Trey Anastasio Trio Visits Grand Rapids

Guitarist Trey Anastasio continued the first Trey Anastasio Trio tour since 1999 on Wednesday night at 20 Monroe Live in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Trey, bassist Tony Markellis and drummer Russ Lawton only repeated four songs from opening night and again worked many Phish classics into the setlist.

The threesome opened with “Blaze On,” marking the first time Markellis and Lawton had played the song Phish recorded for 2016’s Big Boat. Anastasio introduced “Party Time” as written by one of his all-time favorite songwriters in reference to Phish drummer Jon Fishman. “Undermind” came next as Trey seems to be picking material from his repertoire he feels best fits the trio format regardless of whether they are TAB staples. Russ and Tony last performed “Undermind” way back on June 8, 2003 in Burlington, Vermont.

“Gotta Jibboo” was the evening’s first song regularly played by the Trey Anastasio Band. Up next was “Back on The Train,” a tune which dates back to the trio’s 1999 tour yet was only performed during solo acoustic sets that run. A slow and throbbing “Alaska” followed and led into a set-closing run of “Soul Planet” and “Sand.”

Wednesday’s second set began with “Corona,” which Phish trotted out once last year and TAB played four times in ’17. Markellis’s pulsing bass line was at the heart of “The Way I Feel” that followed. It was then back to the Phish repertoire for Russ and Tony’s first time backing Anastasio on “Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan” ahead of “Mr. Completely.” The trio continued on with “Bug,” which dates back to their 1999 tour.

Last October, Trey unveiled two tunes with “Soul” in the title during TAB’s final tour of the year. After “Soul Planet” was performed on opening night and in the first set at 20 Monroe Live, the trio presented “Set Your Soul Free” towards the end of Wednesday’s second set. A pair of Phish staples, “Ghost” and “Julius,” brought the frame to its conclusion. It appears Anastasio will begin encores this tour with at least one solo acoustic number. Last night, the guitarist went with “Brian & Robert” and “More” before Russ and Tony returned to help Trey close out the evening with “Show Of Life” and “First Tube.”

The Trey Anastasio Trio now heads to Chicago for shows on Friday and Saturday.

Setlist (via Phish.net)

Set One: Blaze On, Party Time[1], Undermind, Gotta Jibboo, Back on the Train, Alaska, Soul Planet, Sand

Set Two: Corona > The Way I Feel, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan > Mr. Completely > Bug, Set Your Soul Free, Ghost, Julius

Encore: Brian and Robert[2], More[2], Show of Life, First Tube

• [1] TAB debut.
• [2] Trey solo acoustic.