Trey Anastasio Band and Goose resumed their “TABoose” trek on Tuesday evening at Robert Morris University‘s UPMC Events Center in Moon Township, PA. The 4,000-capacity Moon arena was the smallest of the tour so far, and the two bands seemed to lean into that intimacy with collaborative performances highlighting the blossoming chemistry between them.
Goose got the evening started with an upbeat “Butter Rum” before diving into a seamless segment featuring well-played renditions of “Creatures”, “Moby”, and “All I Need”. The last of that trio, an extended “All I Need”, marked the first Goose song to take its second ride on TABoose tour, though it notably appeared in the sans-Trey portion of the set. This version took a largely different improvisational path than the version the band played with Anastasio’s help at the tour opener in Portland, erring toward darker contemplation rather than searing guitar.
Ending their no-repeat streak with intention, Rick Mitarotonda (guitar/vocals), Peter Anspach (guitar/keys/vocals), Trevor Weekz (bass), Ben Atkind (drums), and Jeff Arevalo (percussion) offered up a rendition worthy of consideration next to its counterpart on this tour—do you prefer your Taboose tour “All I Need” jams “wit” or “witout?”
The Connecticut outfit continued digging into its repertoire when Trey Anastasio finally made his nightly appearance. First, the sextet waded into “This Old Sea”, a slower, more delicate selection as opposed to the all-out tension-and-release machines on which Trey has appeared with Goose thus far. While the quickest guitar licks on this tour may be coming from Mitarotonda, Anastasio is a well-documented master of tone, and the soft touch he employed on his interpretation of the song gave it an enthralling glow. This one picked up pace, too, moving through peaks, valleys, and Duane Allman-and-Dickey Betts close-harmony guitar leads before shifting into dark, maddening space thanks to some dissonant melodic percussion from Arevalo.
Goose w/ Trey Anastasio – “This Old Sea” – 11/15/22
[Video: Charles]
To close the first act, Trey stuck around for the fan-favorite “The Empress of Organos”, a song from the proto-Goose Vasudo days that has become a definitive live number for the band in its current form. While fans were no doubt awaiting “Organos” with Trey, he mostly hung back here, allowing the core quintet to throw the set’s final blows.
Trey Anastasio Band took the stage after the intermission, though with a slightly different lineup than the one fans typically see. Rather than James Casey on saxophone and vocals, Kenneth Whalum rounded out Trey’s eight-piece. For those unfamiliar with Whalum’s work, he’s far from your average temp: An accomplished solo artist in addition to his high-profile session work, his recent collaborations in the studio and on the stage include everyone from Beyonce to Isaiah Sharkey to Robert Glasper.
Whalum seemed to fit right in as the band worked through a spirited set including “Everything’s Right”, “Mozambique”, “Camel Walk”, “Cayman Review”, “Alive Again”, “Love Is What We Are”, “Gotta Jiboo”, “Olivia”, “Ghost”, “Simple Twist Up Dave”, “Hey Stranger”, and “Money, Love and Change”.
After singing (and dancing, and spinning) through “Push On ‘Til the Day” in tribute to his late friend C-Cott, Anastasio welcomed out Peter and Rick to help close the set. “Actually,” he said to the Goose guys as they took their spots, “you don’t know what song we’re playing, because we talked about something backstage but I always change my mind, and I just changed my mind again!”
Here, he took a moment to introduce Kenneth Whalum and explain that James Casey was dealing with some health issues and couldn’t be there for this show. “It’s one big family,” he added, gesturing toward Peter and Rick, “Taboose, woo! So, everybody just take two seconds, send a huge, big ball of energy love to James, who’s at home. James, I hope you’re watching this. We love you, buddy.”
“You don’t know what song we’re playing,” he added to Peter once again, “But we’ll just start one and you just jump right in.” With that, he called for “Sand” and beckoned Rick to chase him around the deep groove with streams of blues-rock riffs to end the set.
Anastasio returned to the stage solo to begin the encore with an acoustic “More”. Feeling the glow of all the friends and musical family around him on this tour, he continued with a rendition of “Backwards Down The Number Line”. Perhaps he got lost in the song’s nostalgic themes, or the weight of the crowd singing its “all my friends” refrain, but Anastasio soon lost his place and ground to a halt mid-performance.
“Aw, shit,” he smiled as the room roared. “I’m gonna pick that back up right where… you don’t even know what goes on in this crazy noggin of mine… thank you.” After finishing the song, he quipped, “…And let’s bring ‘all my friends’ back up on the stage.”
They really did seem like friends as the rest of Goose strolled on stage with various percussion instruments. They stopped to give hugs to Cyro Baptista, or say what’s up to Russ Lawton. Trey scanned the group looking for Trevor, then greeted him with some rocker horns. Jennifer Hartswick even gave the Goose guys a friendly ribbing for clustering at stage left rather than spreading out, prompting Cyro and Trevor to cross to her neck of the woods.
With time for one more big surprise and the tour’s full, 13-piece complement in place, Trey led the way into Phish classic “Suzy Greenberg”. While Cressman and Hartswick have played the tune live with Phish before, this marked the first time it had ever been performed by Trey Anastasio Band. The unusual rendition packed its typical punch, accented by tight solos from Rick and Peter to match the ones by Trey and Ray Paczkowski. Anspach manned Jon Fishman‘s usual ad-libs with visible excitement, his face saying “I can’t believe I get to do this” as his voice called out, “Neurologist? I feel like I’ve heard this before!”
Trey Anastasio Band w/ Goose – “Suzy Greenberg” – 11/15/22
[Video: Charles]
For a full list of upcoming Trey Anastasio Band/Goose tour dates, head here. Tune in to livestreams of the upcoming shows in Fairfax, VA (11/17), Syracuse, NY (11/18), and Reading, PA (11/19) via nugs.net.
Setlist [via elgoose.net]: Goose | UPMC Events Center | Moon, PA | 11/15/22
Set: Butter Rum, Creatures -> Moby > All I Need, Yeti[1] -> Get The Funk Out Ma Face[2], This Old Sea[3] > The Empress Of Organos[4]
[1] Unfinished.
[2] The Brothers Johnson.
[3] With Trey Anastasio on guitar and vocals.
[4] With Trey Anastasio on guitar.
Setlist [via phish.net]: Trey Anastasio Band | UPMC Events Center | Moon, PA | 11/15/22
Set: Everything’s Right, Mozambique, Camel Walk, Cayman Review, Alive Again, Love Is What We Are, Gotta Jibboo, Olivia, Ghost, Simple Twist Up Dave, Hey Stranger, Money, Love and Change, Push On ‘Til the Day, Sand [1]
Encore: More [2], Backwards Down the Number Line[2], Suzy Greenberg [3]
[1] Peter Anspach on keys and Rick Mitarotonda on guitar.
[2] Trey solo acoustic.
[3] Peter Anspach on keys and vocals, and Rick Mitarotonda on guitar and vocals, and Jeff Arevalo, Ben Atkind, and Trevor Weekz on percussion.
Goose opened for TAB at this co-bill show. Sand and the full TAB debut of Suzy Greenberg (last played by Trey outside of Phish on February 23, 2011 as a solo acoustic performance of the song) featured Peter Anspach on keys and Rick Mitarotonda on guitar with Peter and Rick adding vocals to Suzy. Jeff Arevalo, Ben Atkind, and Trevor Weekz also joined on percussion for Suzy. More and Backwards Down the Number Line were performed by Trey solo acoustic.
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