Trey Anastasio with Classic TAB

BOSTON (FOX25, myfoxboston) - "It's Trey Anastasio.  How could you not have fun tonight?"

It's hard to argue with that statement, relayed to me by a friend during the setbreak of Friday night's Trey Anastasio show at the House of Blues in Boston.  From the 2500 fans that packed the sold-out HOB, to the 7 musicians on stage, everyone seemed to be having lots of fun.  The only people that didn't seem to enjoy themselves* were the gaggle of ticketless fans shut out from the show.

Anticipation was high as Trey returned to Lansdowne Street for the 2nd time in about 8 months (Phish sold-out Fenway Park back in May) and Anastasio and his band delivered.

The opening 3 songs quickly erased the memory of security's extensive search for weapons, contraband and, seemingly, Osama bin Laden and left everyone free to enjoy classic TAB's funky, brassy sound.  Push on Til the Day stole the beginning of the show and culminated with Trey helicoptering around the stage, clearly enjoying what he called, "A family reunion."

The band calmed things down a bit with their first What's Done of the tour, followed by the ragtime-y Birdwatcher.   Mozambique and Alaska were the the other highlights of Set 1.

One of the main enjoyments I get from the Trey Anastasio Band is that they take songs I may not love when performed by Phish and extrapolate them to ultimate sonic enjoyment.  During the second set, they took this to another level, and played songs I love when performed by Phish and really brought the heat.  These being Sand and Gotta Jibboo, which was pure space funk and definitely the song of the night.

It was great to see Anastasio having a blast on stage, emulating the full house he played for.  But hey, that's what happens when you see Trey Anastasio, right?

*Not a Phish reference

Setlist
Set I: Shine, Cayman Review, Push On Til the Day, What's Done, Birdwatcher, Mozambique, Night Speaks To A Woman, Alaska, Let Me Lie, Plasma, Tuesday
Set II: Drifting, All That Almost Was, Sand, Goodbye Head> Gotta Jibboo, Small Axe, Valentine, Money Love and Change, Show Of Life, Dragonfly
Encore: Sultans of Swing, First Tube

• Trey Anastasio - Guitar, Vocals
• Russ Lawton - Drums
• Tony Markellis - Bass
• Ray Paczkowski - Keyboardss
• Jennifer Hartswick - Trumpet, Vocals
• Russell Remington - Saxophones, Flute
• Natalie Cressman - Trombone, Vocals