Trey Anastasio Kicks Off Beacon Jams 5th Anniversary Concert Series In New York City

Almost exactly five years after walking out of the front doors of the Beacon Theatre in a drum line, Trey Anastasio returned to the legendary New York City venue to close out his 2025 Fall Tour with the first of three special shows honoring the original Beacon Jams’ anniversary.

Smoothly moving between full Trey Anastasio Band performances, solo acoustic and classic Phish compositions augmented by the Rescue Squad strings, Anastasio nailed the best qualities of the 2020 livestreamed performances — though this time, of course, he was facing a packed and very sold-out audience instead of the back wall.

The Rescue Squad (Rachel Golub, Katie Kresek, Maxim Moston and Anja Wood) began the show by performing the improvised song that gave them their name, Anastasio’s narration of his rescue from the floating platform at the end of Phish’s 12/31/19 show. This haunting rendition on just the string quartet led to the full band emerging from the darkened stage to play “In A House-In A Heartbeat,” the theme from 28 Days Later that made an appearance in week four of the original Beacon Jams to accompany the spoof video imagining if Anastasio had never been rescued from his platform and woke up in a pandemic-stricken NYC.

Making its fourth appearance of the fall, Phish’s “Stash” was given the Rescue Squad treatment along with the full TAB, a really cool – and different – take on the Phish classic, an angle that is especially stark given the wildly different rhythm section of drummer Russ Lawton and bassist Dezron Douglas when compared to Jon Fishman and Mike Gordon’s approach. Pianist Jeff Tanski was also on hand for the opening of the show, his continued collaboration with Anastasio paying dividends as his playing helped to anchor the strings.

Anastasio took a moment before playing more music to express his heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in making both these shows and the 2020 residency happen, but especially to those in the audience who helped create The Divided Sky Foundation’s facility in Ludlow, Vermont, a venture that was funded by donations during the virtual shows.

“What’s Going Through Your Mind” was called next as the first song of the night with no strings, Douglas laying down an absolutely filthy bass line in the relatively brief jam as the horns threw in some well-timed stabs.

Opening up the TAB classics songbook next were “Mozambique” and “Alive Again,” the former featuring the horn section of Natalie Cressman, Jennifer Hartswick and Kenneth Whalum on the bouncy rhythms. Cressman got a huge cheer with each of her solos last night — being on stage for two weeks while nine months pregnant is a wildly impressive feat, and Chainsaw crushed it as she always does.

Grooving into “The Moma Dance” next, Anastasio cued some modulations for the horns to take the spotlight in the jam, Whalum in particular shining here with some Coltrane-esque saxophone riffs. This type of laid-back vibe has been very present on this tour, especially in the two renditions of “Blaze On” to near the coveted 20-minute mark from last week, and it’s always a treat to see TAB stretch their legs a little.

The Rescue Squad returned for “Monsters,” Anastasio unleashing a torrent of fretboard fireworks across the crowd as he showed off his well-practiced play and crystal-clear tone. Phish classic “Divided Sky” was up next and featured just Anastasio on acoustic, Tanski on piano, and the strings — an absolutely GORGEOUS rendition that held the crowd in rapt attention throughout.

The first set came to a close with a romp through “Everything’s Right,” Anastasio’s continued glee evident through the upbeat tune as he thanked the crowd before heading into the break.

Beginning the second frame with a nice solo acoustic rendition of “Lost in the Pack,” Anastasio welcomed the rest of the band back on stage for “Blaze On,” which has been a breakout vehicle for TAB this fall. Keyboardist Ray Paczkowski threw in some jazzy piano chords underneath Anastasio’s laid-back riffing, the guitarist upping the intensity a bit before engaging in some clean back-and-forth with the horns.

Once again, spotlight solos were given atop new modulations in a way that usually pops up in TAB versions of “Mr. Completely,” Whalum utilizing a handful of different earworm riffs in his turn as Anastasio threw some ideas back and forth. Moving through solos by Cressman and then Hartswick as well, “Blaze On” wrapped up nicely before the band sank their teeth into “Spin.”

Always a favorite of mine at a TAB show, this syrupy, psychedelic outro jam usually just lets Anastasio rip, and that’s exactly what he did. With ominous whispers from percussionist Cyro Baptista at the beginning of the jam, Anastasio utilized heavy Whammy bends and some subtle delay to really accentuate his solo as the band built dynamics around him beautifully. Douglas in particular hit some really incredible low-end harmonizations within the chord progression as they blazed through the peak, inspiring Anastasio to take a few extra turns of shredding rather than wrapping up the song.

Recent debut “Real You” led into “Harry Hood,” an absolutely breathtaking Rescue Squad-augmented version that began with just Anastasio, Tanski and the strings but was picked up by the rest of TAB once the jam started. Anastasio also made a pivot from acoustic to electric at that time and weaved a beautiful solo together, the audience belting the “you can feel good” ending lyric with an energy and excitement that almost drowned out the band.

A solid “Gotta Jibboo” led into the first-ever TAB rendition of “My Friend, My Friend,” a song very nicely suited to the orchestral arrangement with its complex intro. A hauntingly beautiful “What’s the Use?” was performed in the guitar/piano/strings setting, Anastasio’s buttery tone cutting through the air perfectly — another Beacon Jams highlight that translated to the live stage beautifully.

The set then closed out with a raucous “First Tube,” doing what it does best, before an extended Rescue Squad-augmented encore of “A Life Beyond the Dream,” “The Lizards,” and “Carini” brought the night to a close on a high note – Anastasio infusing each riff and solo with a clear expression of gratitude for every aspect of the show.

With two nights to go and a lot of the heavier-rotation songs now off the table, one can hope that there are plans to dip into the extensive catalog of solo Anastasio songs — but whatever is played, I look forward to more amazing reimagined compositions with strings and a continuation of the amazing energy from last night.

Tune into free livestreams of The Beacon Jams via nugs and LivePhish, benefiting the Divided Sky Foundation.

Setlist (via Phish.net)

Set One: In the House – In a Heartbeat [1], Stash [2], What’s Going Through Your Mind, Mozambique, Alive Again, The Moma Dance, Monsters [3], Divided Sky [4], Everything’s Right

Set Two: Lost in the Pack [5], Blaze On, Spin, Real You, Harry Hood [6], Gotta Jibboo, My Friend, My Friend [7], What’s the Use? [8], First Tube[3]

Encore: A Life Beyond The Dream[3], The Lizards[3], Carini[3]

• [1] First public TAB performance. With the Rescue Squad Strings and Jeff Tanski on piano.
• [2] With the Rescue Squad Strings and Jeff Tanski on piano.
• [3] With the Rescue Squad Strings.
• [4] Just Trey on acoustic guitar, the Rescue Squad Strings, and Jeff Tanski on piano.
• [5] Trey solo acoustic.
• [6] Trey on acoustic and electric guitar, the Rescue Squad Strings, and Jeff Tanski on piano.
• [7] TAB debut. With the Rescue Squad Strings and Jeff Tanski on piano.
• [8] Just Trey, the Rescue Squad Strings, and Jeff Tanski on piano.

This show was billed as The Beacon Jams (celebrating the 5th anniversary of 2020’s Beacon Jams residency) and was a benefit for Divided Sky Foundation.The Rescue Squad Strings (Rachel Golub, Katie Kresek, Maxim Moston, and Anja Wood) performed Rescue Squad alone before Trey and TAB joined for the first public TAB performance of In the House – In a Heartbeat (it had been played previously during the Beacon Jams on October 30, 2020). In the House – In a Heartbeat, Stash, Monsters, Divided Sky, Harry Hood, and My Friend, My Friend through Carini featured the Rescue Squad Strings with Jeff Tanski joining on piano for In the House – In a Heartbeat, Stash, Divided Sky, Harry Hood, My Friend, My Friend, and What’s the Use?. Divided Sky featured just Trey on acoustic guitar, the Rescue Squad Strings, and Jeff Tanski on piano. Lost in the Pack was performed by Trey solo acoustic. Harry Hood featured Trey on acoustic and electric guitar. My Friend, My Friend was a TAB debut. What’s the Use? featured just Trey, the Rescue Squad Strings, and Jeff Tanski on piano.