Four years after they were originally supposed to collaborate, Trey Anastasio and the Boston Pops finally joined forces on Saturday in Lenox, MA. The concert at the Tanglewood outdoor amphitheater followed the Phish guitarist’s show with the National Symphony Orchestra earlier in the week and featured an identical setlist.
Trey’s original show with the famed Boston orchestra was among the seemingly infinite number of live events thwarted by the pandemic in 2020. While it is unfortunate that fans had to wait an entire presidential term before seeing the pair together, the gap in time afforded some new opportunities. For his show in Virginia with the National Orchestra on Tuesday, Anastasio brought in new orchestral arrangements of “Evolve” and “Mercy”, two songs that did not even exist when he announced the original 2020 shows with the Boston Pops. Those songs will appear on Phish’s forthcoming 16th studio album Evolve, out July 12th via JEMP Records/ATO.
In addition to those new arrangements of new compositions, Anastasio came armed with orchestral versions of Phish classics “First Tube”, “Water in the Sky”, “Divided Sky”, and “Stash”, all in the first set. After the set break—or as they call it in the classical scene, “intermission”—Trey, the Pops, and conductor Edwin Outwater (Stewart Copeland’s The Police Deranged for Orchestra) came back with another orchestral debut from the Virginia show, “Harry Hood”. Of course, it was a slam-dunk for Trey to offer up a performance of Phish’s stunning “Petrichor” which saw its original debut during a run of orchestral Trey shows in 2014.
More fan favorites followed with “What’s the Use?” and the set-closing epic “You Enjoy Myself”. Trey classed up his multi-part movement for the Pops, forgoing his traditional trampoline and employing horns to mimic the song’s classic lyrics, “Man. God. Shit.” Some things though, you just can’t change, and the second set came to a close with a solo Trey vocal jam accompanied by rhythmic audience clapping and atmospheric violins. To finish the show, Trey delivered acoustic instrumental “The Inlaw Josie Wales” before sending audiences off to the land of Gamehendge with “The Lizards”.
Along with those ornate orchestral arrangements, Trey brought a very special guest to Saturday’s show as he posted a lovely backstage photo with his mom Dina Anastasio.
“Thank you for encouraging me from birth to be creative, to write, to travel, to take risks,” Trey wrote on social media. “My Mom’s an author, a world traveler, a music and theater lover, she has wicked sense of humor, and she’s the coolest mother and grandmother ever. I love you so SO much Mom”
Check out a collection of fan-shot videos from Trey Anastasio with the Boston Pops on Saturday. With these orchestral shows behind him, Trey will link back up with his rock n’ roll band Phish for the group’s summer tour beginning with a three-night run in Mansfield, MA July 19th–21st. Visit the band’s website for tickets and a complete list of tour dates.
Trey Anastasio & Boston Pops — “First Tube” — 6/29/24
[Video: Corey]
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Setlist [via Phish.net]: Trey Anastasio & The Boston Pops | Tanglewood | Lenox, MA | 6/29/24
SET 1: First Tube, Water in the Sky [1], Evolve, Divided Sky, Mercy, Stash
SET 2: Harry Hood, Petrichor, More[1], What’s the Use?, You Enjoy Myself
ENCORE: The Inlaw Josie Wales[1], The Lizards
[1] Trey on acoustic.
This show featured Trey performing with the Boston Pops, Edwin Outwater conducting, and with orchestration by Don Hart. Water in the Sky, More, and The Inlaw Josie Wales featured Trey on acoustic.
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