Furthur Friendship
10.20.07 Glens Falls, NY (A.M. Saddler)
Once the Phil and Friends shows established a relationship, both personally and musically between Phil and Trey, the Phish and Dead communities began to blend together. Led by the musical model that had wowed everyone for three nights, the two cultures- a generation apart- began to grow closer. Everything seemed cool now; there was much less ill will between the bands’ followings; the scenes began to intermingle and lines became blurred. The musicians themselves formed relationships, as members of Phish and The Dead went on to collaborate on future projects.
9.17.99 Shoreline (J.Blakesburg)
Later the same year, when Phish passed through Shoreline for two nights on their fall tour, they returned the invitation. Inviting Phil to sit in for much of the second set of 9.17, the two scenes fused in a more Phish-centric way. As Phil came out for “YEM,” Brad brought out a third trampoline! In the ultimate gesture of Phisy approval, Phil bounced up and down with Trey and Mike during the tramps part of the jam. To the giddy delight of all involved, this guest sit-in carried more meaning than any before. Morphing into a bass duet with Mike out of “YEM”, Phil stuck around for “Wolfman’s,” and a poignant cover of The Dead’s “Cold Rain and Snow.” For the encore, they brought Phil back and Warren Haynes and played an extensive “Viola Lee Blues.” At this point, Phish and The Dead had grown closer than ever.
In their penultimate show before their hiatus, also at Shoreline, Phish invited Bob Weir to the stage for a three-song encore of “El Paso,” “Chalk Dust,” and “West LA Fadeaway.” Though not as musically impressive as Lesh’s stint with Phish, Weir’s sit-in carried as much symbolic weight as anything.
Mike, Joe Russo, Phil, & Trey (jrushingmail)
Once Phish broke up in 2004 and Trey toured with the much-maligned 70 Volt Parade for 2005, he began popping up with Phil in 2006. Teaming up with Mike, drummer Joe Russo, and piano visionary Marco Benevento, Trey toured with the horribly-monikered GRAB as a co-bill with Phil and Friends during the summer of ’06. This tour was a legitimate merging of the Phish and the Dead scenes as each band drew from their respective fan bases, most who stayed to watch both acts. Although GRAB hit some grooves and played fun shows, the greatest parts of these evenings were when Trey came out with Phil and Friends and played Dead music. Sometimes it was for a song or two, and sometimes, like Camden (6.30), Hartford (7.3), Jones Beach (7.7), and Scranton (7.11), it was for the entire second set. These sets were the high points of the entire tour, and I’m pretty sure Phil would agree. One of the highlights of this run of sit-ins was the sublime second set at Camden, where the entire band was tapped in. (Just look at Phil’s face as Trey rips apart St. Stephen in the video below!) Trey elevated the play of Phil’s band to another level each time he took the stage, and it were these sets that I continued to listen to when the summer ended.
Phil & Trey @ Vegoose 10.29.06 (Spector1)
Trey also sat in with Phil and Friends at Halloween’s Vegoose Festival in Las Vegas in ’06, not only for the festival set, but for an entire two-set late night gig as well. Earlier in the year, before GRAB/Phil tour, Phil joined GRAB onstage at Bonnaroo for a rendition of “Casey Jones.” Gradually, it seemed like playing with Phil was Trey’s new favorite stage. He got to improvise freely over Dead classics, standing in for Jerry, while sprinkling in songs from his own catalog. He was loving it, and the fans were too- Phil didn’t have too many friends with the guitar prowess of Trey. But less than two months after Vegoose, on December 15th, Trey was arrested and sequestered to Whitehall, NY and its surroundings.
The Rhythm Devils w/ Mike @ Vegoose (Dan B.)
Taken out of the scene for a while, Trey’s next big appearance was actually with Phil and Friends at the nearby, hence legal, Glens Falls Civic Center on 10.20.07. At his stop in Glens Falls, Phil was actually granted the symbolic power of being mayor of Glens Falls for the day. And as his “power” was granted, Phil said, “As my first act as honorary mayor, it is my intention to pardon Trey Anastasio,” voicing his support for his friend. Trey was welcomed by Phil back to the stage that night, sitting in with Phil and Friends for two sets of Dead music, while adding “Shine” and “Plasma.” Phil had Trey’s back, as he was no stranger to addiction, and it was with his friendship and backing that Trey returned to the stage for the first show since his arrest.
"Serial Pod"
Beyond Trey and Phil’s relationship, Mike also got in on the Phish / Dead collaborations. In fall 2006, Mike played a series of shows with Mickey Hart and Billy Kreutzmann’s “Rhythm Devils,” with Steve Kimock on guitar, including a slot at Vegoose. And yet another collaboration between the two bands was “Serial Pod,” a project between Mike, Trey, and Billy in 2005. Nevertheless, all of these sit-ins and hybrid projects were sparked by those three epic nights at The Warfield. Going where no one dared go before, Trey, Page, Phil, Kimock, and Molo fused past and current counter-culture; the circle was now complete.
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Trey’s solo in “St. Stephen”w/ Phil and Friends – 6.30.06, Camden, NJ (!!)
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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:
4.17.99 Phil & Friends @ The Warfield < LINK
4.17.99 Phil & Friends @ The Warfield < TORRENT LINK
I: Dark Star > It’s Up to You, Days Between > Dark Star (first verse) > My Favorite Things, Mississippi Half-Step, Birdsong
II: Terrapin Station > Down with Disease > Dark Star (second verse) > Friend of the Devil, Casey Jones, Morning Dew, Goin Down The Road Feelin Bad* > And We Bid You Goodnight
E: Box of Rain
* w/ Donna
Tags: 1999, Culture, Phil and Friends, Side Projects
I remember I was so excited to listen to the Glen Falls show in 07 as we hadn’t heard anything from trey in what seemed like forever. I was pleasantly surprised as I thought trey sounded wonderful with phil that night. I really dig the wharf rat sandwiched into that dark star. Also the Bertha is money
that solo in st stephen gives me chills every single time
the best part of that serial pod pic is that it was dad’s screen saver pic in NY for soooo long! Ha!
can someone give me the link for the site that is selling the fenway tix tomorrow?
I too love molo.. Simple? Whatevs. On stuff like ujb he is genius, with the island rhythms etc. His cowbell fills I love too. Ever since phil stole him from hornsby I’ve loved their rhythm section together!
The camden show is incredible. But that vegoose show was godawful, that show was when I knew Trey was having some hardcore issues.
And as for phil not have friends with the skills of Trey, maybe not but Barry Sless was doing a mighty fine job on that tour. If you listen to Camden closely I think Sless has a lot of the best spots.
That 6/30/2006 Camden show was sooo massive
Was actually listening to it yesterday off archive… anybody got the SBD of it? If so I’d love a copy… digdug1810 at verizon dot net thanks!
there are no bad seats at jones beach. it’s like oak mountain with seats rising in a bowl around the back of the venue.
One HUGE notable missing reference is Trey’s appearance with Phil and Friends on 2/12/06 at the Beacon Theater. Great great show. It was snowing heavily that day/night, and the beacon was only about 3/4 full. Trey played the whole show and it was simply fantastic. The show is available at archive.org – definately worth a listen.
MT ST MOLO
Esses Junction is straight out of a 70’s Herbie movie-what a glorious dump-and the beer hall in the basement-classic
hey miner do you have a nice sounding copy of that camden show. trey was nasty at my hometown venue.
Any music fan has to admire Phils spirit about live music.
i was at that camden show, definitely I rocking show. Didn’t end until 1:30 am. I haven’t listened to it in long awhile but if my memory serves me right I have to support lastwaltzer. Barry Sless probably shredded harder than Trey that night.
I think molo is pretty good at basically one thing. He rocks a strongly rolling groove that really works with Phil’s jamming style. He is definitely no Fishman but then Fish for me is the #1 drummer in rock history – in an improvising context there’s no question – Kreutzmann was at that level from 72-74 when Mickey was out of the band, but that’s just 3 years out of 30+ year career.
Fishman has kept adding new flavors over the years but has kept his basic chops intact. You have to go outside of rock music to find drummers that are as tight as he is in an improv context – Tony Allen, who was Fela Kuti’s drummer, is one, and high end jazz guys like Tony Williams…that is very elite company…out of the “jam scene” only illyB of MMW can even be put in the conversation.
A drummer that can play proggy composed stuff, improvise a crescendo out of free jamming, *and* throw down deep funk boogie beats? Fishman definitely spoils Phish fans for other drummers.
Molo’s no world class genius like…um…pretty much everyone else on stage at those Warfield gigs…but he’s game and I think pretty solid. And his best stuff is on the open jamming, which is the most important.
Gotta throw some drummin love out to sci’s michael travis- his blend of hand drums and kit worked is amazing. I’ve seen him hang with some amazing percussionist. Sci lost something when they added jason hann imo because travis started playing a lot more straight rock and dance grooves. Their jamtronica project is worth checking out if they’re at a festie and you are too
i was at several phil and friends when trey came out. They were great. Many jaded older deadheads didn’t get it and they acted almost offended that phil would play with trey. I never really understood their unwarrented hatred of trey. I think he is on e of the best guitarists out there today and i always gelt that he complimented phil’s tone perfectly.
futureman: it looks like a guitar, but sounds like drums. heh heh. cool.
seriously though illyB = shiznit, the.
fish > illyB > molo > w00k with garbage can > travis
just kidding
sorta
I can’t not comment when you start talking about illyB. ha! that’s all I got (or else I’d go on and on)
“Molo’s no world class genius like…um…pretty much everyone else on stage at those Warfield gigs…but he’s game and I think pretty solid.”
I agree. I feel like he’s too busy most of the time, not leaving enough implied. Plus his patterns for certain songs, like UJB, are too predictable to me. Saw that UJB coming a mile away on 4/15/99.
Obviously Phil likes him, so what do I know?
MOLO is the MAN! Stop frontin’ people! He was such a key to those shows, and he has mad skills.
Can someone give me the total time and track # of each Dark Star track on this last download. Some how it screwed up the order and i can’t figure which goes where???
thnx
yoyoyo mina in da house
whooo!!
uh oh i have only 3 dark stars, looks like there should be 4
anyone score an extra JB 6/2 today? I wasn’t able to be at a computer. Ihave a 6/4 or a starlake pavilion to trade. Or Shoreline, Alpine lawns…
1-01 Dark Star 14:00
1-04 Brown Star 06:30
2-04 Black Hole 08:24
^ Is that legitimate terminology?