Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio began The Beacon Jams weekly livestream residency at The Beacon Theatre in New York City. The concert featured a Trey Anastasio Band lineup of bassist Tony Markellis, drummer Russ Lawton, keyboardist Ray Paczkowski and percussionist Cyro Baptista. Following tour cancellations from the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, Anastasio began releasing new songs recorded while quarantined in his apartment in New York City, which became the foundation for his solo album released on July 31, Lonely Trip. Anastasio was tapped to be the first in-studio performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on the August 11 episode that aired after the program’s monthslong reliance on remotely recorded episodes. In September, Anastasio recorded a solo performance in Central Park for the City Parks Foundation Presents A SummerStage Jubilee streaming event. In June, Anastasio spoke about the possibility of playing a concert in an empty room, indicating he was not interested in playing without a live audience. “I don’t know if I want to play without our community with me,” Trey told Relix. “It’s a bridge I haven’t been able to cross.” Anastasio’s bridge-crossing performance on Friday, October 9 was the first of eight of The Beacon Jams, which continue each Friday for the next seven weeks. After taking the stage at the empty historic NYC venue, Trey selected the fitting “Corona,” the opening track off his 2012 solo album, Traveler, to start Friday’s single set show. The musicians were arranged facing the back of the stage, with the empty theater’s seats surviving as the backdrop. The Phish/TAB crossover “Blaze On” came next and delivered an extended improvised section that saw Trey — playing his “Blonde No. 2” Languedoc guitar — and Ray going back and forth for several passages and a percussive breakdown featuring Russ and Cyro. After “Blaze On,” Anastasio responded to some of the comments from the livestream and thanked the production crew.
Guitarist Trey Anastasio of Phish returned to The Beacon Theatre in New York City on Friday for his second of eight weekly The Beacon Jams livestream concerts. Once again, Anastasio was joined by longtime Trey Anastasio Band members keyboardist Ray Paczkowski, drummer Russ Lawton, bassist Tony Markellis and percussionist Cyro Baptista for the bulk of the one-set, repeat-less performance with special appearances from the “Rescue Squad Strings” and pianist Jeff Tanski.
Trey Anastasio returned to New York City’s Beacon Theatre on October 23 for Week 3 of his Beacon Jams residency. This show came hot on the heels of Phish’s Halloween Dinner And A Movie announcement and excited fans got another incredible show highlighted by a silly version of “Windora Bug” in addition to jaw-dropping versions of “What’s The Use” and “The Lizards” featuring the Rescue Squad Strings. Set 1: Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, Party Time, The Way I Feel, Sweet Dreams Melinda > Shaking Someone’s Outstretched Hand [1], Andre the Giant, Spin, Turtle in the Clouds [2], What’s the Use? [3], Brian and Robert [4], If I Could[4], Rescue Squad [5], Leaves [6], The Lizards [7], Mr. Completely > Windora Bug [8], Possum, A Case of Ice and Snow > Last Tube, Twist [1] Debut. [2] Trey solo acoustic. [3] Just Trey with The Rescue Squad Strings and Jeff Tanski on piano. [4] Just Trey on acoustic guitar and The Rescue Squad Strings. [5] Trey solo acoustic; first acoustic performance by Trey. [6] TAB debut; Trey on acoustic guitar and The Rescue Squad Strings. [7] Full TAB debut; with The Rescue Squad Strings. [8] With Corona references.
Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio reached the halfway point of his The Beacon Jams weekly livestream series on Friday night at The Beacon Theatre in New York City. Once again, Anastasio was joined by a core band consisting of longtime collaborators keyboardist Ray Paczkowski, drummer Russ Lawton, bassist Tony Markellis and percussionist Cyro Baptista for most of the two-and-a-half hour concert. Trey continues to dig deep into his repertoire as he has yet to repeat a song.
SET 1: Ghosts of the Forest > Drift While You're Sleeping, Friend [1], Sightless Escape, Halfway Home > If Again, In Long Lines[1], There's a Path Above[1], About to Run, The Green Truth, Beneath a Sea of Stars Parts 1 & 2[1] > Mint Siren Dream[1], Stumble Into Flight > Ruby Waves, Shadows Thrown By Fire[1], Wider, A Life Beyond The Dream[1], In This Bubble > Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 3 (blue) ENCORE: Brief Time[1], Pieces in the Machine [1] With The Rescue Squad Strings.
On Nov. 13, Trey Anastasio returned to the Beacon Theatre in New York City for the sixth edition of his livestream series ‘The Beacon Jams.’ This week’s show was highlighted by an opening interpretation of Phish’s “You Enjoy Myself.” The personnel for this week’s show consisted of The Beacon Jams’ core band: Anastasio, bassist Tony Markellis, keyboardist Ray Paczkowski, drummer Russ Lawton and percussionist Cyro Baptista. In addition, the entire show featured backup vocalists Jennifer Hartswick, Celisse Henderson and Jo Lampert, who appeared during last week’s Ghosts of the Forest performance (Anastasio referred to them as Angels 3). Finally, both pianist Jeff Tanski and the Rescue Squad string quartet (Anja Wood, Rachel Golub, Katie Kresek and Maxim Moston) also joined in for a few tunes.
SET 1: Camel Walk, Set Your Soul Free, Alive Again [1], Petrichor [2], Money, Love and Change, Olivia, All Pretending > Curlew's Call, Harry Hood [3], Lifeboy [4], Heather McDougal Song [5], Let Me Lie [6], Chalk Dust Torture Reprise [7], Burlap Sack and Pumps, Valentine, Death Don't Hurt Very Long [8], Goodbye Head [9], Push On 'Til the Day [1] Lyrics changed to "Winter's coming and I'd like a review." [2] Just Trey, The Rescue Squad Strings, and the horns. [3] Full TAB debut; began with just Trey on acoustic guitar and The Rescue Squad Strings with the rest of the band joining later. [4] Just Trey on acoustic guitar with The Rescue Squad Strings and Jen Hartswick and Natalie Cressman on vocals. [5] Debut; with The Rescue Squad Strings. [6] Full TAB debut; with The Rescue Squad Strings. [7] Full TAB debut; sung as "Heather McDougal Song." [8] Full TAB debut. [9] With The Rescue Squad Strings.
Trey Anastasio concluded The Beacon Jams livestream series on Friday from The Beacon Theatre in New York City. After eight shows, The Beacon Jams finale featured the full Trey Anastasio Band lineup along with the Rescue Squad Strings and saw Anastasio sticking to his streak of no repeats. After a pre-recorded performance of “Brian And Robert” at The Barn from Trey and Phish keyboardist Page McConnell, The Beacon Jams finale opened in a stairwell with the debut of a new Trey Anastasio/Tom Marshall/Scott Hermann collaboration called “Just A Touch” featuring Trey on acoustic guitar with saxophonist James Casey, trumpeter Jennifer Hartswick and trombone player Natalie Cressman on backing vocals. The quartet kept playing through the halls and finished the song onstage with Trey ending it with a “science.”
The Beacon Theatre has shared What Calls You Home, a brief documentary about The Beacon Jams, the recent Trey Anastasio virtual residency at the iconic New York City venue. As the documentary’s announcement notes, What Calls You Home features exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage, performance highlights from the eight-week run, and in-depth interviews filmed during the residency. As Anastasio notes in a voice-over in the film’s opening sequence, “A beacon, if you look it up in the dictionary, is a beam of light that is sent out to a sailor who’s lost at sea, and then my head blew up when I thought, ‘That’s exactly what this is, but sonically. Everybody’s lost at sea, they’re out in the fog … a beacon is what calls you home.'” The short film continues with a variety of interviews with the people behind the residency, including Darren Pfeffer (EVP Live, MSG Entertainment), Trey Kerr (video director), Marc Janowitz (lighting/production designer), and Jeff Tanski (piano/keyboards/associate music director). The topics covered range from the decision to flip the stage plot around (“It feels like being in a garage band or something … The best decision we made was turning around. That was when The Beacon Jams came together,” says Trey) to the creative new renderings of old favorite tunes. As Tanski explains, “There’s few people that are at his level that are just so willing to let go of something he’s created. Nothing is precious for him. He writes something and he puts it out into the world, and it’s no longer his. He’s given himself the permission to do whatever he wants to it. I think that’s why, in a lot of ways, these concerts are kind of a culmination of that. Everyone’s getting to see what’s possible when you can just let go of one idea and let it turn into another, and let it turn into another. Quite honestly, I think that’s what people have been responding to the last 35-plus years with his bands.”
