Last night, Trey Anastasio rounded out his brief solo acoustic run with a performance at Portsmouth Music Hall in Portsmouth, NH. Following the trend of the previous two shows of the run (in Northampton, MA and Troy, NY), Anastasio performed a selection of songs from throughout his career, interspersed with candid stage banter and stories about the material.
As he was during the previous two solo acoustic performances this week, Trey was clearly relaxed and in his element, chatting with the crowd, joking about his doomsday preparedness arms race with Jon Fishman‘s wife Briar, improvising lyrics in songs like “Breath and Burning” (“Even though he’s not here we’re gonna rage with Page at the dying of the light,”) and more.
After opening the performance with renditions of “Wingsuit” and “Fee,” Trey spoke to the crowd about his fond memories of playing in the Portsmouth theater, particularly at Phish‘s tour opening gigs in 1992 where they debuted several new songs off of their then-upcoming album Rift including “NICU,” which followed the story. He also spoke about his particularly special feelings toward “Dog Faced Boy,” the only song that he ever wrote as a trio with Tom Marshall and Jon Fishman.
The performance continued with a selection of Phish tunes that were unexpected yet surprisingly effective in the acoustic setting, including “My Friend, My Friend,” a rhythmically interesting “46 Days,” an instant classic “Maze,” and “Ghost,” as well as a cover of Paul Simon‘s “American Tune.”
Finally, after closing out the main set with the Rolling Stones‘ “Shine A Light,” Anastasio returned for a two-song encore of “Bouncing Around The Room” and “Wilson,” before surprising the crowd with a little “More” than they expected, returning for a second encore to perform the uplifting Big Boat tune.
You can watch full video of the set as well as a video of the show’s encore below thanks t0 live streamer Josiah Babcock (via YouTube user Bkrol4):
With his three-show acoustic run in the books, Anastasio will now shift his focus to the Trey Anastasio Band, with whom he hits the road on April 14th-15th for a sold out run at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY.
Setlist: Trey Anastasio (Solo Acoustic) | Portsmouth Music Hall | Portsmouth, NH | 3/12/17
Set: Wingsuit, Fee, banter #1, NICU, banter #2, Steam, Breath and Burning, Back on the Train, banter #3, Dog Face Boy, My Friend, My Friend, Dirt, 46 Days, American Tune*, Sleep Again, Two Versions of Me, Sleeping Monkey, Bathtub Gin, Maze, Gumbo, Ghost, Joy, Shine A Light
Encore #1: Bouncing Around the Room, Wilson
Encore #2: More
[Cover Photo via Facebook user Scott Formica]