Trey Anastasio Closes Solo Acoustic Tour At Carnegie Hall

Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio closed out his lone solo acoustic tour of 2019 on Wednesday night at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The second of two shows at the historic venue featured a completely different setlist from what Anastasio offered up the previous evening.

Trey went with a double dose of free to open by pairing “Free” with “Set Your Soul Free.” Anastasio then asked the crowd how they were feeling, which he noted was the third time he’s done that this tour after avoiding the clichéd question for the first 36 years of his career. The New Jersey native next recalled taking trips to New York City when he was 14 to take guitar lessons near Carnegie Hall. “Walking from Penn Station through Times Square up here as a 14-year-old boy was like the greatest thing that ever happened to me,” Anastasio exclaimed and noted he liked the more gritty Times Square before it was cleaned up in the 1990s. Trey discussed how special concerts are and how wonderful of an experience it is for people to come together with a common bond. “Live music is the antidote to my perpetual discontent,” Anastasio said to roars from the capacity crowd.

Storytime was followed by “Sleep” and the tour’s second version of “Dog Faced Boy.” A run of Phish classics lead into a pair of songs from Trey’s Ghosts Of The Forest project: the instrumental “If Again” and rousing “Ruby Waves.” The guitarist then performed “My Problem Right There” from the Hands On A Hardbody musical. Anastasio talked about the process that led to the creation of the musical and specifically a fashion lesson learned from legendary choreographer Benjamin Millepied.

Wednesday’s show continued with ballads “Farmhouse,” “Joy” and “Lifeboy” ahead of the rollicking “Kill Devil Falls” and a “Twist” featuring plenty of looping from Anastasio. The second “Pebbles & Marbles” of the tour came next along with Ghosts Of The Forest ballad “A Life Beyond The Dream.” Trey followed “Bouncing Around The Room” with “Bathtub Gin” and let the crowd sing the refrain of the song while he vacated the stage for a short encore break. Fans kept singing the theme of “Gin” until Anastasio returned to finish the song. Trey then served up an encore consisting of “Billy Breathes,” “Brief Time,” “Sleeping Monkey,” “Possum” and “More” to close out the show and tour.

Check out fan-shot video captured by rdeal1999 of last night’s tour closer below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5oaVk8PQzA

Setlist

Free, Set Your Soul Free, Sleep, Dog Faced Boy, Waste, 46 Days, Miss You, NICU, If Again, Ruby Waves, My Problem Right There, Farmhouse, Joy, Lifeboy, Kill Devil Falls, Twist, Pebbles & Marbles, A Life Beyond The Dream, Bouncing Around The Room, Bathtub Gin

Encore: Billy Breathes, Brief Time, Sleeping Monkey, Possum, More