photo by Steve Rood

It didn’t take long before Trey Anastasio was bouncing around the room.  Grinning and dapper in his 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 the capacity house on night one of a two-night, sold-out stay at the iconic mid-city theater as Anastasio’s obvious enthusiasm and crisp initial solo carried the kickoff of a near three-hour performance.

If Anastasio’s solo career has proven anything, it’s that it’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 back to his 2002 album debut with “Alive Again,” and a terrific turn by trombonist Natalie Cressman, followed with sparks of ska on the new “Acting the Devil.”  A shuffling “Burn That Bridge” held the vitality the octet had established from the outset, but it was the percussive fanfare, led by the always-energized Cyro Baptista, and the recognition of its melody line that garnered Phish’s “The Landlady” a resoundingly boisterous ovation for the tune last tackled by this solo outfit back in 2006.

An extended “Everything’s Right,”- another Trey Anastasio Band entry that has migrated into Phish waters- found the full house in full voice on the chorus, and signaled the midpoint of the first set.  Both “Sigma Oasis” and “Liquid Time” were decidedly more sedate, but the bounce returned on a sizzling “Olivia” and the dependably sunny “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 and moans to close the set, as Oysterhead bandmates Les Claypool and Stewart Copeland 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-minute mark, starting with the brass workout of “Simple Twist Up Dave,” then the balladry of “A Life Beyond the Dream;” the latter, also from Ghosts, revealing Anastasio at his most emotionally 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, with Anastasio, solo and on acoustic guitar, offering sing-along opportunities for the faithful on “Backwards Down the Number Line,” and the playful “Sleeping Monkey,” resolved with a wink to The Beatles’ “Let It Be.”  A rare a capella reading of “The Parting Glass” 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 faces onstage- the core of the ensemble forming over two decades ago. What was most familiar, however, was again the unknown; the question mark that precedes every song- 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 solo repertoire create a concert like this one; one that almost intuitively, without pause or predictability, bobs and weaves around arrangements and improvisations, moods and moments, with peaking musicianship and buoyant grooves.