Show Review

San Francisco’s Warfield Theatre is the epicenter of west coast music. As you enter through the doors, rows of framed concert posters and colorful playbills cover the walls, and without sounding too clichéd “if these walls could talk; what a story they would tell.” The musicians lucky enough to grace the stage know that it’s important to live up to the past, and last Saturday, Trey Anastasio and his newest incarnation, 70 Volt Parade, etched another spectacular set of improvisational groove and flow music into the annals of Warfield lore.

Trey walked onto the stage with a mad scientist grin, picked-up his guitar, and set off on a fun filled night of experimentation. While this tour was ultimately set in motion to coincide with Shine, his latest studio release of tight and compact power numbers, he varied the song selection and length throughout the night bending and twisting each composition hoping to find a new level of insight and sound.

“Air Said to Me” opened things up, a catchy tune off the new album that sounded crisp and clean, but acted as more of a warm-up. The following two numbers, “Plasma” and “Last Tube,” cemented the band’s cohesion and direction for the rest of the set. The patterned drum and bass backbone from Tony Hall and Raymond Weber mixed seamlessly with Jennifer Hartswick and Christina Durfee’s brass back-up. Both songs were definitive in technical composition and sound; providing a wide range of textures and angles that grabbed the crowd by its feet and shook them down. “Wherever You Find It,” a slow, mysterious melody with a sharp piano intro from Ray Paczkowski rounded out the first set, and settled everyone down for a quick acoustic set.

Trey sat down and comfortably fluttered and plucked his way across his varnished six-string giving the audience a peek into the genesis of these songs. “Pebbles and Marbles” and “The Inlaw Josie Wales” illuminated with simplistic style, but the fans pushed the rest of the acoustic Phish residue too far when they all sang along to the chorus of “Bathtub Gin.” Trey found it quite amusing, and while it’s obvious that the fans can’t get enough of the good old days, it came off as somewhat of a hokey revival.

The second set featured Jerry Harrison from the Talking Heads and The Modern Lovers accompanying the band on “Roadrunner.” A lengthy and dark tinged “Simple Twist Up Dave” sparked the second set, but it was the set ending “Low,” a keys and guitar themed lightning strike of a tune that could have kept the crowd rolling for the rest of the night.

The band stepped on stage for one final bow summing up the night by playing the Beatles “Come Together” and Sly and the Family Stone’s “I Want To Take You Higher." Once again, the walls of the Warfield echoed with the musical synergy of Trey’s 70 Volt Parade, another great performance, an electrified crowd, and one more storied night of improvisation and sound.