Trey Anastasio Band Makes Brooklyn Bowl Debut In 2014

The current lineup of the Trey Anastasio Band finds Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio joined by drummer Russ Lawton, bassist Tony Markellis, keyboardist Ray Packzowski, perucssionist Cyro Baptista and a horn section of Jennifer Hartswick, Natalie Cressman and James Casey. Anastasio and his troupe begin one of their busiest years yet on Friday night with the first of two sold-out concerts at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York. In honor of TAB’s return to the road, today’s Throwback Thursday looks at the group’s 2014 performance at a different venue run by impresario Peter Shapiro, the original Brooklyn Bowl in New York City.

The Trey Anastasio Band made their Brooklyn Bowl debut on August 16, 2014. While Baptista has since returned to the fold, the lineup for TAB’s 2017 tour is the same as the one that played Brooklyn that night outside of Cyro. Anastasio discussed how certain members of the group came into his life in our recent feature:

The older I get, the more mystified I am about the way that people come into each other’s lives. I met Jen when she was maybe 16 years old and I immediately knew we were going to play music together. Immediately. It was weird. It felt like we had known each other in a past life or something. That might sound creepy but it absolutely wasn’t. I met her mom and dad, and her mom even ended up recording with me at The Barn. You can hear Jen’s mom playing clarinet on “Coming To” on the album Seis de Mayo. I think if I remember correctly, the first actual recording of us playing together is on Story Of The Ghost.

I had a very similar experience when I met Tony. I saw Tony playing at a club called Hunts in 1982. I had flown up to Burlington on People’s Express to look at UVM to see if I wanted to go to school there, and The Unknown Blues Band was playing that night. I spent the entire set watching him, mesmerized. I went up to the stage afterward and talked to him. I remember it like it was yesterday. Once again, it just felt destined. Tony played bass at my wedding. Fish was the best man. Tom Marshall, Steve Pollak, Page and Mike were the groomsmen, so people come into your lives and they become part of the fabric. Who knows why?

I could tell a very similar story about Ray. I saw him in a tent playing with his amazing band viperHouse, and I went backstage and talked to him. Natalie, James, Russ. Everyone met in a natural way, everyone has become close, and you can hear it in the music. Russ and Ray met playing in this band, and now they have an incredible duo Soule Monde. James and Jen and Natalie frequently play together now. This makes me happy. Natalie’s dad used to be in the band, and during that period of time Natalie’s dad and Cyro were absolutely killing it together every night. So you can see that the roots go very deep.

Anastasio’s Brooklyn Bowl concert was filmed for the PBS series Front & Center and aired the next year just ahead of the release of Trey’s Paper Wheels album. TAB played a few cuts that wound up appearing on the LP, but also filled the setlist with plenty of classic songs including “Cayman Review,” “Gotta Jibboo,” “Burlap, Sack And Pumps,” “Sand,” “Drifting,” “Simple Twist Up Dave” and “Alive Again.” A handful of covers were performed with Hartswick leading a slamming rendition of “Black Dog” by Led Zeppelin after a birthday celebration for the trumpeter/vocalist. Pro-shot video of “Cayman Review” and “Alaska” from the 2015 episode of Front & Center can be viewed below.

Videos

Setlist (via Phish.net)

Set One: Sometime After Sunset, Cayman Review, Money, Love and Change, Valentine, Bounce, Pigtail, In Rounds, The Land of Nod, Gotta Jibboo, Burlap Sack and Pumps, 1977, Magilla, Alaska, Tuesday

Set Two: Sand, Drifting, Night Speaks to a Woman, Frost, Simple Twist Up Dave, Small Axe, Shine, Alive Again, Dark and Down, Architect, Clint Eastwood, Push On ‘Til the Day, Black Dog

Encore: First Tube