Trey Anastasio Winks At New Friendship With Sonny & Cher Cover At Solo Acoustic Tour Opener

Trey Anastasio kicked off his first extended solo acoustic tour since 2019 on Saturday night with a concert in Springfield, Massachusetts. Anastasio played songs from throughout his career at Symphony Hall, welcomed pianist Jeff Tanski for several numbers and nodded to his recent Love Rocks NYC appearance by covering Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe.”

Trey Anastasio’s solo show in Springfield marked his first performance in the city since Phish’s December 30, 1992 concert at the same venue. Anastasio pointed out the lengthy gap to the audience early in the evening and asked if anyone was on hand 32 years prior, but couldn’t get a clear answer. He also noted that the internet wasn’t really a thing back in 1992. “I think the jury is still out on the internet. Except for Phish Dance Party, I like that one. Other than that, I don’t know if there’s anything else on there that I care about at all,” Anastasio remarked.

The 25-song setlist was heavy on Phish classics, including the “Sample In A Jar” opener, “Sigma Oasis,” ” Heavy Things,” “Driver,” “Limb By Limb,” “Twist” and “Stash.” Anastasio also trotted out “Lost In The Pack” from his 2020 lockdown album, Lonely Trip, and the rare solo number “Sunset Days.”

“It’s so fun being back here every 32 years. That [1992] was a fun year, this is a fun year. They’re all fun years. This has definitely been a fun year,” Trey quipped before teasing a bit of “I Got You Babe.” He then performed nearly all of the 1965 Sonny & Cher single just two nights he shared the stage with Cher at The Beacon Theatre as part of the ninth annual Love Rocks NYC benefit concert. Anastasio changed the lyrics to “I got you for long romantic walks, I got you at Love Rocks,” to reference his recent collaboration with Cher.

Trey Anastasio utilized a looper at various points of the concert starting with “Free.” The device allowed Anastasio to solo over a chord progression he would capture.

Another fun moment came during “Wolfman’s Brother” when the crowd reacted to an image of a full moon displayed behind the guitarist by howling through the song. Fittingly, Anastasio responded by quoting “The Howling.”

Longtime Trey Anastasio collaborator and pianist Jeff Tanski came out late in the night for the first Trey acoustic performance of “Petrichor.” Tanski stuck around to contribute to a run of “Secret Smile,” “Pebbles And Marbles” and “Stash” to end Anastasio’s lone set. Trey went solo for “Strange Design” and “Possum” to start the encore before Tanski returned for the “Harry Hood” finale.

Watch more fan-shot video from Trey Anastasio’s tour opener in Springfield below:

Setlist (via Phish.net)

Set: Sample in a Jar [1], Lost in the Pack[1], Free[1], Evolve[1], I Got You Babe [2], Mountains in the Mist[1], Sigma Oasis[1], Wolfman’s Brother[1], The Inlaw Josie Wales[1], Water in the Sky[1], Everything’s Right[1], Heavy Things[1], Driver[1], Limb By Limb[1], Snowflakes in the Sand[1], Sunset Days[1], Twist[1], Backwards Down the Number Line[1], Petrichor [3], Secret Smile [4], Pebbles and Marbles[4], Stash[4]

Encore: Strange Design[1], Possum[1], Harry Hood[4]

• [1] Trey solo acoustic.
• [2] Trey solo acoustic and Trey debut. Lyrics changed to “I’ve got you for long romantic walks, I’ve got you at Love Rocks.”
• [3] Trey acoustic and Jeff Tanksi on keys; first acoustic Trey performance.
• [4] Trey acoustic and Jeff Tanksi on keys.

This entire show was performed by Trey solo acoustic except for Petrichor through Stash and Harry Hood (all of which also featured Jeff Tanski on keys). This show featured the Trey debut of I Got You Babe (with lyrics changed to “I’ve got you for long romantic walks, I’ve got you at Love Rocks”) and the first Trey acoustic performance of Petrichor. Trey quoted The Howling in Wolfman’s Brother.