B List: 10 Songs Trey & Symphony Should Play

HT fave Trey Anastasio begins his first-ever orchestral tour tonight in Atlanta. Back in December we presented a list of 10 songs HT EiC Scott Bernstein is hoping the Phish front man would perform with the symphonies, so we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to re-publish his list. Check out Phish.net’s brief history of Trey’s orchestral work for more.

Earlier this week Phish front man Trey Anastasio announced his first-ever orchestral tour, a four-show swing that is set to kick off on February 9 at the Atlanta Symphony Hall. Big Red isn’t a stranger to performing with symphonies and his two most recent orchestral gigs from 2009, May 21 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and September 12 with the New York Philharmonic, have shown Trey’s willingness to dig deep into his solo and Phish repertoires for such events.

For this week’s B List I’ve prepared a list of ten songs I’d like to see Trey at one or many of the 2012 Winter Symphony Tour performances. Here’s what I came up with…

10. Dirt

Phish – Dirt

Considering how good of a job Anastasio and the symphonies did with If I Could at the 2009 gigs, a ballad is a fine fit for the orchestral setting. Dirt has plenty of room for the orchestras to work their magic behind Trey’s gentle vocals.

9. Limb By Limb

Phish – Limb By Limb

I’d like to see Trey and any of these orchestras tackle one of the many Phish songs written in 6/8 and I can just imagine what a symphony’s percussion and woodwinds section could do with this Anastasio/Herman/Marshall original.

8. It’s Ice

Phish – It’s Ice

The structure of It’s Ice makes it a perfect candidate for the symphony tour and I think for this one, I’d rather hear the strings or woodwinds interpret the lyrics rather than have Trey sing along. Hopefully the ensemble find a creative way to take advantage of the “jam.” The last time Trey toyed with the arrangement for It’s Ice, the 70VP “metal” version, he did so with rather impressive results.

PAGE TWO = Chapeau Mauvais, Rift > Curtain With > Rift and Scents

7. Chapeau Mauvais

[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/ChapeauMauvais.mp3]

This percussion-heavy instrumental has seemingly been forgotten about by Anastasio as it has disappeared from TAB setlists since November 1, 2002. In listening to this gem from TAB’s severely underrated Fall ’02 tour, Trey clearly put plenty of thought into picking just the right parts for each of the ten members in his band at that time to perform and Chapeau Mauvais would only benefit from an additional 30 pieces or so.

6. Rift > The Curtain With jam > Rift

Phish – The Curtain With

When Trey debuted the orchestral version of Guyute with the Vermont Youth Orchestra in 2001, we saw how Red re-connected My Friend, My Friend and Guyute after many years. Maybe it’s time for the guitarist to do the same for Rift and the “With” section of Curtain With which spawned the title track to Phish’s 1993 release. Let’s say we have Trey and the orchestra work through Rift as we know it now and then when they get to the solo, drop the tempo and play the “With” jam. Dig it?

5. Scents & Subtle Sounds

Phish – Scents & Subtle Sounds

An instant fan favorite upon its debut at the start of 2003’s summer tour, the full version of Scents and Subtle Sounds shows off the many different sides of Anastasio’s songwriting abilities. From the gentle chorus to the anthemic charge into the lyrics, Scents has it all. Instrumentally, this multi-part composition would greatly benefit from strings, woodwinds and a full percussion section.

PAGE THREE = Goodbye Head, Mozambique, Walls and Slave

4. Goodbye Head

Trey Anastasio Band – Goodbye Head

If you were at Trey’s Webster Hall shows in 2006, you heard a string quintet conducted by Don Hart back the guitarist for my favorite of the songs he wrote during the breakup – Goodbye Head. Those Webster Hall takes of the tune rank as the best in this writer’s opinion and showed the potential for a full orchestra version.

3. Mozambique

Trey Anastasio Band – Mozambique

If Trey’s 2009 orchestral performances taught us anything, it’s that the guitarist doesn’t fear working out a simple rock vamp for a symphony. The way the Baltimore Symphony blasted through First Tube makes me want to hear an orchestral take on another vamp and I think Mozambique is up for the task.

2. Walls of the Cave

Phish – Walls of the Cave

This multi-part epic first played by Phish at their “comeback” show on December 31, 2002 is ripe for an orchestra’s interpretation. In my head, I hear a clarinet playing the melody of the instrumental section that begins Walls and can hear a cacophonous roar from each section of the symphony leading back to the “listen to the silent trees” finale.

1. Slave to the Traffic Light

Phish – Slave to the Traffic Light

One of the most gorgeous songs in the Phish repertoire, I’ve always dreamed of watching Trey and dozens of incredibly talented musicians interpret all of the tune’s nuances – the “Wall of Sound” approach. Can you imagine the crescendos that would be reached during the jam section?

I’ve shown you mine, now you show me yours. Let us know what song you’d like to see Trey bust out on his first-ever orchestral tour.