Review: Trey Anastasio @ the Ogden Theatre, Day 2

Review By Jason Blevins

This article was originally published here.
For a second sold-out night, Trey Anastasio slack-jaw stalked the Ogden Theatre stage, crouching with his guitar as he raced through some 30 songs in three hours.

From the early first set acoustic crooning –- “Sample in a Jar,” “Horse>Silent in the Morning” — to the second-set throbbing “Sand,” Anastasio and his top-notch band played more of a vast list of songs than a cohesive show. Not bothering with a vibe or theme, Big Red captained his crew through rocking reggae, calypso, orchestral and occasionally improvised jams.

Lacking the delicate touch of Jorma Kaukonen, Anastasio’s acoustic virtuosity lies more in his composition. His acoustic “My Friend, My Friend” dripped with nylon-stringed classical riffs. “Runaway Jim” galloped with an Ozark twang, devolving into a bonfire singalong, straight outta Camp Weekapaug. “Carini” returned to Anastasio’s Phish roots, which carried into a crowd-sparked “Wilson.” Bathed in the expertly choreographed LED lights of Phish lightman Chris Kuroda, Anastasio’s “Shine a Light” seemed a nod to his longtime friend behind the lightboard.

Joined by Russell Remington on sax, teenager Natalie “Chainsaw” Cressman on trombone and Jennifer Hartswick on trumpet, Anastasio transitioned out of his solo indulgence with a perfectly mixed “Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan” that marked a first-ever all-brass backing for Trey’s Martin acoustic.

Strapping on the electric, Anastasio’s rowdy “Push On ‘Til The Day” layered his signature elongated chords over mighty blasts from the black-dressed ladies.

Ray Paczkowski on keys took the lead early in the second-set opener “Cayman Review,” while Anastasio sulked across the stage with his Ocelet-encrusted Languedoc electric. Hartswick and Cressman’s stunningly strong vocals fueled an early dance party in the barn-burning “Money Love and Change” as Paczkowski’s keywork prodded Anastasio into deep, exploratory riffs.

As “Mozambique” spilled into “Simple Twist Up Dave,” Kuroda’s lights danced on the offerings from an army of volunteer fog makers. Kuroda cannot be overlooked as a vital contributor to the Trey Anastasio Band, just as he is with Phish. Able to veer from frantic, seizure-inducing blasts into a soothing, gentle pulse in milliseconds, Kuroda has seen probably more Anastasio guitar solos than anyone and seamlessly weaves his ever-dancing lights into his muse’s aural tapestry. As Anastasio fired up the first licks of what would become a show highlighting “Sand,” Kuroda’s lights seems to enchant the boss, who stared agape into the rainbow mist as his fingers frolicked.

Following a big-band swinging “Bird Watcher” encore, Hartswick breathed deep and belted out a “Hey hey mama” that detonated a by-the-books fiery rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog.” Instead of going deep into emulating Jimmy Page, Anastasio instead turned to his longtime TAB cohort Hartswick and edged her into a rich and resonant vocal jam that ended a vibrant two-night stand at one of Denver’s best rooms.

Review: Trey Anastasio @ the Ogden Theatre, Day 1

Review By Jason Blevins

This article was originally published here.
A chatty, emotive and occasionally indulgent Trey Anastasio jettisoned the Ogden Theatre from a snoozy sing-along into a rollicking groovefest Tuesday in a disparate, two-set show that primed a pie-eyed house for yet another foggy throwdown tonight.

Playing solo acoustic for the first dozen tunes, the Vermont maestro behind the jamazonian Phish plied his vocal talents –- to varying success –- with delicate melody and careful tone. The absence of bass and drums as well as the whisper of his Martin acoustic revealed the intricacies of many Anastasio riffs, especially in “Timber Ho” and “Tube.

Big Red was giddily garrulous with the acoustic around his neck, telling the crowd calling for “Tube” that “no matter what you say, it translates into ‘Booo!’” Several times he spoke about his early Goddard College days sharing a place with Phish drummer Jon Fishman, saying he would sneak into his roommate’s room, and write songs while reading Fishman’s journal.

“He didn’t know until I played the song,” said Anastasio, introducing the intricate “Tube.” “This is from the mind of Jon Fishman.”

Acoustic fits Anastasio’s vast repertoire only sometimes. While “Gumbo” lacks the jubilant bass and “The Wedge” the jungle drums, “Joy,” “When the Circus Comes to Town” and “Backwards Down the Number Line” are worthy croon-and-strum tunes.

But once the Trey Anastasio Band took the stage late in the second set, it was easy to forget the acoustic stuff. Starting with the flamenco-flavored, beautifully-fluted (Russell Remington from the Giant Country Horns, yes!) “Heavy Things,” through a sweet “Liquid Time” and into an explosive, trumpet-blasting “Gotta Jiboo,” the band deftly closed the first set by fanning the flames of what became a fiery second.

The bob-heading groove that permeates Anastasio’s addictive riffs erupted in second-set opener “Night Speaks to a Woman,” inspiring drummer Russ Lawton to slap a hole in his snare. A carom into deep 1970s soul-funk saw the band’s cover of the 1970 “Ooh Child” by the Five Stairsteps trickle into Phish’s uber-funky “Ocelet,” with the velveteen-voiced brass blowers Jennifer Hartswick and 18-year-old Natalie Cressman buttering the backup vocals with the overlapping stanza “Won’t you come out and play.”

Following a Salsa-styled “Burlap Sack and Pumps,” the band ripped into a Hartswick-Cressman-rapped cover of Gorillaz’ “Clint Eastwood,” that saw billboard-of-a-bass-player Tony Markellis soaking the Ogden in his bottomless thunder. A late second set “Plasma” delivered the marauding jams that sate Phish followers, but the night largely highlighted an Anastasio backed by a crackerjack band that more supports than challenges. There weren’t any aggressive bass riffs spurring deeper descents into the bluesy “Alaska” or the prog “First Tube.” But that’s alright when the band tears through Charlie Daniels’ “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” with such passion, igniting the song’s “band of demons” jam with flaming licks while accenting Johnny’s fiddle-winning jam with glorious trombone and trumpet.

Anastasio’s encore of Dire Straits’ “Sultans of Swing” sparked a roar with the line, “We don’t give a damn about any trumpet-playing band” from a sold-out house wallowing in the hazy bliss.