re: Phish New Years Thread

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jam of tour

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Trey Anastasio was on the brink of looking lame, until some teenagers set him straight.

He was taking a beach walk with his two daughters this summer, when one asked him what his band, Phish, was cooking up for Halloween this year — typically a red-letter date on its concert calendar. He said the group might not do anything special this time around.

“They both looked at me and were like: What? You are so lame!” says Anastasio, 50, on the phone from his New York City home. “They were just in my face about the whole thing. I think right then was when the idea sprung up.”

That idea was a surprise Halloween set in which the band — outfitted in white tuxedos and zombie makeup — performed 11 newly written instrumentals, augmented with sound effects from a 1964 Disneyland Records novelty release.

The band members initially fleshed out the details while flying to shows held over Labor Day weekend. Anastasio says the songs, which were rapturously received, will enter Phish’s repertoire.

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“I feel like it’s as creative a moment in Phish’s history as it’s ever been,” he says. “We did so much forward motion this year, I think we rediscovered each other. The scene used to be so massive. Now we spend our time alone with the four band members together, and look what’s happening. That’s the way it always was, like, in ’94 and ’97,” he adds, citing two particularly creative years.

After Phish’s run of shows around New Year’s Eve, Anastasio reveals, he won’t play with any of his projects until Phish’s summer tour. Next year will be a “quieter” year for the band with fewer concerts, he says. But this winter he’ll release a new solo album, have a writing retreat with Marshall, and perhaps get together with Phish to hang out and maybe work on new material.

Yes, his version of slowing down can seem pretty rapid.

“I really wanted to write some new music,” he says, “and kind of move forward with, as weird as this sounds, an eye on 2030.”

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