Trey Anastasio Offers Tour Debuts In Canton

Trey Anastasio of Phish resumed his solo acoustic tour on Wednesday night at the Palace Theatre in Canton, Ohio. Anastasio’s performance included the tour debuts of “Halley’s Comet,” “Ghost,” “Alaska,” “Fee” and “Sleeping Monkey.”

The guitarist kicked off his lone set with “Snowflakes In The Sand” and then played “More,” a song that previously appeared as the finale of three past shows this tour. Anastasio then shouted out various cities in the area and asked if there was “anyone that was at Blossom in the house?” Next came “Waste” before Trey performed a solo acoustic “Halley’s Comet” for the first time since February 27, 2011. Another bit of banter followed “Steam” in which Anastasio recalled requesting that Ween reunite during a 2015 concert at Blossom. He noted that his wish came true and that for Christmas he wants “the original four-piece Talking Heads to get back together for at least one show.” He asked the crowd if they thought his request for a Talking Heads reunion would work and responded with, “I don’t think it’s gonna work [but] you’ve gotta believe, right?”

Anastasio continued to roll through solo acoustic versions of originals from throughout his career including the tour debut of “Ghost” and his first unplugged “Alaska” since he initially unveiled the song on July 6, 2008 with Mike Gordon on bass at the Rothbury Festival. Trey pulled off a slick segue into “Chalk Dust Torture” and then told the audience he’s getting more confused every day. “I can’t figure out what the hell’s going on anymore … I mean about anything. I used to have confidence or something when I was young like ‘I got it, I know what’s going on here’ [laughs]. I mean getting breakfast is just so confusing.” He explained he performed “Chalk Dust” really fast which made him remember how “hyper-caffeinated” Phish played as a young band.

Trey then told the story of going to Japan in 1999 for the Fuji Rock Festival. He talked about the “Field Of Dreams,” an area event organizers set up specifically for Phish and Phish fans. Anastasio went off on a tangent to discuss the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame and noted, “We’re not in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame but we’re in the lobby,” in regards to the band’s hot dog which hangs at the Rock Hall. Trey resumed his discussion of Fuji Rock by recalling Phish drummer Jon Fishman sporting a white cowboy hat the event and introducing himself to other musicians as “I’m Fish of Phish!”

Next up was a run of songs that included the tour’s first versions of “Fee” and “Sleeping Monkey.” Trey closed out the set with “Bathtub Gin” and the fans sang the melody at the end of the song throughout the encore break. Anastasio played a bit of “Bathtub Gin” when he returned before capping the show with an encore featuring “Strange Design,” “Shade,” “Wilson” and “Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.”

Full Show Audio Taped by phishrabbi/ Shared by Jam.Buzz

Fan-Shot Videos Captured by SPECKOFDUST1019 JCH

Fee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBVXDe_49TM

Snowflakes In The Sand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK2i3DJtLzQ

Setlist

Set: Snowflakes In The Sand, More, Waste, Halley’s Comet, Blaze On, If I Could, Steam, Water In The Sky, Mountains In The Mist, Back On The Train, Limb By Limb, Ghosts Of The Forest, Miss You, Ghost, All Of These Dreams, The Inlaw Josie Wales, Free, Theme From The Bottom, Bouncing Around The Room, Gumbo, Alaska > Chalk Dust Torture, Fee, Summer Of ’89, Carini, Sleeping Monkey, Backwards Down The Number Line, Bathtub Gin

Encore: Strange Design, Shade, Wilson, Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.