Animal Liberation Orchestra Bring Tricks and Treats with Halloweekend Haunt

This past weekend, Animal Liberation Orchestra (ALO) played three back-to-back gigs dubbed the “Halloweekend Haunt,” serving as some of their last of 2023. The three shows took place in Boulder, Colo., Denver and Salt Lake City on Nov. 2, 3 and 4, respectively, and were each given a different theme aligned with the Halloween weekend.

The show in Boulder took place at the Fox Theatre and began with a performance from the Clay Street Unit, a country/folk band from Denver. The night’s theme was “A Dead Still Dance Party,” as a way to celebrate La Dia de Los Muertos or Day of the Dead. The band began the set fittingly with a rising “Push” before going into their tune “Zombies.” The first cover the band played was “Recuerdame” or “Remember Me” from the Pixar movie Coco, which was teased by Zach Gill on the band’s Instagram the day of the show.

This song transitioned into ALO’s “Dead Still Dance,” and after a few more songs, the band brought out their first guest, The Motet’s Dave Watts, who played percussion on “Baby Blind Spot.” Following this tune, ALO played “Girl I Wanna Lay You Down” with help from Clay Street Unit’s Scottie Bolin and Sam Walker. Next, ALO played a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Help On The Way/Slipknot!” with “Chilly Chilly” in between the two songs. The band closed their set with “Barbeque” before returning for a short encore that began with “Roses and Clover” and ended with “Walls of Jericho” 

The second evening–this time at Cervantes in Denver–had the theme “A Furry Friday Freak Out,” for which the band encouraged concertgoers to “Bring your furriest and your funkiest” on Instagram. The night started with “Get To Do It Again,” and the quartet’s first set was almost entirely made up of original tunes. However, after their song “Try,” the band transitioned into the Grateful Dead’s “Franklin’s Tower” before John Whooley came on the stage for ALO’s debut of Goose’s song “Honeybee.”

The first set ended soon after with the tune “The Ticket,” but the band returned with a bang with “Hot Damn.” Whooley came back to the stage to play “I Love Music” and their next tune, “Cowboy and Chorus Girls.” After a few more selections, the band debuted a cover of Magic In The Other Cover’s “Light In My Window” before ending the set with “Room For Bloomin,” which transitioned into “Animal Liberation Pt. II.” The encore that followed was similar to the nights before, with three songs, starting with “Simple Times” > “Wasting Time,” which transitioned into “Divine Fall.”

The third and final night of this run was in Salt Lake City’s The Commonwealth. The night’s theme, “Spooky Silver Saturday,” was a pun on their most recent album, Silver Saturdays. The silver sprayed in their hair hardly slowed them down as the band began the night with “Blew Out The Walls.” The first half of the set comprised mostly of originals until the band transitioned “Sugar On Your Tongue” into “Footloose,” then “Sugar, I Want To Feel It.” The first set ended with a transition from “Time Is Of The Essence” into Steely Dan’s “Reelin In The Years,” which then went into Pink Floyd’s “Time,” closing out the set. 

The band came back to the stage with “Get To Do It Again,” which featured Magic In The Other’s drummer Ezra Lipp on drums and saw Dave Brogan move to percussion. The band stayed like this for “The Gardene” before Brogan and Lipp traded spots for “I Love Music” and “Aliens.” The composition of the band changed even more for “Sparrow,” which saw Lipp move back to the drums and Brogan handle keys, usually reserved for longtime bandmate Zach Gill. Gill returned to the keys for the rest of the set, which finished with “Walls Of Jericho” and “Make It Back Home.”

ALO’s final tour date of 2023 will be at the Bajaja Festival on Dec. 1. Notably, the group recently announced their 17th annual Tour d’Amour – learn more and find tickets here.

ALO

Fox Theatre – Boulder, Colo.

Nov. 2, 2023

Set I: Push, Zombies, Speed of Dreams, Rare Air, Recuerdame > Dead Still Dance, Keep On Giving Jane, Baby Blind Spot*, Girl I Wanna Lay You Down%, Help On The Way >> Slipknot >> Chilly Chilly >> Slipknot >> Barbeque

Encore: Roses And Clover > Growing Your Hands Back, Walls of Jericho

Notes:

*W/ Dave Watts Percussion

% W/ Scottie Bolin and Sam Walker from Clay Street Unit

ALO

Cervantes – Denver

Nov. 3, 2023

Set I: Get To Do It Again, Maria, Rewind, Plastic Bubble, The Party, Blew Out The Walls, Try >> Franklin’s Tower, Honeybee%, The Ticket

Set II: Hot Damn, I Love Music*, Cowboys and Chorus Girls*, Oil, Sparrow, Light In My Window^, Room For Bloomin > Animal Liberation Pt. II

Encore: Simple Times, Wasting Time (IV Song) >> Divine Fall

Notes:

%Goose Cover (first time played at a public show)

*With John Whooley Saxophone

^ Magic In The Other Cover, ALO Debut

ALO

The Commonwealth – Salt Lake City

Nov. 4, 2023

Set I: Blew Out The Walls, Hot Damn, Rare Air, Keep On Giving Jane, Sugar On Your Tongue > Footloose > Sugar, I Wanna Feel It, Time Is Of The Essence > Reelin In The Years > Time

Set II: Get To Do It Again*, The Gardener*, I Love Music%, Aliens%, Plastic Bubble*, Sparrow^, Barbecue%, Wasting Time (IV Song)% > Walls of Jericho%, Make It Back Home*

Notes:

*Ezra Lipp on Drums, Dave Brogan on Percussion

% Dave Brogan on Drums, Ezra Lipp on Percussion

^ Ezra Lipp on Drums, Dave Brogan on Keys