CLEVELAND, OH (CelebrityAccess) — Trey Anastasio, frontman of the legendary jam band Phish, kicked off his latest tour with a sold-out show at the House of Blues in Cleveland on Tuesday night.
The tour had originally been billed as performances by the Trey Anastasio Band, but the group had been forced to scale back the tour to the Trey Anastasio Trio after longtime TAB keyboardist Ray Paczkowski underwent surgery in late March to remove a tumor from his brain.
“We will keep Ray in our hearts and minds as he recovers over the next few months and look forward to the full TAB lineup returning to the road soon,” Anastasio said in late March when he announced the lineup change. According to Anastasio, Paczkowski is expected to make a full recovery.
The opening date of the tour also marked the 20th anniversary to the day of the first time that Anastasio took to the stage with fellow TAB members bassist Tony Markellis and drummer Russ Lawton. As well, the opener was the first time the combo has shared a stage in public since 2009, and their first performance sans keyboards.
According to Jambase, who were fortunate enough to review the show, Anastasio and TAB hewed played their initial show a little safely, sticking close to Phish’s extensive catalog instead of venturing into newer material from TAB. As well, the show lacked many of the improvisational flairs that are the hallmark of a well-honed Phish show, with most of the solo duties handled by Anastasio.
Still, Jambase’s Scott Bernstein described TAB’s performance as well-rehearsed.
The rest of the run, which is almost completely sold out at the time of publication, continues on April 18th with a performance at 20 Monroe Live in Grand Rapids, Mi., followed by a pair of shows at Chicago Theatre in Chicago on April 20th and 21st.
Then, TAB heads to Birmingham, AL for a concert at Iron City on April 24th, followed by a trio of performances at the Civic Theatre in New Orleans from April 26th, 27th, and 28th. TAB will then perform at Terminal West in Atlanta on April 29th, before closing the short run out with a pair of shows at the Levitate Music & Arts Festival in Marshfield Mass on July 7th & July 8th.
