The Warren Haynes Christmas Jam has become a holiday staple, with last night’s performance at Asheville’s U.S. Cellular Center marking the 29th iteration of the beloved event. Each year, the Christmas Jam led by Gov’t Mule frontman Warren Haynes sees performances by some of the jam scene’s best and brightest. This year, in addition to numerous collaborative sets by the likes of The Avett Brothers, Blackberry Smoke, Marcus King, and Les Bros—the latter which is composed of Marc Quinones, Warren Haynes, Paul Riddle, Lamar Williams Jr., Bruce Katz, and Jorgen Carlsson—Christmas Jam 29 invited Phish frontman Trey Anastasio for two sets during the night.

For Trey’s first appearance of the evening, the guitarist and vocalist appeared with the classic paired-down lineup for his solo project Trey Anastasio Band, also featuring drummer Russ Lawton, bassist Tony Markellis, and keyboardist Ray Paczkowski. While many of the sets throughout the night were somewhat restrained due to time, TAB’s performance at Warren Haynes’ Christmas Jam was one of the most extended. After opening with classic Trey tune “Gotta Jibboo”, the band wasted no time getting into the nitty-gritty of the set, which mixed the band’s new material (“Everything’s Right” and “Set Your Soul Free”) with classics (“Gotta Jibboo” and “First Tube”). Their set also saw a performance of “Aqui Como Alla”, a tune which hasn’t been played by the group since 2001, marking a sixteen-year gap.

Setlist: Trey Anastasio Band | U.S. Cellular Center | Asheville, NC | 12/9/2017

Set: Gotta Jibboo, Burn That Bridge, Everything’s Right, Aqui Como Alla, Sand, Dark and Down, Set Your Soul Free, First Tube

Trey Anastasio Band, “Gotta Jiboo”

[Video: Warren Haynes]

Trey Anastasio Band, “Burn That Bridge”

[Video: John Ellis]

Trey Anastasio Band, “First Tube”

[Video: rohbear3]

Trey was also featured during a short in-between set led by Warren Haynes. Haynes and Anastasio teamed up on two of the three songs during the short set. First up was the duo’s collaboration on Trey Anastasio original “Miss You”. Coming out of “Miss You”, the Phish frontman stayed on for a rendition of the Allman Brothers Band’s classic number “Midnight Rider”. Following these two numbers, Trey departed the stage, swapping out for renowned pianist Holly Bowling, who joined Haynes for a rendition of the Grateful Dead’s “Morning Dew”.

Setlist: Warren Haynes | U.S. Cellular Center | Asheville, NC | 12/9/2017

Set: Miss You (w/Trey Anastasio), Midnight Rider (w/Trey Anastasio), Morning Dew (w/Holly Bowling)

Warren Haynes with Trey Anastasio, “Miss You” & “Midnight Rider”

 

[Photo: Tour Tweet]