Trey Anastasio Talks Grateful Dead Fare Thee Well

Yesterday, we mentioned that the latest issue of Rolling Stone features a chat with Phish front man Trey Anastasio. The article reveals that “the week after the Chicago shows Anastasio will be back on the road with Phish,” but there’s also much more from Trey about July’s Fare Thee Well performances at Soldier Field over the Fourth of July Weekend in the Windy City.

Anastasio recalled when he was asked to perform with Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, Bob Weir, Jeff Chimenti and Bruce Hornsby at Fare Thee Well. “It was a thrill and an honor” he said of his immediate reaction before adding, “I thought about it for a minute, tried to think about the implications” and of course eventually said yes. Trey also revealed that, “Phil (Lesh) said all four of them thought it was the right thing” in a letter the Grateful Dead bassist sent to him. The guitarist also shared that Lesh’s message “talked about the healthy relationships between the band members” and added that the Chicago shows “was going to be a real positive experience.” Additionally, Trey shared that Phil said, “this is the last time I’m doing this” and Anastasio added “he seemed pretty definitive about that.”

Rolling Stone’s article also revealed that more than 400K ticket requests were received during the pre-sale. Co-promoter Peter Shapiro told the magazine that he and Madison House Presents are “looking at going 360” in an attempt to fit as many fans as possible, which would mean selling tickets behind the stage. Shapiro also added that they are “going general admission” on the field “to accommodate more people and have more of a vibe.” We’re also looking forward to the “specially printed commemorative tickets” that organizers are making. We should also mention Shapiro is aiming to simulcast the shows around the U.S. and has even held open his venues on those dates.

As we mentioned yesterday, Trey told Rolling Stone he’s hard at work on learning Dead material. “I never sat down and studied what Jerry played until the last two weeks. It’s really been unbelievable,” Anastasio said. He went into detail about Garcia’s work including a specific mention of a lick featured in “The Wheel.” Trey revealed that he’s traded song lists of 60 Dead songs a piece with guitarist Bob Weir and Rolling Stone added that the pair will meet soon. There’s also word “the full band will rehearse in June a bit.”

Check out the latest issue of Rolling Stone, featuring John Belushi on the cover, to read the entire article.

[Hat Tip –@PhishAtTheMann]