer Hartswick as well Sylvia D’Avanzo, Celisse Henderson, Alisa Horn, Jo Lampert, Todd Low, Antoine Silverman, Alissa Smith and Hiroko Taguchi with all arrangements by Carmel Dean. 

In tonight’s playbill, Trey Anastasio credits the “Space Oddity” cover as inspiration for the album. “It was a conversation we had pretty quickly. ‘Oh, Halloween is coming up. Let’s do Ziggy Stardust.‘”

McConnell added, “You can’t point to anyone else in rock who was so relevant for so long.” He also spoke to the other significant deaths in 2016 (Prince, Merle Haggard, etc.) saying, “It’s hard to know how to honor them all,” adding that Ziggy Stardust on Halloween “felt right. And there are no weak links–no fluff, no filler.” McConnell also notes the group has “left ourselves some room for improv,” adding, “Hopefully there will be jamming.” 

Tonight’s show will be webcast via LivePhish beginning at 7:30 PM PT.