Following nearly a month of fanfare surrounding his temporary band lineup change, Trey Anastasio opened his spring 2018 solo tour with the Trey Anastasio Trio on Tuesday night at Cleveland, OH’s House of Blues. The trio, comprised of Anastasio, drummer Russ Lawton, and bassist Tony Markellis, is a throwback to the earliest iteration of Trey’s solo band, which came together after the three musicians first played together at a Vermont performance under the moniker 8 Foot Fluorescent Tubes exactly 20 years ago.

The tour-commencing festivities saw Trey, Tony, and Russ get their footing in their trio formation. As expected, the band played a number of the TAB favorites which the three men helped introduce on their first tour together in 1999, from the opening “Gotta Jibboo” to the encore-closing “First Tube”. In between, the trio worked through familiar Trey tunes of a newer vintage (including “Everything’s Right”, “Bounce”, and the first rendition of “Soul Planet” since it anchored Phish‘s 2017 New Year’s gag); a number of Phish staples (like “Camel Walk”, “46 Days”, “Steam”, a solo acoustic “Waste”, and the Trey solo debut of “No Men In No Man’s Land”); a well-worn live cover (Los Lobos‘ “When The Circus Comes”); and much more.

While the trio will surely take some time to get used to playing in this configuration once again, the first show of the tour showed incredible promise. Tony and Russ’s rock-solid yet fluidly floating rhythm section provided Trey a supple canvas on which to paint his fuzzed-out riffs, a thrilling vessel for his and raw rock and roll guitar firepower. This sound is a far cry from the polished and precise stylings of the modern Trey Anastasio Band. It’s gritty and unrefined, loose and comfortable–the sound of three old friends and collaborators getting together and rocking out in the garage for old time’s sake. Thankfully for us, they’re taking that garage-rock excitement and energy and putting it onstage for all to witness.

The Trey Anastasio Trio tour continues tonight in Grand Rapids, MI. For a full list of upcoming tour dates, head to Trey’s website. You can watch a selection of crowd-shot video footage from Trey Anastasio’s tour opener below via YouTube:

Trey Anastasio Trio – “Camel Walk”

[Video: TheKamherst]

Trey Anastasio Trio – “Dark And Down“

[Video: TheKamherst]

Trey Anastasio Trio – “Bounce“

 

[Video: TheKamherst]

Trey Anastasio Trio – “46 Days”

[Video: iccuspunk]

Trey Anastasio Trio – “Water In The Sky”

[Video: iccuspunk]

Trey Anastasio Trio – “Sand”

[Video: TheKamherst]

Trey Anastasio Trio – “Waste” (Trey Solo Acoustic)

[Video: iccuspunk]

Trey Anastasio Trio – “First Tube” 

[Video: iccuspunk]

Setlist: Trey Anastasio Trio | House of Blues | Cleveland, OH | 4/17/18

Set 1: Gotta Jibboo, Tuesday, Everything’s Right, Camel Walk, When the Circus Comes [1], No Men In No Man’s Land[1], Dark and Down, Drifting, Pigtail, Bounce

Set 2: Soul Planet > 46 Days, Farmhouse, Steam, Night Speaks to a Woman, Water in the Sky, Sand

Encore: Waste [2], Heavy Things, First Tube

[1] TAB debut.
[2] Trey solo acoustic.

This show featured the TAB debuts of When the Circus Comes and No Men In No Man’s Land. Trey teased Streets of Cairo in Camel Walk, San-Ho-Zay in Bounce, and Oye Como Va in Soul Planet. Waste was performed by Trey solo acoustic.