Trey Anastasio Band Race through Cincinnati, Detroit and Akron
Trey Anastasio, photo by Dave Vann
Over the weekend, Trey Anastasio passed through the Midwest with three further performances in his November tour with the Trey Anastasio Band. After establishing a tight rotation of songs through surprises and rarities on the first two weeks of their return to the road, the iconic Phish frontman and his ensemble settled into that setlist onstage in Cincinnati, Detroit and Akron, Ohio, letting greater comfort with the tracks spur virtuosic performances.
Anastasio and TAB returned to the spotlight at Cincinnati’s Andrew J. Brady Music Center with the shuffling funk of “Woflman’s Brother,” stretched out to nearly 16 minutes to unconventionally commence their Friday show with the evening’s longest jam. From this enticing opener, the frontman and his backing septet of Russ Lawton, Ray Paczkowski, Dezron Douglas, Cyro Baptista, Natalie Cressman, Jennifer Hartswick and Kenneth Whalum ducked into a quick “Pigtail,” then stopped by other essentials like “Evolve,” “Set Your Soul Free,” “Bouncing Around the Room” and “Simple Twist Up Dave” before an intense first frame finale of “Sand.” The band bookended their second set with “Money, Love and Change” and “Push on Til’ the Day,” then wrapped up the show with a classic encore of “Stash” and “Carini.”
On Saturday, the Trey Anastasio Band cruised into Detroit for a night at The Fillmore, which came rolling in on the joyous tides of “A Wave of Hope.” Following an electrifying one-two-punch of “Oblivion” and “Alive Again,” clocking in at roughly 11 minutes each, the group’s first appearance in Motor City since 2012 made up for lost time with a dusting of unconventional inclusions in the performance’s latter half. Beyond the third renditions of new originals “Real You” and “Simeon,” both of which were debuted at the tour opener in Denver, the band slotted in their first play of Anastasio’s “Quantegy,” from 1998’s One Man’s Trash, since May 2024. Saturday’s show came to a close with a combined 21-minute medley of “Everything’s Right” and “Possum,” then an encore of “Valentine” and “Sand.”
Sunday brought the penultimate staging in TAB’s cross-country tour to Akron, Ohio’s Akron Civic Theatre, which began with the tried and true show-opener of “First Tube.” The show went on with a total of 18 other tracks, and seven that sped past the 10-minute mark; reliably expensive versions of “Wolfman’s Brother,” “Blaze On,” “Sand,” “Night Speaks to a Woman” and a second set-ending “Push On ‘Til The Day” preceded the tour’s most thrilling encore so far – a combined 21 minutes of “A Life Beyond The Dream” and “What’s Going Through Your Mind.”
The Trey Anastasio Band will conclude their headline tour tomorrow Nov. 25, with one last stand at Syracuse, N.Y.’s Landmark Theatre. From Nov. 28-30, Anastasio will celebrate the fifth anniversary of his unforgettable Beacon Jams with a special three-night return to New York’s Beacon Theatre. The retrospective series will mirror the collaborative experimentalism of the pandemic livestream series by setting the musician within a variety of formations, including TAB and the return of The Rescue Squad Strings. To recall the Beacon Jams’ charitable and community-focused purpose, proceeds from all ticket sales will support the Divided Sky Foundation, and all three sold-out shows will stream for free via LivePhish and nugs.net.
