Trey Anastasio Launches Acoustic Tour With Rarities and Pacific Northwest Phish Lore at Portland, OR’s Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall (SHOW REVIEW)

Few artists could spend a marathon nine nights rocking the most technologically advanced arena in the world only to flip the script a few short weeks later and embark on a stripped-down solo acoustic tour. Yet, Phish frontman Trey Anastasio can and is doing exactly that with a brief run of shows in the kind of historic theaters that feel like quaint dinosaurs compared to the screen-filled 20,000 sensory overload that is the Las Vegas Sphere. This tour, which kicked off on Tuesday, May 26th at Portland, Oregon’s Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, is the polar opposite of Phish’s Sphere run and feels like the perfect reset for this prolific guitarist to sandwich in between an epically dazzling experience and a beefy summer tour that will hit more massive venues.  

Accompanied by two guitars, an expansive board of pedals and effects, and pianist Jeff Tanski, Anastasio hit the stage and opened with the playful and intricate compositional beauty of “Guyute.” What followed was over two hours of songs and tales about his time in Portland, filled with enough Phish lore and weirdo characters encountered along the way to keep the phans who packed this ornate theater giddy and bouncing in their seats. In between a “Wolfman’s Brother” that was laid-back with a delicate funk undertone before Anastasio imbued the jam with numerous effects to give it a darker tone, and the gorgeous, rustic charm of the instrumental “Ray Dawn Balloon,” Anastasio observed that Phish first played Portland in 1991. He mentioned the band’s memorable interaction with Artis the Spoonman and Jim Page, noting how the former inspired Soundgarden’s hit 1994 song “Spoonman.”

For much of the sprawling set, Anastasio contrasted lighter fare with moments of mind-bending guitar virtuosity. The lyrical silliness of “Bathtub Gin” was heightened by inviting the crowd to participate in humming along, while the fan-requested tune “The Driver” took on a pleasant country-folk identity. “Oblivion,” on the other hand, was a deep dive into psychedelic complexity with live looping, and “Reba” was a major highlight, with Tanski injecting some whimsical boogie piano while the guitar solo proved to be just as chill-inducing on acoustic as it would be cranked out through an arena. Anastasio seemed to be reaching for the furthest corners of the theater before the song’s signature abrupt ending, only to drop straight into the soothing bath of “Strange Design.” Before “Water In the Sky” continued in a similar vein, Anastasio shared that Phish played with another Pacific Northwest legend, Baby Gramps, on this very stage in 1993, and nodded to his time on the same stage with the Oregon Symphony. He also credited a 1992 show at the Hilton Ballroom as the origin of the infamous Big Ball Jam, though some fans disputed that it happened down the road in Eugene. While “Backwards Down the Number Line” exuded warmth and exuberant folksy nostalgia as the crowd sang along, the real standout moment towards the end of the set came from “Petrichor,” something of a rarity that Anastasio treated as a canvas as he painted on sonic layers of Spanish-style and classical guitar to make for one of the most entrancing performances of the night.   

After the urgent and dramatic rocker “What’s Going Through Your Mind,” and a version of “Waste” played fairly straightforward, Anastasio delivered a set-closing acoustic take on “Harry Hood” to take it all home. It was here that it felt as if he had descended back to earth after orbiting so high, reminding the audience that sometimes it’s healthy to recalibrate and lean into a more personal, intimate experience. It was also a reminder that this veteran of the jam band scene knows how to put on a damn fine acoustic show, presenting these timeless songs in a whole other dimension that feels raw and pure. Returning to encore with a joyous triple whammy of “Dirt,” “Stash,” and “Tweezer Reprise,” Anastasio pushed past the two-hour mark and left his audience riding high into the night. 

Setlist (source: phish.net):

Guyute [1], Wolfman’s Brother[1], Ray Dawn Balloon[1], Taste[1], Lost in the Pack [2], Bathtub Gin[2], Driver[2], Oblivion[2], Back on the Train[2], Pebbles and Marbles[1], If I Could[1], Reba[1], Strange Design[2], Water in the Sky[2], Backwards Down the Number Line[2], Petrichor[1], What’s Going Through Your Mind[1], Waste[1], Harry Hood[1]

ENCORE: Dirt[1], Stash[1], Tweezer Reprise[1]

[1] Trey acoustic and Jeff Tanski on piano.
[2] Trey solo acoustic.

Lost in the Pack through Back on the Train and Strange Design through Backwards Down the Number Line were performed by Trey solo acoustic. All other songs from this performance featured Trey on acoustic and Jeff Tanski on piano. Trey quoted You’re Naked Underneath Your Clothes after Wolfman’s Brother.