Over the weekend, Trey Anastasio returned to New York, NY’s Beacon Theatre—his home away from home for eight unusual Fridays five years ago—to celebrate the anniversary of his pandemic-era livestream series and reflect on how the seeds planted during those original Beacon Jams have grown in the time since.
To start the final night of the three-show Beacon Jams anniversary run on Sunday, Anastasio drew a line from the original series to the present moment with “Just a Touch”, the hopeful song he debuted alongside Trey Anastasio Band’s horn/vocal section of Jennifer Hartswick, Natalie Cressman, and James Casey to open the last night of the 2020 residency.
Trey has held that song close in the years since, particularly as Casey battled cancer for two years and eventually died in 2023. Prior to Sunday night, he had only performed “Just a Touch” twice: once to open (and emotionally summarize) the last original Beacon Jam, and once during a solo acoustic show back in March of this year, when he dedicated it to Casey’s memory. “I’ve only sung that song one time in my life, and it was the first song of the last week of The Beacon Jams, we sang it together—me and Jennifer and Natalie… and James,” Trey reflected at the time. “I’ve never sung that song since that moment. I wanna thank you all for sharing that with me.”
When Trey revived “Just a Touch” with help from Cressman, Hartswick, Kenneth Whalum, and Jo Lampert as Sunday’s opening number, it carried five years’ worth of lived-in significance. James’ voice was now a memory, gone to mortality, but Whalum, TAB’s new saxophonist, channeled his predecessor on his vulnerable lines, Hartswick and Lampert’s laughs reflected fond memories on this stage years ago, and Cressman’s prominent baby bump couldn’t help but draw attention to life’s cyclical nature (congrats, Natalie and Ian!).
This song that once represented attainable hope for a brighter future amid days of pandemic darkness now served just as poignantly as a nostalgic ode to a time that may just have been the “good old days” after all, at least in some roundabout way. This time around, Anastasio was brief in his words, even as the dedication resounded clearly: “We’re very sad that this is our last night,” he smiled before beginning. “So, we’ll send this out to our dear friend James Casey.”
Casey wasn’t the only departed band member whose presence hung over the Beacon Jams‘ fifth anniversary: The spirit of the late Tony Markellis, who played his final show with Trey Anastasio Band on the final night of the 2020 Beacon Jams prior to his passing the following year, reverberated through every groove that new bassist Dezron Douglas rumbled into throughout the weekend.
With the struggles have come beautiful developments. The Rescue Squad Strings, the Beacon Jams 2020 string ensemble that elevated the initial livestream run in novel ways, returned to recreate that magic and extend it to new subjects in the catalog. Jeff Tanski, a crucial contributor to the pandemic series who just recently served a vital role in Trey’s 2025 acoustic tour, was back again to celebrate the connection that helped propel the Beacon Jams concept during a global crisis. Lampert, a frequent Beacon Jams participant who has since found herself onstage with Phish on New Year’s Eve, invoked the same joy and enthusiasm she helped to the 2020 proceedings (see: “Boy, Woman, God, Sh*t” during Sunday’s gorgeous “You Enjoy Myself”). And, of course, the ingredient so blatantly missing the last time around—the fans in the audience—fit right into the Beacon Jams equation like they never had to settle for tuning in from afar via Twitch five years ago.
As Trey Anastasio and his extended community have seen, a lot can happen in five years’ time. The Divided Sky Residential Recovery Program—the addiction and recovery-focused non-profit foundation Trey co-founded with the seven-figure sum donated by fans during the original Beacon Jams—has now been operating in Ludlow, VT for years, providing compassionate treatment to hundreds of individuals in a safe, nurturing environment. What was simply a well-meaning idea the last time around is now actively and increasingly changing lives.
With reverence for the past, joy for the present, and a vision for the future, the Beacon Jams’ fifth anniversary shows gave Trey, his band, and the extended community of fans and friends surrounding it a chance to reflect on what they created and continue to carry that momentum forward. Cheers to all involved.
Below, check out pro-shot footage, browse photo galleries via Jesse Faatz, and view detailed setlists from both Saturday and Sunday’s Trey Anastasio Beacon Jams fifth anniversary shows. Find coverage of Friday night here. For more information on the Divided Sky Foundation, the Women’s Scholarship Fund, or how to apply or contribute, visit DividedSky.org or call 888-TRY-DSKY. You can also make a donation and send a message to Trey here.
Now that Trey Anastasio Band’s tour is over, Anastasio will shift his sights toward Phish’s upcoming sold-out New Year’s Eve run at Madison Square Garden.
Trey Anastasio With Jeff Tanski, The Rescue Squad Strings, & TAB Horns – “Petrichor” – 11/29/25
Trey Anastasio With Jeff Tanski & The Rescue Squad Strings – “Slave To The Traffic Light” – 11/30/25
Trey Anastasio – “Shade” – 122/30/25
Trey Anastasio Band – “46 Days” – 11/30/25
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