As Trey Anastasio and Classic TAB move on from the Northeast leg of their tour onto the Midwest and South, they have left a trail of happy faces in their path. The “anything can happen at anytime” M.O. that Phish lives and dies with is nowhere to be found on TAB Tour, alleviating all the pressure that comes with Phish shows for Trey Anastasio. Big Red and his bandmates are clearly having fun and the happiness is contagious.

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[All photos by Adam Kaufman]

What’s most impressive is how well this band has gelled over the first seven shows of the tour. Flubs are few and far-between and the interplay between the musicians ranges from impressive to stellar. TAB newbie Natalie Cressman has filled her father’s shoes with the aplomb of a veteran with Anastasio getting a huge kick out of his first second-generation band member. While the setlists from the shows may look similar, each of the past three shows that I’ve caught (Wallingford, Red Bank and NYC) couldn’t have been more different from each other.

Wallingford was the most button-downed show of the three with Trey and his ensemble focusing on the songs for a large audience that included Cressman’s 93-year-old grandmother. Red Bank was a high-energy affair that featured a slew of jams that kept on peaking. Last night’s show at Terminal 5 was a marathon feast for the senses that included an acoustic interlude at the end of a nearly two-hour first set.

READ ON for more of Scotty’s thoughts on Classic TAB…

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Trey has never debuted a batch of songs as varied as the ones he’s unveiled on this tour. The Birdwatcher sounds like a TV theme song from the ’60s, while Liquid Time has that Early Rock feel made famous by Del Shannon. Show of Life is tender as fuck while All That Almost Was is a gem of a rocker. Having such variety among the new songs helps plug in the holes between the Classic TAB jam vehicles like Sand, Gotta Jibboo and Night Speaks to a Woman.

For longtime TAB followers, one of the best parts of the tour has been the new horn arrangements. Moving down from a five-piece horn section in ’06 to the current three-piece variation led Trey to have longtime collaborator Don Hart “freshen up” the arrangements. Hart succeeded in a big way as songs like Drifting, Gotta Jibboo and First Tube have all benefited from these perky new horn lines.

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Speaking of new arrangements, one of the highlights of the three shows I saw was this band’s version of Love Is Freedom that they dropped in Wallingford. They’ve taken elements of the rockin’ riff that propels Tweezer and added a vibrant horn arrangement that gives a whole new life to the tune’s passionate lyrics. Anastasio displayed some of his best playing during the Love Is Freedom jam which turned heads in favor of a song that didn’t get much love from the fanbase in the past.

At Phish shows in 2009, Big Red wasn’t very talkative, but he’s been chatty as hell over the first seven shows of this tour. Whether he’s introducing Natalie or explaining the story behind Strange Design or acknowledging the 21st Anniversary of his first date with his wife, Trey has been engaging the audience and speaking his mind at each show. You can probably make a great disc filled with all the banter by the end of the tour.

Trey’s sobriety has not only been great for his family and himself, but his fans have also benefited in a big way. With Classic TAB tearing it up and Phish finishing a banner year, it’s a great time to be a Trey Anastasio fan. We all know how quickly things can change, so let’s just enjoy it while we can. Trey Anastasio and Classic TAB continue their tour tomorrow night at the Pabst Theatre in Milwaukee.

Check out more of Adam Kaufman’s photos…

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Scott Bernstein

Scott Bernstein co-founded Hidden Track in October 2006 and was managing editor until taking over as EiC in January 2008. Scotty also writes for Relix Magazine and curates YEMblog.com.

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