Article by John Parent
For some reason, after watching Trey Anastasio on You Tube doing Strange Design from the 2/16/2010 show at Terminal 5 in NYC, I felt compelled to write a little story about that particular show.
My journey did not start in NYC nor did it even start with Trey and classic TAB. It actually started in Fairfax VA, where I hopped on “the BUS” to see 7 Furthur shows. See, I am a huge Deadhead and I have spent almost half my life listening to the Grateful Dead and seeing the Grateful Dead live, so when the opportunity came for me to see the latest en-carnation of the Dead, which is Furthur, I jumped on for the ride. The first night on my little Furthur tour was Fairfax VA and from there I saw them at the legendary Barton Hall in Ithaca NY. So far, 2 outstanding shows, and I wanted even more. From Ithaca I drove to see them in Bethlehem PA; another stellar show. The band Furthur is by far to me one of the closest things to the Grateful Dead since the Grateful Dead. With Bobby and Phil letting the “new guy” John Kadlecik have total freedom in
bringing his skills to the table and letting them fly. The band is just sounding better and better. Bethlehem was no disappointment and I was so happy doing what I enjoy doing most.
After PA, the band was taking a day off before they headed up to Buffalo NY, so I needed to decide where my plans would take me. So I decided to take a trip to Manhattan and try to score a ticket to see Trey that night at Terminal 5.
This is where the story begins…
I arrived in Manhattan around noon and got a cheap room at a Time Square hotel (cheap being $200 a night) took a little nap and then decided to do a little site seeing. By 6:30 I found myself in front of Terminal 5 with my finger in the air.
Before I go on, I have to tell you that I am not just a Deadhead, I like a lot of bands, and when Jerry passed I found myself at alot of Phish shows. I came to appreciate and love the music Phish made. I will always forever be a Grateful Dead fan but having said that I can still appreciate bands like Phish, some people can’t. I hear about it all the time, especially on Furthur Tour.
So, here I am in Manhattan, finger in the air, yelling cash for your extra. Minutes go by and I have a guy, whom I believe to be a fan, telling me he has an extra but he needs to get what he paid for it which is $80. I kindly tell him that I will continue looking for a cheaper ticket. He continues to beg me to please take this ticket off his hands, even offers to buy me a drink in the show. I again tell him the price is too much and that I have plenty of time to find a more reasonable priced ticket. This poor guy wont leave my side and I keep telling him NO, but he is persistent and continues to offer me his over priced ticket. Finally I say look, I will give you 70 bucks for the ticket and he says 75. I give him the 75, mainly to get rid of him, and he gives me the ticket. One second after taking my 75 dollars and handing me the ticket he turns around and yells out “who’s got my extra?” I could have killed him.
I get into Terminal 5 with plenty of time to find a good spot. As I walk in, I am amazed at how cool this place is. I felt like I was in Studio 54 back in the 70’s. The place is three stories, with balconies wrapping the second and third floors separated by blue neon. The roof was designated for smoking and it was designed like Tony Montana’s house in “Scar Face”. Needless to say, I felt pretty good about the venue and I got a great spot right above Trey on the second balcony. I then got settled in right before the band took the stage.
The band came out and opened with “Shine”, and from that moment on, my smile never left my face until about 2 hours after the show at a NY pizza joint, but that’s another story.
I couldn’t believe how sweet the sound was and how good the band blended with Trey. I kept on thinking to myself, here I am on Furthur tour, and the best show I have seen so far is a Trey show. I felt like a trader, a sinner, a phony. But, I didn’t care. This was fun. I have to think that it was so fun, because you could see how much fun Trey was having. He was clapping, jumping and spinning around to the awesome sounds of the band and just filled the place with incredible energy. I danced, I laughed, I cried, I had the time of my life.
I have seen Trey’s solo projects before and always enjoyed them, but I must say that Trey with TAB is more than enjoyable, it is unfreakin’ believable.
The set list for most of his TAB tour didn’t change that drastic so I kind of knew what I was going to hear, but the way I was going to hear it was not so predictable. The horns sounded great (and I must say the newest addition to TAB not only is a great trombone player but very easy on the eyes).
Trey and his band busted out some Phish tunes, that I recently heard last fall, like Alaska and Gotta Jibboo, which brought me right back to the great times I have had on Phish tour.
Before the first set ended, the band left, and Trey stayed with his acoustic guitar to give us all a little treat of Phish favorites such as: Brian and Robert, Strange Design, Sample in a Jar, Chalkdust Torture and Wilson (in which the whole crowd sang along with him). The Strange Design, normally sung by Page, brought goose bumps all over my body. I was so glad to be where I was, not only in NY, but with everything that ever happened in my life. I believed I was having a “spiritual awakening” all because of this guy singing to me.
The second set it was pure enjoyment. Each song started out as fresh and ended funky. I was sweating from dancing and grinning from joy. Trey and his band played a number of great tunes this set, including the Dire Straits classic “Sultans of Swing” and ended the set with long time TAB member Jennifer Hartswick belting out an unforgettable cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog”. The encore included “Magilla” and “First Tube”.
I left that show feeling ready to take on the world and ready to take on the rest of my trip. I had a blast, but must admit that when I was back on Furthur tour, I told any one who would listen (including John Kadlecik) what an incredible time I had at the Trey show on Fat Tuesday at Terminal 5.
The set list for 2/16/2010;
(Set 1)
“Shine”
“Cayman Review”
“Push On ‘Til the Day”
“Alaska”
“Mozambique”
“Gotta Jibboo”
“All That Almost Was”
“Drifting”
“Liquid Time”
“The Birdwatcher”
“Night Speaks to a Woman”
“Tuesday”
“Brian and Robert”*
“Strange Design”*
“Sample in a Jar”*
“Chalkdust Torture”*
“Wilson”*
(Set Two)
“Sand”
“Alive Again”
“Last Tube”
“Show of Life”
“Sultans of Swing”
“Ether Sunday”
“Black Dog”
Encore:
“Magilla”
“First Tube”
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