After over a year cooped up in his Brooklyn apartment, Trey Anastasio got outside for some fresh air on Friday with a show at Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, NY. The solo acoustic show marked the Phish guitarist’s first ticketed live performance since February 23rd, 2020 when Phish closed out their Rivieria Maya destination event just prior to the pandemic.

Though the concert was billed as a Trey solo acoustic show, the evening was peppered with special guest appearances by pianist and frequent collaborator Jeff Tanski as well as the Rescue Squad Strings, whom fans met during the Beacon Jams livestream series. To open the show, Trey took the stage solo to thunderous applause, offered a quick “thanks” followed by “fuck it” before dropping a couple of E chords to kick off “Wilson” which allowed fans a cathartic roar to vent out all their pent-up pandemic stress.

Trey continued on with “Alive Again” from his 2002 self-titled solo album before welcoming Tanski and the Squad for the first acoustic performance of “Stash”. The special guests would stick around for “Water In The Sky” before leaving Trey once again for solo runs through “Lost in the Pack”, “Back on the Train”, “Sample in a Jar”, the long-awaited post-pandemic “Sigma Oasis”, and “Theme From the Bottom”. For the proceeding “Shade”, Trey was once again joined by Tanski prior to the re-emergence of the Rescue Squad Strings for “Fluffhead”, “Mercury”, and the instrumental “The Inlaw Josie Wales”.

The guitarist once again found himself alone for the stomper “Turtle in the Clouds” ahead of “Maze” and a reflective “Snowflakes in the Sand”. After a false start for a much-needed “Everything’s Right”, Tanski came back out for the first acoustic performance of “Split Open and Melt” ahead of a Rescue Squad-assisted “Joy” and a jovial “Harry Hood” to close out the set.

Upon returning for the encore, Trey offered another simple “thanks” before the encore staple “More” prior to bringing out Tanski and the Strings one last time for the acoustic debut of “First Tube”.

Check out some fan-shot videos from Trey Anastasio at SPAC last night and the full annotated setlist courtesy of phish.net. Full-show audio is available to stream on the LivePhish app.

Trey Anastasio – “Fluffhead” – Saratoga Springs, NY – 6/18/21

[Video: Marcus Murray]

Trey Anastasio – “Harry Hood” – Saratoga Springs, NY – 6/18/21

[Video: Matt Yaeger]

Setlist [via phish.net]: Trey Anastasio | Saratoga Springs Arts Center | Saratoga Springs, NY | 6/18/21

Set One: Wilson [1], Alive Again [1], Stash [2], Water in the Sky [3], Lost in the Pack [1], Back on the Train [1], Sample in a Jar [1], Sigma Oasis [1], Theme From the Bottom [1], Shade [4], Fluffhead [3], Mercury [3], The Inlaw Josie Wales [3], Turtle in the Clouds [1], Maze [1], Snowflakes in the Sand [1], Everything’s Right [5], Split Open and Melt [6], Joy [3], Harry Hood [3]

Encore: More [1], First Tube [2]

[1] Trey on acoustic guitar.
[2] Trey on acoustic guitar; with the Rescue Squad Strings and Jeff Tanski on piano. First acoustic performance.
[3] Trey on acoustic guitar; with the Rescue Squad Strings and Jeff Tanski on piano.
[4] Trey on acoustic guitar; with Jeff Tanski on piano.
[5] Trey on acoustic guitar. Started and stopped before being played in full.
[6] Trey on acoustic guitar; with Jeff Tanski on piano. First acoustic performance.

This show featured Trey on acoustic guitar and the debut acoustic performances of Stash, Split Open and Melt, and First Tube. Stash, Water in the Sky, Fluffhead, Mercury, The Inlaw Josie Wales, Joy, Harry Hood, and First Tube featured the Rescue Squad Strings (Katie Kresek and Maxim Moston on violin, Rachel Golub on viola, and Anja Wood on cello) and Jeff Tanski on piano. Jeff also appeared on Shade and Split Open and Melt. Alive Again was performed acoustic for the first time since May 22, 2002. Everything’s Right was started and stopped with Trey getting up and acting like he was going to walk off stage before sitting down and playing the song in full. Prior to Harry Hood, Trey sang a bit of Rescue Squad after introducing the Strings.