Whatever You Do, Take Care Of Your Shoes

Trey opened his two-week, cross-country acoustic/electric tour last night in Portland, ME.  Returning to his 1999 tour form, Trey played one set solo acoustic, followed by one electric set with the current TAB lineup.  Always looking to keep things fresh, Trey dug deep into the Phish archives and played some unexpected gems amongst the predictable ones.  Great takes on “Suzy Greenberg”, “Theme From The Bottom”, “Cavern”, and “NICU” were pleasant surprises.  One of the more interesting numbers was Trey’s unique segue from “The Horse” into “Silent In The Morning.”  The atypical rendition worked perfectly as a nice substitute from the normally Page-driven number.  Towards the end of the acoustic set, Trey welcomed members of his TAB band up in various formations, culminating in a full-band take on Outkast’s “Hey Ya” (video below).

After a brief break, TAB returned for a full electric set, full of tunes spanning Big Red’s solo and Phish career.  Aside from solid takes on songs like “Sand,” “Mozambique,” “Plasma,” and “Cayman Review,” a nice shock was “Acting The Devil,” which Trey dusted off for the first time since The Tabernacle in 2002.  The other bustout came in the encore, with “In The Wee Wee Hours,” a Professor Longhair song last heard in Pompano Beach 2002.  All in all, a great start to what looks to be an interesting and exciting tour.

Friday February 18, 2011 The State Theatre, Portland, ME

Set I: Theme From The Bottom, Cavern, NICU, Bug, My Friend My Friend, The Horse > Silent In The Morning, Gumbo, Suzy Greenberg, Kill Devil Falls, Water In The Sky*, Spin**, Liquid Time***, Hey Ya****

Set II: Cayman Review, Mozambique, Gotta Jibboo, It Makes No Difference, Acting The Devil, Alaska, All That Almost Was, Words To Wanda, Push On Til The Day, Birdwatcher, Sand, Wherever You Find It, Plasma, Tuesday

E: In The Wee Wee Hours, Dragonfly

*with Jen Hartswick and Natalie Cressman

**with Jen Hartswick, Natalie Cressman, and Ray Paczkowski

***with all of TAB

****Outkast original. First time played, with all of TAB

setlist courtesy of Hidden Track.

image courtesy of @ericwyman.

download the show here.