On a whim I decided that I wanted to cover Trey Anastasio‘s California Mini-Tour. Well at least shows at The Warfield, Ventura Theater, and The Wiltern. 3 showsin 3 nightsin 3 different cities. The last time I did something like that was when Trey was fronting for some other band. Many thanks to Redlight Management and Brad Sands for making this happen.
Rain followed me the whole way. But it did not dampen my spirits, nor those touring with Trey on his mini-tour. There was even a delegation of 10 heads who flew out from Japan. Those who toured were treated to some absolutely amazing shows.
Seeing him this summer at the 10,000 Lakes Festival, which was the first time since the break up of that other band. I was re-reminded of the masterful performer that he is, and his love of playing to the crowd. Having seen this I wanted to capture it during the California run. I recruited a couple of writers to write reviews on the shows and I was good to go.
All I have to say is “Give Trey a chance!” You don’t need to know the songs, but just have to enjoy and know good music. Trust mewhen he goes into that epic jam, you will know and so will everyone else in that venue. You will be standing there with a big ol’ grin, shaking your head in disbelief, realizing you’ve been converted.
Enjoy!
Trey Anastasio at the Warfield
The Warfield Theater, a 1920’s era venue, looks rundown from the outside but majestically intimate on the inside. The skewed “R” in the marquee fits in perfectly in the seedy 6th St. area. But inside, it invokes the spirit of all the music legends that have passed through, leaving the walls with stories to tell. The walls will speak of Trey Anastasio‘s performance on this night.
The show started about a half hour late, partly due to the rain making sure that everyone was “in”. Despite the wait, the audience was treated to an entrance and opening song that well justified it. Trey and band marched in from the back of the theater, through the crowd, and up on to stage. Trey with cowbell in hand and the rest with their respective instruments, took their positions on stage and opened with “Stash”. Standing in the photo pit with camera, I almost wanted to stop shooting and sing and enjoy the song. The audience did it for me, so I continued to shoot.
I have to be honest, I am not too familiar with Trey’s solo stuff. Which does make it difficult to write a review. But being a photographer, constantly running around, I don’t get a chance to listen to the music. I hear the music as it pertains the performers that I see through my camera lens. So I have a choice.take notes or take photosluckily I took photos.
Trey is one of those performers I truly enjoy shooting. Maybe I am trying to capture the classic “Trey face”. You know the onesquinty eyes, open mouth, and head jutting forward. Cause when he does that face, you know you are in for a treat. Intensely staring into crowd, drifting off into spontaneous serendipity, seeming as though he is playing to each and every member of the audience.
The interplay between the band members is fabulous. Especially the bass playing of Tony Hall and the keys of Ray Paczkowski. Trey conducting and giving each member a chance to shine.
The first set closed out with “Cincinnati”, which I am convinced that the album does not do justice to what the live version is or becomes. This song allows for endless possibilities and direction every time it is played.
The second set opened with “First Tube” and “Mud City” which were played with blistering guitar. Trey pulled out the acoustic and did 3 songs, notable were “The Inlaw Josie Wales” and “Invisible”. Closing the set with “Sultans of Swing””this is a horn playing band.”
The encore was one of those rare ones, where all the stops were pulled. A barrage of music that almost felt like a third set. All I could do is grin and enjoy. “Gotta Jiboo”, “Last Tube”>”Bar 17”, “46 Days”.
Trey Anastasio at Ventura Theater
Positive energy was the order of the evening at the majestic Ventura Theater for Trey Anastasio and his band. Excitement was in the air as the band took the stage and blasted into the energetic, instrumental “Mozambique”, which had the entire crowd boogying to its Latin tinged horns. The set continued with several songs from Anastasio’s three solo albums, most of which were platforms for extended instrumental jams, with Anastasio often directing the other musicians to perform solos, duets, and various other combinations.
After a few upbeat songs, the band began what seemed to be the first minor chord offering of the show. “Spin” started with a great guitar riff, followed by a few lines of lyrics, before drifting into a mellow spacey jam. The meandering guitar provided soothing, ambient, background music until a few minutes later when a noticeable melody evolved and quickly morphed into distorted guitar and funky keyboards (all hail avant-garde jazzman Ray Paczkowski!). With the keyboards, guitar, bass and drums in determined rock and roll jam, the entire crowd was onboard for what would be the highlight of the set. It wasn’t a freeform jam where the musicians play off each other, but a repetitive rhythm and melody that simply knocked the audience’s socks off, and culminated in a ripping high powered guitar solo-a variation of the melody. The guy sitting next to me excitedly exclaimed, “That alone was worth the price of admission!”
The band brought it down a shade as the horns returned for a quick rendition of Bob Marley’s “Small Axe” before picking it back up with the happy, poppy “Sleep Again”. Showcasing Anastasio’s seminal talent, the set was then closed in true rock and roll style with “Mud City”. The song began as a blues-inspired rock and roll number with an intricate guitar solo that led the song to a fevered pitch-a big, loud, fast sound building to a long, lingering rock and roll ending with rolling drums and flashing strobes to take us out in stadium rock regalia.
The second set was characterized by more of the same-upbeat pop songs that would break into extended, groovy, danceable jams, such as the infectiously groovy “Alive Again”; the methodically restrained “Bar 17”; and the catchy “Night Speaks to a Woman”, with its key guitar growing into a groovy, danceable jam. But the two highlights of the second set were “Plasma” and “First Tube”.
Plasma started with a catchy intro followed by a simple drumbeat backing up a sweet spacey organ solo, during which a cowbell-playing Anastasio led the horn players (each playing a handheld percussion instrument) in a parade across the stage to gather around Paczkowski’s keyboards as he went OFF on the organ. It was impossible not to groove to this number.
The last song of the set was the anticipation building “First Tube” (a guitar showcase if ever there was one). After an already high energy performance, this song absolutely brought down the house. The euphoric audience went wild as the entire band methodically rocked out another big song. After each thundering crescendo the tune would fall quiet again to allow the guitar melody to ascend as the rhythm built and the keyboard siren blared! “First Tube” was easily the most fun the audience had all evening, with Paczkowski kicking on the keys to almost steal the show from this power guitar house rocker. WOW!
The crowd was not alone in its bliss-Anastasio was all smiles as he pumped his fists in the air giving the crowd a double-fisted rock and roll salute (fist with thumb, forefinger, and pinky extended) before thanking the audience and walking offstage.
A minute later the band returned to play “Ether Sunday” and a very entertaining cover of the Dire Straits classic “Sultans of Swing” (with improvised lyrics).
Trey Anastasio – Wiltern Theater
If you have never been to the Wiltern Theatre in the heart of Hollywood, you’re missing a landmark of American entertainment. The history of this famed theatre is legendary, and one can almost see it in the mid-20s-style interior. The mixture of scrolling and jagged lines, the vaulted ceiling and fantastic balcony view – all combine to create an air of experienced intimacy.
Which suited Trey Anastasio and his band just fine, since they carry a similar air about them. Experience. Intimacy. Familiarity. These are indicators of a friendly, relaxed atmosphere where one could just kick back and enjoy a set or two of great music. Trey and company had more in mind however, on this, the last show of the West coast portion of the tour.
“Shine” started off almost like a warm-up song. It was nice. They played it well. Then Tony Hall spoke up with some mean-faced bass work on “Alive Again”, and his energy seemed to turn Trey up a notch too. That relaxed atmosphere melted away into something a bit moreenergetic. “Simple Twist’s” stompin’ 70s backbone was led by some twangy Ray Paczkowski keyboard funk, and the band really played this song with the attitude of stretching the boundaries of the original structure.
“Air Said To Me” went gently, a stark counterpoint to the bubbly jam of the previous song. The air of relaxation passed by again, but “Words To Wanda” was an ass-kicking back into high gear. Cincinnati’s horn-intro likewise provided great contrast to the driven force of rhythm that the song transformed into, and the band stopped playing the music – it just tumbled out of them, and at a fantastic pace.
This is where Trey’s experience comes into play: There are a lot of great musicians out there that play great live music. But there are two things that set artists like Trey apart. 1) Knowing when to just play the music, and knowing that there are times when you have to play it HARD. Beat it out . Play the crap out of it. 2) Almost contrary to the first; there is a high art form of being able to cause it to sound to others as though the music is actually playing you. Trey is obviously fluent in this great deception.
The second set began with “Low”, which seemed to sweep itself away into outer-funk-spacewhere it orbited a planet wreathed in flute-fog and populated by musical notes of every kind and colorand transformed itself into a gigantic, fast-rolling”Last Tube”. People jumped up and down with a hand in the air, riding the incredible rhythm until the band brought it to a gentle stop.
Back came the intimacy with the heartfelt melancholic “Let Me Lie”, leading to a mellow and extremely comfortable “Sweet Dreams Melinda”, which faded like melting snowflakes. They finished up with “Mud City”, another song that really pushed out a pulsing wall of sound, and as such it was a fitting second-set closer, leaving the crowd wanting more.
Sometimes music moves us around things – concepts expressed in the arrangement and delivery of the notes – and other times it moves us through them. The encore “Push On Till The Day” accomplished the latter, not just showing us a bouncy song, but taking us on a journey into its fun pace and Trey-licious forms.
and then they fled the stage, forward, into the crowdand they brought percussion in the form of cowbellsand rhythm in the form of hornsand they meandered under the balconymany of us went quickly toward the staircasea few us went down, hoping to catch a glimpsewhen much to our surprise the doors burst open and the band danced forth, all in a line, a throng of people being driven forwardand what a treat, to experience a live acoustic escort out the front doors, onto Wilshire Boulevard…as the show did not so much end as it did melt into the Hollywood night
Note by the photographer: I would have had more photos, but after 3 songs the Wiltern management made me put my camera in the security office. Which allowed me to enjoy the show. We even had a chance to sling some cream.
