Trey Anastasio Guests With Vulfpeck Ahead Of TAB Sets At Red Rocks

Guitarist Trey Anastasio continued Trey Anastasio Band tour on Wednesday night at Red Rocks in Morrison, Colorado. Michigan funk act Vulfpeck kicked off the evening with a performance ahead of two TAB sets. Anastasio sat-in with Vulfpeck on one of their originals as well as a jam on a Michael Jackson song.

Trey was making his return to the beautiful venue for the first time since Phish’s four night stand in 2009. He hadn’t brought TAB to Red Rocks since August 13, 2005. Vulfpeck’s Theo Katzman introduced the Phish guitarist by joking, “We just found this guy in the parking lot and he was like ‘is it cool if I sit-in?’ And we were like ‘let’s hear you play a little bit first.'” Anastasio contributed filthy leads and rhythm work on a version of Vulfpeck’s “Rango” that featured a quick detour through Michael Jackson’s “Will You Be There.” Trey was all smiles throughout his guest spot as he swapped riffs with Katzman and Cory Wong.

Vulfpeck was also aided by a number of regular contributors including guitarist Cory Wong, multi-instrumentalist Joey Dosik and vocalist Antwaun Stanley. Antwaun contributed to “1612,” “Aunt Leslie,” “Funky Duck,” “Wait For The Moment” and an a capella rendition of “Back Pocket.” Other highlights included bassist Joe Dart’s work on “Beastly” and the “Christmas In L.A.”/”Dean Town” segment that brought the hour-long set to a close.

TAB was in fine form throughout their two sets at Red Rocks. Anastasio’s troupe has become noticeably tighter since they kicked off the tour in April at The Cap. The band presented their typical mix of staples, more recent material and choice covers. Last night’s first set began with “Pigtail” and saw Natalie Cressman featured instrumentally on “Mozambique” and vocally on a cover of Portugal. The Man’s “Feel It Still.” Anastasio led a tender rendition of The Band’s “It Makes No Difference” and showed off fierce guitar skills on first set highlights “Sand,” “Dark & Down,” “Money Love & Change,” “Burlap Sack & Pumps” and “Gotta Jibboo.”

 Photo by Jeremy Williams

Up first for the second set was one of the newest TAB originals, “Everything’s Right.” From there, TAB lit into “Night Speaks To A Woman” ahead of “Tuesday” and “In Rounds.” Trey then led the group on Leon Russell’s “Delta Lady” before a run that included “Valentine,” “Drifting,” “Architect,” “Plasma” and “Shine.” Jennifer Hartswick stepped into the spotlight to front TAB on “Clint Eastwood” by Gorillaz ahead of the bombastic “Mr. Completely.”

The Trey Anastasio Band ended Wednesday’s second set with the Irish traditional song “The Parting Glass” and said farewell with an encore of “First Tube” and “Dazed & Confused.” Up next for TAB is a performance at Red Butte Garden Amphitheater in Salt Lake City on Friday.

Here’s a pair of pro-shot video showing TAB’s set openers:

Watch the Trey/Vulfpeck collaboration captured by Primative Concert Footage:

Photos by Jeremy Williams

Vulfpeck Setlist (via Vulfpack)

Set: Fugue, Cory Wong, Chepe, Outro, Rango (w/ Trey) > Will You Be There (w/ Trey) > Rango (w/ Trey), 1612, Aunt Leslie, Funky Duck, Wait For The Moment, FI/FO/FA, Clyde Stubblefield / GREASE, Peckappela, Back Pocket, Beastly, Christmas in LA, Dean Town

Setlist