Trey Anastasio Band kicked off the first of two concerts at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York on Friday with a TAB debut of The Beatles’ “I’m Down” in reference to Trey being rescued from a precarious platform at Madison Square Garden during Phish’s New Year’s Eve gag.
According to Scott Marks of Phish.net who live tweeted the show and the sprawling, hour-plus soundcheck, TAB played around with “I’m Down” in the soundcheck with Trey referencing the “Rescue Squad”: “Rescue squad came to rescue me” and also something about being laughed at. With a huge smile on his face, Anastasio would do the same in the actual show opening version of the early Beatles rocker. Trey capped off the number by saying “Thank you, happy to be down.”
After addressing the gorilla in the room (and Trey still had more to say on the matter), the band continued with “Set Your Soul Free” and the instrumental “Sidewalks Of San Francisco.” TAB then played the title track from Phish’s 2004 album Undermind. The last time a full TAB version happened was on December 27, 2006. After the classic “Drifting,” which saw the crowd cheering for the “Since you rescued me” lyric, the band would get into more instrumental material with “Olivia.” Then, TAB launched into “Blaze On,” with Trey changing the lyrics to “You think the earth is flat/You think the Deep State’s true/You probably think I wasn’t really stuck up there too,” as tweeted by lyric master Tom Marshall.
Crowd favorite “Camel Walk” came next ahead of another TAB debut in “Love Is What We Are.” Trey co-wrote the music with renowned Nashville songwriter Gary Nicholson and Phish debuted the tune on July 14, 2017 in Chicago just before going on their legendary Baker’s Dozen residency at MSG. The band returned to vintage material with “Money, Love And Change” to close out the first frame.
Another TAB debut in “Signal Oasis” would open up the second set. Phish recently debuted the song to open up night three of their fall tour closer in Charleston on December 8, 2019. Trey himself unveiled the song on December 15, 2018 during a solo acoustic concert in Boulder, Colorado. The TAB debut was similar to Phish’s arrangement and didn’t feature horns but rather some nice backing vocals from Jennifer Hartswick and Natalie Cressman as well as saxophonist James Casey on keyboard. The classic “Night Speaks To A Woman” followed ahead of Ghosts Of The Forest ripper “About To Run.” Traveler track “Valentine” came next before a run of “Alaska,” “Shade” and a well-jammed “Gotta Jibboo.” Gorillaz’ “Clint Eastwood” followed and led into the second set closer, “Simple Twist Up Dave.”
TAB retook the stage for a three-song encore of “Ether Sunday,” “Shine” and “Show Of Life” to close out the eventful evening. Check out video from the show below:
I’m Down via btragal
Undermind via btragal
Drifting via Sean Roche
Blaze On via Sean Roche
Sigma Oasis via Larry Rulz III
Gotta Jibboo via btragal
Setlist via Phish.net:
Soundcheck: Spin, Shade, I’m Down, Back In The U.S.A. (x2), A Life Beyond The Dream (x2), Sigma Oasis, Set Your Soul Free, I’m Down, Rise / Come Together (this soundcheck is possibly incomplete)
Set One: I’m Down[1], Set Your Soul Free, Sidewalks of San Francisco, Undermind, Drifting, Olivia, Blaze On, Camel Walk, Love Is What We Are[1], Money, Love and Change
Set Two: Sigma Oasis[1], Night Speaks to a Woman, About to Run, Valentine, Alaska, Shade, Gotta Jibboo, Clint Eastwood > Simple Twist Up Dave
Encore: Ether Sunday, Shine, Show of Life
Notes:
[1] TAB debut.
