On The Download: Trey Anastasio at Carnegie Hall

The normally staid atmosphere of Carnegie Hall was blown apart the other night by the arrival of Trey Anastasio making the New York premiere of his orchestral work “Time Turns Elastic.”

Phish fans from all over descended on the world famous concert venue to hear Anastasio, along with the New York Philharmonic, play the nearly thirty minute suite, along with selected orchestral versions of classic Phish tunes.

This was not the first time Anastasio had played with an orchestra behind him (he has played with the Vermont Youth Orchestra as well as the Nashville Chamber Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra) but this night represented a dream come true for him, as well as a chance for Phish fans to experience a truly once in a lifetime event at the world’s most famous concert hall.

The event was also a benefit for the Kristine Anastasio Manning Fund, established to further the environmental and educational causes that Trey’s sister had been so passionate about before her untimely death earlier this year from neuroendocrine cancer.

As the audience filed into the hall, it was clear that this was going to be a special night. While there were some scattered t-shirts in the crowd, many fans had decided to go the extra mile and actually dress up to meet the occasion. Needless to say, jackets and ties are not normally de riguer at a Phish show.

Once the orchestra was finished tuning up, conductor Asher Fisch entered and was followed by Anastasio, who was welcomed by a thunderous ovation.

The opening piece, “First Tube” started with a low percussive groove before Anastasio’s guitar picked up the familiar melody. Once the entire orchestra kicked in though, it was on. This led next to “The Inlaw Josie Wales” with Anastasio switching to acoustic guitar to accentuate the clean fingerpicking. “Brian and Robert” was also treated to a lush arrangement. Next was an epic “The Divided Sky” that found Trey adjusting the volume knob of his custom Languedoc electric guitar, and playing almost to himself as the orchestra took over and just crushed it. This was followed by brief takes on “Water in the Sky” and “Pebbles and Marbles” before the first set-closing “Guyute Orchestral.”

The second set started with the premiere of “Time Turns Elastic,” a nine part song cycle that Phish had been playing on tour following their return from hiatus. Many fans have been divided on the tune as played by the band, not so much due to its length, but rather the disjointed way that the band had to perform it. As Phish performed the tune, it would veer back and forth between tone and time signatures and in its usual second set placement, it could be rather jarring.

Here though, it was revelatory. This was the way “Time Turns Elastic” was meant to be performed. Each section moved gracefully from one to another and the use of an entire orchestra to give it the shadings and quieter moments that a four piece band (although one as great as Phish) simply cannot convey. Here, the entire piece has a chance to breathe and stretch out.This was followed by a brief “Let Me Lie,” and then the world premiere of the orchestrated “You Enjoy Myself.” Every Phish fan knows this tune like the back of their hand, so to hear the Philharmonic’s take on it promised to be revelatory. Each section of the song was played for all it was worth by Trey and the orchestra, and while there was no trampoline jumping by Trey during the tune as there is in concert, there was enough playfulness to go around for everyone. During one peak of the tune, the orchestra purposefully did not burst into the next section as was expected; rather, they just let it fizzle out and completely disrupted the audience’s expectations. They proceeded to climb back up to the next peak and let trombones fill in where the lyrics should have gone instead. And instead of the final vocal jam that normally closes a “YEM,” Trey stepped away from the mic and sang a lilting vocal fill to end the song as the entire orchestra backed him. The music slowly faded away, and left only a few brief seconds of crystalline silence before the audience erupted in some of the longest and loudest sustained cheering and good vibes I have ever heard at any show. Needless to say, it was not the usual polite applause the New York Philharmonic is used to. For what was already an unforgettable evening, this was a “You Enjoy Myself” that people will remember and be talking about for years.

Following “YEM,” Trey took a bow and brought composer Don Hart out to the stage to take a well-deserved bow. Hart had arranged “Time Turns Elastic” and the other tunes for an orchestra. Then it was time for the encore “If I Could,” which featured Trey back on acoustic guitar with the strings backing him and finishing with a gorgeous harp melody playing behind him.

All in all this was a special night for a great cause, and one that I was looking forward to since it was first rumored months ago. And perhaps more importantly, it announced the arrival of a new voice in American classical music. Copeland->Gershwin->Glass->Anastasio.