Trey Anastasio returned to the airwaves on Friday for another installment of the Rubber Jungle LIVE broadcast series on Sirius XM‘s Phish Radio. The Phish guitarist was joined throughout the session by Jeff Tanski on piano, who has worked with Trey dating back to the Hands on a Hardbody musical.
This second installment of Rubber Jungle LIVE came in stark contrast to the first session which aired just under a month ago. Whereas the first installment saw a solo Trey running through an extensive list of songs acoustically—including numerous debuts—this latest session featured the guitarist plugging in electrically and stretching his legs, all with Tanski’s musical accompaniment.
Opening up with the title track to Trey’s quarantine album, Loney Trip, the session at first seemed to take on a somber tone before Anastasio and Tanski engaged in some friendly banner that added some levity. Things then began to take shape as Tanski banged out the ominous opening notes to “Sand” as Trey explored the wah wah pedal. As the song was taking shape, Trey said he was “sending love to Tony,” referring to his recently-departed, longtime Trey Anastasio Band bandmates Tony Markellis, who wrote “Sand” with Trey.
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In total, the second Rubber Jungle LIVE session saw only eight songs—and a pair of standalone “Jam”s—played over the course of an hour. The laid back style opened the door for inspired improvisation which was understated if minimalistic. Next, Trey donned an acoustic guitar for the first-ever acoustic performance of the eternally-chased “Esther”. Following the tale of Esther and her beloved puppet, Trey entered into a brief solo acoustic jam—featuring a “Welcome To The Jungle” quote—before breaking into another tear-jerker with “Frost”.
Following the natural ebb and flow of this latest Rubber Jungle LIVE session, it was time for another jam. This one was familiar to Beacon Jams viewers, as Tanski reprised his role from the series opener by providing accompaniment to a solo, electric Trey—though there was no Cyro Baptista providing hand percussion. The healthy “Stash” improvisation gave way to a docile “Pebbles and Marbles” before another standalone “Jam” led into a highlight of the session with “Reba”.
With an isolated Trey on guitar and Tanski on keys, the composed segments of “Reba” became all the more pronounced as Trey also playfully changed the lyrics to “sell it to Joey in the store,” referring to the breakout quarantine star that is his cat Joey. Finally, the second Rubber Jungle LIVE session came to a close with “A Life Beyond The Dream”, where Trey once again beckoned us “don’t give up hope.” With Phish’s return to the stage at Walmart Amp in Rogers, AR on July 28th within sight, it’ll be very easy to keep hope alive.
The latest installment of Trey Anastasio’s Rubber Jungle LIVE series will be available on demand on the SiriusXM app on Wednesday. Tune in for encore presentations Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, Monday at 6 p.m. ET, Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET, and Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET on Phish Radio.
Setlist [via phish.net]: Trey Anastasio | Rubber Jungle | New York, NY | 6/11/21
Set: Lonely Trip [1] > Sand [1], Esther [2], Jam [3], Frost[1], Stash [1], Pebbles and Marbles [1], Jam, Reba [4], A Life Beyond The Dream [1]
[1] Jeff Tanski on piano.
[2] Trey on acoustic guitar; Jeff Tanski on piano. First acoustic performance.
[3] Trey on acoustic guitar; with Welcome to the Jungle quote.
[4] Jeff Tanski on piano; lyrics changed to “sell it to Joey in the store.” No whistling ending.
This performance, was presented as Rubber Jungle LIVE and aired on Sirius’s Phish Radio. All songs except for the jams featured Jeff Tanski on piano. This performance marked the acoustic debut of Esther. The first jam also featured Trey on acoustic guitar and contained a Welcome to the Jungle quote. Reba’s lyrics were changed to “Sell it to Joey in the store.” Reba did not contain the whistling ending.
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