It didn’t take long before Trey Anastasio was bouncingaround the room. Grinning and dapper inhis sharply-tailored sport coat, just minutes into the opening burst of“Sometime After Sunset” the red-haired guitarist gleefully pogoed center stage. It was just the start of the fun for thecapacity house on night one of a two-night, sold-out stay at the iconicmid-city theater as Anastasio’s obvious enthusiasm and crisp initial solocarried the kickoff of a near three-hour performance.
If Anastasio’s solo career has proven anything, it’s thatit’s an ideal canvas for the many colors of his musical personality. The Wiltern stop was no exception. It began bouncy and bright, and touched backto his 2002 album debut with “Alive Again,” and a terrific turn by trombonistNatalie Cressman, followed with sparks of ska on the new “Acting theDevil.” A shuffling “Burn That Bridge”held the vitality the octet had established from the outset, but it was the percussivefanfare, led by the always-energized Cyro Baptista, and the recognition of itsmelody line that garnered Phish’s “The Landlady” a resoundingly boisterousovation for the tune last tackled by this solo outfit back in 2006.
An extended “Everything’s Right,”- another Trey AnastasioBand entry that has migrated into Phish waters- found the full house in fullvoice on the chorus, and signaled the midpoint of the first set. Both “Sigma Oasis” and “Liquid Time” weredecidedly more sedate, but the bounce returned on a sizzling “Olivia” and the dependablysunny “Pigtail.” To this point,Anastasio had been relatively conservative with his guitar heroics, yet on“Money, Love and Change,” he caught fire, drawing out bending, wailing shrieks andmoans to close the set, as Oysterhead bandmates Les Claypool and StewartCopeland appreciated the show from the soundboard.
The second stanza seemed informed by the finale of the first, as Anastasio captained some lengthy jams. Beginning with “No Men in No Man’s Land” and flowing into “Night Speaks to a Woman,” the eight were exceptionally lively and tight. They reduced their number for “About to Run,” the blues-infested track from Anastasio’s 2019 mournful elegy to a friend, Ghosts of the Forest, then returned the optimism on couplet of “Shine” and the pulsing bop of Phish’s “Heavy Things.”
The final four before the encore each pushed the ten-minutemark, starting with the brass workout of “Simple Twist Up Dave,” then theballadry of “A Life Beyond the Dream;” the latter, also from Ghosts, revealing Anastasio at his mostemotionally raw. A shifting “Mr.Completely” felt like a show-closing stretch only to be pulled topside by“Tuesday,” and its relentless drive.
Another quartet of tunes made for a contrasting encore, withAnastasio, solo and on acoustic guitar, offering sing-along opportunities forthe faithful on “Backwards Down the Number Line,” and the playful “SleepingMonkey,” resolved with a wink to The Beatles’ “Let It Be.” A rare a capella reading of “The PartingGlass” quieted things momentarily before the last lift of “Rise/Come Together”sent the 1,900 home happy.
There was comforting and reliable familiarity in the facesonstage- the core of the ensemble forming over two decades ago. What was mostfamiliar, however, was again the unknown; the question mark that precedes everysong- what it will be, how it will evolve. Whether on now-classics from the repertoire or on the freshest of cuts,the depth and variety that Trey Anastasio and his Band have built into his solorepertoire create a concert like this one; one that almost intuitively, withoutpause or predictability, bobs and weaves around arrangements andimprovisations, moods and moments, with peaking musicianship and buoyantgrooves.
