Whatever You Do, Take Care Of Your Shoes

Wednesday March 2, 2011 Ogden Theatre, Denver, CO

Set I: Sample In A Jar, Mountains In The Mist, The Horse > Silent In The Morning, My Friend My Friend, Runaway Jim, Carini, Wilson, Shine A Light, Wading In The Velvet Sea*, Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan**, Hey Ya***, Push On Til The Day****

Set II: Cayman Review, I Done Done It, Valentine, Money Love And Change, Drifting, Small Axe, Burn That Bridge, Mozambique, Simple Twist Up Dave, Windora Bug, Goodbye Head, Sand

E: The Birdwatcher, Black Dog

* with Jen Hartswick and Natalie Cressman

** with *with Jen Hartswick, Natalie Cressman, and Russell Remmington

*** with all of TAB

****with all of TAB electric

Tuesday March 1, 2011 Ogden Theatre, Denver, CO

Set I: Farmhouse, Wolfman’s Brother, When The Circus Comes, Timber, Theme From The Bottom, Tube, Gumbo, The Wedge, Joy, Backwards Down The Number Line, Strange Design, Lawn Boy*, Let Me Lie**, Heavy Things***, Liquid Time***, Gotta Jibboo****

Set II: Night Speaks To A Woman, Acting The Devil, Ooh Child, Ocelot, Burlap Sack And Pumps, Clint Eastwood, Last Tube, Alaska, Devil Went Down To Georgia, Plasma, Tuesday, First Tube

E: Words To Wanda, Magilla, Sultans Of Swing

* with Tony Markellis and Russell Remington

** with Tony Markellis, Jen Hartswick, and Natalie Cressman

*** with all of TAB

**** with all of TAB electric

Sunday February 27, 2011 Riviera Theatre, Chicago, IL

Set I: Backwards Down The Number Line, Theme From The Bottom, Farmhouse, Gumbo, Kill Devil Falls, Halley’s Comet, Dirt, Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan, The Wedge, Let Me Lie*, Water In The Sky*, Wading In The Velvet Sea*, Heavy Things**, Liquid Tim**, Hey Ya**, Push On Til The Day***

Set II: Gotta Jibboo, Ocelot, Valentine, My Problem Right There, Cayman Review, Burlap Sack And Pumps, Clint Eastwood, Money Love And Change, Small Axe, Devil Went Down To Georgia, Night Speaks To A Woman, Ether Sunday, First Tube

E: Sultans Of Swing

*with Jen Hartswick and Natalie Cressman

**with all of TAB

***with all of TAB electric

image courtesy of Jesse Lirola.

Trey’s tour moved west last night, as they entered Columbus for their latest stop on the acoustic/electric tour.  As with the previous few evenings, Trey played the first set solo acoustic, running through another selection of songs from his ever-growing Phish and solo catalog.  Columbus was treated to fine renditions of classics including “Wilson,” “Sample In A Jar,” and “Chalk Dust Torture.”  The highlight though, was the “Harry Hood” bustout, not heard yet all tour.  As with the other nights, his TAB-mates joined him onstage towards the end of the set, playing acoustic for the Outkast and tour staple, “Hey Ya,” before plugging in for the remained of the set.

Set two built upon the previous set’s energy, with “Gotta Jibboo,” the tour’s second “Simple Twist Up Dave,” and “Push On Til The Day.”  Recurring covers “Sweet And Dandy,” “Clint Eastwood,” and “It Makes No Difference” also made appearances.

Saturday February 26, 2011 Lifestyle Communities Pavilion, Columbus, OH

Set I: Sample In A Jar, Wilson, Cavern, Joy, Sleep Again, Bug, Chalk Dust Torture, Limb By Limb, Harry Hood, Strange Design, Backwards Down The Number Lin, Hey Ya*, Valentine**, Cayman Review**, Burn That Bridge**, Ocelot**, First Tube**

Set II: Gotta Jibboo, Drifting, Burlap Sack And Pumps, Alaska, Sweet And Dandy, Simple Twist Up Dave, It Makes No Difference, Clint Eastwood, Push On Til The Day, Black Dog

E: Sand

*acoustic with all of TAB

**electric with TAB

setlist courtesy of www.phish.net

download the show here.

images courtesy of @bettyfordy and @jdauphinee.

The latest stop on the TAB Winter Tour was Pittsburgh.  Set one featured another great selection of Phish nuggets including “Stealing Time,” “Gumbo,” and “Theme From The Bottom.”  Amongst the repeats, Trey did manage to pull out “Driver” and “Talk,” for their tour debut.  As with previous nights, he was joined at the end of the set by his TAB-mates for acoustic takes on “Heavy Things,” “Liquid Time,” “Let Me Lie,” and “Show Of Life.”  The set ended differently than previous nights, as Trey plugged in for “Push On.”

The second set featured more of the same we’ve seen all tour, with great takes on “Night Speaks,” “Cayman Review,” “Money, Love & Change,” and the tour cover-staple, “Clint Eastwood.”

Friday February 25, 2010 Stage AE, Pittsburgh, PA

Set I: Backwards Down The Number Line, Gumbo, Farmhouse, Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan, The Horse > Silent In The Morning, Talk, Driver, Theme From The Bottom, Down With Disease, Heavy Things*, Liquid Time*, Let Me Lie*, Show Of Life**, Push On Til The Day**

Set II: Night Speaks To A Woman, Valentine, Cayman Review, Alaska, Burlap Sack & Pumps, Gotta Jibboo, Goodbye Head, Mozambique, Clint Eastwood, Money Love & Change, Magilla, Sand

E: First Tube

*with all of TAB

**with all of TAB electric

setlist courtesy of OhKeePahBlog.

download the show here.

image courtesy of @Ryan_Hross.

Trey and TAB hit the Electric Factory Wednesday night for another stop on his aggressive two-week, cross-country tour.  The acoustic set fit the mold of previous nights, showcasing stripped down versions of Phish nuggets like “Sample In A Jar” and “Suzy Greenberg.”  A few debuts did surface with “Twenty Years Later,” “Twist,” and “Back On The Train.”

The electric set really heated things up.  Classic TAB staple “Mr. Completely” finally made its tour debut, as with “Tube Top Flop.”  The remainder of the set brought another great mix of Phish tunes (“Sand” and “Ocelot”), solo staples (“Push On” and “Night Speaks”) and covers (“Ooh Child” and “I Done Done It”).  For the encore, Trey strapped on the acoustic once more for “At The Gazebo,” a tour first, before bringing it all back home with “The Birdwatcher” and “Tuesday.”

February 23, 2011 The Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA

Set I: Back On The Train, Free, Sample In A Jar, The Wedge, Wilson, Strange Design, Twenty Years Later, Suzy Greenberg, Twist, Theme From The Bottom, Carini, Waste, Lawn Boy*, Liquid Time**, Heavy Things**, Hey Ya**

Set II: Push On Til The Day, Tube Top Flop, Night Speaks To A Woman, Ooh Child, Burlap Sack And Pumps, Ocelot, Shine, Dark And Down, Mr. Completely > Ether Sunday, Acting The Devil, I Done Done It, Sand

E: At The Gazebo, The Birdwatcher, Tuesday

*with Russell Remington and Tony Markellis

**with all of TAB

setlist courtesy of OhKeePahBlog.

download the show here.

Trey and TAB returned to NYC’s Terminal 5 last night for an incredible two sets of music.  New York was treated to several tour firsts in both sets.  Trey wasted no time with the show opening “Down With Disease,” which even in its stripped down form had a power-punch to kick the night off.  In a nod perhaps to the Middle-Eastern theme for the Phish Summer Tour video that was released earlier that day, Trey dedicated “Camel Walk” to Fishman who so happened to be in Morocco.  Other acoustic highlights included “Meatstick” (played by request), “Cavern,” and the tour debut of “Peggy.”

The band returned for a hard-rocking electric set that featured several tour debuts including a extra funky “Burlap Sack & Pumps.”  Trey’s new song writing partner, Amanda Green was present, prompting Trey to briefly promote the upcoming Hands On A Hard Body play they both were writing music for.  After a nice run-through of “Burn That Bridge,” he played the first “My Problem Right There” of the tour — both tunes part of the play.  The set was also sprinkled with a great choice of covers like an emotional “It Makes No Difference” and an appropriate “Empire State Of Mind,” which emerged from an ending “First Tube” jam.

I had a blast from the front row, and have included a slide show and some HD videos below.  Enjoy!

Tuesday February 22, 2011 Terminal 5, New York, NY

Set I: Down With Disease, Wolfman’s Brother, Theme From The Bottom, Camel Walk, Kill Devil Falls, Meatstick, Halley’s Comet, Bouncing Around The Room, Cavern*, Prince Caspian, Limb By Limb, Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan, Wading In The Velvet Sea**, Heavy Things***, Peggy***, Hey Ya***

Set II: In The Wee Wee Hours, Valentine, Ocelot, It Makes No Difference, Gotta Jibboo, Burlap Sack & Pumps, Clint Eastwood, Cayman Review, Sand, Sweet And Dandy, Burn That Bridge****, My Problem Right There****, Tuesday, First Tube > Empire State Of Mind*****

E: Sultans Of Swing

*with old lyrics - “The brothel wife then grabbed a knife And slashed me on the
tongue I turned the blade back on the bitch and dropped her in the
dung”

**with Jen Hartswick and Natalie Cressman

***with all of TAB

****dedicated to Amanda Green, who was in attendance

*****debut, Alicia Keys original

setlist courtesy of Hidden Track.

download the show here.

Just as many of us suspected, Phish announced their fist leg of their 2011 Summer Tour.  This will surely be an interesting one, with Phish returning to some venues not played at in quite some time.  As a long-time Jersey native, I’m psyched as hell for the return to PNC and the Camden dates!  The complete run-down is below, as well as the tour announcement video.  Should we expect a Watkins Glen confirmation soon?

May 27 – 29 - Bethel Woods, Bethel NY
May 31 & June 1 - PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
June 3 - DTE Energy Music Theatre, Clarkston MI
June 4 - Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls OH
June 5 - Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati OH
June 7 - Comcast Center, Mansfield MA
June 8 - Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, Darien NY
June 10 - Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden NJ
June 11 and 12 - Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia MD
June 14 and 15 - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Alpharetta GA
June 17 - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Charlotte NC
June 18 - Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion, Raleigh NC
June 19 - nTelos Pavilion, Portsmouth VA

Phish Summer 2011 Tour from Phish on Vimeo.

In preparation of tonight’s Trey and TAB show at Terminal 5, I’ve dusted off some shows and collections over the last week to get psyched.  Here’s what’s been in heavy rotation:

1. 5/8/99 Oscar Mayer Theater, Madison WI:

There are a bunch of great shows from Trey’s first solo jaunt, but I keep coming back to this one.  For the unfamiliar, this tour featured one solo acoustic set followed by an electric set with Tony and Russ.  Trey’s very relaxed here, jamming on newly penned Farmhouse tunes like “Back On The Train,” “Farmhouse,” and “The Inlaw Josie Wales.”  The real gem however, is the “Alumni Blues” bustout dedicated to the graduates.  The electric set isn’t too shabby either, with a rocking take on Billy Preston’s “Will It Go ‘Round In Circles,” a newly penned (and ultra rare) “Somantin,” and show closing “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return).”

download the show here:

2. 7/29/01 PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ:

This was my favorite show from the 2001 tour.  If you’re into JAMS, this is for you.  Highlights include a show opening “Simple Twist Up Dave,” the rarely played “Happy Coffee Song,” and a blistering set two combo of “Money, Love & Change > Plasma > When > Sand” — sidenote: that MLC is almost 35-minutes of great jamming!

download the show here:

3. 5/31/03 The Warfield, San Francisco, CA:

This is arguably the greatest TAB show ever played, though some may balk.  Whatever your feelings are, there’s no denying the insanity this night produced with Carlos Santana sitting in.  This is one for the jam-lovers, as Trey and Carlos played off each other all night, leading the band through some serious extensive jams.  Highlights include “The Way I Feel,” “Mr. Completely > John The Revelator,” and the “Root Down” encore for some humor.

download the show here:

4. TAB At The TAB:

In my opinion, this is the best live album Trey has put out.  Though only a partial set of the Tabernacle performance from last year, it’s cohesive, clear, and sounds fantastic.  Trey’s sobriety shines as he leads his refined band through a collection of Phish and solo songs.  There’s more direction here, and Trey keeps his jams well constructed and on a clear path (Original Boardwalk Style was way sloppy).  Check out “Alaska,” “Sand,” and “Cayman Review” to see what I mean.

download the album here:

Trey and TAB took on Boston last night in the latest stop on their winter tour.  Trey continued to dive deep into his song book and tackle some interesting songs one would not expect to hear acoustic.  The biggest shock came with “Punch You In The Eye,” a relatively complex Phish song.  Trey stripped it down well and the results speak for themselves (see video below).  Other acoustic set highlights included “AC/DC Bag,” “It’s Ice,” “Dog Faced Boy,” and “Shine A Light.”  Towards the end of the set, Russ and Tony joined Trey for a nice jazzy “Lawn Boy,” featuring a nice sax solo from Tony and vocals from Trey.  The full TAB band polished the set off with another rendition of “Hey Ya” and the tour’s first “Let Me Lie.”

The electric set saw some more tour debuts with “Sweet Dreams Melinda,” “Burn That Bridge,” and “Simple Twist Up Dave.”  “Ocelot” was also played again, signaling the song to perhaps stay in rotation for a while.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, this song has such a new and refined feel with the horns.  Keep it up!  “First Tube” also made its tour debut, though ending the set instead of its typical encore placement.  For the encore, Trey dropped into “Magilla” and “Black Dog,” the latter featuring a stellar Jha on vocals.  Next stop is Terminal 5 and I can’t wait.  I’ll be tweeting from the show, so be sure to follow @ahandman.

Sunday February 20, 2011 House Of Blues, Boston, MA

Set I: Sample In A Jar, Punch You In The Eye, Strange Design, AC/DC Bag, It’s Ice, Bathtub Gin, Carini, Dog Faced Boy, Shine A Light, Sleep Again, Wilson, Chalk Dust Torture, Backwards Down The Number Line, Lawn Boy*, Let Me Lie**, Hey Ya**

Set II: I Done Done It, Valentine, In The Wee Wee Hours, Gotta Jibboo, Sweet Dreams Melinda, Burn That Bridge, Simple Twist Up Dave, Small Axe, Ooh Child, Tuesday, Ocelot, Ether Sunday, First Tube

E: Magilla, Black Dog

*with Russell Remington and Tony Markellis

**with all of TAB

setlist courtesy of Hidden Track.

download the show here.