Full Show Video: Trey Anastasio Solo Acoustic Tour Rolls On With Show In Ithaca

On Friday night Trey Anastasio hit night two of his solo acoustic tour moving from suburban New Jersey to upstate New York for a sold-out gig at The State Theatre in Ithaca. The Phish frontman treated the enthusiastic crowd to a mix of obvious selections that lend themselves to acoustic interpretations alongside some unexpected curveballs and a number of solo debuts, while also using the intimate setup to share Phish-tory stories.

Big Red looked to Phish’s 1996 release Billy Breathes to start the night opening things up with a tender take on “Prince Caspian.” “NICU” followed, with Anastasio sharing his first story of the night next prior to “Theme From The Bottom.” The singer-guitarist asked if “Sweet Pete” was in the house, before going on to talk about how The State Theatre was the spot of a significant event in Phish’s history. Anastasio went on to talk about how the band had traversed the country numerous time in a Plymouth Voyager. As a result of the many hours they spent together in that van, the band developed their own language of in-jokes that “were seven-layers deep” and made them “kind of annoying to be around” adding the reference “Halifax” to inside baseball Phish lore. Anastasio eventually got around to the point to the story which was that when they graduated from the van to a bus drummer Jon Fishman gave the keys to van away to a fan named “Sweet Pete” during their 1991 Valentine’s Day show at the venue and then joked that he wanted the van back now.

Anastasio remained in a chatty mood as he continued to reminisce about Phish shows in Ithaca talking about the time they “played for the door” at The Haunt after bassist Mike Gordon shattered the venue’s glass door while leaving the venue during their post-show unload. He also shared the story about why only two people in the band were allowed to drive, before offering up “Rise/Come Together” a tune that he debuted with the Trey Anastasio Band last April, and has been performed by Phish three times since.

Must-hear jammed-out takes on “Ghost” and “Light,” which was seeing its acoustic debut, helped fill out the middle portion of the set. Anastasio also offered up a pair of seldom-played Phish rarities. First up was a take on “Dog Faced Boy,” which has Trey has only played solo four times and has been not seen full-band action since October of 2016. The Hoist track was then followed up by another seldom-played song – “Sleep.” The tune, which Phish has only played 16 times total has also not been played by Anastasio since 2006. The guitarist also peppered the set with a handful of tunes that were seeing their solo acoustic debut as he offered up “Ocelot,” “Sand” and “Fuego” for the first time without a band.

Watch fan-shot video of the entire show captured by TheKamherst and check out the full setlist below:

[Prince Caspian]

[NICU]

[Theme From The Bottom]

[Rise/Come Together]

[Ghost]

[The Wedge]

[AC/DC Bag]

[Light]

[The Inlaw Josie Wales]

[Dog Faced Boy]

[Sleep]

[Ocelot]

[Summer of ’89]

[Twist]

[Sand]

[Fuego]

[Carini]

[Wilson]

Setlist (via Phish.net)

SET 1: Prince Caspian [1], NICU[1], Theme From the Bottom[1], Rise/Come Together[2], Ghost[1], The Wedge[1], AC/DC Bag[1], Light[2], The Inlaw Josie Wales[1], Dog Faced Boy[1], Sleep[1], Ocelot[2], Summer of ’89[1], Twist[1], Sand[2], Fuego[2]

ENCORE: Carini[1], Wilson[1]

[1] Trey solo acoustic. [2] Trey solo acoustic debut.