On Saturday night, Trey Anastasio continued his late-2018 solo acoustic run with a performance at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, CA.

The 21-song set favored the Farmhouse album, delivering reliable versions of “Sleep”, “The Inlaw Josie Wales”, “Heavy Things”, “Sand”, “Twist”, and even “Driver”, which had been shelved since February of 2011 at Stage AE. Toward the middle of the extended set, the Phish guitarist pulled out “The Connection” for the first time ever. The Anastasio/Marshall-penned Undermind track has been performed by Phish four times since its debut in 2009.

After subtly quoting “The Wait” in “The Connection”, Trey explained the story behind the reference: “I was sitting backstage one night trying to teach the guys ‘It’s Ice’….And what happened was, the songs in that era [early 1990s] were so complex that I would inevitably mess up. And I’m trying to teach these guys, so I’d go…[plays guitar riff, messed up, “oh wait”, starts over]. And I’d say ‘wait’, and they would laugh because I always did that.”

Eventually saying “wait” became an inside tradition, and the band found it to be so hilarious that they introduced it at their live shows. The joke apparently didn’t translate to the audience, as it was eventually met with a chanted “Fuck You!” from an audience in Colorado after they’d played “The Wait” for 15 minutes too long at a college party. Someone even threw a beer at Fish! Trey jokingly concluded the story by reminding the audience that “next time you’re like ‘I’ve been to 300 shows man,’ but you haven’t been to ‘the wait.'” The Wait” was twice again quoted during “The Lizards” and “Wilson” for the final two songs of the set.

For the encore, Trey returned to his seat on the stage to perform “Waste”, “Driver”, Dog Faced Boy” “All of These Dreams” and “More to close the show. The solo acoustic setting, over time, has provided great opportunity for audiences to get to know Trey and the history of Phish a little better. From Saturday night’s performance, we also learned that Anastasio “hates” kale, what it was like for Phish to tour without cell phones, Trey’s admiration for the video game, goat simulator, and more.

Thanks to YouTube user Mitch Dorf, you can watch a compilation of all Trey’s stories from Saturday night in Oakland below:

Trey Anastasio – 12/8/18 – Story Montage

[Video: Mitch Dorf]

“The Inlaw Josie Wales”

[Video: Ryan Vandenbroeck]

Setlist: Trey Anastasio | Paramount Theatre | Oakland, CA | 12/8/18

SET 1: Kill Devil Falls [1], Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan[1], Sleep[1], Frost[1], The Inlaw Josie Wales[1], The Connection [2], Winterqueen[1], Water in the Sky[1], Miss You[1], Heavy Things[1], Sand[1] > The Horse[1] > Silent in the Morning[1] > Backwards Down the Number Line[1] > Blaze On[1], Strange Design[1], Till We Meet Again[1], Limb By Limb[1], Twist[1], The Lizards[1], Wilson[1]

ENCORE: Waste[1], Driver[1], Dog Faced Boy[1], All of These Dreams[1], More[1]

[1] Trey solo acoustic.
[2] Trey solo acoustic; first acoustic performance by Trey.
This entire show was performed by Trey solo acoustic and featured the first Trey acoustic performance of The Connection. In the banter after The Connection, Trey teased and quoted Wait. Trey also quoted Wait in The Lizards and Wilson.