Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio continued his acoustic fall tour on Wednesday night at the Grenada Theatre in Santa Barbara. Anastasio unveiled an unplugged rendition of “We Are Come To Outlive Our Brains” from Phish’s Kasvot Växt Halloween set as part of a night featuring songs from throughout his career and a handful of stories.
Trey opened a night heavy on material from A Picture Of Nectar with “Cavern.” He then introduced “Sleep” as a song he hadn’t played in a long time. “Water In The Sky” came soon thereafter with Anastasio mentioning he had spent his off-day in Santa Barbara and had a hotel room featuring a beautiful view of the ocean. A fan screamed out “Shade” and the guitarist quickly obliged. He then talked about the anatomy of horses’ legs. The guitarist’s discussion of racehorses after “The Inlaw Josie Wales” included the observation, “If the horse falls and breaks his leg, he gets shot. If he wins, he gets to fornicate. It’s a tough race.”
A solemn moment came ahead of “Miss You” when Trey dedicated the song to his friend and occasional songwriting partner Captain Kevin, who has been “ushering his father into a path away from our plane of existence” in honor of his dad. Then, “Back On The Train” was followed by the acoustic debut of Kasvot Växt rocker “We Are Come To Outlive Our Brains.” From there, Anastasio presented a run of “Steam,” “Light,” “Joy,” “Dog Faced Boy” and “Guelah Papyrus.” He talked about the origins of the latter song and how he would write tunes constantly with his childhood friends including Dave Abrahams. Trey mentioned Dave shows up in a lot of Phish lyrics. Dave’s mother is Guelah and broke up one of their songwriting parties which led to the line “A fretful frown to spoil the mood.” Guelah once approached Trey and told him, “I don’t have a fretful frown!” Anastasio went on to talk about Dave’s incredible career as a programmer and then sang “Sample In A Jar” with its line about Dave’s dad Elihu.
Another story was used as an introduction to “Shine.” Trey talked about how he wrote the tune about a month after Coventry. He called it a “really optimistic song” written during a difficult time. The guitarist was on a flight to Atlanta and had a “dose of perspective” that led to the creation of “Shine.” He added that the first part of the song dealt with the dark time the community and he was going through. Anastasio noted that as time has gone by it’s easier for him to play. Last night’s main set concluded with a batch of Phish classics including a version of “Chalk Dust Torture” featuring “Harry Hood” within. Trey encored with the tour’s second take on “Turtle In The Clouds” from the Kasvot Växt set and the beloved “Lizards.” Watch a series of fan-shot videos captured by free4202130:
We Are Come To Outlive Our Brains
Turtle In The Clouds
Story > Shine
Story > Miss You
Shade
Steam
Chalk Dust Torture > Harry Hood > Chalk Dust Torture
Sleep
Guelah Papyrus
Setlist (via Phish.net)
Set: Cavern[1], Sleep[1], Farmhouse[1], Water in the Sky[1], Shade[1], The Inlaw Josie Wales[1], Miss You[1], Back on the Train[1], We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains[2], Steam[1], Light[1], Joy[1], Dog Faced Boy[1], Guelah Papyrus[1], Sample in a Jar[1], Backwards Down the Number Line[1], Till We Meet Again[1], Shine[1], Ghost[1], My Friend, My Friend[1], Chalk Dust Torture[1] > Harry Hood[1] > Chalk Dust Torture[1]
Encore: Turtle in the Clouds[1], The Lizards[1]
- [1] Trey solo acoustic.
- [2] Trey solo acoustic; first acoustic performance by Trey.
