Phish’s Trey Anastasio Offers Orchestral Debuts With National Symphony Orchestra At Wolf Trap

Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio played his first orchestral show since 2017 last night, when he performed with the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia. Anastasio and the NSO delivered two sets and an encore of career-spanning Phish songs, including three tunes that had yet to be performed in the orchestral setting.

The National Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Edwin Outwater. Longtime Anastasio collaborator Don Hart handled the arrangements. Each set was approximately an hour with the opening frame consisting of six songs.

“First Tube” opened and was followed by “Water In The Sky” with Anastasio moving from electric to acoustic for the latter. Next came the symphonic debut of “Evolve,” the title track of Phish's forthcoming studio album. The set concluded with a run of “Divided Sky,” “Mercy” and “Stash.” While “Mercy” was another orchestral debut, the set-closer saw the audience sing the “maybe so, maybe not” vocals.

Trey Anastasio and the National Symphony Orchestra kicked off the second set with the symphonic premiere of Phish classic “Harry Hood.” From there, the ensemble served up “Petrichor,” “More” and “What’s The Use?” Last night’s second set came to a close with a lengthy “You Enjoy Myself” that featured Anastasio providing a solo vocal jam at the end.

The guitarist was back on acoustic for “The Inlaw Josie Wales” to get the encore underway. Beloved favorite “The Lizards” brought the show to its conclusion.

Watch fan-shot video of Trey and the NSO at Wolf Trap below:

Trey Anastasio now heads to Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts. Anastasio will perform with the Boston Pops at Tanglewood this Saturday, June 29.

Setlist (via Phish.net)

Set One: First Tube, Water in the Sky [1], Evolve [2], Divided Sky, Mercy[2], Stash

Set Two: Harry Hood[2], Petrichor, More[1], What’s the Use?, You Enjoy Myself

Encore: The Inlaw Josie Wales[1], The Lizards

• [1] Trey on acoustic.
• [2] Orchestral debut.

This show featured Trey performing with the National Symphony Orchestra, Edwin Outwater conducting, with orchestration by Don Hart, and featured the orchestral debuts of Evolve, Mercy, and Harry Hood. Water in the Sky, More, and The Inlaw Josie Wales featured Trey on acoustic guitar.