More of Mike Wren's photos of the last night's Trey Anastasio Band show at the Palace Theatre, Albany (NY) can be found in his Flickr photostream here.
1. The entire acoustic set is beautiful, in part given the audience sing-alongs. Also, the arrangement of Guelah Papyrus in particular is unusual, surprising and charming. I had no idea what song it was before Trey began the lyrics. It has an almost spell-bindingly repetitive riff during the verses, and the chorus ain’t shabby either. If you’re a fan of this song, it’s worth downloading this show to hear it. And it doesn’t hurt that Trey plays Buffalo Bill, of all things, on his acoustic next.
2. Trey -- after explaining why Wading in the Velvet Sea means as much to him as it does (hear the banter for yourself) -- dedicates the song to Tom (with whom he wrote the song) and even bromantically sends his love to Tom, thinking that Tom wasn’t at the show, and then Tom (I think) yells “I’m here!” which leads to some amusing words from Trey. Gotta love intimate small-venue shows if only for exchanges like this. And I also heard (I think via Eric Wyman on Twitter) that the Drifting that Trey played last night was in response to a 5-year-old girl with a sign for it. Precious.
3. Devil Went Down To Georgia with the horns in a bluesy-klezmer arrangement is wonderful, just a riot.
4. The electric set is tight. It made me realize how much I missed Trey band. Jaded Trey-vets probably won’t be blown away by any of the jams, but I just love the horn arrangements, and I don’t think I ever want to hear Ocelot sans horns again. It adds so much to the song. I was never much of an Ocelot fan, but this is easily my favorite version. Hear Ocelot with horns. (And hear Alaska with horns, too, from the Portland 2/18 show!)
5. I am not embarrassed to admit that I was unfamiliar with the “Gorillaz” until Trey’s cover of Clint Eastwood, and think it’s awesome that he covered this song (which I’ve downloaded from iTunes, and am listening to now). If you are familiar with this song, Trey’s homage to its greatness is entertaining, but be prepared to be surprised. Trey’s arrangement is about as true to the original as Phish’s cover of Floyd’s Great Gig in the Sky.
In any event, if you’re still on the fence, check out what Trey’s doing this tour -- if only to hear the horn arrangements and unique acoustic arrangements of your favorite Phish tunes. I’m only seeing the tour closer at the Fox, and now wish I were seeing a lot more shows. $0.02.
This poster by Erin Cadigan is one of four being auctioned off on eBay by PhanArt to support the Mockingbird Foundation. Erin's an extremely talented artist who did the official Phamily Poker Tournament poster benefitting the Mockingbird Foundation last fall.
Bidding on this poster auction ends Tuesday evening (February 22).
Erin's poster for the second leg of summer tour 2010 is based on the Virgin of Guadeloupe, the clouds are the venues and dates.
The print measures 12″x18″, comes from a signed and numbered edition of 113 and is printed on 1-33 Champagne pearlized 100# cover 34-113 Cougar felted 100#cover (nice white paper). This poster is number 80/113.
Phish.net
The Mockingbird Foundation