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Trey Anastasio Unveils New Songs, Dusts Off Phish Favorites in Brooklyn

8/8/08, 12:26 pm EST


Sure, Trey Anastasio unveiled a couple of new songs and dusted off a couple of old Phish favorites (”Gotta Jiboo,” “Sand” and “Bug”) at last night’s comeback show with his Trey Anastasio Band at the tiny Williamsburg Music Hall in Brooklyn, New York. But the highlight of his show came during the mellowest point of the night. During the breezy ballad “Drifting,” Anastasio crooned, “I’ve been drifting for years at sea/ But now you’ve come along to rescue me.” Never has that sentiment rang truer: after getting arrested for drug possession in upstate New York in 2006 and subsequently entering court-ordered rehab, Anastasio looked happy and healthy last night as he delivered a lively two-and-a-half hour set to hundreds of adoring fans (including one dude who sported a hockey jersey emblazoned with Anastasio’s name on the back).

Anastasio’s fret-playing skills have also seemed to improve as a result of his time off: “Drifting” featured a watery, almost-lyrical guitar solo. Later, Anastasio unleashed the killer new cut, “Valentine.” Powered by a Beatles-esque bassline from “Come Together,” Anastasio let loose with drone-y, slow-dripping funk licks, which he shaded with masterfully controlled feedback. Predictably, the venue was packed to capacity — and there were ticketless fans who hung outside during the show — so most people had a tough time getting a clear sightline. Still, Anastasio came armed with a nice lighting rig to entertain anyone stuck in the back. As one woman cried while showing off her hippie-shake dance moves, “You can see the lights!”

Set List:
“Alaska”
“Gotta Jibboo”
“Peggy”
“Sweet Dreams Melinda”
“Sand”
“Cayman Review”
“Gone”
“Windora Bug”
“Night Speaks To A Woman”
“Tuesday”
“Drifting”
“Backwards Down The Number Line”
“Spin”
“Valentine”
“Greyhound Rising”
“The Way I Feel”
“Mr. Completely”
“Light”
“First Tube”

Encore:
“Heavy Things”
“Bug”

[Photo: Ryan Barkan /Fresh Bread Photography]


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Comments

Jeff | 8/8/2008, 5:10 pm EST

Good to have you back Big Red!!

Trey's Oxy Dealer | 8/8/2008, 11:16 pm EST

business sucks these days!

Trey's Rehab Officer | 8/9/2008, 2:07 pm EST

We’re happy your business sucks!

phishfan | 8/10/2008, 5:05 am EST

Phish is bout ready to come back to show all these pretenders how its done.

Trey's Court-Appointed Lawyer | 8/10/2008, 9:20 am EST

YOU BOYS SIMMA’ DOWN NOW!!!!

Sheff | 8/10/2008, 3:56 pm EST

I’m just glad to have my hero back.

Trey – Missed ya big time pal. Don’t do this stuff to us again. We all love you too much buddy.

Tom Marshall: Thanks for talking to your boy and getting him playing music again.

Treigh's Mom | 8/10/2008, 5:05 pm EST

I love you trey!

please come to ohio.

Lester R Rippintwolf | 8/10/2008, 5:50 pm EST

Trey get fish back together asap, u know this is all u need to get real luther again

Walshy | 8/10/2008, 6:50 pm EST

Is it wind, or a bug? Its Windora Bug…

Cant wait

dayton 97 | 8/10/2008, 8:27 pm EST

I agree with Treigh’s mom…come to OHIO!!! cheesecake!

Whatever will be will be... | 8/11/2008, 8:26 am EST

But I hope it’s a Phish reunion. Saw Ernesto at the Newport Folk Festival. I haven’t felt “that feeling” since the last Great Woods shows in 2004…But listening to Bathtub Gin and singing the do-do-do-do-do-doodoo with the rest of my Phish friends while Trey cracked up on stage was a beautiful thing…And it felt like a family thing…can’t wait to bring Benjamin to the next show!

Whatever will be will be... | 8/11/2008, 8:27 am EST

But I hope it’s a Phish reunion. Saw Ernesto at the Newport Folk Festival. I haven’t felt “that feeling” since the last Great Woods shows in 2004…But listening to Bathtub Gin and singing the do-do-do-do-do-doodoo with the rest of my Phish friends while Trey cracked up on stage was a beautiful thing…And it felt like a family thing…can’t wait to bring Benjamin to the next show!

Marley "the Dog" | 8/11/2008, 7:23 pm EST

I’m lookin out for ya buddy. Let my spirit guide you through the darkness.

Stevo | 8/12/2008, 7:05 am EST

Glad to hear the show was amazing. We need a phish revival! I will be there garning my phunky dance mooves!

Phish Conservationist | 8/12/2008, 12:45 pm EST

As a devout zealout phan of the phab phour I am not optimistic of the future of Phish. Linked off the Gadiel phish page are the streaming mp3s of Trey’s performance in Brooklyn described above. Whoever wrote this article doesn’t know good Trey from hay.
Now that there are no more drugs, there are no more excuses for his very pedestrian performance. It’s not that his playing here is bad, it’s just not explosive and not indicative of the playing necessary to carry a Phish tour. Of course now that I write this I’m hearing the jam out of Spin and it’s slightly changing my mind. Still though, it sounds like months of practice are in order to get the edge back. Also, these new songs are pretty tame and nothing that makes me excited about hearing phish play them. Anyway, it’s too bad Trey couldn’t have gotten back to where he was on New Year’s in Atlantic City about 18 months ago. I really liked where that band had gotten to. Jeff Sipe, Tony Hall, Trey and Ray were a pretty potent group. Of course, having Jen Hartswick playing processed effect trumpet jams was cool too. This playing a few nights ago was without any loops or great sound effects, a big part of what made the spring 99 tour with these guys substantial enough. It could be said that by 2000 Trey was using them as a crutch but in fall 98 thru a lot of 1999 they were great and he was doing pretty badass stuff with them in fall 2006 and in that great New Years run of 2006. I guess he had too much on his plate already with the new songs to try and use effects at this Brooklyn show. I missed them. I think these shows were nothing more than getting back in the flow in advance of Phish’s return. Trey’s got that orchestra performance coming up and I think after that it will be nothing but getting Phish back in the barn, doing an album and getting ready for either a New Year’s run like 2002 or early spring 2009 Phish. I just hope it’s at least as good as IT or it will be disappointing.

GUY FORGET | 8/13/2008, 9:34 am EST

I NEVER MET A MAN THAT I COULD NOT FORGET…

Tennessee | 8/13/2008, 11:32 pm EST

To comment on “everything” Phish Conservationist said, it’s sad reading posts like those because I put myself in the shoes of Trey and imagine how sad I would feel to think that those who felt they were my biggest fans were the same people who assumed to know exactly how I should play or what I should sound like. An artist is supposed to always be fresh and that’s how Trey has lived his life with that goal in mind. People that post like -Phish Conservationist- sadly distort and fail to give credit to Trey’s LIFE. It’s not all about your selfish ear drums man. Love the artist and hang up your hang ups about the past or how you think Trey should play for YOU. Trey is playing to himself, thankfully, as much as to you. It’s best to remember that.

Joe | 8/14/2008, 10:22 am EST

Phish Conservationist you have no idea what you are talking about. I about playing music for your self and the great thing is other people can enjoy it. Please stop. Your not the Phish HERO.
I am very happy to hear that Trey is playing again. I hope he is happy and that he can move forward and enjoy his music. I will
Thank You.

Wake up | 8/14/2008, 4:30 pm EST

you guys keep critiquing and I’ll continue listening. You must have a lot of time on your hands to write about each and every song, solo, etc. Looks like sanity will never come your way :-) Thankfully it looks like Trey’s has. Keep on rockin Ernie!

db | 8/15/2008, 8:30 pm EST

seriously guys. I love trey’s playing and the vibe the band had in late 90’s, but the notion of a phish reunion terrifies me. the last 5 years of their career were filled with drawn out unemotional jams and they released half assed pop albums. the thought of ever hearing that overused boomerang loop again gives me nightmares. Phish 94-99 will never happen again. we should be happy and cherish the tapes we have.

PHISHPHANFAVRE | 8/17/2008, 1:27 pm EST

Brett the Jet loves the 4. GO Jets.

marco esquandolas | 8/17/2008, 3:10 pm EST

ole’ red is back! can’t wait for nashville.

Chunkenstine | 8/18/2008, 2:04 am EST

Just hope he can keep his third ball focused on the real drug; ‘the eternal groove’ w/ the rest of the band!! Fish, get ur ass back inside before the streetlights come on!!

this song starts like every good song should… with an om pah pah..
“Fat sweaty bulldog…”

Perm-a-Grin | 8/18/2008, 11:23 am EST

Keep up the good work Wilson,..I mean Trey…You “don’t need a sword to cut the flowers!..Oh No!”…

thelastman27@yahoo.com | 8/18/2008, 5:13 pm EST

Great to have have you back Trey! Can’t wait for a Phish reunion tour! I’ll be the guy in the front row on multiple doses! Peace!

high gear | 8/23/2008, 3:38 am EST

I think that if any new tour is constantly compared to previous ones like there’s some sort of perfect tour template then any new phish tour will never be as good on a personal interpretive level as if it was taken without expectations. The new tom marshall stuff has such sick harmonization potential for all four vocals. Alaska and Number Line should have sick vocal layering like halleys comet or you know when they start vocal phrases right after each other or layer different sentences. Im excited Ive only been to one phish show. I was 15 in 2004. I hope people are stoked if they tour. I want to rock and groove helluz brah.

Roger | 8/25/2008, 11:22 am EST

I’m optimistic. Having a band like Phish making new stuff is much better than not having them. In my opinion, they still haven’t recorded a great album the caliber of say “Abbey Road” and I do believe they have that potential.

Twist | 8/28/2008, 11:15 am EST

Why would Phish make an album the caliber of Abbey Road? They’re no where near the studio band the beatles were and don’t even want to be. On the other hand, they’re the best live band ever and have always focused on the live show far more than the studio sound.

Whistler | 8/29/2008, 7:25 pm EST

Ehhmmm, I think this article is about trey’s solo show, not phish, it is possible to talk about one without the other, cheers

MrElbert | 8/31/2008, 12:27 pm EST

Twist – While Phish may certainly never be the studio wizards that the Beatles were, Trey has stated in the past the he sees Abbey Road as a perfect album and he hopes (had hoped) that one day Phish could record something of that caliber. Will it ever happen? Probably not. But Trey surely has the desire to do so. Of course, he was always the only one of the four who really seemed to enjoy being in the studio.

Muska | 9/3/2008, 11:23 am EST

Everyone needs to shut up, stop trying to re-live the past, think of now, be open to new sounds, and just simply listen.

Anonymous | 9/5/2008, 5:17 pm EST

Why is everbody so MEAN? I want to burn my computer!!

fffff | 9/5/2008, 5:17 pm EST

Why is everbody so MEAN? I want to burn my computer!!

Bozo | 10/10/2008, 9:19 am EST

I Have been to over sixty shows and I look forward to something diff…something new….I love all the Boys Mike Phish Trey page and ofcourse Chris Kuroda….i hope to see u all in Va….Peace and thanks for the music and the phunk…..”I can’t stop, the Phunk is too deep” hahahah

Laquite . | 11/17/2008, 2:59 pm EST

Hi this your girl laquite. i am from gaffney SC. Well any way i am a big fan of trey song i think he is cute and has a nice boby.

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